Construction and development of simliki forest virus vectors for transient gene therapy of model tumours in mice

Abstract

Cancer is a molecular and genetic disease that results from multiple alterations of genes, including proto-oncogenes and tumour-suppressor genes. Virotherapy is a branch of cancer gene therapy where oncolytic viruses are used to treat cancerous cells. Semliki Forest virus (SFV) and its derived vectors (recombinant or replication- competent) have been utilised for the treatment of cancer by exploiting their inherent apoptosis-inducing ability or by expressing high amounts of therapeutic proteins.