U.S. patent application number 14/268949 was filed with the patent office on 2014-08-21 for defensin-antigen fusion proteins.
This patent application is currently assigned to The U.S.A, as represented by the Secretary , Department of Health and Human Services. The applicant listed for this patent is The U.S.A, as represented by the Secretary , Department of Health and Human Services, The U.S.A, as represented by the Secretary , Department of Health and Human Services. Invention is credited to Bira Arya, Larry W. Kwak.
Application Number | 20140234362 14/268949 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22875781 |
Filed Date | 2014-08-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140234362 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kwak; Larry W. ; et
al. |
August 21, 2014 |
DEFENSIN-ANTIGEN FUSION PROTEINS
Abstract
The present invention relates to a vaccine for increasing the
immunogenicity of a tumor antigen thus allowing treatment of
cancer, as well as a vaccine that increases the immunogenicity of a
viral antigen, thus allowing treatment of viral infection,
including immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. In particular,
the present invention provides a fusion protein comprising a
defensin fused to either a tumor antigen or viral antigen which is
administered as either a protein or nucleic acid vaccine to elicit
an immune response effective in treating cancer or effective in
treating or preventing viral infection.
Inventors: |
Kwak; Larry W.; (Bellaire,
TX) ; Arya; Bira; (Ellicott city, MD) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
The U.S.A, as represented by the Secretary , Department of Health
and Human Services |
Bethesda |
MD |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
The U.S.A, as represented by the
Secretary , Department of Health and Human Services
Bethesda
MD
|
Family ID: |
22875781 |
Appl. No.: |
14/268949 |
Filed: |
May 2, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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14021898 |
Sep 9, 2013 |
8754030 |
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14268949 |
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13303081 |
Nov 22, 2011 |
8551936 |
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14021898 |
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13019160 |
Feb 1, 2011 |
8084250 |
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13303081 |
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12786334 |
May 24, 2010 |
7915040 |
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13019160 |
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10380926 |
Nov 20, 2003 |
7754676 |
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PCT/US2001/029074 |
Sep 17, 2001 |
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12786334 |
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60233074 |
Sep 15, 2000 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
424/188.1 ;
424/192.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61K 38/00 20130101;
A61P 37/04 20180101; A61P 35/00 20180101; A61K 38/19 20130101; A61P
31/18 20180101; C07K 14/005 20130101; C07K 14/4723 20130101; A61K
39/39558 20130101; A61K 39/00117 20180801; A61K 39/0011 20130101;
A61P 31/12 20180101; A61K 31/7088 20130101; C07K 2319/00
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
424/188.1 ;
424/192.1 |
International
Class: |
A61K 47/48 20060101
A61K047/48; C07K 14/005 20060101 C07K014/005 |
Claims
1. A method for treating a subject that has a viral infection,
comprising, administering to the subject a therapeutically
effective amount of a composition comprising a fusion polypeptide
and a carrier, or a composition comprising a nucleic acid encoding
the fusion polypeptide and a carrier, wherein the fusion
polypeptide comprises a defensin and a viral antigen from the
virus, thereby inducing an immune response to the virus and
treating the viral infection in the subject.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the defensin is a beta defensin
selected from the group consisting of human beta defensin 1 (HBD1)
and human beta defensin 2 (HBD2), or wherein the defensin is an
alpha defensin selected from the group consisting of HNP-1, HNP-2,
and HNP-3.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the defensin is an alpha defensin
selected from the group consisting of HNP-1, HNP-2, and HNP-3.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the defensin is human beta
defensin 2 (HBD2).
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the subject is infected with a
human immunodeficiency virus.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the viral antigen is gp160,
gp120, gp41, or an immunogenic fragment thereof.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the viral antigen is gp120 or an
immunogenic fragment thereof.
8. The method of claim 1, comprising administering to the subject a
therapeutically effective amount of the composition comprising the
nucleic acid encoding the fusion polypeptide.
9. The method of claim 1, comprising administering to the subject a
vector comprising the nucleic acid encoding the fusion
polypeptide.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the vector is a plasmid
vector.
11. The method of claim 1, comprising administering to the subject
a therapeutically effective amount of the composition comprising
the fusion polypeptide and a carrier.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the defensin is an alpha
defensin selected from the group consisting of HNP-1, HNP-2, and
HNP-3.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein the defensin is human beta
defensin 2 (HBD2).
14. The method of claim 11, wherein the viral infection is a human
immunodeficiency virus infection, and wherein the viral antigen is
gp 160, gp120, gp41, or an immunogenic fragment thereof.
15. The method of claim 1, further comprising measuring one or more
of migration, recruitment or activation of natural killer cells,
dendritic cells, polymorphonuclear leuckocytes and cytotoxic T
cells.
16. The method of claim 1, further comprising administering an
adjuvant to the subject.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the adjuvant is a cytokine.
18. A method for inducing an immune response to a viral antigen,
comprising, administering to the subject a therapeutically
effective amount of a composition comprising a nucleic acid
encoding a fusion polypeptide and a carrier, wherein the fusion
polypeptide comprises a defensin and the viral antigen thereby
inducing an immune response to the viral antigen.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the defensin is a beta defensin
selected from the group consisting of human beta defensin 1 (HBD1)
and human beta defensin 2 (HBD2), or wherein the defensin is an
alpha defensin selected from the group consisting of HNP-1, HNP-2,
and HNP-3.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein the defensin is an alpha
defensin selected from the group consisting of HNP-1, HNP-2, and
HNP-3.
21. The method of claim 1, wherein the defensin is human beta
defensin 2 (HBD2).
22. The method of claim 19, wherein the subject is infected with a
human immunodeficiency virus.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein the viral antigen is gp160,
gp120, gp41, or an immunogenic fragment thereof.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the viral antigen is gp120 or
an immunogenic fragment thereof.
Description
PRIORITY CLAIM
[0001] This is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
14/021,898, filed Sep. 9, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 13/303,081, filed Nov. 22, 2011, issued
as U.S. Pat. No. 8,551,936, which is divisional of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 13/019,160, filed Feb. 1, 2011, issued as U.S.
Pat. No. 8,084,250, and which is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 12/786,334, filed May 24, 2010, issued as U.S.
Pat. No. 7,915,040, which is a divisional of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/380,926, filed Nov. 20, 2003, issued as
U.S. Pat. No. 7,754,676, which is a .sctn.371 national phase of PCT
Application No. PCT/US2001/029074, filed Sep. 17, 2001, which was
published in English under PCT Article 2(2), and which claims the
benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/233,074, filed Sep.
15, 2000. The prior applications are all incorporated herein by
reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a vaccine for increasing
the immunogenicity of a tumor antigen thus allowing treatment of
cancer, as well as a vaccine that increases the immunogenicity of a
viral antigen, thus allowing treatment of viral infection,
including immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. In particular,
the present invention provides a fusion protein comprising a
defensin fused to either a tumor antigen or viral antigen which is
administered as either a protein or nucleic acid vaccine to elicit
an immune response effective in treating cancer or effective in
treating or preventing viral infection.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Tumor cells are known to express tumor-specific antigens on
the cell surface. These antigens are believed to be poorly
immunogenic, largely because they represent gene products of
oncogenes or other cellular genes which are normally present in the
host and are therefore not clearly recognized as nonself. Although
numerous investigators have tried to target immune responses
against epitopes from various tumor specific antigens, none have
been successful in eliciting adequate tumor immunity in vivo
(71).
[0004] Humans are particularly vulnerable to cancer as a result of
an ineffective immunogenic response (72). In fact, the poor
immunogenicity of relevant cancer antigens has proven to be the
single greatest obstacle to successful immunotherapy with tumor
vaccines (73). Over the past 30 years, literally thousands of
patients have been administered tumor cell antigens as vaccine
preparations, but the results of these trials have demonstrated
that tumor cell immunization has failed to provide a rational basis
for the design or construction of effective vaccines. Even where
patients express tumor-specific antibodies or cytotoxic T-cells,
this immune response does not correlate with a suppression of the
associated disease. This failure of the immune system to protect
the host may be due to expression of tumor antigens that are poorly
immunogenic or to heterologous expression of specific antigens by
various tumor cells. The appropriate presentation of tumor antigens
in order to elicit an immune response effective in inhibiting tumor
growth remains a central issue in the development of an effective
cancer vaccine.
