Synergistic effects of oncolytic reovirus and docetaxel chemotherapy in prostate cancer.

Background: Reovirus type 3 Dearing (T3D) has demonstrated oncolytic activity in vitro, in in vivo murine models and in early clinical trials. However the true potential of oncolytic viruses may only be realized fully in combination with other modalities such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy and radiotherapy. In this study, we examine the oncolytic activity of reovirus T3D and chemotherapeutic agents against human prostate cancer cell lines, with particular focus on the highly metastatic cell line PC3 and the chemotherapeutic agent docetaxel.

Engrailed-2 (EN2): a tumor specific urinary biomarker for the early diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Purpose: Prostate cancer (PC) is the second most common cause of cancer related death in men. A number of key limitations with prostate specific antigen (PSA), currently the standard detection test, has justified evaluation of new biomarkers. We have assessed the diagnostic potential of Engrailed-2 (EN2) protein, a homeodomain-containing transcription factor expressed in PC cell lines and secreted into the urine by PC in men.

Processing and intracellular location of human astrovirus non-structural proteins.

Human astrovirus (HAst) non-structural polyproteins are encoded in two open reading frames linked in expression by a ribosomal frameshifting event. The first of these (ORF 1a) specifies the serine protease, whilst the second (ORF 1b) encodes the virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The ORF 1a product contains an unusual motif for small RNA viruses which could potentially direct proteins to the cell nucleus.