MicroRNA Targeting of Oncolytic Viruses for cancer therapy

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Oncolytic viruses are promising therapeutic agents for cancer and are currently under clinical investigation. The virotherapy is novel strategy that viruses infect and replicate within tumor cells, directly lysing and killing them. We have reported that microRNA (miRNA) regulation enables tumor-specific viral replication by altering the expression of a targeted viral gene of an attenuated vaccinia virus vaccine strain LC16m8. We used miRNA-based gene regulation to suppress B5R expression through let-7a, a miRNA that is downregulated in many tumors. The miRNA-regulated vaccinia virus achieved efficient viral replication and oncolysis in cancer cells, but elimination of unwanted replication and associated toxicity in normal cells in vivo.