Therapeutics: Toll-like receptor adaptor molecule 1 (TICAM1; TRIF); toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2); TLR3

Mouse studies suggest a TICAM1-expressing, deglycosylated vaccinia virus could help treat solid tumors. An oncolytic vaccinia virus was engineered to express mouse TICAM1 to enhance TLR3-mediated production of cytotoxic T cells and deglycosylated to reduce its TLR2 binding, which induces production of antiviral antibodies. In a mouse model of renal cancer, the TICAM1-expressing, deglycosylated virus increased numbers of tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells and exhibited increased replication within tumors compared with the deglycosylated virus that did not express TICAM1. In mouse models of mammary, colon, lung and renal cancers, the TICAM1-expressing, deglycosylated virus decreased tumor growth compared with vaccinia virus expressing mouse granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF; CSF2) and lacking thymidine kinase. Next steps could include developing a version of the deglycosylated virus that expresses human TICAM1...