Preclinical studies with Apoptin

The chicken anaemia virus was cloned in 1990 and analysis of its three proteins led to the serendipitous finding that viral protein 3, or Apoptin, induces apoptosis in many cultured human tumour cells but not in their normal counterparts. The ensuing question, whether the activity and specificity of Apoptin would also hold true in vivo, was addressed in the research described in this thesis. Besides preliminary confirmation of this concept, my studies have yielded some important guidelines for the development of an anticancer therapy based on Apoptin gene or protein therapy. Moreover, the full potential to use Apoptin as an anticancer agent is intimately linked with the unravelling of its mechanism of action. These data will have implications for the safe application of Apoptin, the feasibility of developing small molecular drugs, and the suitability for combination therapies

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