[0005] Anti-microbial peptides such as defensins have been
identified as key elements in the innate immunity against
infection. Originally identified on the basis of their
anti-microbial activity, defensins are expressed within tissues and
cells that frequently encounter microorganisms, and are divided
into the alpha- and beta-defensin subfamilies, distinguished by
cysteine residue pairing. Defensins have been suggested to play a
role also in inflammation, wound repair, and regulation of the
specific immune response. They induce expression of cytokines and
chemokines, production of histamine and modulation of antibody
responses, and they have been found to be associated with HLA-DR
molecules and with lipoprotein (a) (130).
[0006] There remains a great need for a method of presenting tumor
antigens, which are known to be poorly immunogenic, "self" antigens
to a subject's immune system in a manner that elicits an immune
response powerful enough to inhibit the growth of tumor cells in
the subject. This invention overcomes the previous limitations and
shortcomings in the art by providing a fusion protein comprising a
defensin and a tumor antigen which can produce an in vivo immune
response, resulting in the inhibition of tumor cells. There is also
a continuing need for a method of presenting poorly antigenic viral
antigens to a subject's immune system, particularly as relates to
viral antigens such as HIV antigens. This invention also overcomes
previous shortcomings in the field of viral vaccine development by
providing a fusion protein comprising a defensin and a viral
antigen which is effective as a vaccine for treating or preventing
viral infection.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention provides a fusion polypeptide
comprising a defensin and a tumor antigen. In a preferred
embodiment, the tumor antigen can be a B cell tumor antigen or
MUC-1. The defensin of this invention can be an alpha defensin
(.alpha.-def) such as human neutrophil peptide-1 (HNP-1), human
neutrophil peptide-2 (HNP-2), and/or human neutrophil peptide-3
(HNP-3) (128), and/or a beta defensin (.beta.-def), such as human
.beta.-defensin-1 (HBD1), human .beta.-defensin-2 (HBD2) (129),
murine .beta.-defensin-2 (Def2) and/or murine .beta.-defensin-3
(Def3).
[0008] The present invention also provides a fusion polypeptide
comprising a defensin and a viral antigen. In one embodiment, the
defensin can be an alpha defensin (.alpha.-def) such as human
neutrophil peptide-1 (HNP-1), human neutrophil peptide-2 (HNP-2),
and/or human neutrophil peptide-3 (HNP-3) (128), and/or a beta
defensin (.beta.-def), such as human .beta.-defensin-1 (HBD1),
human .beta.-defensin-2 (HBD2) (129), Def2, and/or Def3, and the
viral antigen can, for example, be an HIV antigen, such as gp120,
gp160, gp41, an active fragment of gp120, an active fragment of
gp160 and/or an active fragment of gp41.
[0009] In addition, the present invention provides a method of
producing an immune response in a subject, comprising administering
to the subject any of the fusion polypeptides of this invention,
comprising a defensin and viral antigen, or a defensin and a tumor
antigen, either as a protein or a nucleic acid encoding the fusion
polypeptide.
[0010] Also provided is a method of treating a cancer in a subject
comprising administering to the subject any of the fusion
polypeptides of this invention, comprising a defensin and a tumor
antigen, either as a protein or a nucleic acid encoding the fusion
polypeptide.
[0011] The invention also provides a method of treating or
preventing a viral infection in a subject, comprising administering
to the subject any of the fusion polypeptides of this invention,
comprising a defensin and a viral antigen, either as a protein or a
nucleic acid encoding the fusion polypeptide.
[0012] Further provided is a method of treating or preventing HIV
infection in a subject, comprising administering to the subject any
of the fusion polypeptides of this invention, comprising a defensin
and a human immunodeficiency virus (HfV) antigen, either as a
protein or a nucleic acid encoding the fusion polypeptide.
[0013] A method of treating a B cell tumor in a subject is also
provided, comprising administering to the subject any of the fusion
polypeptides of this invention, comprising a defensin and a B cell
tumor antigen, either as a protein or a nucleic acid encoding the
fusion polypeptide.
[0014] Various other objectives and advantages of the present
invention will become apparent from the following detailed
description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0015] FIG. 1 depicts the primary amino acid and consensus
sequences for the .alpha.- and .beta.-defensins. Boxes indicate the
highly conserved cysteines that are numbered 1 to 6. The disulfide
linkages of these bridges for .alpha.-defensins are established as
1-6, 2-4, and 3-5, whereas the disulfide linkages of the bridges
for .beta.-defensins are 1-5, 2-4, and 3-6. The amino acid
sequences of the .alpha.-defensins HD-5 and HD-6 are not shown.
SEQUENCE LISTING
[0016] The Sequence Listing is submitted as an ASCII text file
4239-83275-09_Sequence_Listing, May 2, 2014, 17.1 KB, which is
incorporated by reference herein.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] As used in the claims, "a" can include multiples. For
example, "a cell" can mean a single cell or more than one cell.
[0018] The present invention is based on the unexpected discovery
that the administration of a fusion protein comprising a defensin
and a tumor antigen or administration of a nucleic acid encoding a
fusion protein comprising a defensin and a tumor antigen yields an
effective and specific anti-tumor immune response by converting a
"self" tumor antigen into a potent immunogen by fusing it to a
defensin moiety.
[0019] Thus, the present invention provides a fusion polypeptide
comprising a defensin and a tumor antigen. The fusion polypeptide
can be present in a purified form and can induce an immune response
against the tumor antigen and inhibit the growth of tumor cells
expressing the tumor antigen. "Purified" as used herein means the
polypeptide is sufficiently free of contaminants or cell components
with which proteins normally occur to allow the peptide to be used
therapeutically. It is not contemplated that "purified"
necessitates having a preparation that is technically totally pure
(homogeneous), but purified as used herein means the fusion
polypeptide is sufficiently pure to provide the polypeptide in a
state where it can be used therapeutically. As used herein, "fusion
polypeptide" means a polypeptide made up of two or more amino acid
sequences representing peptides or polypeptides from different
sources. Also as used herein, "epitope" refers to a specific amino
acid sequence of limited length which, when present in the proper
conformation, provides a reactive site for an antibody or T cell
receptor. The identification of epitopes on antigens can be carried
out by immunology protocols that are standard in the art (74). As
further used herein, "tumor antigen" describes a polypeptide
expressed on the cell surface of specific tumor cells and which can
serve to identify the type of tumor. An epitope of the tumor
antigen can be any site on the antigen that is reactive with an
antibody or T cell receptor.
[0020] As used herein, "defensin" means an anti-microbial peptide
with three to four intramolecular cysteine disulfide bonds which
induces leukocyte migration in vitro, and/or enhances concavalin
A-stimulated murine spleen cell proliferation and IFN-.gamma.
production (128). As used herein, a defensin may be either a
naturally occurring defensin, i.e., a peptide which is produced by,
e.g., neutrophils, intestinal Paneth cells, or epithelial cells
such as those of the skin, kidney, and trachea-bronchial lining, or
a synthetic defensin, such as a variant of a naturally occurring
defensin, which may be chemically synthesized or produced by
expressing a modified cDNA encoding a naturally occurring defensin.
While any mammalian or synthetic defensins may be used in the
compositions and methods of the invention, naturally occurring
human defensins or variants thereof are preferred.
[0021] The defensins of this invention can include, but are not
limited to, alpha defensins (.alpha.-defs, such as human neutrophil
peptide-1 (HNP-1), human neutrophil peptide-2 (HNP-2), human
neutrophil peptide-3 (HNP-3) (128, 130), human neutrophil peptide-4
(HNP-4), human defensin-5 (HD-5), and human defensin-6 (HD-6), and
beta defensins (.beta.-defs, such as human .beta.-defensin-1
(HBD1), human .beta.-defensin-2 (HBD2) (129, 130). Human neutrophil
defensins (HNPs 1-4) are small, cationic, and arginine rich
peptides that lack enzymatic activity. The peptides contain six
conserved cysteine residues that participate in 3 characteristic
intramolecular disulfide bridges (130, the entire contents of this
reference is incorporated herein in its entirety). Cysteine pairing
distinguishes .beta.-defensins from .alpha.-defensins, wherein the
former are connected 1-5, 2-4 and 3-6 and the latter are linked
1-6, 2-4 and 3-5 (FIG. 1) (130). Other examples of defensins
include murine .beta.-defensin-2 (Def2) and murine
.beta.-defensin-3 (Def3), as well as any other defensin now known
or later identified.
