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Conforti A, Salvatori E, Lione L, Compagnone M, Pinto E, Shorrock C, Hayward JA, Sun Y, Liang BM, Palombo F, Viscount B, Aurisicchio L. Linear DNA amplicons as a novel cancer vaccine strategy. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2022; 41:195. [PMID: 35668533 PMCID: PMC9169303 DOI: 10.1186/s13046-022-02402-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND DNA-based vaccines represent a simple, safe and promising strategy for harnessing the immune system to fight infectious diseases as well as various forms of cancer and thus are considered an important tool in the cancer immunotherapy toolbox. Nonetheless, the manufacture of plasmid DNA vaccines has several drawbacks, including long lead times and the need to remove impurities from bacterial cultures. Here we report the development of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-produced amplicon expression vectors as DNA vaccines and their in vivo application to elicit antigen-specific immune responses in animal cancer models. METHODS Plasmid DNA and amplicon expression was assessed both in vitro, by Hela cells transfection, and in vivo, by evaluating luciferase expression in wild-type mice through optical imaging. Immunogenicity induced by DNA amplicons was assessed by vaccinating wild-type mice against a tumor-associated antigen, whereas the antitumoral effect of DNA amplicons was evaluated in a murine cancer model in combination with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). RESULTS Amplicons encoding tumor-associated-antigens, such as telomerase reverse transcriptase or neoantigens expressed by murine tumor cell lines, were able to elicit antigen-specific immune responses and proved to significantly impact tumor growth when administered in combination with ICIs. CONCLUSIONS These results strongly support the further exploration of the use of PCR-based amplicons as an innovative immunotherapeutic approach to cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonella Conforti
- Takis, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
- Evvivax, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
| | | | - Lucia Lione
- Takis, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
| | | | | | - Clay Shorrock
- Applied DNA Sciences, 50 Health Sciences Drive, Stony Brook, NY 11790 USA
| | - James A. Hayward
- Applied DNA Sciences, 50 Health Sciences Drive, Stony Brook, NY 11790 USA
| | - Yuhua Sun
- Applied DNA Sciences, 50 Health Sciences Drive, Stony Brook, NY 11790 USA
| | - Ben Minghwa Liang
- Applied DNA Sciences, 50 Health Sciences Drive, Stony Brook, NY 11790 USA
| | - Fabio Palombo
- Takis, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
- Neomatrix, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
| | - Brian Viscount
- Applied DNA Sciences, 50 Health Sciences Drive, Stony Brook, NY 11790 USA
| | - Luigi Aurisicchio
- Takis, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
- Evvivax, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
- Neomatrix, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
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3
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Conforti A, Marra E, Palombo F, Roscilli G, Ravà M, Fumagalli V, Muzi A, Maffei M, Luberto L, Lione L, Salvatori E, Compagnone M, Pinto E, Pavoni E, Bucci F, Vitagliano G, Stoppoloni D, Pacello ML, Cappelletti M, Ferrara FF, D'Acunto E, Chiarini V, Arriga R, Nyska A, Di Lucia P, Marotta D, Bono E, Giustini L, Sala E, Perucchini C, Paterson J, Ryan KA, Challis AR, Matusali G, Colavita F, Caselli G, Criscuolo E, Clementi N, Mancini N, Groß R, Seidel A, Wettstein L, Münch J, Donnici L, Conti M, De Francesco R, Kuka M, Ciliberto G, Castilletti C, Capobianchi MR, Ippolito G, Guidotti LG, Rovati L, Iannacone M, Aurisicchio L. COVID-eVax, an electroporated DNA vaccine candidate encoding the SARS-CoV-2 RBD, elicits protective responses in animal models. Mol Ther 2022; 30:311-326. [PMID: 34547465 PMCID: PMC8483992 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2021.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Revised: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has made the development of safe and effective vaccines a critical priority. To date, four vaccines have been approved by European and American authorities for preventing COVID-19, but the development of additional vaccine platforms with improved supply and logistics profiles remains a pressing need. Here we report the preclinical evaluation of a novel COVID-19 vaccine candidate based on the electroporation of engineered, synthetic cDNA encoding a viral antigen in the skeletal muscle. We constructed a set of prototype DNA vaccines expressing various forms of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein and assessed their immunogenicity in animal models. Among them, COVID-eVax-a DNA plasmid encoding a secreted monomeric form of SARS-CoV-2 S protein receptor-binding domain (RBD)-induced the most potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody responses (including against the current most common variants of concern) and a robust T cell response. Upon challenge with SARS-CoV-2, immunized K18-hACE2 transgenic mice showed reduced weight loss, improved pulmonary function, and lower viral replication in the lungs and brain. COVID-eVax conferred significant protection to ferrets upon SARS-CoV-2 challenge. In summary, this study identifies COVID-eVax as an ideal COVID-19 vaccine candidate suitable for clinical development. Accordingly, a combined phase I-II trial has recently started.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonella Conforti
