Dendritic cells in oncolytic virus-based anti-cancer therapy

Youra Kim, Derek R. Clements, Andra M. Sterea, Hyun Woo Jang, Shashi A. Gujar, Patrick W.K. Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Dendritic cells (DCs) are specialized antigen-presenting cells that have a notable role in the initiation and regulation of innate and adaptive immune responses. In the context of cancer, appropriately activated DCs can induce anti-tumor immunity by activating innate immune cells and tumor-specific lymphocytes that target cancer cells. However, the tumor microenvironment (TME) imposes different mechanisms that facilitate the impairment of DC functions, such as inefficient antigen presentation or polarization into immunosuppressive DCs. These tumor-associated DCs thus fail to initiate tumor-specific immunity, and indirectly support tumor progression. Hence, there is increasing interest in identifying interventions that can overturn DC impairment within the TME. Many reports thus far have studied oncolytic viruses (OVs), viruses that preferentially target and kill cancer cells, for their capacity to enhance DC-mediated anti-tumor effects. Herein, we describe the general characteristics of DCs, focusing on their role in innate and adaptive immunity in the context of the TME. We also examine how DC-OV interaction affects DC recruitment, OV delivery, and anti-tumor immunity activation. Understanding these roles of DCs in the TME and OV infection is critical in devising strategies to further harness the anti-tumor effects of both DCs and OVs, ultimately enhancing the efficacy of OV-based oncotherapy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6506-6525
Number of pages20
JournalViruses
Volume7
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 9 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Virology

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