[0022] It will be appreciated by one of skill in the art that the
defensins of this invention can further include active fragments of
defensins which retain the activity, including chemotaxis and
inhibition of chemotaxis, of the intact molecule. The production of
an active fragments of a defensin and identification of defensin
fragments which retain the activity of the intact molecule are
carried out according to protocols well known in the art.
[0023] To produce a nucleic acid encoding a fusion polypeptide of
this invention, the defensin gene can be fragmented as desired
according to standard methods and the fragments can be fused to a
specific gene or gene fragment encoding an antigen to which an
immune response is to be elicited (e.g., Muc-1 VNT, lymphoma scFv,
gp120 etc.). The fusion polypeptide comprising the defensin
fragment and the tumor or viral antigen can be produced and
purified as described herein and tested for immunogenicity
according to the methods provided herein. By producing several
fusion polypeptides having defensin fragments of varying size, the
minimal size defensin fragment which imparts an immunological
effect can be identified through routine experimentation.
[0024] The tumor antigen moiety of the fusion polypeptide of this
invention can be any tumor antigen now known or later identified as
a tumor antigen. The appropriate tumor antigen used in the fusion
polypeptide depends on the tumor type being treated. For example,
the tumor antigen can be, but is not limited to human epithelial
cell mucin (Muc-1; a 20 amino acid core repeat for Muc-1
glycoprotein, present on breast cancer cells and pancreatic cancer
cells), the Ha-ras oncogene product, p53, carcino-embryonic antigen
(CEA), the raf oncogene product, GD2, GD3, GM2, TF, sTn, MAGE-1,
MAGE-3, tyrosinase, gp75, Melan-A/Mart-1, gp100, BER2/neu, EBV-LMP
1 & 2, HPV-F4, 6, 7, prostatic serum antigen (PSA),
alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), CO17-1A, GA733, gp72, p53, the ras
oncogene product, HPV E7 and melanoma gangliosides, as well as any
other tumor antigens now known or identified in the future. Tumor
antigens can be obtained following known procedures or are
commercially available (79). The effectiveness of the fusion
protein in eliciting an immune response against a particular tumor
antigen can be determined according to methods standard in the art
for determining the efficacy of vaccines and according to the
methods set forth in the Examples.
[0025] Additionally, the tumor antigen of the present invention can
be an antibody which can be produced by a B cell tumor (e.g., B
cell lymphoma; B cell leukemia; myeloma) or the tumor antigen can
be a fragment of such an antibody, which contains an epitope of the
idiotype of the antibody. The epitope fragment can comprise as few
as nine amino acids. For example, the tumor antigen of this
invention can be a malignant B cell antigen receptor, a malignant B
cell immunoglobulin idiotype, a variable region of an
immunoglobulin, a hypervariable region or complementarity
determining region (CDR) of a variable region of an immunoglobulin,
a malignant T cell receptor (TCR), a variable region of a TCR
and/or a hypervariable region of a TCR.
[0026] In a preferred embodiment, the tumor antigen of this
invention can be a single chain antibody (scFv), comprising linked
V.sub.H and V.sub.L domains and which retains the conformation and
specific binding activity of the native idiotype of the antibody
(27). Such single chain antibodies are well known in the art and
can be produced by standard methods and as described in the
Examples herein.
[0027] In addition, the tumor antigen of the present invention can
be an epitope of the idiotype of a T cell receptor, which can be
produced by a T cell tumor (e.g., T cell lymphoma; T cell leukemia;
myeloma). The epitope can comprise as few as nine amino acids.
[0028] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the
invention also includes peptides and polypeptides having slight
variations in amino acid sequences or other properties which do not
alter the functional identity of the peptide or polypeptide. Such
variations may arise naturally as allelic variations (e.g., due to
genetic polymorphism) or may be produced synthetically (e.g., by
mutagenesis of cloned DNA sequences), such as induced point,
deletion, insertion and substitution mutations. Minor changes in
amino acid sequence are generally preferred, such as conservative
amino acid replacements, small internal deletions or insertions,
and additions or deletions at the ends of the molecules.
Substitutions may be designed based on, for example, the model of
Dayhoff et al. (80). These modifications can result in changes in
the amino acid sequence, provide silent mutations, modify a
restriction site, or provide other specific mutations while
allowing for the presentation of the functional activity of
peptides and polypeptides of this invention.
[0029] The fusion polypeptides can comprise one or more selected
epitopes on the same tumor antigen, one or more selected epitopes
on different tumor antigens, as well as repeats of the same
epitope, either in tandem or interspersed along the amino acid
sequence of the fusion polypeptide. The tumor antigen can be
positioned in the fusion polypeptide at the carboxy terminus of the
defensin, the amino terminus of the defensin and/or at one or more
internal sites within the defensin amino acid sequence.
Additionally, the fusion polypeptide can comprise more than one
defensin or active fragment thereof in any combination and in any
order with the various tumor antigens described above.
[0030] It would be routine for an artisan to produce a fusion
protein comprising any defensin moiety and any human tumor antigen
(e.g., human single chain antibody) moiety according to the methods
described herein, on the basis of the availability in the art of
the nucleic acid and/or amino acid sequence of the defensin of
interest and the human tumor antigen of interest.
[0031] The present invention further provides a fusion polypeptide
comprising a first region comprising a defensin selected from the
group consisting of HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, and HBD2, and a
second region comprising a tumor antigen selected from the group
consisting of human epithelial cell mucin (Muc-1), the Ha-ras
oncogene product, p53, carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA), the raf
oncogene product, GD2, GD3, GM2, TF, sTn, MAGE-1, MAGE-3,
tyrosinase, gp75, Melan-A/Mart-1, gp100, HER2/neu, EBV-LMP 1 &
2, HPV-F4, 6, 7, prostatic serum antigen (PSA), alpha-fetoprotein
(AFP), CO17-1A, GA733, gp72, p53, the ras oncogene product, HPV E7,
proteinase 3, Wilm's tumor antigen-1, telomerase, melanoma
gangliosides, an antibody produced by a B cell tumor (e.g., B cell
lymphoma; B cell leukemia; myeloma), a fragment of such an
antibody, which contains an epitope of the idiotype of the
antibody, a malignant B cell antigen receptor, a malignant B cell
immunoglobulin idiotype, a variable region of an immunoglobulin, a
hypervariable region or CDR of a variable region of an
immunoglobulin, a malignant T cell receptor (TCR), a variable
region of a TCR and/or a hypervariable region of a TCR.
[0032] For example, the present invention provides a fusion
polypeptide comprising an scFv cloned from a human subject's biopsy
tumor material or from a hybridoma cell line producing a lymphoma
antibody and a defensin moiety (e.g. HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1,
HBD2, etc.). In addition, the present invention provides a defensin
fused with the Muc-1 core epitope of human breast cancer or human
pancreatic cancer. Muc-1 is a glycoprotein (Mr>200,000)
abundantly expressed on breast cancer cells and pancreatic tumor
cells. A variable number of tandem (VNT) repeats of a 20 amino acid
peptide (PDTRPAPGSTAPPAHGVTSA; SEQ ID NO:1) include B and T cell
epitopes. Thus, the present invention provides a fusion protein
comprising HNP-1 and Muc-1 VNT, HNP-2 and Muc-1VNT, HNP-3 and
Muc-1VNT, HBD1 and Muc-1VNT, and HBD2 and Muc-1VNT. The expression
vector is designed so that a VNT can be changed by routine cloning
methods to produce a fusion polypeptide comprising HNP-1, HNP-2,
HNP-3, HBD1, or HBD2 fused with a Muc-1 VNT dimer, trimer,
tetramer, pentamer, hexamer, etc.
[0033] In specific embodiments, the present invention also provides
a fusion polypeptide comprising HNP-1 and human Muc-1, HNP-2 and
human Muc-1, HNP-3 and human Muc-1, HBD1 and human Muc-1, and HBD2
and human Muc-1.
[0034] The present invention further provides a fusion polypeptide
comprising a defensin (e.g., HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, HBD2, etc.)
and a scFv which recognizes tumor antigens, such as
idiotype-specific scFv, Muc-1, etc. Such a fusion polypeptide would
allow migration, recruitment and activation of specialized cells of
the immune system, such as natural killer (NK) cells, macrophages,
dendritic cells (DC), polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes, cytotoxic
lymphocytes (CTL), etc., which would destroy the target cell.
