title: Expression of melanoma-associated antigens in human dendritic cells pulsed with an interleukin-2 gene encoded vaccinia melanoma oncolysate (rIL-2VMO).
abstract: Dendritic cells (DCs) possess the unique abilities to initiate a primary immune response and to present antigens to naïve T lymphocytes. Recently, there has been a rapidly growing interest in the use of DCs in active specific immunotherapy (ASI) for the treatment of patients with cancer. In the present study, we determined the ability of DCs to express Melanoma-Associated Antigens (MAAs) from a polyvalent Melanoma Vaccine (DC-MelVac; Patent #11221/5) developed in our facility. The vaccine consists of a recombinant IL-2 gene-encoded vaccinia melanoma oncolysate (rIL-2VMO) derived from an established human melanoma cell line. Our results show that r-IL2VMO-pulsed DCs express MAAs presented by the Mel-2 melanoma cell line oncolysate used in this study. We believe that these promising results will prove useful as an active specific immunotherapeutic agent for patients with Stage III melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center, New York Medical College, and Metropolitan Hospital Center, New York, New York 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Nebil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aydin
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jack
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Montenegro
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boyes
authors.forename: Khorshed
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.forename: Marc K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Wallack
mesh_terms: D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D012016:Reference Values; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D007376:Interleukin-2; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins