| Natalie Raso - Weapons of Targeted Destruction: Using Viruses to Kill Cancer | Successes and Failures |
| Project
Information Abstract Project Summary Background Purpose Scientific Thought Hypotheses Apparatus and Materials Genetically Engineered KM110red Herpesvirus Methodology Procedure for Cell-Line Splitting Procedure for KM110r Infection Procedure for Immunofluorescent Microscopy Imaging Statistical Analyses Proliferation Assay Analyzed Data Major Results Graphed Results Discussion of Statistics Controls and Variables Conclusions Discussion Discussion of KM110r Efficacy Successes and Failures Sources of Error and Data Limitations Future Research Applications Glossary Bibliography Acknowledgements |
Many aspects of this novel
experimentation proved to be successful. KM110r efficacy was successfully
explored through various findings. KM110r induced complete lysis in U2OS
cells over the course of temperatures 34°C and 37°C, and successfully
ignored hFOB cells over course of temperatures 34°C, 37°C and 39°C.
Differentiation in the hFOB cells occurred, as reported[1],
since visible morphological changes occurred. One such visible
characteristic was the evidence of bone-forming nodules in the 39°C hFOB
images. The temperature changes proved not only to be important for
studying the changes induced in hFOB cells, but also caused significant
growth pattern changes in U2OS cells. This finding highlighted the
importance of physiological body temperature in administering KM110r
effectively. Although this experimentation
generated extremely novel, successful, and valuable findings, not
everything turned out as planned. The original hypotheses stated that hFOB
cells would become permissive to KM110r due to genetic differentiation,
and that this point would be identified and genetically analyzed. Had this
been corroborated in the research, it would have determined why hFOB cells
are able to ignore KM110r and why it would destroy genetically altered and
cancerous cells. Such a finding would not substantiate KM110r as worthy of
being developed into an oncolytic virus; however it would be an
exceptionally useful tool to study differentiation. Nevertheless,
identification of such a point did not occur since hFOB cells were not
permissive to KM110r at any temperature. Therefore the reasons why KM110r
is safe in normal cells and toxic in genetically altered cells could not
be investigated, and KM110r was shown not to be a useful tool in studying
differentiation. However the findings proved something much more
promising—KM110r was able not only to ignore undifferentiated
non-cancerous cells, but also differentiated, genetically altered
non-cancerous cells. This finding strongly substantiates KM110r’s
selectivity and worthiness of being developed into an oncolytic virus.
[1] Harris, S; Enger, RJ; Riggs, BL;
Spelsburg, TC. 1995. Development and Characterization of a Conditionally
Immortalized Human Fetal Osteoblastic Cell Line. Journal of Bone and Mineral
Research.
10:178-186. |