Cancer cell death by design: Apoptosis, autophagy and glioma virotherapy

Autophagy has been defined as a mechanism by which oncolytic adenoviruses mediate cell killing in some cancers, including malignant glioma. Until recently, however, adenovirus replication was regarded as a process that induced classical apoptosis in the infected cell. We have assessed the method of conditionally replicating adenovirus (CRAd) death in a model of malignant glioma, considering both autophagy and apoptosis as possible mechanisms of virally-induced cell death. Our initial investigations indicated that autophagy was the predominant system in CRAd-induced cell death in glioma. This appeared to be the case in vitro; however, further investigation in vivo shows that CRAds are capable of inducing both apoptotic and autophagic cell death. In this punctum, we summarize our latest research to uncover the method of oncolytic adenovirus-induced cell death in malignant glioma. Elucidating the relationship between autophagy and apoptosis in glioma virotherapy has significant implications for the design of optimal viral vectors.