title: Evidence for induction of humoral and cytotoxic immune responses against devil facial tumor disease cells in Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) immunized with killed cell preparations.
abstract: Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) risk extinction from a contagious cancer, devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) in which the infectious agent is the tumor cell itself. Because devils are unable to produce an immune response against the tumor cells no devil has survived 'infection'. To promote an immune response we immunized healthy devils with killed DFTD tumor cells in the presence of adjuvants. Immune responses, including cytotoxicity and antibody production, were detected in five of the six devils. The incorporation of adjuvants that act via toll like receptors may provide additional signals to break 'immunological ignorance'. One of these devils was protected against a challenge with viable DFTD cells. This was a short-term protection as re-challenge one year later resulted in tumor growth. These results suggest that Tasmanian devils can generate immune responses against DFTD cells. With further optimization of immune stimulation it should be possible to protect Tasmanian devils against DFTD with an injectable vaccine.
authors.affiliation: Menzies Institute for Medical Research Tasmania, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia. Electronic address: Alexandre.Kreiss@utas.edu.au.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kreiss
authors.affiliation: Menzies Institute for Medical Research Tasmania, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia. Electronic address: Gabby.Brown@dhhs.tas.gov.au.
authors.forename: G K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Menzies Institute for Medical Research Tasmania, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia. Electronic address: Cesar.Tovar@utas.edu.au.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tovar
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia. Electronic address: Bruce.Lyons@utas.edu.au.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.affiliation: Menzies Institute for Medical Research Tasmania, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia; School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia. Electronic address: G.M.Woods@utas.edu.au.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Woods
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000818:Animals; D000912:Antibodies, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood*; D001315:Australia; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D002460:Cell Line; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005153:Facial Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D006801:Humans; D056724:Immunity, Humoral; D008353:Mannitol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000276:immunology; D008394:Marsupialia / Q000276:immunology*; D009829:Oleic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000912:Antibodies, Neoplasm; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D009829:Oleic Acids; C477385:montanide ISA 51; D008353:Mannitol
keywords: Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD); ELISA; Flow cytometry; Marsupial; Montanide; Tasmanian devil; Transmissible cancer; Veterinary immunology