Linkage of foreign carrier protein to a self-tumor antigen enhances the immunogenicity of a pulsed dendritic cell vaccine

The unique Ag-presenting capabilities of dendritic cells (DCs) make them attractive vehicles for the delivery of therapeutic cancer vaccines. While tumor Ag-pulsed DC vaccination has shown promising results in a variety of murine tumor models and early clinical trials, the optimal form of tumor Ag for use in DC pulsing has not been determined. We have studied DC vaccination using alternative forms of a soluble protein tumor Ag, the tumor-specific Ig idiotype (Id) expressed by a murine B cell lymphoma. Vaccination of mice with Id-pulsed DCs was able to induce anti-Id Abs only when the Id was modified to constitute a hapten-carrier system. DCs pulsed with Id proteins modified to include foreign constant regions, foreign constant regions plus GM-CSF, or linkage to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) carrier protein were increasingly potent in their ability to elicit anti-Id Abs. Vaccination with Id-KLH-pulsed DCs induced tumor-protective immunity superior to that obtained with Id-KLH plus a chemical adjuvant, and protection was not dependent upon effector T cells. Rather, protection was associated with the induction of high titers of anti-Id Abs of the IgG2a subclass, characteristic of a Th1 response. These findings have implications for the design of therapeutic Ag-pulsed DC vaccines for cancer immunotherapy in humans.     

Persistent antibody and T cell responses induced by HIV-1 DNA vaccine delivered by electroporation

Intramuscular needle injection of HIV-1 DNA vaccines typically elicits weak immune responses in immunized individuals. To improve such responses, the immunogenicity of a vaccine consisting of electroporated DNA followed by intramuscular protein boost was evaluated in rabbits and macaques. In macaques, electroporation of low dose DNA encoding HIV-1 env followed by gp120 protein elicited Th1 cytokines and functional CTL that persisted for over 1 year. In both macaques and rabbits, robust anti-envelope antibodies, elicited by electroporated DNA, were augmented by gp120 protein and such responses neutralized sensitive SHIV isolates. These findings highlight efficient priming of immune responses by electroporated DNA that in conjunction with protein boost may give rise to long-term immunity in immunized hosts.     

Synovial T cell hyporesponsiveness to myeloid dendritic cells is reversed by preventing PD-1/PD-L1 interactions

Introduction

The aim of this study was to investigate PD-1/PD-L1 involvement in the hyporesponsiveness of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial fluid (SF) CD4 T cells upon stimulation by thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP)–primed CD1c myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs).

Methods

Expression of PD-1 on naïve (Tn), central memory (Tcm) and effector memory (Tem) CD4 T cell subsets was assessed by flow cytometry. PD-L1 expression and its regulation upon TSLP stimulation of mDCs from peripheral blood (PB) and SF of RA patients were investigated by quantitative RT-PCR and flow cytometry. The involvement of PD-1/PD-L1 interactions in SF T cell hyporesponsiveness upon (TSLP-primed) mDC activation was determined by cell culture in the presence of PD-1 blocking antibodies, with or without interleukin 7 (IL-7) as a recognized suppressor of PD-1 expression.

Results

PD-1 expression was increased on CD4 T cells derived from SF compared with PB of RA patients. TSLP increased PD-L1 mRNA expression in both PB and SF mDCs. PD-L1 protein expression was increased on SF mDCs compared with PB mDCs and was associated with T cell hyporesponsiveness. Blockade of PD-1, as well as IL-7 stimulation, during cocultures of memory T cells and (TSLP-primed) mDCs from RA patients significantly recovered T cell proliferation.

Conclusion

SF T cell hyporesponsiveness upon (TSLP-primed) mDC stimulation in RA joints is partially dependent on PD-1/PD-L1 interactions, as PD-1 and PD-L1 are both highly expressed on SF T cells and mDCs, respectively, and inhibiting PD-1 availability restores T cell proliferation. The potential of IL-7 to robustly reverse this hyporesponsiveness suggests that such proinflammatory cytokines in RA joints strongly contribute to memory T cell activation.     