[0035] The fusion polypeptide of this invention can further
comprise a spacer sequence between the defensin and the tumor
antigen or viral antigen, which can have the amino acid sequence
EFNDAQAPKSLE (SEQ ID NO:2), or an amino acid sequence with
conservative substitutions such that it has the same functional
activity as the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, which allows
for retention of the correct folding of the tumor antigen region of
the polypeptide.
[0036] In addition, the present invention provides a composition
comprising the fusion polypeptide of this invention and a suitable
adjuvant. Such a composition can be in a pharmaceutically
acceptable carrier, as described herein. As used herein, "suitable
adjuvant" describes a substance capable of being combined with the
fusion polypeptide to enhance an immune response in a subject
without deleterious effect on the subject. A suitable adjuvant can
be, but is not limited to, for example, an immunostimulatory
cytokine, SYNTEX adjuvant formulation 1 (SAF-1) composed of 5
percent (wt/vol) squalene (DASF, Parsippany, N.J.), 2.5 percent
Pluronic, L121 polymer (Aldrich Chemical, Milwaukee), and 0.2
percent polysorbate (Tween 80, Sigma) in phosphate-buffered saline.
Other suitable adjuvants are well known in the art and include
QS-21, Freund's adjuvant (complete and incomplete), alum, aluminum
phosphate, aluminum hydroxide,
N-acetyl-muramyl-L-threonyl-D-isoglutamine (thr-MDP),
N-acetyl-nor-muramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine (CGP 11637, referred
to as nor-MDP),
-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutaminyl-L-alanine-2-(1'-2'-dipa-
lmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-hydroxyphosphoryloxy)-ethylamine (CGP 19835A,
referred to as MTP-PE) and RIBI, which contains three components
extracted from bacteria, monophosphoryl lipid A, trealose
dimycolate and cell wall skeleton (MPL+TDM+CWS) in 2%
squalene/Tween 80 emulsion.
[0037] The adjuvant, such as an immunostimulatory cytokine can be
administered before the administration of the fusion protein or
nucleic acid encoding the fusion protein, concurrent with the
administration of the fusion protein or nucleic acid or up to five
days after the administration of the fusion polypeptide or nucleic
acid to a subject. QS-21, similarly to alum, complete Freund's
adjuvant, SAF, etc., can be administered within hours of
administration of the fusion protein or nucleic acid.
[0038] Furthermore, combinations of adjuvants, such as
immunostimulatory cytokines can be co-administered to the subject
before, after, or concurrent with the administration of the fusion
polypeptide or nucleic acid. For example, combinations of
adjuvants, such as immunostimulatory cytokines, can consist of two
or more of immunostimulatory cytokines of this invention, such as
GM/CSF, interleukin-2, interleukin-12, interferon-gamma,
interleukin-4, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1,
hematopoietic factor flt3L, CD40L, B7.1 co-stimulatory molecules
and B7.2 co-stimulatory molecules. The effectiveness of an adjuvant
or combination of adjuvants may be determined by measuring the
immune response directed against the fusion polypeptide with and
without the adjuvant or combination of adjuvants, using standard
procedures, as described herein.
[0039] Furthermore, the present invention provides a composition
comprising the fusion polypeptide of this invention or a nucleic
acid encoding the fusion polypeptide of this invention and an
adjuvant, such as an immunostimulatory cytokine or a nucleic acid
encoding an adjuvant, such as an immunostimulatory cytokine. Such a
composition can be in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, as
described herein. The immunostimulatory cytokine used in this
invention can be, but is not limited to, GM/CSF, interleukin-2,
interleukin-12, interferon-gamma, interleukin-4, tumor necrosis
factor-alpha, interleukin-1, hematopoietic factor flt3L, CD40L,
B7.1 con-stimulatory molecules and B7.2 co-stimulatory
molecules.
[0040] The present invention further contemplates a fusion
polypeptide comprising a defensin, or active fragment thereof, as
described herein and a viral antigen, which can be, for example, an
antigen of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). An HIV antigen of
this invention can be, but is not limited to, the envelope
glycoprotein gp120, the third hypervariable region of the envelope
glycoprotein, gp120 of HIV-1 (the disulfate loop V3), having the
amino acid sequence: NCTRPNNNTRKRIRIQRGPGRAFVTIGKIGNMRQAHCNIS (SEQ
ID NO:3), any other antigenic fragment of gp120, the envelope
glycoprotein gp160, an antigenic fragment of gp160, the envelope
glycoprotein gp41 and/or an antigenic fragment of gp41. For
example, the nucleic acid encoding the V3 loop can be fused to the
3' end of the nucleic acid encoding a defensin (e.g., HNP-1, HNP-2,
HNP-3, HBD1, or HBD2) directly or separated by nucleic acid
encoding a spacer sequence. The defensin-V3 loop fusion polypeptide
can be produced in an expression system as described herein and
purified as also described herein.
[0041] In specific embodiments, the present invention provides a
fusion polypeptide comprising a defensin and a human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antigen, wherein the defensin can be
HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, HBD2, or any other defensin, and wherein
the HIV antigen can be gp120, gp160, gp41, an active (i.e.,
antigenic) fragment of gp120, an active (i.e., antigenic) fragment
of gp160 and an active (i.e., antigenic) fragment of gp41.
[0042] Further provided in this invention is fusion polypeptide
comprising any of HNP-1 and HIV gp120, HNP-2 and HIV gp120, HNP-3
and HIV gp120, HBD1 and HIV gp120, or HBD2 and HIV gp120.
[0043] An isolated nucleic acid encoding the fusion polypeptides of
this invention as described above is also provided. By "isolated
nucleic acid" is meant a nucleic acid molecule that is
substantially free of the other nucleic acids and other components
commonly found in association with nucleic acid in a cellular
environment. Separation techniques for isolating nucleic acids from
cells are well known in the art and include phenol extraction
followed by ethanol precipitation and rapid solubilization of cells
by organic solvent or detergents (81).
[0044] The nucleic acid encoding the fusion polypeptide can be any
nucleic acid that functionally encodes the fusion polypeptide. To
functionally encode the polypeptide (i.e., allow the nucleic acid
to be expressed), the nucleic acid can include, for example,
expression control sequences, such as an origin of replication, a
promoter, an enhancer and necessary information processing sites,
such as ribosome binding sites, RNA splice sites, polyadenylation
sites and transcriptional terminator sequences. Preferred
expression control sequences are promoters derived from
metallothionine genes, actin genes, immunoglobulin genes, CMV,
SV40, adenovirus, bovine papilloma virus, etc. A nucleic acid
encoding a selected fusion polypeptide can readily be determined
based upon the genetic code for the amino acid sequence of the
selected fusion polypeptide and many nucleic acids will encode any
selected fusion polypeptide. Modifications in the nucleic acid
sequence encoding the fusion polypeptide are also contemplated.
Modifications that can be useful are modifications to the sequences
controlling expression of the fusion polypeptide to make production
of the fusion polypeptide inducible or repressible as controlled by
the appropriate inducer or repressor. Such means are standard in
the art (81). The nucleic acids can be generated by means standard
in the art, such as by recombinant nucleic acid techniques, as
exemplified in the examples herein and by synthetic nucleic acid
synthesis or in vitro enzymatic synthesis.
[0045] A vector comprising any of the nucleic acids of the present
invention and a cell comprising any of the vectors of the present
invention are also provided. The vectors of the invention can be in
a host (e.g., cell line or transgenic animal) that can express the
fusion polypeptide contemplated by the present invention.
[0046] There are numerous E. coli (Escherichia coli) expression
vectors known to one of ordinary skill in the art useful for the
expression of nucleic acid encoding proteins such as fusion
proteins. Other microbial hosts suitable for use include bacilli,
such as Bacillus subtilis, and other enterobacteria, such as
Salmonella, Serratia, as well as various Pseudomonas species. These
prokaryotic hosts can support expression vectors which will
typically contain expression control sequences compatible with the
host cell (e.g., an origin of replication). In addition, any number
of a variety of well-known promoters will be present, such as the
lactose promoter system, a tryptophan (Trp) promoter system, a
beta-lactamase promoter system, or a promoter system from phage
lambda. The promoters will typically control expression, optionally
with an operator sequence and have ribosome binding site sequences
for example, for initiating and completing transcription and
translation. If necessary, an amino terminal methionine can be
provided by insertion of a Met codon 5' and in-frame with the
protein. Also, the carboxy-terminal extension of the protein can be
removed using standard oligonucleotide mutagenesis procedures.
