lncRNA UCA1-Mediated Cdc42 Signaling Promotes Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus Cell-to-Cell Spread in Ovarian Cancer

Oncolytic vaccinia virus (OVV) has demonstrated appropriate safety profiles for clinical development. Although designed to kill cancer cells efficiently, OVV sensitivity varies in individual cancers, and predictive biomarkers of therapeutic responses have not been identified. Here we found that OVV was much more efficient in KFTX paclitaxel-resistant ovarian cancer cells compared to that in KFlow paclitaxel-sensitive cells. Microarray analysis identified long non-coding RNA urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 (UCA1) upregulation, which contributed to both enhanced paclitaxel resistance and OVV spread. In addition, UCA1 expression correlated with efficient OVV spread in other ovarian cell lines and primary cancer cell cultures. When host pathways underlying OVV spread were analyzed, differences were detected in the activation of the Rho GTPase Cdc42, suggesting that filopodia formation enhances OVV cell-to-cell spread and tumor migration. Moreover, we established a clinically relevant mouse model of peritoneal metastasis using KFTX or KFlow cells. Paclitaxel exerted anti-tumor effects on KFlow, but not KFTX, tumors. In mice bearing KFTX cells after paclitaxel failure, OVV treatment induced the regression of residual tumors and improved survival. Our findings demonstrated that UCA1 promotes OVV cell-to-cell spread in ovarian cancer, resulting in enhanced therapeutic outcome.