Dendritic cell vaccine with mRNA targeted to the proteasome by polyubiquitination

Dendritic cells (DCs) transfected with mRNA encoding tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) can induce tumor-specific T-cell responses. To potentiate this, we transfected mature DCs (mDCs) with mRNA encoding TAA targeted to the proteasome. DCs were generated from bone marrow cells by culture with 20 ng/ml GM-CSF and maturation with 1 μg/ml LPS. These mDCs were then electroporated with 10 μg of mRNA. Antigen presentation after electroporation with in vitro transcribed mRNA was compared with mRNA from a construct of the TAA preceded by ubiquitin. Proteasomal targeting of mRNA encoding cotranslationally ubiquitinated antigen was found to enhance intracellular degradation of target protein, and result in more efficient priming and expansion of TAA-specific CD8⁺ T-cells. We therefore suggest that RNA-transfected DC vaccine efficacy could be improved by the use of mRNA targeted to the proteasome.     

Improving therapeutic HPV peptide-based vaccine potency by enhancing CD4+ T help and dendritic cell activation

Background  

Effective vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) represents an opportunity to control cervical cancer. Peptide-based vaccines targeting HPV E6 and/or E7 antigens while safe, will most likely require additional strategies to enhance the vaccine potency.     

Improving DNA vaccine potency by linking Marek's disease virus type 1 VP22 to an antigen

We have previously employed an intercellular spreading strategy using herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) VP22 protein to enhance DNA vaccine potency because DNA vaccines lack the intrinsic ability to amplify in cells. Recently, studies have demonstrated that the protein encoded by UL49 of Marek's disease virus type 1 (MDV-1) exhibits some degree of homology to the HSV-1 VP22 protein and features the property of intercellular transport. We therefore generated a DNA vaccine encoding MDV-1 VP22 linked to a model antigen, human papillomavirus type 16 E7. We demonstrated that compared with mice vaccinated with DNA encoding wild-type E7, mice vaccinated with MDV-1 VP22/E7 DNA exhibited a significant increase in number of gamma-interferon-secreting, E7-specific CD8(+)-T-cell precursors as well as stronger tumor prevention and treatment effects. Furthermore, our data indicated that the antitumor effect was CD8 dependent. These results suggested that the development of vaccines encoding VP22 fused to a target antigen might be a promising strategy for improving DNA vaccine potency.     

Recruitment of antigen-presenting cells to the site of inoculation and augmentation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 DNA vaccine immunogenicity by in vivo electroporation

In vivo electroporation (EP) has been shown to augment the immunogenicity of plasmid DNA vaccines, but its mechanism of action has not been fully characterized. In this study, we show that in vivo EP augmented cellular and humoral immune responses to a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Env DNA vaccine in mice and allowed a 10-fold reduction in vaccine dose. This enhancement was durable for over 6 months, and re-exposure to antigen resulted in anamnestic effector and central memory CD8(+) T-lymphocyte responses. Interestingly, in vivo EP also recruited large mixed cellular inflammatory infiltrates to the site of inoculation. These infiltrates contained 45-fold-increased numbers of macrophages and 77-fold-increased numbers of dendritic cells as well as 2- to 6-fold-increased numbers of B and T lymphocytes compared to infiltrates following DNA vaccination alone. These data suggest that recruiting inflammatory cells, including antigen-presenting cells (APCs), to the site of antigen production substantially improves the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines. Combining in vivo EP with plasmid chemokine adjuvants that similarly recruited APCs to the injection site, however, did not result in synergy.     

Induction of antitumor immunity by dendritic cells loaded with membrane-translocating mucin 1 Peptide antigen

To investigate the role of enhanced antigen presentation in dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapy. Here, we describe the development of a cell-penetrating mucin 1 (MUC1) antigen and its immunotherapeutic potential against tumors. After animal groups received two immunizations of MUC1-MPA(11)P-pulsed DCs, we observed a marked tumor regression compared with the mice treated with DCs alone or DCs pulsed with MUC1 peptide. We confirmed the migration and homing of DCs in the popliteal lymph node using magnetic resonance imaging during the study. In summary, enhanced antigen uptake using an MPA(11)P delivery molecule improves cell therapy.     