[0047] Additionally, yeast expression can be used. There are
several advantages to yeast expression systems. First, evidence
exists that proteins produced in a yeast secretion system exhibit
correct disulfide pairing. Second, post-translational glycosylation
is efficiently carried out by yeast secretory systems. The
Saccharomyces cerevisiae pre-pro-alpha-factor leader region
(encoded by the MFa-1 gene) is routinely used to direct protein
secretion from yeast (82). The leader region of
pre-pro-alpha-factor contains a signal peptide and a pro-segment
which includes a recognition sequence for a yeast protease encoded
by the KEX2 gene. This enzyme cleaves the precursor protein on the
carboxyl side of a Lys-Arg dipeptide cleavage-signal sequence. The
polypeptide coding sequence can be fused in-frame to the
pre-pro-alpha-factor leader region. This construct is then put
under the control of a strong transcription promoter, such as the
alcohol dehydrogenase I promoter or a glycolytic promoter. The
protein coding sequence is followed by a translation termination
codon which is followed by transcription termination signals.
Alternatively, the polypeptide coding sequence of interest can be
fused to a second protein coding sequence, such as Sj26 or
.beta.-galactosidase, used to facilitate purification of the fusion
protein by affinity chromatography. The insertion of protease
cleavage sites to separate the components of the fusion protein is
applicable to constructs used for expression in yeast.
[0048] Efficient post-translational glycosylation and expression of
recombinant proteins can also be achieved in Baculovirus systems in
insect cells.
[0049] Mammalian cells permit the expression of proteins in an
environment that favors important post-translational modifications
such as folding and cysteine pairing, addition of complex
carbohydrate structures and secretion of active protein. Vectors
useful for the expression of proteins in mammalian cells are
characterized by insertion of the protein coding sequence between a
strong viral promoter and a polyadenylation signal. The vectors can
contain genes conferring either gentamicin or methotrexate
resistance for use as selectable markers. The antigen and
immunoreactive fragment coding sequence can be introduced into a
Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line using a methotrexate
resistance-encoding vector. Presence of the vector RNA in
transformed cells can be confirmed by Northern blot analysis and
production of a cDNA or opposite strand RNA corresponding to the
protein coding sequence can be confirmed by Southern and Northern
blot analysis, respectively. A number of other suitable host cell
lines capable of secreting intact proteins have been developed in
the art and include the CHO cell lines, HeLa cells, myeloma cell
lines, Jurkat cells and the like. Expression vectors for these
cells can include expression control sequences, as described
above.
[0050] The vectors containing the nucleic acid sequences of
interest can be transferred into the host cell by well-known
methods, which vary depending on the type of cell host. For
example, calcium chloride transfection is commonly utilized for
prokaryotic cells, whereas calcium phosphate treatment, lipofection
or electroporation may be used for other cell hosts.
[0051] Alternative vectors for the expression of protein in
mammalian cells, similar to those developed for the expression of
human gamma-interferon, tissue plasminogen activator, clotting
Factor VIII, hepatitis B virus surface antigen, protease Nexin1,
and eosinophil major basic protein, can be employed. Further, the
vector can include CMV promoter sequences and a polyadenylation
signal available for expression of inserted nucleic acid in
mammalian cells (such as COS7).
[0052] The nucleic acid sequences can be expressed in hosts after
the sequences have been positioned to ensure the functioning of an
expression control sequence. These expression vectors are typically
replicable in the host organisms either as episomes or as an
integral part of the host chromosomal DNA. Commonly, expression
vectors can contain selection markers, e.g., tetracycline
resistance or hygromycin resistance, to permit detection and/or
selection of those cells transformed with the desired nucleic acid
sequences (83).
[0053] Additionally, the fusion polypeptides and/or nucleic acids
of the present invention can be used in in vitro diagnostic assays,
as well as in screening assays for identifying unknown tumor
antigen epitopes and fine mapping of tumor antigen epitopes.
[0054] Also provided is a method for producing a fusion polypeptide
comprising a defensin, or an active fragment thereof and a tumor
antigen or viral antigen, comprising cloning into an expression
vector a first DNA fragment encoding a defensin or active fragment
thereof and a second DNA fragment encoding a tumor antigen or viral
antigen; and expressing the DNA of the expression vector in an
expression system under conditions whereby the fusion polypeptide
is produced. The expression vector and expression system can be of
any of the types as described herein. The cloning of the first and
second DNA segments into the expression vector and expression of
the DNA under conditions which allow for the production of the
fusion protein of this invention can be carried out as described in
the Examples section included herein. The method of this invention
can further comprise the step of isolating and purifying the fusion
polypeptide, according to methods well known in the art and as
described herein.
[0055] Any of the fusion polypeptides, the nucleic acids and the
vectors of the present invention can be in a pharmaceutically
acceptable carrier and in addition, can include other medicinal
agents, pharmaceutical agents, carriers, diluents, adjuvants (e.g.,
immunostimulatory cytokines), etc. By "pharmaceutically acceptable"
is meant a material that is not biologically or otherwise
undesirable, i.e., the material may be administered to an
individual along with the selected antigen without causing
substantial deleterious biological effects or interacting in a
deleterious manner with any of the other components of the
composition in which it is contained. Actual methods of preparing
such dosage forms are known, or will be apparent, to those skilled
in this art (84).
[0056] Thus, the present invention further provides a method for
inducing an immune response in a subject capable of induction of an
immune response and preferably human, comprising administering to
the subject an immune response-inducing amount of the fusion
polypeptide of this invention. As used herein, "an immune
response-inducing amount" is that amount of fusion polypeptide
which is capable of producing in a subject a humoral and/or
cellular immune response capable of being detected by standard
methods of measurement, such as, for example, as described herein.
For example, the antigenic polypeptide region can induce an
antibody response. The antibodies can treat or prevent a
pathological or harmful condition in the subject in which the
antibodies are produced or the antibodies can be removed from the
subject and administered to another subject to treat or prevent a
pathological or harmful condition. The fusion polypeptide can also
induce an effector T cell (cellular) immune response which is
effective in treating or preventing a pathological or harmful
conditions in the subject.
[0057] In an embodiment wherein the antigen moiety of the fusion
polypeptide comprises an immunoglobulin light or heavy chain or a
single chain antibody, the immune response can be the production in
the subject of anti-idiotype antibodies, which represent the image
of the original antigen and can function in a vaccine preparation
to induce an immune response to a pathogenic antigen, thereby
avoiding immunization with the antigen itself (85). The
anti-idiotype antibodies can treat or prevent a pathological or
harmful condition in the subject in which the anti-idiotype
antibodies are produced or the anti-idiotype antibodies can be
removed from the subject and administered to another subject to
treat or prevent a pathological or harmful condition.
[0058] Further provided is a method for inhibiting the growth of
tumor cells in a subject, comprising administering to the subject a
tumor cell growth-inhibiting amount of the fusion polypeptide of
this invention. The subject of this method can be any subject in
which a humoral and/or cellular immune response to a tumor can be
induced, which is preferably an animal and most preferably a human.
As used herein, "inhibiting the growth of tumor cells" means that,
following administration of the fusion polypeptide, a measurable
humoral and/or cellular immune response against the tumor cell
epitope is elicited in the subject, resulting in the inhibition of
growth of tumor cells present in the subject. The humoral immune
response can be measured by detection, in the serum of the subject,
of antibodies reactive with the epitope of the tumor antigen
present on the fusion polypeptide, according to protocols standard
in the art, such as enzyme linked immunosorbent immunoassay (ELISA)
and Western blotting protocols. The cellular immune response can be
measured by, for example, footpad swelling in laboratory animals,
peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) proliferation assays and PBL
cytotoxicity assays, as would be known to one of ordinary skill in
the art of immunology and particularly as set forth in the
available handbooks and texts of immunology protocols (86).
