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Stermann A, Huebener N, Seidel D, Fest S, Eschenburg G, Stauder M, Schramm A, Eggert A, Lode HN. Targeting of MYCN by means of DNA vaccination is effective against neuroblastoma in mice. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2015; 64:1215-27. [PMID: 26076666 PMCID: PMC11028418 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-015-1733-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2015] [Accepted: 06/04/2015] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
The MYCN oncogene is a strong genetic marker associated with poor prognosis in neuroblastoma (NB). Therefore, MYCN gene amplification and subsequent overexpression provide a possible target for new treatment approaches in NB. We first identified an inverse correlation of MYCN expression with CD45 mRNA in 101 NB tumor samples. KEGG mapping further revealed that MYCN expression was associated with immune-suppressive pathways characterized by a down-regulation of T cell activation and up-regulation of T cell inhibitory gene transcripts. We then aimed to investigate whether DNA vaccination against MYCN is effective to induce an antigen-specific and T cell-mediated immune response. For this purpose, we generated a MYCN-expressing syngeneic mouse model by MYCN gene transfer to NXS2 cells. MYCN-DNA vaccines were engineered based on the pCMV-F3Ub plasmid backbone to drive ubiquitinated full-length MYCN-cDNA and minigene expression. Vaccines were delivered orally with attenuated S. typhimurium strain SL7207 as a carrier. Immunization with both MYCN-DNA vaccines significantly reduced primary tumor growth of MYCN-expressing NB cells in contrast to negative controls. The immune response was mediated by tumor-infiltrating T cells in vivo, which revealed MYCN-specific and MHC class I-restricted lysis of inducible MYCN-expressing NB target cells in vitro. Finally, these antigen-specific T cells also killed MYCN-negative mammary carcinoma cells pulsed with MYCN peptides in contrast to controls. In summary, we demonstrate proof of concept that MYCN can be targeted by DNA vaccination, which may provide an approach to overcoming MYCN immune-suppressive activities in patients with MYCN-amplified disease.
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MESH Headings
- Administration, Oral
- Animals
- Carcinoma/immunology
- Carcinoma/microbiology
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Cytotoxicity, Immunologic
- Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte/genetics
- Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte/metabolism
- Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
- Humans
- Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating/immunology
- Mammary Neoplasms, Animal/immunology
- Mammary Neoplasms, Animal/microbiology
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred Strains
- N-Myc Proto-Oncogene Protein
- Neoplasm Transplantation
- Neoplasms, Experimental
- Neuroblastoma/genetics
- Neuroblastoma/immunology
- Neuroblastoma/microbiology
- Peptide Fragments
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins/genetics
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins/metabolism
- Salmonella Vaccines/administration & dosage
- Salmonella typhimurium/immunology
- Transgenes/genetics
- Tumor Burden
- Vaccination
- Vaccines, Attenuated/administration & dosage
- Vaccines, DNA/administration & dosage
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Stermann
- Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University Medicine Greifswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Str 1, 17475 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Nicole Huebener
- Genetics of Metabolic and Reproductive Disorders, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Diana Seidel
- Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University Medicine Greifswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Str 1, 17475 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Stefan Fest
- Department of Pediatrics, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Georg Eschenburg
- Department and Clinic of Pediatric Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Michael Stauder
- Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, University Children’s Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Alexander Schramm
- Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, University Children’s Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Angelika Eggert
- Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Holger N. Lode
- Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University Medicine Greifswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Str 1, 17475 Greifswald, Germany
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Prinz DM, Smithson SL, Kieber-Emmons T, Westerink MAJ. Induction of a protective capsular polysaccharide antibody response to a multiepitope DNA vaccine encoding a peptide mimic of meningococcal serogroup C capsular polysaccharide. Immunology 2003; 110:242-9. [PMID: 14511238 PMCID: PMC1783044 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2567.2003.01732.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Systemic infection by encapsulated organisms, such as Neisseria meningitidis, is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in individuals less than 2 years of age. Antibodies directed at the capsular polysaccharide are shown to be protective against disease by inducing complement-dependent bactericidal activity. The current polysaccharide vaccine has been shown to be poorly immunogenic in high-risk groups and this is probably related to its T-independent properties. An alternative approach to eliciting a T-dependent serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody response to encapsulated pathogens is DNA vaccination. We assessed the immunogenicity of a multiepitope DNA vaccine encoding a T-cell helper epitope and a peptide mimic of N. meningitidis serogroup C. The DNA construct induced a significant anti-polysaccharide antibody response that was bactericidal. Mice immunized with the DNA construct were subsequently protected against challenge with a lethal dose of N. meningitidis serogroup C.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deborah M Prinz
- Departments of Pathology and Medicine, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, OH 43614, USA.
