Recruitment of Intratumoral CD103 Dendritic Cells by a CXCR4 Antagonist-Armed Virotherapy Enhances Antitumor Immunity.

Intratumoral dendritic cells play an important role in stimulating cytotoxic T cells and driving antitumor immunity. Using a metastatic ovarian tumor model in syngeneic mice, we explored whether therapy with a CXCR4 antagonist-armed oncolytic vaccinia virus activates endogenous CD103 dendritic cell responses associated with the induction of adaptive immunity against viral and tumor antigens. The overall goal of this study was to determine whether expansion of CD103 dendritic cells by the virally delivered CXCR4 antagonist augments overall survival and boosting with a tumor antigen peptide-based vaccine.