- Takis Biotech, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy; Evvivax Biotech, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
| | | | - Fabio Palombo
- Takis Biotech, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy; Neomatrix Biotech, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
| | | | - Micol Ravà
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Valeria Fumagalli
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Alessia Muzi
- Takis Biotech, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
| | - Mariano Maffei
- Evvivax Biotech, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
| | - Laura Luberto
- Takis Biotech, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
| | - Lucia Lione
- Takis Biotech, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Abraham Nyska
- Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Haharuv 18, PO Box 184, Timrat 36576, Israel
| | - Pietro Di Lucia
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Davide Marotta
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Elisa Bono
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Leonardo Giustini
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Eleonora Sala
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Perucchini
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Jemma Paterson
- National Infection Service, Public Health England (PHE), Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 0JG, UK
| | - Kathryn Ann Ryan
- National Infection Service, Public Health England (PHE), Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 0JG, UK
| | - Amy-Rose Challis
- National Infection Service, Public Health England (PHE), Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 0JG, UK
| | - Giulia Matusali
- National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani, Via Portuense 292, 00149 Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Colavita
- National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani, Via Portuense 292, 00149 Rome, Italy
| | | | | | - Nicola Clementi
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy; Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Nicasio Mancini
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy; Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Rüdiger Groß
- Institute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Meyerhofstr. 1, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Alina Seidel
- Institute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Meyerhofstr. 1, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Lukas Wettstein
- Institute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Meyerhofstr. 1, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Jan Münch
- Institute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Meyerhofstr. 1, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Lorena Donnici
- INGM-Istituto Nazionale di Genetica Molecolare "Romeo ed Erica Invernizzi," Milan, Italy
| | - Matteo Conti
- INGM-Istituto Nazionale di Genetica Molecolare "Romeo ed Erica Invernizzi," Milan, Italy
| | - Raffaele De Francesco
- INGM-Istituto Nazionale di Genetica Molecolare "Romeo ed Erica Invernizzi," Milan, Italy; National Cancer Institute Regina Elena, Via Elio Chianesi 53, 00144 Rome, Italy
| | - Mirela Kuka
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Gennaro Ciliberto
- National Cancer Institute Regina Elena, Via Elio Chianesi 53, 00144 Rome, Italy
| | - Concetta Castilletti
- National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani, Via Portuense 292, 00149 Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Rosaria Capobianchi
- National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani, Via Portuense 292, 00149 Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Ippolito
- National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani, Via Portuense 292, 00149 Rome, Italy
| | - Luca G Guidotti
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Lucio Rovati
- Rottapharm Biotech s.r.l., Via Valosa di Sopra 9, 20900 Monza, Italy; Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Matteo Iannacone
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy; Experimental Imaging Centre, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy.
| | - Luigi Aurisicchio
- Takis Biotech, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy; Evvivax Biotech, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy; Neomatrix Biotech, Via Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome, Italy.
