Comparison between Western Reserve strain and Tiantan strain of oncolytic vaccinia virus vector expressing exogenous gene Aphracilistes vastus lectin.

Aphrocallistes vastus lectin (AVL) is a class of Ca2+ dependent C-type lectin receptors. Our previous research found that AVL expression in oncolytic vaccinia virus Western Reserve strain (WR) showed good safety and significant efficacy in multiple tumor models. Vaccinia Tian Tan (TT) was historically used as a vaccine for Chinese during the smallpox prevention campaign. It is a question whether the antitumor effect of AVL expressed in TT vector was different from that expressed in WR vector. In this study, the antitumor effects and mechanisms of oncoVVWR-AVL and oncoVVTT-AVL were compared. We found that, compared with oncoVVTT vector, AVL in oncoVVWR vector had a stronger anti-tumor effect through higher ROS levels, stronger viral replication, and activation of the immune response. This study provides a basis for vector selection in recombinant oncolytic virus construction.