Oncolytic activity of vesicular stomatitis virus in primary adult T-cell leukemia

Treatments for hematological malignancies have improved considerably over the past decade, but the growing therapeutic arsenal has not benefited adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) patients. Oncolytic viruses such as vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) have recently emerged as a potential treatment of solid tumors and leukemias in vitro and in vivo. In the current study, we investigated the ability of VSV to lyse primary human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-infected T-lymphocytes from patients with ATL. Ex vivo primary ATL cells were permissive for VSV and underwent rapid oncolysis in a time-dependent manner. Importantly, VSV infection showed neither viral replication nor oncolysis in HTLV-1-infected, nonleukemic cells from patients with HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), and in naive CD4(+) T-lymphocytes from normal individuals or in ex vivo cell samples from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Interestingly, activation of primary CD4(+) T-lymphocytes with anti-CD3/CD28 monoclonal antibody, and specifically with anti-CD3, was sufficient to induce limited viral replication and oncolysis. However, at a similar level of T-cell activation, VSV replication was increased fourfold in ATL cells compared to activated CD4(+) T-lymphocytes, emphasizing the concept that VSV targets genetic defects unique to tumor cells to facilitate its replication. In conclusion, our findings provide the first essential information for the development of a VSV-based treatment for ATL.