Research and Clinical Application of Adenovirus (AdV), 3rd Edition

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Virology and Viral Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 May 2025 | Viewed by 1380

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Interests: adenovirus; oncolytic; cancer; models; gene; therapy; delivery; translation
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The concept behind using viruses to fight human diseases is very straightforward: for millions of years, they have been delivering their genes to different types of mammalian and human cells. Indeed, virus-based gene therapy is a growing area of modern medicine, as viruses have the potential to overcome the limitations of conventional therapeutic approaches.

Adenovirus (AdV) is one of the most versatile viral backbones with applications ranging from gene delivery and treatment of monogenic diseases to vaccination and cancer therapy. Adenoviruses can target a broad spectrum of both dividing and non-dividing cells, do not integrate into host DNA, have high in vivo transduction capacity, and are well characterized, thereby allowing for countless modifications of their genetic structure. The first AdV-based therapy took place in 1956, when 30 patients with cervical carcinoma were treated with adenoidal–pharyngeal–conjunctival virus, now known as an adenovirus. After a turbulent past full of medical achievements and failures, the stigma related to adenovirus has been gradually replaced by the wide acceptance of the feasibility and safety of AdV-based therapeutics. It is difficult to overestimate the value of AdV during the COVID-19 pandemic as, to date, AdV represents the most effective viral vector platform for anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. The recent clinical successes have also demonstrated the promise of tumor-selective, infectivity-improved oncolytic adenoviruses for cancer gene therapy and highlighted their role in inducing anticancer immunity.

This third Special Issue discusses the latest advances in adenovirus research and how AdV can treat human disease. The scope of this Special Issue includes but is not limited to:

  • The molecular and cellular mechanisms of adenovirus infection and pathogenesis, including the molecular determinants of cell and tissue tropism, life cycle, transmission in the host, and mechanisms of cell death and tissue damage;
  • Structure-based investigations of virus and virus capsid protein associations with cell receptors and innate immune molecules, as well as modulation and evasion of the host’s immune defense;
  • Applications range from basic molecular tools to gene therapy, oncolytic virus therapy, immunotherapy, and vaccine development.

Dr. Julia Davydova
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • adenovirus
  • gene therapy
  • cancer
  • oncolytic
  • vaccine
  • delivery

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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18 pages, 4084 KiB  
Article
Ad6-Based GM-CSF Expressing Vector Displays Oncolytic and Immunostimulatory Effects in an Immunocompetent Syrian Hamster Model of Cholangiocarcinoma
by Daria S. Zabelina, Ivan D. Osipov, Denis E. Maslov, Anna V. Kovner, Valeriia A. Vasikhovskaia, Diana S. Demina, Stanislav E. Romanov, Ekaterina V. Shishkina, Julia Davydova, Sergey V. Netesov and Margarita V. Romanenko
Viruses 2025, 17(2), 162; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17020162 - 24 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1116
Abstract
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), the second most common liver cancer, remains highly resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, leaving patients with unresectable tumors in urgent need of innovative therapeutic approaches. Adenovirus type 6 (Ad6), a species C human adenovirus, offers significant potential for cancer therapy due [...] Read more.
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), the second most common liver cancer, remains highly resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, leaving patients with unresectable tumors in urgent need of innovative therapeutic approaches. Adenovirus type 6 (Ad6), a species C human adenovirus, offers significant potential for cancer therapy due to its low seroprevalence compared to Adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) and its ability to evade Kupffer cells during systemic delivery. In this study, we developed a novel oncolytic adenovirus vector based on the Ad6 engineered to express human GM-CSF (Ad6-d24-GM) and evaluated its therapeutic efficacy in a novel immunocompetent, replication-permissive Syrian hamster model of CCA. Intratumoral administration of Ad6-d24-GM significantly suppressed tumor growth and prolonged survival without evidence of toxicity, as indicated by stable body weights and normal liver enzyme levels. Both Ad6-d24-GM and wild-type Ad6 induced robust infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, as well as CD68+ macrophages within tumors, demonstrating activation of antitumor immunity. Notably, the Ad6-d24-GM group exhibited a statistically significant increase in CD68+ cells compared to wild-type Ad6, highlighting the immunomodulatory effect of GM-CSF transgene. These results demonstrate the oncolytic and immunostimulatory potential of Ad6-based vectors for CCA treatment and validate the Syrian hamster syngeneic CCA-OF model as a valuable platform for studying oncolytic adenovirus therapies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Clinical Application of Adenovirus (AdV), 3rd Edition)
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