Cell Journal (Jan 2010)
Oncolytic Effect of Newcastle Disease Virus AF2240 Strain on the MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cell Line
Abstract
Objective: This study was carried out to investigate the oncolytic effect of the Newcastledisease virus (NDV) strain AF2240 on the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line.Materials and Methods: The NDV-AF2240 was propagated in 11 days old embryonatedchicken eggs for 72 hours. The virus in the allantoic fluid was harvested andpurified. The haemagglutination (HA) test was conducted on the purified virus to determinethe virus titre which was 16384 haemagglutination units (HAUs). The microculturetetrazolium assay (MTA) was carried out via two methods-the monolayer and co-culturetechniques- to determine the inhibitory concentration (IC50) of NDV-AF2240 against theMCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was carried out onpolyclonal chicken antibody and fluorescein isothiocynate (FITC) conjugated goat antichickenantibody to observe virus localization in the cells. The terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay was conducted to quantifythe percentage of apoptotic cells.Results: IC50 value of NDV-AF2240 was two HAUs in both the monolayer and co-cultures.Virus particles were detected in the cytoplasm of MCF-7 breast cancer cell lineafter 24 and 48 hours post treatment. Virus budding was detected 72 hours post treatment.The number of apoptotic cells was significantly increased (p<0.05) 72 hours postNDV-AF2240 treatment.Conclusion: The findings of this study show that NDV-AF2240 has an oncolytic effectagainst the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Further studies are needed to understand theanti cancer mechanism of this virus.