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3
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Kirschstein O, Sip M, Kittler L. Quantitative and sequence-specific analysis of DNA-ligand interaction by means of fluorescent intercalator probes. J Mol Recognit 2000; 13:157-63. [PMID: 10867711 DOI: 10.1002/1099-1352(200005/06)13:3<157::aid-jmr498>3.0.co;2-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
A novel method of analysis of double-stranded DNA-ligand interaction is presented. The interaction is monitored by the fluorescence of a DNA bis-intercalator oxazole homodimer YoYo-3. The fluorescence intensity or its decay time reflects the modification of the DNA double helix. The DNA sequence is scanned by hybridization with short oligomers having consecutively overlapping complementary sequences to analyse the sequence specificity of binding. In our experiments we used as ligands the minor groove binders netropsin, SN6999 (both with AT-preference), the GC-specific ligand chromomycin A3 as well as the derivative SN6113 (non-specific interaction), which displace the bis-intercalator YoYo-3 or influence the duplex structure in such away that the fluorescence intensity and lifetime decrease in comparison to a ligand-free screening. The changes of fluorescence emission clearly define the binding motif and indicate minor groove interactions with a reduced DNA binding site. Titration of the ligand quantitatively characterizes its binding by determining the dependence of the binding constant on the oligonucleotide sequence.
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Affiliation(s)
- O Kirschstein
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Department of Single Cell and Single Molecule Techniques, Jena, Germany
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4
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An LL, Whitton JL. A multivalent minigene vaccine, containing B-cell, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte, and Th epitopes from several microbes, induces appropriate responses in vivo and confers protection against more than one pathogen. J Virol 1997; 71:2292-302. [PMID: 9032365 PMCID: PMC191338 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.71.3.2292-2302.1997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of safe and effective vaccines remains a major goal in the prevention, and perhaps treatment, of infectious diseases. Ideally, a single vaccine would confer protection against several pathogens and would induce both cellular and humoral arms of the immune response. We originally demonstrated that two virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes, from the same virus but presented by different major histocompatibility complex alleles, when linked in tandem as minigenes in a recombinant vaccinia virus, could confer complete protection against subsequent viral challenge. In the study, we extended this approach, which we termed string of beads, expanding the immunogenic scope in two ways: first, by introduction of T helper (Th) and B-cell (antibody) epitopes alongside CTL epitopes and second, by including immunogenic sequences from a variety of infectious agents, five viruses and one bacterium. The vaccine (VV-sv) comprises CTL epitopes from Sendai virus, respiratory syncytial virus, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV); Th epitopes from vesicular stomatitis virus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis; and an antibody epitope from mengovirus. The construct contains a single start codon, and the epitopes are linked directly, without intervening spacer amino acids. There was some concern that the combination of several normally immunodominant epitopes might result in a new hierarchy of dominance, in which certain epitopes predominated and others exhibited reduced immunogenicity. However we show that when analyzed in tissue culture and in vivo, all six epitopes are expressed. CTL and Th cells are induced in vivo, along with neutralizing antibody. The induced immunity is biologically relevant: after VV-sv immunization, the antimengovirus antibody confers protection against mengovirus challenge. Similarly, CTL induced by the LCMV epitope protected mice against challenge with this agent. Thus, a polyvalent, minigene-based vaccine can simultaneously induce several classes of immune response and thereby can confer protection against diverse pathogens.
