Recombinant polyoma--vaccinia viruses: T antigen expression vectors and anti-tumor immunization agents

The next wave of recombinant and synthetic anticancer vaccines

The identification of tumor-associated antigens (TAA) recognized by T lymphocytes makes the development of antigen-specific synthetic and recombinant vaccines possible. The expression of TAA within a recombinant vector increases control over the kinetics and quantity, the molecular form, and the subcellular location of the immunogen delivered. The next generation of antitumor vaccines employs cytokines and costimulatory molecules expressed in concert with TAA that are capable of augmenting the activation and proliferation of antitumor immune responses. The ultimate goal of these new strategies, the treatment of established cancer, is now being realized in animal models.

Immunization against human papillomavirus type 16 tumor cells with recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing E6 and E7

Papillomaviruses are etiological agents of epithelial proliferative disease. In man, neoplastic transformation of the uterine cervix has been linked to infection with specific subtypes of human papillomavirus, particularly types 16 and 18. We previously reported that live vaccinia virus recombinants expressing early transforming proteins of other tumor viruses can immunize against challenge with cognate tumor cells and we have extended this approach to HPV16. Neoplastic transformation by papillomaviruses involves expression of early open reading frames (ORFs) E5, E6, and E7, and we report the construction of vaccinia recombinants separately expressing ORFs E5-E7 of HPV16. Primary rat cell lines cotransformed with HPV16 and an activated ras oncogene were established in order to evaluate the potential of the recombinants to elicit antitumor immunity. We report that inoculation of rats with vaccinia recombinants expressing E6 or E7 retarded or prevented tumor development in a proportion of animals challenged by subcutaneous seeding of tumor cells whereas the recombinant expressing E5 was inactive.

Vaccinia recombinants expressing early bovine papilloma virus (BPV1) proteins: retardation of BPV1 tumour development

Papillomaviruses are aetiological agents of epithelial proliferative diseases in animals and in man. It was previously demonstrated that animals inoculated with live vaccinia recombinants expressing early proteins of polyoma virus resist challenge with polyoma-tumour cells, and this approach has been extended to the development of a vaccine against papillomavirus-transformed cells. Bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BPV1), a virus responsible for dermal lesions in cattle, is a prototype virus of the papillomavirus group. Independent vaccinia recombinant viruses expressing the early E1, E2, E5, E6 or E7 open reading frames of BPV1 were tested for their ability to direct the expression of the corresponding protein in cultured cells. Recombinants were then assessed for their ability to elicit anti-tumour immunity in Fischer rats seeded with BPV1-transformed syngeneic FR3T3 cells. Retardation of tumour growth was observed in animals vaccinated with recombinants expressing E5, E6 or E7.

Vaccination against polyoma virus (PyV) tumors using vaccinia-PyV recombinants: a major tumor-specific transplantation antigen (TSTA) epitope resides within the C-terminal segment of middle-T protein

We previously reported that inoculation of rats with live vaccinia virus (VV) recombinants VVpyMT, VVpyLT expressing either the middle-T (MT) or large-T (LT) proteins of polyomavirus (PyV) can elicit immunity to challenge with syngeneic PyV-tumor cells. We now report the results of cross-vaccination studies. VVpyMT was ineffective against cells expressing LT protein but prevented development of MT-expressing cells. Conversely, the VVpyLT was ineffective against MT-expressing cells. In the two experiments performed, tumor growth enhancement rather than retardation was observed in VVpyLT-vaccinated animals receiving PyV-LT (FRLTI) challenge tumor cells. To determine the location of the major TSTA within MT, a further VV recombinant (VVpyMT/Cfr) was constructed that expresses only the unique C-terminal segment of MT. VVpyMT-Cfr and VVpyMT were equally effective in eliciting tumor immunity, indicating the presence of a major TSTA epitope within the unique C-terminal region of MT.