细胞培养结合实时荧光RT-PCR法快速检测甲肝病毒滴度的研究

目的建立一种细胞培养与实时荧光RT-PCR相结合的快速检测甲肝病毒滴度的方法。方法根据甲肝病毒(HAV)L-A-1株5'端基因组序列,设计了2条基因特异性引物及一条探针,建立实时荧光RT-PCR法,结合细胞培养检测甲肝病毒滴度,并与ELISA检测法进行比较。结果实验中建立的方法能特异检测甲肝病毒,细胞培养8d检测病毒滴度为lg107.0CCID50/mL。同一样本重复检测3次,批内样本Ct值的变异系数最大为0.89%,批间样本Ct值变异系数最大为1.66%。建立的细胞培养结合实时荧光RT-PCR法(细胞培养8 d)与细胞培养ELISA法(细胞培养28 d)检测甲肝病毒滴度结果差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。结论该方法具有快速、灵敏、特异等优点,应用于疫苗常规检测有良好前景。     

HIV-1 capture and antigen presentation by dendritic cells: enhanced viral capture does not correlate with better T cell activation

During HIV-1 infection, dendritic cells (DC) facilitate dissemination of HIV-1 while trying to trigger adaptive antiviral immune responses. We examined whether increased HIV-1 capture in DC matured with LPS results in more efficient Ag presentation to HIV-1-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. To block the DC-mediated trans-infection of HIV-1 and maximize Ag loading, we also evaluated a noninfectious integrase-deficient HIV-1 isolate, HIV(NL4-3ΔIN). We showed that higher viral capture of DC did not guarantee better Ag presentation or T cell activation. Greater HIV(NL4-3) uptake by fully LPS-matured DC resulted in higher viral transmission to target cells but poorer stimulation of HIV-1-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. Conversely, maturation of DC with LPS during, but not before, viral loading enhanced both HLA-I and HLA-II HIV-1-derived Ag presentation. In contrast, DC maturation with the clinical-grade mixture consisting of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, and PGE(2) during viral uptake only stimulated HIV-1-specific CD8(+) T cells. Hence, DC maturation state, activation stimulus, and time lag between DC maturation and Ag loading impact HIV-1 capture and virus Ag presentation. Our results demonstrate a dissociation between the capacity to capture HIV-1 and to present viral Ags. Integrase-deficient HIV(NL4-3ΔIN) was also efficiently captured and presented by DC through the HLA-I and HLA-II pathways but in the absence of viral dissemination. HIV(NL4-3ΔIN) seems to be an attractive candidate to be explored. These results provide new insights into DC biology and have implications in the optimization of DC-based immunotherapy against HIV-1 infection.     

Induction of antibodies to a tumor-associated antigen by immunization with a whole melanoma cell vaccine

Summary Urinary-tumor-associated antigen (U-TAA) is a glycoprotein present in the urine of melanoma patients. Previous studies have addressed the role of U-TAA in immunoprognosis. The present investigation was undertaken to determine whether the administration of whole melanoma cell vaccine (MCV) could induce the formation of anti-(U-TAA) antibodies in melanoma patients. The subjects of this study were stage II and III melanoma patients receiving MCV alone or in conjunction with cyclophosphamide. Anti-(U-TAA) IgM and IgG antibody levels were determined by enzyme immunoassay in sequential serum samples from 15 stage II and III melanoma patients receiving MCV. U-TAA purified from the urine of a melanoma patient was used as a target in this assay. The mean anti-(U-TAA) IgM titer prior to vaccination was similar to that of a non-vaccinated melanoma control group (1:1138±214, n=15 vs 1:1334±254, n=7; P=0.375) but prevaccination IgG levels were generally higher than in the control group (1:3984±602 vs 1:2595±423; 0.1>P>0.05). While only 6 of the 15 patients demonstrated a rise in levels of IgG antibodies (mean 1:2964±1047 pre-MCV to 1:9958±2677 post MCV, P<0.01), 11 of the 15 patients demonstrated a greater than twofold rise in their anti-(U-TAA) IgM titers following vaccination (1:1051±259 pre-MCV to 1:2518±576 post-MCV; P<0.005). In addition, patients with visceral metastases consistently elicited anti-(U-TAA) responses equivalent to those with more limited disease. Concomitant administration of cyclophosphamide did not affect the response rates or peak antibody levels. The possibility that these antibody responses were actually against histo-compatibility locus antigens (HLA) (contaminating our U-TAA preparation) was ruled out because the target antigen (U-TAA) was devoid of HLA, and because the induction of anti-(U-TAA) antibodies did not correlate with the induction of anti-HLA antibodies. These results demonstrate augmentation of anti-(U-TAA) IgM and IgG antibodies by immunization with the MCV.     

