In vitro investigation of Varizella zoster virus as an oncolytic virus in glioblastoma therapy

Introduction: Varizella Zoster Virus is an oncolytic virus solely replicating by cell-cell fusion processes. Recently, it has been shown that VZV is suitable for tumor therapy in malignant melanomas. Focusing on a future oncolytic therapy for malignant gliomas, aim of the study was to asses permissive VZV replication in glioma cell lines and primary glioblastoma cell cultures in vitro. Method: Three gliomas cell lines (U87, U252, U373) and six primary cell cultures from human glioblastoma specimens have been tested for permissive cellular VZV replication in vitro. An established melanoma in vitro model has been…