The oncolytic peptide LTX-315, which has been de novo designed based on structure-activity relationship studies of host defense peptides, has the ability to kill human cancer cells and induce specific anticancer immune response when injected locally into tumors established in immunocompetent mice. The oncolytic effect of LTX-315 involves perturbation of plasma membrane and the mitochondria with subsequent release of danger-associated molecular pattern molecules, which highlights the ability of LTX-315 to induce complete regression and protective immune responses. Treatment with LTX-315 reprograms the tumor microenvironment by decreasing the local abundance of immunosuppressive cells and by increasing the frequency of effector T cells.
Keywords: DAMP; cancer; immunotherapy; oncolytic peptide.