Serum protease inhibitor abrogation of Newcastle disease virus enhancement of cytolysis by recombinant tumor necrosis factors alpha and beta.

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) has been used to induce regression of tumors in human cancer patients. We recently demonstrated that human malignant melanoma cells resistant to the lytic effects of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) become susceptible after treatment with NDV. We examined the effects of a serine protease inhibitor, N-1-tosylamide-2-phenyl-ethyl-chloromethyl ketone (TPCK), on viral enhancement of TNF cytotoxicity. Virulent NDV (but neither heat- nor UV-inactivated NDV) induced a 100-fold increase in the sensitivity of murine fibroblast L929 cells to recombinant human TNF-alpha (rHuTNF-alpha), rHuTNF-beta, and recombinant murine TNF-alpha (rMuTNF-alpha). TPCK, which is an inhibitor of chymotrypsin-like proteases, blocked between 42% and 93% of the cytolytic activity of rMuTNF-alpha, rHuTNF-alpha, and rHuTNF-beta toward NDV-treated L929 cells. Similarly, TPCK abrogated 62% of the cytotoxicity of rMuTNF-alpha toward dactinomycin-treated L929 cells. In contrast, TPCK had no effect on WEHI 164 clone 13 cells, a murine fibrosarcoma cell line that is much more sensitive to the lytic effects of TNF and does not show enhanced sensitivity to TNF after treatment with either NDV or dactinomycin. These results suggest a role for a cellular protease in the mechanism by which some viruses sensitize tumor cells to the cytolytic activity of TNF.