Plant Virus Fights Breast Cancer (similar to Prostate Cancer) in Mice With 'Widespread Effectiveness
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Nanoparticles harvested from the cowpea mosaic virus boosted survival rates and systemically suppressed tumor growth in mice afflicted with various cancers, including breast, colon, and ovarian cancer.
Mice whose tumors had been surgically removed also showed comparable improvements after the treatment, the University of California San Diego team found.
The cowpea mosaic virus is a plant pathogen specializing in cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata), a species of legume that includes the subspecies commonly known as black-eyed peas.
The virus doesn't directly attack cancer cells in mice, but acts as a form of immunotherapy – a treatment that helps the body's own immune system find and destroy cancer.
The new study is part of ongoing research led by the lab of Nicole Steinmetz, a nanoengineer at the University of California San Diego.
Steinmetz and her colleagues have spent years testing cowpea mosaic virus nanoparticles as immunomodulators – substances that either suppress or, as in this case, stimulate the immune system.
The researchers explain that since it's a plant virus, the cowpea mosaic virus can't infect mammals, yet mouse immune systems still tend to identify it as foreign.
This sparks a spirited backlash from the immune system, which is also prompted to attack the nearby tumor – as well as any future tumors that develop, their research has found.
But that's not all, according to the new study. The nanoparticles don't have to be injected directly into tumors to succeed, the study suggests, but can also be delivered systemically to impede metastasis and increase survival rates for a wide range of cancers.
The study also featured experiments to test the nanoparticles' effectiveness after surgery to remove tumors. This too showed less tumor growth and higher survival rates among treated mice, which the authors say is especially exciting.
"Even if you perform surgery to remove the tumors, no surgery is perfect and there is outgrowth of metastasis if no additional treatment is provided," Steinmetz says.
Systemic Administration of Cowpea Mosaic Virus Demonstrates Broad Protection Against Metastatic Cancers
Young Hun Chung, Zhongchao Zhao, Eunkyeong Jung, Anthony O. Omole, Hanyang Wang, Lucas Sutorus, Nicole F. Steinmetz
First published: 02 March 2024
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