Cancer immunotherapy using irradiated tumor cells secreting heat shock protein 70.

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is responsible for the highest mortality rate among patients with gynecologic malignancies. Therefore, there is an emerging need for innovative therapies for the control of advanced ovarian cancer. Immunotherapy has emerged as a potentially plausible approach for the control of ovarian cancer. In the current study, we have generated heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70)-secreting murine ovarian cancer cells that express luciferase (MOSEC/luc). Hsp70 has been shown to target and concentrate antigenic peptides in dendritic cells and is also able to activate dendritic cells. We characterized the antigen-specific immune response and the antitumor effect of the MOSEC/luc cells expressing Hsp70 using noninvasive luminescence images to measure the amount of ovarian tumors in the peritoneal cavity of mice. We found that mice challenged with MOSEC/luc cells expressing Hsp70 generate significant antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell immune responses. Furthermore, we also found that mice vaccinated with irradiated MOSEC/luc cells expressing Hsp70 generate significant therapeutic effect against MOSEC/luc cells. In addition, we have shown that CD8+, natural killer, and CD4+ cells are important for protective antitumor effect generated by irradiated tumor cell-based vaccines expressing Hsp70. Moreover, we also found that CD40 receptor is most important, followed by Toll-like receptor 4 receptor, for inhibiting in vivo tumor growth of the viable MOSEC/luc expressing Hsp70. Thus, the use of Hsp70-secreting ovarian tumor cells represents a potentially effective therapy for the control of lethal ovarian cancer.

• Authors: Chih-Long Chang, Ya-Chea Tsai, Liangmei He, T-C Wu, Chien-Fu Hung
• Journal: Cancer research (Cancer Res) Vol. 67 Issue 20 Pg. 10047-57 (Oct 15 2007) ISSN: 0008-5472 [Print] United States
• PMID: 17942939 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Cancer Vaccines
• Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte
• HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins
• Recombinant Fusion Proteins
• Tlr4 protein, mouse
• Toll-Like Receptor 4
• Green Fluorescent Proteins

Topics

• Animals
• CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes (immunology)
• CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes (immunology)
• Cancer Vaccines (immunology, pharmacology)
• Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte (immunology)
• Female
• Green Fluorescent Proteins (biosynthesis, genetics)
• HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins (biosynthesis, genetics, immunology, metabolism)
• Immunotherapy (methods)
• Killer Cells, Natural (immunology)
• Lymphocyte Activation
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred C57BL
• Ovarian Neoplasms (immunology, metabolism, prevention & control, therapy)
• Recombinant Fusion Proteins (biosynthesis, genetics, immunology)
• Toll-Like Receptor 4 (immunology)
• Transduction, Genetic