The role of the immune response to oncolytic Herpes Simplex viral (oHSV) therapy for glioblastoma is controversial. Within hours of oHSV infection of human or syngeneic glioblastoma in mice, activated natural killer (NK) cells are recruited to the site of infection. This response significantly diminished the efficacy of glioblastoma virotherapy. oHSV-activated NK cells coordinated macrophage and microglia activation within tumors. In vitro, human NK cells preferentially lysed oHSV-infected human glioblastoma cell lines. This enhanced killing depended on NK cell natural cytotoxicity receptors (NCR) NKp30 and NKp46, whose ligands were up-regulated in oHSV-infected glioblastoma cells. HSV titers and oHSV efficacy were increased in Ncr1−/− mice and in a Ncr1−/− NK cell adoptive transfer model of glioma, respectively. These in vitro and in vivo (mouse) results demonstrate that glioblastoma virotherapy is partly limited by an antiviral NK cell response involving specific NCRs, uncovering novel potential targets to enhance cancer virotherapy.
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive histologic subtype of brain cancer with poor outcomes and limited treatment options. Here we report the selective overexpression of the protein arginine methyltransferase PRMT5 as a novel candidate theranostic target in this disease. PRMT5 silences the transcription of regulatory genes by catalyzing symmetric di-methylation of arginine residues on histone tails. PRMT5 overexpression in patient-derived primary tumors and cell lines correlated with cell line growth rate and inversely with overall patient survival. Genetic attenuation of PRMT5 led to cell cycle arrest, apoptosis and loss of cell migratory activity. Cell death was p53-independent but caspase-dependent and enhanced with temozolomide, a chemotherapeutic agent used as a present standard of care. Global gene profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation identified the tumor suppressor ST7 as a key gene silenced by PRMT5. Diminished ST7 expression was associated with reduced patient survival. PRMT5 attenuation limited PRMT5 recruitment to the ST7 promoter, led to restored expression of ST7 and cell growth inhibition. Lastly, PRMT5 attenuation enhanced GBM cell survival in a mouse xenograft model of aggressive GBM. Together, our findings defined PRMT5 as a candidate prognostic factor and therapeutic target in GBM, offering a preclinical justification for targeting PRMT5-driven oncogenic pathways in this deadly disease.
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