Deficiency of caspase 3 in tumor xenograft impairs therapeutic effect of measles virus Edmoston strain

The oncolytic measles virus Edmonston (MV-Edm) strain shows considerable oncolytic activity against a variety of human tumors. In this study, we report MV-Edm is able to trigger apoptosis pathways in infected tumor cells and elucidate the roles of cellular apoptosis in the whole oncolytic process. We also show that activated caspase 3, a key executioner of apoptosis, plays key roles in the oncolytic virotherapy. Activated caspase 3 can accelerate viral replication in cervical cancer cells and enhance the killing effects of the virus. Deficiency of caspase 3 either in tumor cells or in tumor xenograft significantly desensitized tumor to oncolysis with MV-Edm. In the infected cells, caspase 3 regulates interferon α release, which can inhibit viral replication in neighboring tumor cells. We propose that caspase-3 activation enhances the oncolytic effects of MV-Edm, thus inhibiting tumor growth in mice.