Enhancing DNA vaccine potency by combining a strategy to prolong dendritic cell life with intracellular targeting strategies

We have recently shown that intradermal coadministration of DNA encoding Ag with DNA encoding inhibitors of apoptosis, including Bcl-x(L), prolongs dendritic cell (DC) life and thereby enhances the potency of DNA vaccines in vivo. We have also demonstrated that DNA vaccines targeting Ag to subcellular compartments, using proteins such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis heat shock protein 70, calreticulin, or the sorting signal of the lysosome-associated membrane protein type 1 (LAMP-1), enhanced DNA vaccine potency. In this study, we reasoned that the combination of a strategy to prolong DC life with intracellular targeting strategies might produce a more effective DNA vaccine against human papillomavirus E7. We showed that coadministration of DNA encoding Bcl-x(L) with DNA encoding E7/heat shock protein 70, calreticulin/E7, or Sig/E7/LAMP-1 resulted in further enhancement of the E7-specific CD8(+) T cell response for all three constructs. Of these strategies, mice vaccinated with Sig/E7/LAMP-1 DNA mixed with Bcl-x(L) DNA showed the greatest increase in E7-specific CD8(+) T cells ( approximately 13-fold increase). This combination of strategies resulted in increased CD8(+) T cell functional avidity, an increased E7-specific CD4(+) Th1 cell response, enhanced tumor treatment ability, and stronger long-term tumor protection when compared with mice vaccinated without Bcl-x(L) DNA. Therefore, DNA vaccines that combine strategies to enhance intracellular Ag processing and prolong DC life have potential clinical implications for control of viral infection and neoplasia.     

Induction of CML28-specific cytotoxic T cell responses using co-transfected dendritic cells with CML28 DNA vaccine and SOCS1 small interfering RNA expression vector

CML28 is an attractive target for antigen-specific immunotherapy. SOCS1 represents an inhibitory control mechanism for DC antigen presentation and the magnitude of adaptive immunity. In this study, we evaluated the potential for inducing CML28-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) responses by dendritic cells (DCs)-based vaccination. We constructed a CML28 DNA vaccine and a SOCS1 siRNA vector and then cotransfect monocyte-derived DCs. Flow cytometry analysis showed gene silencing of SOCS1 resulted in higher expressions of costimulative moleculars in DCs. Mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) indicated downregulation of SOCS1 stronger capability to stimulate proliferation of responder cell in DCs. The CTL assay revealed transfected DCs effectively induced autologous CML28-specific CTL responses and the lytic activities induced by SOCS1-silenced DCs were significantly higher compared with those induced by SOCS1-expressing DCs. These results in our study indicates gene silencing of SOCS1 remarkably enhanced the cytotoxicity efficiency of CML28 DNA vaccine in DCs.     

Improving Pb2+ detection using DNAzyme-based fluorescence sensors by pairing fluorescence donors with gold nanoparticles

For previously reported fluorescence Pb(2+) sensors, DNAzymes have lead to a significant increase in Pb(2+) detecting sensitivity and specificity. However, these sensors suffer from incomplete fluorescence quenching and require additional steps for annealing DNAzymes and substrates as well as for removing the uncoupled substrates. In this study, we successfully overcome these issues by immobilizing the substrate nucleic acids on gold nanoparticles through thiol linkages. The immobilization of the substrate molecules to the gold nanoparticles lead to almost-complete fluorescence quenching and fast Pb(2+) detection, without altering the Pb(2+) specificity of the DNAzymes. After optimizing the concentration of DNAzymes, reaction time and pH, we could detect Pb(2+) as low as 5 nM within 20 min without the preliminary and the post treatments. Considering the multi-color-fluorescence quenching capability of gold nanoparticles and the to-be-developed functional nucleic acids for other metal ions, this study could extend the application of DNAzymes to the detection of multiple heavy metal ions.     