[0059] The present invention also provides a method of treating
cancer in a subject diagnosed with cancer, comprising administering
to the subject an effective amount of the fusion polypeptide of the
present invention. The cancer can be, but is not limited to B cell
lymphoma, T cell lymphoma, myeloma, leukemia, breast cancer,
pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, renal cancer, liver
cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma and cervical cancer.
[0060] Further provided is a method of treating a B cell tumor in a
subject diagnosed with a B cell tumor, comprising administering an
effective amount of the fusion polypeptide of this invention, which
comprises an antibody or a fragment thereof, as described herein,
in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, to the subject.
[0061] In specific embodiments, the present invention also provides
a method of producing an immune response in a subject, comprising
administering to the subject a composition comprising a fusion
polypeptide of this invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable
carrier and wherein the fusion polypeptide can be a fusion
polypeptide comprising any of HNP-1 and human Muc-1, HNP-2 and
human Muc-1, HNP-3 and human Muc-1, HBD1 and human Muc-1, HBD2 and
human Muc-1, Def2 and human Muc-1, and Def3 and human Muc-1.
[0062] Also provided is a method of producing an immune response in
a subject, comprising administering to the subject a composition
comprising a nucleic acid encoding a fusion polypeptide of this
invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and wherein the
fusion polypeptide is a fusion polypeptide comprising any of HNP-1
and human Muc-1, HNP-2 and human Muc-1, HNP-3 and human Muc-1, HBD1
and human Muc-1, HBD2 and human Muc-1, Def2 and human Muc-1, and
Def3 and human Muc-1, under conditions whereby the nucleic acid of
the composition can be expressed, thereby producing an immune
response in the subject.
[0063] In further embodiments, the present invention also provides
a method of producing an immune response in a subject, comprising
administering to the subject a composition comprising a fusion
polypeptide of this invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable
carrier and wherein the fusion polypeptide can be a fusion
polypeptide comprising any of HNP-1 and HIV gp120, HNP-2 and HIV
gp120, HNP-3 and HIV gp120, HBD1 and HIV gp120, HBD2 and HIV gp120,
Def2 and HIV gp120, or Def3 and HIV gp120, thereby producing an
immune response in the subject.
[0064] Also provided is a method of producing an immune response in
a subject, comprising administering to the subject a composition
comprising a nucleic acid encoding a fusion polypeptide of this
invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and wherein the
fusion polypeptide is a fusion polypeptide comprising any of HNP-1
and HIV gp120, HNP-2 and HIV gp120, HNP-3 and HIV gp120, HBD1 and
HIV gp120, HBD2 and HIV gp120, Def2 and BIN gp120, or Def3 and HIV
gp120, under conditions whereby the nucleic acid of the composition
can be expressed, thereby producing an immune response in the
subject.
[0065] Also provided is a method of producing an immune response in
a subject, comprising administering to the subject a composition
comprising a fusion polypeptide and a pharmaceutically acceptable
carrier and wherein the fusion polypeptide is a fusion polypeptide
comprising a defensin and a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
antigen, wherein the defensin can be HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1,
HBD2, Def2, Def3, or any other defensin, and wherein the HIV
antigen can be gp120, gp160, gp41, an active (i.e., antigenic)
fragment of gp120, an active (i.e., antigenic) fragment of gp160
and/or an active (i.e., antigenic) fragment of gp41, thereby
producing an immune response in the subject.
[0066] The present invention also provides a method of producing an
immune response in a subject, comprising administering to the
subject a composition comprising a nucleic acid encoding a fusion
polypeptide comprising a defensin and a human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) antigen, wherein the defensin can be HNP-1, HNP-2,
HNP-3, HBD1, HBD2, Def2, Def3, or any other defensin, and wherein
the HIV antigen can be gp120, gp160, gp41, an active (i.e.,
antigenic) fragment of gp120, an active (i.e., antigenic) fragment
of gp160 and/or an active (i.e., antigenic) fragment of gp41, and a
pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, under conditions whereby the
nucleic acid can be expressed, thereby producing an immune response
in the subject.
[0067] In any of the methods provided herein which recite the
production of an immune response, the immune response can be
humoral and/or an effector T cell (cellular) immune response, as
determined according to methods standard in the art.
[0068] In another embodiment, the present invention provides a
method of treating a cancer in a subject comprising administering
to the subject a composition comprising a fusion polypeptide of
this invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and
wherein the fusion polypeptide is a fusion polypeptide comprising
any of HNP-1 and human Muc-1, HNP-2 and human Muc-1, HNP-3 and
human Muc-1, HBD1 and human Muc-1, HBD2 and human Muc-1, Def2 and
human Muc-1, or Def3 and human Muc-1, thereby treating a cancer in
the subject.
[0069] Additionally provided is a method of treating a cancer in a
subject, comprising administering to the subject a composition
comprising a nucleic acid encoding a fusion polypeptide of this
invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and wherein the
fusion polypeptide is a fusion polypeptide comprising any of HNP-1
and human Muc-1, HNP-2 and human Muc-1, HNP-3 and human Muc-1, HBD1
and human Muc-1, HBD2 and human Muc-1, Def2 and human Muc-1, or
Def3 and human Muc-1, under conditions whereby the nucleic acid of
the composition can be expressed, thereby treating a cancer in the
subject.
[0070] Further provided is a method of treating or preventing HIV
infection in a subject, comprising administering to the subject a
composition comprising a defensin and a human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) antigen, wherein the defensin can be HNP-1, HNP-2,
HNP-3, HBD1, HBD2, Def2, Def3, or any other defensin, and wherein
the HIV antigen can be gp120, gp160, gp41, an active (i.e.,
antigenic) fragment of gp120, an active (i.e., antigenic) fragment
of gp160 and/or an active (i.e., antigenic) fragment of gp41, and a
pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, thereby treating or preventing
HIV infection in the subject.
[0071] In addition, a method of treating or preventing HIV
infection in a subject is provided herein, comprising administering
to the subject a composition comprising a nucleic acid encoding a
fusion polypeptide comprising a defensin and a human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antigen, wherein the defensin can be
HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, HBD2, Def2, Def3, or any other defensin,
and wherein the HIV antigen can be gp120, gp160, gp41, an active
(i.e., antigenic) fragment of gp120, an active (i.e., antigenic)
fragment of gp160 and/or an active (i.e., antigenic) fragment of
gp41, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, under conditions
whereby the nucleic acid can be expressed, thereby treating or
preventing HIV infection in the subject.
[0072] Further provided is a method of treating or preventing HIV
infection in a subject, comprising administering to the subject a
composition comprising a fusion polypeptide comprising any of HNP-1
and HIV gp120, HNP-2 and HIV gp120, HNP-3 and HIV gp120, HBD1 and
HIV gp120, HBD2 and HIV gp120, Def2 and HIV gp120, or Def3 and HIV
gp120, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, thereby treating
or preventing HIV infection in the subject.
[0073] In addition, a method of treating or preventing HIV
infection in a subject is provided herein, comprising administering
to the subject a composition comprising a nucleic acid encoding a
fusion polypeptide comprising any of HNP-1 and HIV gp120, HNP-2 and
HIV gp120, HNP-3 and HIV gp120, HBD1 and HIV gp120, gp120, HBD2 and
HIV gp120, Def2 and HIV gp120, or Def3 and HIV gp120, and a
pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, under conditions whereby the
nucleic acid can be expressed, thereby treating or preventing HIV
infection in the subject.
[0074] In a further embodiment, the present invention provides a
method of treating a B cell tumor in a subject, comprising
administering to the subject a fusion polypeptide comprising a
defensin and a B cell tumor antigen, wherein the B cell tumor
antigen can be an antibody, a single chain antibody or an epitope
of an idiotype of an antibody, and wherein the defensin can be
HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, HBD2, Def2, Def3, or any other defensin,
thereby treating a B cell tumor in the subject.
[0075] Also provided is a fusion polypeptide comprising the
defensin HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, HBD2, Def2, Def3, or any other
defensin, and the V3 loop of HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein, gp120, as
well as a fusion protein comprising HNP-1, HNP-2, BNP-3, HBD1,
HBD2, Def2, Def3, or any other defensin, and gp160 of HIV-1, a
fusion protein comprising HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, HBD2, deft,
Def3, or any other defensin, and gp41 of HIV-1, a fusion protein
comprising HNP-1, HNP-3, HBD1, HBD2, Def2, Def3, or any other
defensin, and an active fragment of gp120, a fusion protein
comprising HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, HBD2, Def2, Def3, or any
other defensin, and an active fragment of gp160 and a fusion
polypeptide comprising HNP-1, HNP-2, HBD1, HBD2, Def2, Def3, or any
other defensin, and an active fragment of gp41.