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MESH Headings
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- Antigens, Bacterial/genetics
- Antigens, Bacterial/immunology
- Antigens, Viral/genetics
- Antigens, Viral/immunology
- B-Lymphocytes/immunology
- Bacterial Vaccines/genetics
- Bacterial Vaccines/immunology
- Base Sequence
- Cloning, Molecular
- Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte/immunology
- Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte/immunology
- Genes, Bacterial
- Genes, Viral
- HeLa Cells
- Humans
- Hybridomas
- Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus/immunology
- Mengovirus/immunology
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred BALB C
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis/immunology
- Respiratory Syncytial Viruses/immunology
- Respirovirus/immunology
- T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic/immunology
- T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer/immunology
- Vaccines, Synthetic/immunology
- Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus/immunology
- Viral Vaccines/genetics
- Viral Vaccines/immunology
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Affiliation(s)
- L L An
- Department of Neuropharmacology, CVN-9, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
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5
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Hegde NR, Srikumaran S. The use of bovine MHC class I allele-specific peptide motifs and proteolytic cleavage specificities for the prediction of potential cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitopes of bovine viral diarrhea virus. Virus Genes 1997; 14:111-21. [PMID: 9237350 DOI: 10.1023/a:1007913216861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Cell mediated immunity (CMI) is crucial for the defense against viruses. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) play a major role in CMI. They recognize endogenous antigenic peptides presented by antigen presenting cells in association with the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. The elucidation of the sequence of CTL epitopes of viruses should help in designing better vaccines. In this study, we have identified candidate epitopes restricted by five bovine MHC class I molecules that are potentially available for presentation to CTLs. The candidate peptide epitopes were identified by using the computer programs available as a part of the Genetics Computer Group package and applying the information on allele-specific peptide motifs and intracellular enzymatic cleavage patterns to the bovine viral diarrhea virus polyprotein. Several candidate peptides were found for each of the bovine lymphocyte antigens (BoLA)-A11, -A20, -HD1, and -HD6 whereas no peptide was found for BoLA-HD7. Based on this finding, the probable contribution of genomic segments of BVDV to the CTL response and strategies for recombinant vaccines are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- N R Hegde
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 68583-0905, USA
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6
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Nomura M, Nakata Y, Inoue T, Uzawa A, Itamura S, Nerome K, Akashi M, Suzuki G. In vivo induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for a single epitope introduced into an unrelated molecule. J Immunol Methods 1996; 193:41-9. [PMID: 8690929 DOI: 10.1016/0022-1759(96)00041-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) recognise antigenic peptides in the context of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules on virus-infected cells. The formation and transportation of antigenic peptides to class I MHC in the cells are multi-step reactions known as antigen processing. In order to design a good DNA vaccine, it is important to dissect the specificity of antigen processing. Here we describe the construction of an epitope-based plasmid vector as a device to investigate antigen processing in transfected cells. The epitope-based plasmid vector was constructed by insertion of an epitope-encoding minigene into the lacZ gene. We used a CTL epitope on influenza A virus nucleoprotein (NP366-374 epitope) as a model. Upon transfection, the epitope-based plasmid vector induced the expression of NP epitope antigenically as well as immunogenically. Immunization of mice with plasmid-transfected cells was able to induce NP epitope-specific CTLs in vivo. Moreover, the plasmid vector functioned as a gene vaccine; NP epitope-specific CTLs were primed in vivo upon transfection of the vector into dermis by electroporation. The results suggest that this epitope-based DNA delivery system may provide a new strategy for in vivo induction of epitope-specific CTLs to investigate antigen processing and presentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Nomura
- Division of Clinical Research and Radiation Health, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
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7
