Hokkaido University researchers have engineered a virus that selectively targets and kills cancer cells. The virus, called dl355, has an even stronger anticancer effect than another engineered virus currently used in clinical practice, according to a study published in the journal Oncology Reports.
Molecular oncologist Fumihiro Higashino and colleagues deleted a gene involved in viral replication, called E4orf6, from a type of adenovirus. The team previously discovered that E4orf6 stabilizes a type of mRNA called ARE-mRNAs in the infected cells enabling viral replication. ARE-mRNAs are known to be stable in stressed cells and cancer cells, but rapidly degrade in normal cells.
