John C. Bell, PhD

jbell@med.uottawa.ca
jbell@ohri.ca
Telephone: 613-737-7700 ext 70333
Fax: 613-247-3524

Senior Scientist, Cancer Therapeutics, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Professor, Depts. of Medicine and Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology University of Ottawa

Key Words: oncolytic virus, protein translation, cancer, therapeutics

Research Interests

Oncolytic Viruses: Novel Cancer Therapeutics

Current cancer therapies often have limited efficacy and high toxicity and thus novel approaches to treatment are sought. Viruses have many characteristics which make them desirable as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cancer including their ability to infect cells and replicate, induce cell death, release viral particles and spread through human tissues. We have shown that a variety of viruses selectively replicate in and kill human cancer cell lines, primary patient samples and purge contaminated bone marrow of leukemic cells. Although the mechanisms of preferential oncolytic activity are not yet completely understood, our hypothesis is that during tumor evolution, genetic abnormalities accumulate that, while providing malignancies a growth/survival advantage, also compromise the antiviral program of tumour cells. One cytokine pathway that seems to be frequently defective in tumour cell lines is the interferon signaling cascade. In particular, mutants of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus which strongly induce interferon expression are safe anti-cancer therapeutics in a variety of animal tumour models. The Bell lab is optimizing and selecting for VSV strains with improved efficacy. We are also testing the role of the immune system in both the enhancement and inhibition of oncolytic virus activity. Other virus strains are also being tested for oncolytic activity.

A second major thrust in the Bell lab is the understanding of how protein translation is controlled under a variety of stress situations and in cancer cells. One long term goal of this project is to identify mRNA sequences that are involved in regulating protein synthesis and using this information for the development of novel anti-cancer strategies.

Most Recent Publications (provided by The Ottawa Hospital Library Database)

Le BF;Diallo JS;McCart JA;Thorne S;Falls T;Stanford M;Kanji F;Auer R;Brown CW;Lichty BD;Parato K;Atkins H;Kirn D;Bell JC;, (2010 May), Synergistic interaction between oncolytic viruses augments tumor killing, Mol Ther, Vol.18, Issue 5, 888-895 -> view abstract

Evgin L;Vaha-Koskela M;Rintoul J;Falls T;Le BF;Barrett JW;Bell JC;Stanford MM;, (2010 May), Potent oncolytic activity of raccoonpox virus in the absence of natural pathogenicity, Molecular Therapy: the Journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy, Vol.18, Issue 5, 896-902 -> view abstract

De SN;Atkins H;Kirn DH;Bell JC;Breitbach CJ;, (2010 Mar 23), Double trouble for tumours: Exploiting the tumour microenvironment to enhance anticancer effect of oncolytic viruses, Cytokine Growth Factor Rev, Vol.21, Issue 3-Feb, 135-141 -> view abstract

Roos FC;Roberts AM;Hwang II;Moriyama EH;Evans AJ;Sybingco S;Watson IR;Carneiro LA;Gedye C;Girardin SE;Ailles LE;Jewett MA;Milosevic M;Wilson BC;Bell JC;Der SD;Ohh M;, (2010 Jul), Oncolytic targeting of renal cell carcinoma via encephalomyocarditis virus, EMBO Mol Med, Vol.2, Issue 7, 275-288 -> view abstract

Alain T;Lun X;Martineau Y;Sean P;Pulendran B;Petroulakis E;Zemp FJ;Lemay CG;Roy D;Bell JC;Thomas G;Kozma SC;Forsyth PA;Costa-Mattioli M;Sonenberg N;, (2010 Jan 4), Vesicular stomatitis virus oncolysis is potentiated by impairing mTORC1-dependent type I IFN production, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol.107, Issue 4, 1576-1581 -> view abstract

Guse K;Sloniecka M;Diaconu I;Ottolino-Perry K;Tang N;Ng C;Le BF;Bell JC;McCart JA;Ristimaki A;Pesonen S;Cerullo V;Hemminki A;, (2010 Jan), Antiangiogenic arming of an oncolytic vaccinia virus enhances antitumor efficacy in renal cell cancer models, Journal of Virology, Vol.84, Issue 2, 856-866 -> view abstract

Ottolino-Perry K;Diallo JS;Lichty BD;Bell JC;Andrea MJ;, (2010 Feb), Intelligent design: combination therapy with oncolytic viruses, Molecular Therapy: the Journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy, Vol.18, Issue 2, 251-263 -> view abstract

Diallo JS;Boeuf FL;Lai F;Cox J;Vaha-Koskela M;Abdelbary H;Mactavish H;Waite K;Falls T;Wang J;Brown R;Blanchard JE;Brown ED;Kirn DH;Hiscott J;Atkins H;Lichty BD;Bell JC;, (2010 Apr 13), A High-throughput Pharmacoviral Approach Identifies Novel Oncolytic Virus Sensitizers, Mol Ther, Vol.18, Issue 6, 1123-1129 -> view abstract

Breitbach CJ;Reid T;Burke J;Bell JC;Kirn DH;, (2010 Apr), Navigating the clinical development landscape for oncolytic viruses and other cancer therapeutics: no shortcuts on the road to approval, Cytokine Growth Factor Rev , Vol.21, Issue 3-Feb, 85-89 -> view abstract

Le BF;Bell JC;, (2010 Apr), United virus: the oncolytic tag-team against cancer!. [Review] [40 refs], Cytokine & Growth Factor Reviews, Vol.21, Issue 3-Feb, 205-211 -> view abstract

Note: This is not a complete list of publications. More publications may be available in The Ottawa Hospital Library database and Pubmed (search by last name and initials).