RESUMO
Chromosomal translocations generating the BCR-ABL oncogene cause chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and a subset of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The BCR-ABL(T315I) mutation confers drug resistance to FDA-approved targeted therapeutics imatinib mesylate, dasatinib, and nilotinib. We tested the ability of a recombinant yeast-based vaccine expressing the T315I-mutated BCR-ABL antigen to stimulate an anti-BCR-ABL(T315I) immune response. The yeast-based immunotherapy significantly reduced or eliminated BCR-ABL(T315I) leukemia cells from the peripheral blood of immunized animals and extended leukemia-free survival in a murine model of BCR-ABL(+) leukemia compared to animals receiving sham injection or yeast expressing ovalbumin. With immunization, leukemic cells harboring BCR-ABL(T315I) were selectively eliminated after challenge with a mixed population of BCR-ABL and BCR-ABL(T315I) leukemias. In summary, yeast-based immunotherapy represents a novel approach against the emergence of cancer drug resistance by the pre-emptive targeted ablation of tumor escape mutants.
Assuntos
Vacinas Anticâncer/imunologia , Proteínas de Fusão bcr-abl/imunologia , Leucemia Mielogênica Crônica BCR-ABL Positiva/terapia , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Animais , Intervalo Livre de Doença , Genes MHC Classe I , Imunoterapia , Leucemia Experimental/imunologia , Leucemia Experimental/terapia , Leucemia Mielogênica Crônica BCR-ABL Positiva/imunologia , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Modelos Moleculares , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Estrutura Terciária de Proteína , Saccharomyces cerevisiae , Vacinas Sintéticas/imunologiaRESUMO
Control of primary infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is associated with robust and broad T cell immunity. In contrast, chronic infection is characterized by weak T cell responses suggesting that an approach that boosts these responses could be a therapeutic advance. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an effective inducer of innate and adaptive cellular immunity and we have generated recombinant yeast cells (GI-5005) that produce an HCV NS3-Core fusion protein. Pre-clinical studies in mice showed that GI-5005 induced potent antigen-specific proliferative and cytotoxic T cell responses that were associated with Th1-type cytokine secretion. In studies in which GI-5005 was administered up to 13 times, no detectable vector neutralization or induction of tolerance was observed. Prophylactic as well as therapeutic administration of GI-5005 in mice led to eradication of tumor cells expressing HCV NS3 protein. Immunotherapy with GI-5005 is being evaluated in chronic HCV infected individuals in a Phase 1 clinical trial.
