Complementary dual-virus strategy drives synthetic target and cognate T-cell engager expression for endogenous-antigen agnostic immunotherapy
Targeted antineoplastic immunotherapies have achieved remarkable clinical outcomes. However, resistance to these therapies due to target absence or antigen shedding limits their efficacy and excludes tumours from candidacy. To address this limitation, here we engineer an oncolytic rhabdovirus, vesicular stomatitis virus (VSVΔ51), to express a truncated targeted antigen, which allows for HER2-targeting with trastuzumab. The truncated HER2 (HER2T) lacks signaling capabilities and is efficiently expressed on infected cell surfaces. VSVΔ51-mediated HER2T expression simulates HER2-positive status in tumours, enabling effective treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab emtansine in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo. Additionally, we combine VSVΔ51-HER2T with an oncolytic vaccinia virus expressing a HER2-targeted T-cell engager. This dual-virus therapeutic strategy demonstrates potent curative efficacy in vivo in female mice using CD3+ infiltrate for anti-tumour immunity. Our findings showcase the ability to tailor the tumour microenvironment using oncolytic viruses, thereby enhancing compatibility with "off-the-shelf" targeted therapies.
Authors
- Duncan S. MacKenzie
- Jean‐Simon Diallo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4862-2795)
- Jack T. Whelan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7041-1698)
- Sydney Vallati
- Scott McComb (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4616-7864)
- Max Thomson
- Stephen Boulton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2521-2240)
- Ben Zhen Huang
- Faiha Fareez
- Joanna Poutou
- Mohsen Hooshyar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7770-2348)
- John C. Bell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9083-357X)
- Victoria H. Gilchrist
- Akram Alwithenani
- Christiano Tanese de Souza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2982-8795)
- Timothy Kit Hin Lee
- Mathieu J. F. Crupi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4452-2383)
- Julia Petryk
- Omar Kassas
- K. W. Ng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8791-3168)
- Andrew Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5303-3285)
- Ricardo Marius (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8039-7099)
- Zaid Taha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2660-0560)
- Carolina S. Ilkow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3488-4062)
- Nouf Alluqmani
- Judy Sobh
- Marcus M. Spinelli
- Rozanne Arulanandam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4750-499X)
- Priya Rose Bharadwa
- Dylan Anthony Thomas
Institutions
- University of Ottawa (CA)
- Ottawa Hospital (CA)
- National Research Council Canada (CA)
- Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (CA)
- McMaster University (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-08-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51498-0
- Citations
- 12
- Primary Topic
- Virus-based gene therapy research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.60
Funders
- University of Ottawa
- Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
- King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre
- Terry Fox Research Institute
- Mitacs
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- CIHR Skin Research Training Centre