[0076] The methods of this invention comprising administering the
fusion protein of this invention to a subject can further comprise
the step of administering one or more adjuvants, such as an
immunostimulatory cytokine to the subject. The adjuvant or
adjuvants can be administered to the subject prior to, concurrent
with and/or after the administration of the fusion protein as
described herein.
[0077] The subject of the present invention can be any animal in
which cancer can be treated by eliciting an immune response to a
tumor antigen. In a preferred embodiment, the animal is a mammal
and most preferably is a human.
[0078] To determine the effect of the administration of the fusion
polypeptide on inhibition of tumor cell growth in laboratory
animals, the animals can either be pre-treated with the fusion
polypeptide and then challenged with a lethal dose of tumor cells,
or the lethal dose of tumor cells can be administered to the animal
prior to receipt of the fusion polypeptide and survival times
documented. To determine the effect of administration of the fusion
polypeptide on inhibition of tumor cell growth in humans, standard
clinical response parameters can be analyzed.
[0079] To determine the amount of fusion polypeptide which would be
an effective tumor cell growth-inhibiting amount, animals can be
treated with tumor cells as described herein and varying amounts of
the fusion polypeptide can be administered to the animals. Standard
clinical parameters, as described herein, can be measured and that
amount of fusion polypeptide effective in inhibiting tumor cell
growth can be determined. These parameters, as would be known to
one of ordinary skill in the art of oncology and tumor biology, can
include, but are not limited to, physical examination of the
subject, measurements of tumor size, X-ray studies and
biopsies.
[0080] The present invention further provides a method for treating
or preventing HIV infection in a human subject, comprising
administering to the subject an DIV replication-inhibiting amount
of the defensin/HIV antigen fusion polypeptide of this invention.
As used herein, "a replication-inhibiting amount" is that amount of
fusion polypeptide which produces a measurable humoral and/or
effector T cell (cellular) immune response in the subject against
the viral antigen, as determined by standard immunological
protocols, resulting in the inhibition of HIV replication in cells
of the subject, as determined by methods well known in the art for
measuring HIV replication, such as viral load measurement, which
can be determined by quantitative PCR (QPCR) and branched DNA
(bDNA) analysis; reverse transcriptase activity measurement, in
situ hybridization, Western immunoblot, ELISA and p24 gag
measurement (87, 88, 89, 90, 91). The fusion polypeptide can be
administered to the subject in varying amounts and the amount of
the fusion polypeptide optimally effective in inhibiting HIV
replication in a given subject can be determined as described
herein.
[0081] The fusion polypeptide of this invention can be administered
to the subject orally or parenterally, as for example, by
intramuscular injection, by intraperitoneal injection, topically,
transdermally, injection directly into the tumor, or the like,
although subcutaneous injection is typically preferred.
Immunogenic, tumor cell growth inhibiting and HIV replication
inhibiting amounts of the fusion polypeptide can be determined
using standard procedures, as described. Briefly, various doses of
the fusion polypeptide are prepared, administered to a subject and
the immunological response to each dose is determined (92). The
exact dosage of the fusion polypeptide will vary from subject to
subject, depending on the species, age, weight and general
condition of the subject, the severity of the cancer or HIV
infection that is being treated, the particular antigen being used,
the mode of administration, and the like. Thus, it is not possible
to specify an exact amount. However, an appropriate amount may be
determined by one of ordinary skill in the art using only routine
screening given the teachings herein.
[0082] Generally, the dosage of fusion protein will approximate
that which is typical for the administration of vaccines, and
typically, the dosage will be in the range of about 1 to 500 .mu.g
of the fusion polypeptide per dose, and preferably in the range of
50 to 250 .mu.g of the fusion polypeptide per dose. This amount can
be administered to the subject once every other week for about
eight weeks or once every other month for about six months. The
effects of the administration of the fusion polypeptide can be
determined starting within the first month following the initial
administration and continued thereafter at regular intervals, as
needed, for an indefinite period of time.
[0083] For oral administration of the fusion polypeptide of this
invention, fine powders or granules may contain diluting,
dispersing, and/or surface active agents, and may be presented in
water or in a syrup, in capsules or sachets in the dry state, or in
a nonaqueous solution or suspension wherein suspending agents may
be included, in tablets wherein binders and lubricants may be
included, or in a suspension in water or a syrup. Where desirable
or necessary, flavoring, preserving, suspending, thickening, or
emulsifying agents may be included. Tablets and granules are
preferred oral administration forms, and these may be coated.
[0084] Parenteral administration, if used, is generally
characterized by injection. Injectables can be prepared in
conventional forms, either as liquid solutions or suspensions,
solid forms suitable for solution or suspension in liquid prior to
injection, or as emulsions. A more recently revised approach for
parenteral administration involves use of a slow release or
sustained release system, such that a constant level of dosage is
maintained. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,710,795, which is
incorporated by reference herein.
[0085] For solid compositions, conventional nontoxic solid carriers
include, for example, pharmaceutical grades of mannitol, lactose,
starch, magnesium stearate, sodium saccharin, talc, cellulose,
glucose, sucrose, magnesium carbonate, and the like. Liquid
pharmaceutically administrable compositions can, for example, be
prepared by dissolving, dispersing, etc. an active compound as
described herein and optional pharmaceutical adjuvants in an
excipient, such as, for example, water, saline, aqueous dextrose,
glycerol, ethanol, and the like, to thereby form a solution or
suspension. If desired, the pharmaceutical composition to be
administered may also contain minor amounts of nontoxic auxiliary
substances such as wetting or emulsifying agents, pH buffering
agents and the like, for example, sodium acetate, sorbitan
monolaurate, triethanolamine sodium acetate, triethanolamine
oleate, etc. Actual methods of preparing such dosage forms are
known, or will be apparent, to those skilled in this (84).
[0086] The present invention also provides a method for producing
single chain antibodies against tumor antigens comprising producing
a fusion polypeptide comprising a defensin region and a region
comprising a tumor antigen; immunizing animals with an amount of
the fusion polypeptide sufficient to produce a humoral immune
response to the fusion polypeptide; isolating spleen cells
expressing immunoglobulin specific for the fusion polypeptide;
isolating the immunoglobulin variable genes from the spleen cells;
cloning the immunoglobulin variable genes into an expression
vector; expressing the immunoglobulin variable genes in a
bacteriophage; infecting E. coli cells with the bacteriophage;
isolating bacteriophage from the E. coli cells which express the
immunoglobulin variable genes and isolating the immunoglobulin
variable gene products for use as single chain antibodies.
[0087] The defensin-scFv fusion proteins described herein would be
better targets than tumor cells or purified tumor antigen peptides
for antibody selection approaches such as phage displayed scFv
production. For example, there are two ways to produce specific Fv
displayed on the surface of phage: (1) Immunize mice with tumor
cells; isolate immunoglobulin variable fragment genes from spleen
cells by RT/PCR; clone the genes into bacteriophage in frame with
genes coding phage surface proteins (e.g., major coat protein
subunits gpVIII or gp III of the filamentous bacteriophage) (93,
94); and (2) Construct semisynthetic antibody libraries by PCR as
described (95). The specific phage producing scFv are selected by
several rounds of binding elution and infection in E. coli, using
biotin labeled defensin-tumor antigen (e.g., Muccore). The biotin
enables selection of high affinity scFv-phage through binding to
streptavidin conjugated magnetic beads. This approach provides
simple, fast and efficient production of specific anti-tumor
epitope scFv.
[0088] As described herein, the present invention also provides a
nucleic acid which encodes a fusion polypeptide of this invention
and a vector comprising a nucleic acid which encodes a fusion
polypeptide of this invention, either of which can be in a
pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. Such nucleic acids and vectors
can be used in gene therapy protocols to treat cancer as well as to
treat or prevent HIV infection in a subject.
[0089] Thus, the present invention further provides a method of
treating a cancer in a subject diagnosed with a cancer comprising
administering the nucleic acid of this invention to a cell of the
subject under conditions whereby the nucleic acid is expressed in
the cell, thereby treating the cancer.
