Viral elements inducing tumor-related apoptosis

Abstract

In 1997, Danen-Van Oorschot et al. described for the first time that apoptin, a protein encoded by an avian virus, induces p53-independent apoptosis in a tumor-specific way. Various pre-clinical studies in animal tumor models have demonstrated apoptin as a safe and efficient anti-tumor agent. In tumor cells, apoptin is imported into the nucleus prior to the induction of apoptosis and regulated by a kinase activity specifically present in cancer cells. In this thesis, several studies have been carried out to reveal the novel aspects of the molecular pathways underlying the transformation-related apoptosis induction by the viral protein apoptin.