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Boilesen DR, Neckermann P, Willert T, Müller MD, Schrödel S, Pertl C, Thirion C, Asbach B, Wagner R, Holst PJ. Efficacy and Synergy with Cisplatin of an Adenovirus Vectored Therapeutic E1E2E6E7 Vaccine against HPV Genome-Positive C3 Cancers in Mice. Cancer Immunol Res 2023; 11:261-275. [PMID: 36534088 DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.cir-22-0174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2022] [Revised: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are the main cause of cervical and oropharyngeal cancers. As prophylactic vaccines have no curative effect, an efficient therapy would be highly desired. Most therapeutic vaccine candidates target only a small subset of HPV regulatory proteins, namely, E6 and E7, and are therefore restricted in the breadth of their immune response. However, research has suggested E1 and E2 as promising targets to fight HPV+ cancer. Here, we report the design of adenoviral vectors efficiently expressing HPV16 E1 and E2 in addition to transformation-deficient E6 and E7. Vaccination elicited vigorous CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses against all encoded HPV16 proteins in outbred mice and against E1 and E7 in C57BL/6 mice. Therapeutic vaccination of C3 tumor-bearing mice led to significantly reduced tumor growth and enhanced survival for both small and established tumors. Tumor biopsies revealed increased numbers of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells in treated mice. Cisplatin enhanced the effect of therapeutic vaccination, accompanied by enhanced infiltration of dendritic cells into the tumor. CD8+ T cells were identified as effector cells in T-cell depletion assays, seemingly under regulation by FoxP3+CD4+ regulatory T cells. Finally, therapeutic vaccination with Ad-Ii-E1E2E6E7 exhibited significantly enhanced survival compared with vaccination with two peptides each harboring a known E6/E7 epitope. We hypothesize that this difference could be due to the induction of additional T-cell responses against E1. These results support the use of this novel vaccine candidate targeting an extended set of antigens (Ad-Ii-E1E2E6E7), in combination with cisplatin, as an advanced strategy to combat HPV+ cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ditte Rahbæk Boilesen
- Centre for Medical Parasitology, The Panum Institute, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,InProTher ApS, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Patrick Neckermann
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Molecular Microbiology (Virology), University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | | | - Mikkel Dons Müller
- Centre for Medical Parasitology, The Panum Institute, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,InProTher ApS, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | | | | | - Benedikt Asbach
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Molecular Microbiology (Virology), University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Ralf Wagner
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Molecular Microbiology (Virology), University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.,Institute of Clinical Microbiology and Hygiene, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Peter Johannes Holst
- Centre for Medical Parasitology, The Panum Institute, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,InProTher ApS, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Vergara Bermejo A, Ragonnaud E, Daradoumis J, Holst P. Cancer Associated Endogenous Retroviruses: Ideal Immune Targets for Adenovirus-Based Immunotherapy. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21144843. [PMID: 32650622 PMCID: PMC7402293 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21144843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Revised: 07/06/2020] [Accepted: 07/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer is a major challenge in our societies, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) about 1/6 deaths were cancer related in 2018 and it is considered the second leading cause of death globally. Immunotherapies have changed the paradigm of oncologic treatment for several cancers where the field had fallen short in providing competent therapies. Despite the improvement, broadly acting and highly effective therapies capable of eliminating or preventing human cancers with insufficient mutated antigens are still missing. Adenoviral vector-based vaccines are a successful tool in the treatment of various diseases including cancer; however, their success has been limited. In this review we discuss the potential of adenovirus as therapeutic tools and the current developments to use them against cancer. More specifically, we examine how to use them to target endogenous retroviruses (ERVs). ERVs, comprising 8% of the human genome, have been detected in several cancers, while they remain silent in healthy tissues. Their low immunogenicity together with their immunosuppressive capacity aid cancer to escape immunosurveillance. In that regard, virus-like-vaccine (VLV) technology, combining adenoviral vectors and virus-like-particles (VLPs), can be ideal to target ERVs and elicit B-cell responses, as well as CD8+ and CD4+ T-cells responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amaia Vergara Bermejo
- InProTher, Bioinnovation Institute, Copenhagen Bio Science Park, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark; (E.R.); (J.D.)
