title: IL-2 enhances the function of recombinant poxvirus-based vaccines in the treatment of established pulmonary metastases.
abstract: Neoplastic cells are generally poor immunogens. Transfection of the murine tumor CT-26 with beta-galactosidase (beta-gal), a protein from Escherichia coli, did not alter its growth rate in vivo, or its lethality, and did not elicit a measurable anti-beta-gal immune response. Immunization with beta-gal-expressing recombinant vaccinia viruses (rVV) elicited specific anti-beta-gal cytolytic T lymphocytes, but rVV-beta-gal was only marginally therapeutic when given to tumor-bearing mice. With the aim of expanding the immune response against beta-gal, used here as a model tumor Ag, we gave mice exogenous IL-2 starting 12 h after the poxvirus. The therapeutic effectiveness of the combination of poxvirus and IL-2 was far greater than either of these treatments alone. When the cDNA for IL-2 was inserted into the viral genome of the rVV construct to make a double recombinant (drVV), antitumor activity was further augmented. One mechanism of action may be the enhanced activation or expansion of cytotoxic T cells, because a marked increase in primary cytotoxic responses against vaccinia determinants was observed. Interestingly, other cytokines (mGM-CSF, mTNF-alpha, and mIFN-gamma) inserted into the rVV genome did not modify the efficacy of the rVV constructs. The increase in specific CTL responses against beta-gal by drVV expressing the tumor-associated Ags (TAA) and IL-2 was more pronounced in mice bearing the lacZ-transduced tumor than in those bearing the parental cell line, suggesting that the TAA presented by growing tumor cells can either pre-activate or otherwise amplify the immune response induced by the rVV. Unfortunately, in several long-term surviving mice, tumor recurred that no longer expressed beta-gal. These results indicate that treatment of disseminated tumors by using recombinant viruses expressing TAA can be enhanced by IL-2 provided exogenously, or encoded within the recombinant virus.
authors.affiliation: Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bronte
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsung
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Restifo
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000628:therapy*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011212:Poxviridae / Q000276:immunology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014616:Vaccinia virus / Q000276:immunology; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D007376:Interleukin-2; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D001616:beta-Galactosidase