Figure 7. Viral lytic replication in the tumors is enhanced with SAHA, a clinically approved HDAC inhibitor.

Three mECK^null.rK133 tumor bearing mice were treated with 50 mg/kg/day of SAHA for 4 days via intraperitoneal injection. Another set of mice were injected with an equal volume of DMSO, the vehicle. (A) RNA was isolated for qRT-PCR studies of viral lytic gene expression. Three induced tumors were compared to one uninduced tumor. In vivo viral lytic gene expression, including RFP, was increased in mice treated with SAHA relative to the untreated tumor. Error bars represent the experimental SD of duplicate wells. (B) DMSO treated and SAHA treated tumors were snap frozen in OCT for frozen sections. Immunoflourescence for RFP was performed to confirm the increase in transcript correlated with an increase in protein expression. RFP was enhanced in tumors undergoing viral lytic replication as a result of the SAHA treatment. Representative tumors are shown.