- Correspondence: (A.V.B.); (P.H.)
| | - Emeline Ragonnaud
- InProTher, Bioinnovation Institute, Copenhagen Bio Science Park, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark; (E.R.); (J.D.)
| | - Joana Daradoumis
- InProTher, Bioinnovation Institute, Copenhagen Bio Science Park, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark; (E.R.); (J.D.)
- Center for Medical Parasitology, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Peter Holst
- InProTher, Bioinnovation Institute, Copenhagen Bio Science Park, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark; (E.R.); (J.D.)
- Center for Medical Parasitology, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Correspondence: (A.V.B.); (P.H.)
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Improved detection of gene fusions by applying statistical methods reveals oncogenic RNA cancer drivers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:15524-15533. [PMID: 31308241 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1900391116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The extent to which gene fusions function as drivers of cancer remains a critical open question. Current algorithms do not sufficiently identify false-positive fusions arising during library preparation, sequencing, and alignment. Here, we introduce Data-Enriched Efficient PrEcise STatistical fusion detection (DEEPEST), an algorithm that uses statistical modeling to minimize false-positives while increasing the sensitivity of fusion detection. In 9,946 tumor RNA-sequencing datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) across 33 tumor types, DEEPEST identifies 31,007 fusions, 30% more than identified by other methods, while calling 10-fold fewer false-positive fusions in nontransformed human tissues. We leverage the increased precision of DEEPEST to discover fundamental cancer biology. Namely, 888 candidate oncogenes are identified based on overrepresentation in DEEPEST calls, and 1,078 previously unreported fusions involving long intergenic noncoding RNAs, demonstrating a previously unappreciated prevalence and potential for function. DEEPEST also reveals a high enrichment for fusions involving oncogenes in cancers, including ovarian cancer, which has had minimal treatment advances in recent decades, finding that more than 50% of tumors harbor gene fusions predicted to be oncogenic. Specific protein domains are enriched in DEEPEST calls, indicating a global selection for fusion functionality: kinase domains are nearly 2-fold more enriched in DEEPEST calls than expected by chance, as are domains involved in (anaerobic) metabolism and DNA binding. The statistical algorithms, population-level analytic framework, and the biological conclusions of DEEPEST call for increased attention to gene fusions as drivers of cancer and for future research into using fusions for targeted therapy.
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Zhang H, Liu C, Zhang F, Geng F, Xia Q, Lu Z, Xu P, Xie Y, Wu H, Yu B, Wu J, Yu X, Kong W. MUC1 and survivin combination tumor gene vaccine generates specific immune responses and anti-tumor effects in a murine melanoma model. Vaccine 2016; 34:2648-55. [DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.04.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2015] [Revised: 03/17/2016] [Accepted: 04/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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Fas ligand DNA enhances a vaccination effect by coadministered DNA encoding a tumor antigen through augmenting production of antibody against the tumor antigen. J Immunol Res 2015; 2015:743828. [PMID: 25759847 PMCID: PMC4352480 DOI: 10.1155/2015/743828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2014] [Accepted: 02/03/2015] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Interaction of Fas and Fas ligand (FasL) plays an important role in the regulation of immune responses by inducing apoptosis of activated cells; however, a possible role of FasL in DNA vaccination has not been well understood. We examined whether administration of DNA encoding FasL gene enhanced antitumor effects in mice that were vaccinated with DNA expressing a putative tumor antigen gene, β-galactosidase (β-gal). Growth of β-gal-positive Colon 26 tumors was retarded in the syngeneic mice immunized with β-gal and FasL DNA compared with those vaccinated with β-gal or FasL DNA. We did not detect increased numbers of β-gal-specific CD8(+) T cells in lymph node of mice that received combination of β-gal and FasL DNA, but amounts of anti-β-gal antibody increased with the combination but not with β-gal or FasL DNA injection alone. Subtype analysis of anti-β-gal antibody produced by the combination of β-gal and FasL DNA or β-gal DNA injection showed that IgG2a amounts were greater in mice injected with both DNA than those with β-gal DNA alone, but IgG2b amounts were lower in both DNA-injected than β-gal DNA-injected mice. These data suggest that FasL is involved in boosting humoral immunity against a gene product encoded by coinjected DNA and enhances the vaccination effects.
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