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An LL, Pamer E, Whitton JL. A recombinant minigene vaccine containing a nonameric cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte epitope confers limited protection against Listeria monocytogenes infection. Infect Immun 1996; 64:1685-93. [PMID: 8613379 PMCID: PMC173980 DOI: 10.1128/iai.64.5.1685-1693.1996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
We have previously shown that vaccines expressing virus-derived cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes as short minigenes can confer effective protection against virus challenges, and here we extend these studies to the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. Host defense against this important human pathogen appears largely T cell mediated, and a nonamer CTL epitope from the listeriolysin O (LLO) protein has been identified in BALB/c mice. We have synthesized this nonamer as a minigene, expressed it in a recombinant vaccinia virus (VV-list), and used this to immunize mice. Memory CTLs cultured from VV-list-immunized mice specifically lyse target cells pulsed with a nonamer peptide identified at LLO amino acid residues 91 to 99. Four weeks postimmunization, mice were challenged with L. monocytogenes. By day 6 following challenge with a sublethal dose of L. monocytogenes, mice immunized with VV-list showed a approximately 2,000- to 6,000-fold reduction in bacteria CFU in the spleen and liver. At this time point, with control mice, bacterial were readily detectable by Gram stain of the liver but were undetectable in the VV-list-immunized animals. Additionally, when a normally lethal dose of bacteria was given, death was delayed in VV-list-immunized animals. This study has demonstrated that a single immunization with a recombinant vaccinia virus bearing only nine amino acids from a bacterial pathogen can induce specific CTLs able to confer partial protection against bacterial challenge.
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Affiliation(s)
- L L An
- Department of Neuropharmacology, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
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8
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von Herrath MG, Yokoyama M, Dockter J, Oldstone MB, Whitton JL. CD4-deficient mice have reduced levels of memory cytotoxic T lymphocytes after immunization and show diminished resistance to subsequent virus challenge. J Virol 1996; 70:1072-9. [PMID: 8551565 PMCID: PMC189913 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.70.2.1072-1079.1996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 223] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Although primary antiviral CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) can be induced in mice depleted of CD4+ T cells, the role of CD4+ T lymphocytes in the generation and maintenance of antiviral memory CTL is uncertain. This question, and the consequences upon vaccine-mediated protection, were investigated in transgenic CD4 knockout (CD4ko) mice, which lack CD4+ T lymphocytes. Infection of immunocompetent C57BL/6 mice with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), or with recombinant vaccinia viruses bearing appropriate LCMV sequences, induces long-lasting protective immunity, mediated mainly by antiviral CD8+ CTL. Here we report two important findings. First, LCMV-specific CD8+ memory CTL are maintained at considerably lower levels in CD4ko mice than in normal C57BL/6J mice; we demonstrate a reduction in precursor CTL evident as soon as 30 days postimmunization and declining, by day 120, to levels 1 to 2 log units below those in normal mice. Thus, CD4+ T cells appear to be important to the generation and maintenance of their CD8+ counterparts. Second, this reduction has an important biological consequence; compared with immunocompetent mice, CD4ko mice immunized with vaccinia virus recombinants expressing nucleoprotein or glycoprotein of LCMV are less effectively protected from subsequent LCMV challenge. Thus, this study underscores the potential importance of CD4+ T lymphocytes in generation of appropriate levels of CD(8+)-cell-mediated immunoprotective memory and has implications for vaccine efficacy in individuals with immune defects in which CD4 levels may be reduced, such as AIDS.
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Affiliation(s)
- M G von Herrath
- Department of Neuropharmacology, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
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9
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Whitton JL, Zhang J. Principles of cytotoxic T lymphocyte induction and recognition. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol 1995; 202:247-59. [PMID: 7587366 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-79657-9_16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- J L Whitton
- Department of Neuropharmacology, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
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