A qPCR-Based Method for Quantification of Replication Competent Adenovirus (RCA) in Conditionally Replicating Oncolytic Adenoviruses.

Production of conditionally replicating adenoviruses may unfortunately generate undesired replication-competent adenovirus (RCA) which raises safety concerns in clinical usage. Cell-based assays can detect RCA in batches of nonreplicating adenoviral vectors but cannot distinguish RCA from conditionally replicating oncolytic adenoviruses. Considering the great potential in using oncolytic viruses for cancer treatment, there is a need for comprehensive RCA-detection and -quantification methods.

A qPCR-Based Method for Quantification of RCA Contaminants in Oncolytic Adenovirus Products.

Oncolytic adenovirus is one of the most promising treatments against cancer and is widely evaluated clinically. During high titer production, "Wild-type-" like replication-competent adenovirus (RCA) contaminants can be generated through recombination events due to the DNA sequence similarity between oncolytic virus and host cells. These RCA contaminants raise various safety concerns in clinics.

Protein Kinase R Is Constitutively Expressed in the Human Pancreas.

Viral infection of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas has been proposed in the etiology of type 1 diabetes. Protein kinase R (PKR) is a cytoplasmic protein activated through phosphorylation in response to cellular stress and particularly viral infection. As PKR expression in pancreatic beta-cells has been interpreted as a viral footprint, this cross-sectional study aimed at characterizing the PKR expression in non-diabetic human pancreases.