Immunotherapy of murine colon cancer using receptor tyrosine kinase EphA2-derived peptide-pulsed dendritic cell vaccines.
BACKGROUND
Further optimization of dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccines is required clinically against advanced stage cancer. Given the broad range of expression levels observed in the recently defined tumor antigen EphA2 in a diverse types of cancers, especially in advanced stage or metastatic cancers, the authors evaluated the effectiveness of vaccination using DCs pulsed with EphA2-derived peptides (Eph-DCs) in a murine colon cancer model.


METHODS
EphA2 protein expression levels were evaluated in advanced colorectal carcinoma tissues from 10 patients by Western blot analysis. C57BL/6 mice were immunized with Eph-DCs twice weekly. Interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) ELISPOT assays were used for the analysis of CD8-positive T cells that were specific for EphA2-derived peptide. Immunized mice were challenged subcutaneously with EphA2-positive murine colorectal adenocarcinoma (MC38) mouse colon tumors or with EphA2-negative BL6 melanoma tumors. In some experiments, mice were injected with anti-CD8, anti-CD4, or antiasialo GM1 antibody to deplete corresponding lymphocyte subsets.


RESULTS
Among 10 samples of advanced colorectal carcinoma, 6 samples (60%) overexpressed EphA2. IFN-gamma ELISPOT assays revealed that EphA2-derived peptide-specific CD8-positive T cells were generated by immunization with Eph-DCs. Immunization with Eph-DCs inhibited MC38 tumor growth compared with immunization using unpulsed DCs or phosphate-buffered saline. In contrast, Eph-DC vaccination had no effect on BL6 growth. Antibody depletion studies revealed that both CD8-positive T cells and CD4-positive T cells, but not natural killer cells, played critical roles in the efficacy observed for immunizations with Eph-DCs. Eph-DC vaccines resulted in long-term antitumor immunity against a rechallenge with MC38 tumor cells.


CONCLUSIONS
The current results demonstrated that Eph-DC vaccines may represent a promising preventative/therapeutic modality in the cancer setting.
Yamaguchi
Shinjiro
S
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
Tatsumi
Tomohide
T
Takehara
Tetsuo
T
Sakamori
Ryotaro
R
Uemura
Akio
A
Mizushima
Tsunekazu
T
Ohkawa
Kazuyoshi
K
Storkus
Walter J
WJ
Hayashi
Norio
N
D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D003713:Dendritic Cells; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000276:immunology; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D036104:Receptor, EphA2; D013997:Time Factors; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000276:immunology
D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D036104:Receptor, EphA2