Comprehensive immunological analyses of colorectal cancer patients in the phase I/II study of quickly matured dendritic cell vaccine pulsed with carcinoembryonic antigen peptide

Dendritic cell (DC) vaccine has been used to treat patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). The results of vaccine-induced clinical responses have not always been satisfactory partially because of DC incompetence. In order to evaluate the feasibility of novel mature DCs for therapeutic adjuvants against CRC, we conducted clinical trials with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) peptide-loaded DC quickly generated with a combination of OK432 (Streptococcuspyogenes preparation), prostanoid, and interferon-α (OPA-DC). In the ten patients enrolled in this study, the OPA-DC vaccine was well tolerated and administered four times every 2?weeks except for two patients, who were switched to other treatments due to disease progression. Among the eight evaluable patients, one displayed stable disease (SD), while the remaining seven showed progressive disease (PD). In the SD patient, natural killer (NK) cell frequency and cytolytic activity were increased. In the same patient, the frequency of CEA-specific cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) increased stepwise with repetitive vaccinations; however, most of the CTLs exhibited central memory phenotype. In those with PD, NK cells proliferated well regardless of failure of response, whereas CTLs failed to do so. We concluded that the OPA-DC vaccine is well tolerated and has immune-stimulatory capacity in patients with CRC. Additional modulation is needed to attain significant clinical impact.     

Improving the safety of a conditional-live human immunodeficiency virus type 1 vaccine by controlling both gene expression and cell entry

Live attenuated human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccines are considered unsafe because faster-replicating pathogenic virus variants may evolve after vaccination. We previously presented a conditional-live HIV-1 variant of which replication can be switched off as an alternative vaccination strategy. To improve the safety of such a vaccine, we constructed a new HIV-1 variant that depends not only on doxycycline for gene expression but also on the T20 peptide for cell entry. Replication of this virus can be limited to the level required to induce the immune system by transient administration of doxycycline and T20. Subsequent withdrawal of these inducers efficiently blocks viral replication and evolution.     

CTA1-DD-immune stimulating complexes: a novel, rationally designed combined mucosal vaccine adjuvant effective with nanogram doses of antigen.

Mucosally active vaccine adjuvants that will prime a full range of local and systemic immune responses against defined antigenic epitopes are much needed. Cholera toxin and lipophilic immune stimulating complexes (ISCOMS) containing Quil A can both act as adjuvants for orally administered Ags, possibly by targeting different APCs. Recently, we have been successful in separating the adjuvant and toxic effects of cholera toxin by constructing a gene fusion protein, CTA1-DD, that combines the enzymatically active CTA1-subunit with a B cell-targeting moiety, D, derived from Staphylococcus aureus protein A. Here we have extended this work by combining CTA1-DD with ISCOMS, which normally target dendritic cells and/or macrophages. ISCOMS containing a fusion protein comprising the OVA(323-339) peptide epitope linked to CTA1-DD were highly immunogenic when given in nanogram doses by the s.c., oral, or nasal routes, inducing a wide range of T cell-dependent immune responses. In contrast, ISCOMS containing the enzymatically inactive CTA1-R7K-DD mutant protein were much less effective, indicating that at least part of the activity of the combined vector requires the ADP-ribosylating property of CTA1. No toxicity was observed by any route. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the successful combination of two mechanistically different principles of adjuvant action. We conclude that rationally designed vectors consisting of CTA1-DD and ISCOMS may provide a novel strategy for the generation of potent and safe mucosal vaccines.     

Maturation of monocyte-derived dendritic cells with Toll-like receptor 3 and 7/8 ligands combined with prostaglandin E2 results in high interleukin-12 production and cell migration

Dendritic cells (DC) are professional antigen-presenting cells of the immune system that play a key role in regulating T cell-based immunity. In vivo, the capacity of DC to activate T cells depends on their ability to migrate to the T cell areas of lymph nodes as well as on their maturation state. Depending on their cytokine-secreting profile, DC are able to skew the immune response in a specific direction. In particular, IL-12p70 producing DC drive T cells towards a T helper 1 type response. A serious disadvantage of current clinical grade ex vivo generated monocyte-derived DC is the poor IL-12p70 production. We have investigated the effects of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated maturation on ex vivo generated human monocyte-derived DC. We demonstrate that in contrast to cytokine-matured DC, DC matured with poly(I:C) (TLR3 ligand) and/or R848 (TLR7/8 ligand) are able to produce vast amounts of IL-12p70, but exhibit a reduced migratory capacity. The addition of prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) improved the migratory capacity of TLR-ligand matured DC while maintaining their IL-12p70 production upon T cell encounter. We propose a novel clinical grade maturation protocol in which TLR ligands poly(I:C) and R848 are combined with PGE(2) to generate DC with both high migratory capacity and IL-12p70 production upon T cell encounter.