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5
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Aurisicchio L, Roscilli G, Marra E, Luberto L, Mancini R, La Monica N, Ciliberto G. Superior Immunologic and Therapeutic Efficacy of a Xenogeneic Genetic Cancer Vaccine Targeting Carcinoembryonic Human Antigen. Hum Gene Ther 2016; 26:386-98. [PMID: 25869226 DOI: 10.1089/hum.2014.141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
We have generated a xenogeneic vaccine against human carcinoembryonic antigen (hCEACAM-5 or commonly hCEA) using as immunogen rhesus CEA (rhCEA). RhCEA cDNA was codon-usage optimized (rhCEAopt) and delivered by sequential DNA electro-gene-transfer (DNA-EGT) and adenoviral (Ad) vector. RhCEAopt was capable to break tolerance to CEA in hCEA transgenic mice and immune responses were detected against epitopes distributed over the entire length of the protein. Xenovaccination with rhCEA resulted in the activation of CD4+ T-cell responses in addition to self-reactive CD8+ T-cells, the development of high-titer antibodies against hCEA, and significant antitumor effects upon challenge with hCEA+ tumor cells. The superior activity of rhCEAopt compared with hCEAopt was confirmed in hCEA/HHD double-transgenic mice, where potent CD8+ T-cell responses against specific human HLA A*0201 hCEA epitopes were detected. Our data show that xenogeneic gene-based vaccination with rhCEA is a viable approach to break tolerance against CEA, thus suggesting further development in the clinical setting.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Laura Luberto
- 1 Takis srl, 00128 Rome, Italy .,2 Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Catanzaro "Magna Graecia ," Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Rita Mancini
- 3 Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Rome "La Sapienza ," Rome, Italy .,4 Laboratory of Research and Diagnostics, Department of Surgery "P. Valdoni," University of Rome "La Sapienza ," Rome, Italy
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6
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Ahn E, Kim H, Han KT, Sin JI. A loss of antitumor therapeutic activity of CEA DNA vaccines is associated with the lack of tumor cells' antigen presentation to Ag-specific CTLs in a colon cancer model. Cancer Lett 2014; 356:676-85. [PMID: 25449428 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2014.10.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2014] [Revised: 10/16/2014] [Accepted: 10/17/2014] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Human colon cancers express carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Thus, CEA has been considered as a potential vaccine target for immune therapy against colon cancer. In this study, CEA DNA vaccines plus anti-4-1BB Abs treatment was found to increase Ag-specific CTL activity and antitumor protective responses to MC32 cells. However, CEA DNA vaccines alone displayed few antitumor therapeutic effects while significantly inducing Ag-specific CTL responses. Anti-4-1BB Abs alone displayed antitumor therapeutic effects. Intratumoral electroporation with IL-12 cDNA also showed antitumor therapeutic activity against MC32 cells in a CD8+ T cell-dependent and CEA-non-specific manner, suggesting that established MC32 cells are still susceptible to CTL-mediated killing. Finally, our in vitro assays (Western blot assay, IFN-γ, CTL and apoptosis assays, FACS analysis) and animal studies demonstrated that a lack of antitumor therapeutic activity of CEA DNA vaccines might result from acquisition of tumor cell resistance to Ag-specific CTL-mediated killing through the loss of tumor cells' antigen presentation to Ag-specific CTLs. Taken together, these data show that MC32 cells may resist CEA DNA vaccination by their loss of antigen presentation to CEA-specific CTLs in the therapeutic model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Euri Ahn
- BK21 Plus Graduate Program and Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 200-701, Republic of Korea
| | - Ha Kim
- BK21 Plus Graduate Program and Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 200-701, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyusun Torque Han
- BK21 Plus Graduate Program and Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 200-701, Republic of Korea
| | - Jeong-Im Sin
- BK21 Plus Graduate Program and Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 200-701, Republic of Korea.
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