A team of researchers from the University of Barcelona and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) has identified new regions of the viral genome where various genetic sequences can be introduced in a stable and safe manner. The breakthrough, published in the scientific journal Molecular Therapy Oncology , would allow multiple therapeutic genes to be inserted without losing efficacy, thus favouring the design of optimal viral vectors for vaccination strategies or anti-tumour therapy. The study, which has been made possible thanks to the support of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), will promote the design of a new generation of cancer treatments that combine various strategies in a single vector.
Genetic modification of viruses has long been used as a strategy to treat and prevent different types of diseases. Specifically, it consists of exploiting certain characteristics of viruses that make them suitable tools for making vaccines or for recognizing and attacking specific cells (e.g. tumour cells). This requires space within the viral genome to load the necessary genetic tools without compromising the survival of the virus or affecting the capabilities that are to be exploited. Since the viral genome is very compact, being able to genetically modify it effectively is a major genetic engineering challenge.
"Thanks to the identification of new insertion points, we will be able to design viruses armed with more tools against cancer: that is, viruses that not only selectively destroy tumour cells, but can also attack the tumour on different fronts and reactivate the patient's immune system to help eliminate the tumour," says Professor Juan José Rojas, from the UB's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and principal investigator of the Immunity, Inflammation and Cancer group at IDIBELL. "It's about being able to design a Trojan horse with enough space to carry all the weapons needed to fight cancer."
Beyond cancer, the discovery has other valuable clinical applications. "Basically, what we have achieved is to find more space in which to load useful genetic information, and this is applicable both in cancer therapy and vaccine design, since this virus is also used as a vaccination vector," notes Professor Rojas.