[0090] A method of treating a B cell tumor in a subject diagnosed
with a B cell tumor is also provided, comprising administering the
nucleic acid of this invention, encoding a defensin and an antibody
or fragment thereof, in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, to a
cell of the subject, under conditions whereby the nucleic acid is
expressed in the cell, thereby treating the B cell tumor.
[0091] The methods of this invention comprising administering
nucleic acid encoding the fusion protein of this invention to a
subject can further comprise the step of administering a nucleic
acid encoding an adjuvant such as an immunostimulatory cytokine to
the subject, either before, concurrent with or after the
administration of the nucleic acid encoding the fusion protein, as
described herein.
[0092] The nucleic acid can be administered to the cell in a virus,
which can be, for example, adenovirus, retrovirus and
adeno-associated virus. Alternatively, the nucleic acid of this
invention can be administered to the cell in a liposome. The cell
of the subject can be either in vivo or ex vivo. Also, the cell of
the subject can be any cell which can take up and express exogenous
nucleic acid and produce the fusion polypeptide of this invention.
Thus, the fusion polypeptide of this invention can be produced by a
cell which secretes it, whereby it binds a defensin receptor and is
subsequently processed by an antigen presenting cell and presented
to the immune system for elicitation of an immune response.
Alternatively, the fusion polypeptide of this invention can be
produced in an antigen presenting cell where it is processed
directly and presented to the immune system.
[0093] If ex vivo methods are employed, cells or tissues can be
removed and maintained outside the body according to standard
protocols well known in the art. The nucleic acids of this
invention can be introduced into the cells via any gene transfer
mechanism, such as, for example, virus-mediated gene delivery,
calcium phosphate mediated gene delivery, electroporation,
microinjection or proteoliposomes. The transduced cells can then be
infused (e.g., in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier) or
transplanted back into the subject per standard methods for the
cell or tissue type. Standard methods are known for transplantation
or infusion of various cells into a subject.
[0094] For in vivo methods, the nucleic acid encoding the fusion
protein can be administered to the subject in a pharmaceutically
acceptable carrier as described herein.
[0095] In the methods described herein which include the
administration and uptake of exogenous DNA into the cells of a
subject (i.e., gene transduction or transfection), the nucleic
acids of the present invention can be in the form of naked DNA or
the nucleic acids can be in a vector for delivering the nucleic
acids to the cells for expression of the nucleic acid to produce
the fusion protein of this invention. The vector can be a
commercially available preparation, such as an adenovirus vector
(Quantum Biotechnologies, Inc. (Laval, Quebec, Canada). Delivery of
the nucleic acid or vector to cells can be via a variety of
mechanisms. As one example, delivery can be via a liposome, using
commercially available liposome preparations such as LIPOFECTIN,
LIPFECTAMINE (GIBCO-BRL, Inc., Gaithersburg, Md.), SUPERFECT
(Qiagen, Inc. Hilden, Germany) and TRANSFECTAM (Promega Biotec,
Inc., Madison, Wis.), as well as other liposomes developed
according to procedures standard in the art. In addition, the
nucleic acid or vector of this invention can be delivered in vivo
by electroporation, the technology for which is available from
Genetronics, Inc. (San Diego, Calif.) as well as by means of a
SONOPORATION machine (ImaRx Pharmaceutical Corp., Tucson,
Ariz.).
[0096] Vector delivery can also be via a viral system, such as a
retroviral vector system which can package a recombinant retroviral
genome (see e.g., 96, 97). The recombinant retrovirus can then be
used to infect and thereby deliver to the infected cells nucleic
acid encoding the fusion polypeptide. The exact method of
introducing the exogenous nucleic acid into mammalian cells is, of
course, not limited to the use of retroviral vectors. Other
techniques are widely available for this procedure including the
use of adenoviral vectors (98), adeno-associated viral (AAV)
vectors (99), lentiviral vectors (100), pseudotyped retroviral
vectors (101). Physical transduction techniques can also be used,
such as liposome delivery and receptor-mediated and other
endocytosis mechanisms (see, for example, 102). This invention can
be used in conjunction with any of these or other commonly used
gene transfer methods.
[0097] Various adenoviruses may be used in the compositions and
methods described herein. For example, a nucleic acid encoding the
fusion protein can be inserted within the genome of adenovirus type
5. Similarly, other types of adenovirus may be used such as type 1,
type 2, etc. For an exemplary list of the adenoviruses known to be
able to infect human cells and which therefore can be used in the
present invention, see Fields, et al. (103). Furthermore, it is
contemplated that a recombinant nucleic acid comprising an
adenoviral nucleic acid from one type adenovirus can be packaged
using capsid proteins from a different type adenovirus.
[0098] The adenovirus of the present invention is preferably
rendered replication deficient, depending upon the specific
application of the compounds and methods described herein. Methods
of rendering an adenovirus replication deficient are well known in
the art. For example, mutations such as point mutations, deletions,
insertions and combinations thereof, can be directed toward a
specific adenoviral gene or genes, such as the E1 gene. For a
specific example of the generation of a replication deficient
adenovirus for use in gene therapy, see WO 94/28938 (Adenovirus
Vectors for Gene Therapy Sponsorship) which is incorporated herein
in its entirety.
[0099] In the present invention, the nucleic acid encoding the
fusion protein can be inserted within an adenoviral genome and the
fusion protein encoding sequence can be positioned such that an
adenovirus promoter is operatively linked to the fusion protein
nucleic acid insert such that the adenoviral promoter can then
direct transcription of the nucleic acid, or the fusion protein
insert may contain its own adenoviral promoter. Similarly, the
fusion protein insert may be positioned such that the nucleic acid
encoding the fusion protein may use other adenoviral regulatory
regions or sites such as splice junctions and polyadenylation
signals and/or sites. Alternatively, the nucleic acid encoding the
fusion protein may contain a different enhancer/promoter (e.g., CMV
or RSV-LTR enhancer/promoter sequences) or other regulatory
sequences, such as splice sites and polyadenylation sequences, such
that the nucleic acid encoding the fusion protein may contain those
sequences necessary for expression of the fusion protein and not
partially or totally require these regulatory regions and/or sites
of the adenovirus genome. These regulatory sites may also be
derived from another source, such as a virus other than adenovirus.
For example, a polyadenylation signal from SV40 or BGH may be used
rather than an adenovirus, a human, or a murine polyadenylation
signal. The fusion protein nucleic acid insert may, alternatively,
contain some sequences necessary for expression of the nucleic acid
encoding the fusion protein and derive other sequences necessary
for the expression of the fusion protein nucleic acid from the
adenovirus genome, or even from the host in which the recombinant
adenovirus is introduced.
[0100] As another example, for administration of nucleic acid
encoding the fusion protein to an individual in an AAV vector, the
AAV particle can be directly injected intravenously. The AAV has a
broad host range, so the vector can be used to transduce any of
several cell types, but preferably cells in those organs that are
well perfused with blood vessels. To more specifically administer
the vector, the AAV particle can be directly injected into a target
organ, such as muscle, liver or kidney. Furthermore, the vector can
be administered intraarterially, directly into a body cavity, such
as intraperitoneally, or directly into the central nervous system
(CNS).
[0101] An AAV vector can also be administered in gene therapy
procedures in various other formulations in which the vector
plasmid is administered after incorporation into other delivery
systems such as liposomes or systems designed to target cells by
receptor-mediated or other endocytosis procedures. The AAV vector
can also be incorporated into an adenovirus, retrovirus or other
virus which can be used as the delivery vehicle.
[0102] As described above, the nucleic acid or vector of the
present invention can be administered in vivo in a pharmaceutically
acceptable carrier. By "pharmaceutically acceptable" is meant a
material that is not biologically or otherwise undesirable, i.e.,
the material may be administered to a subject, along with the
nucleic acid or vector, without causing any undesirable biological
effects or interacting in a deleterious manner with any of the
other components of the pharmaceutical composition in which it is
contained. The carrier would naturally be selected to minimize any
degradation of the active ingredient and to minimize any adverse
side effects in the subject, as would be well known to one of skill
in the art.
[0103] The mode of administration of the nucleic acid or vector of
the present invention can vary predictably according to the disease
being treated and the tissue being targeted. For example, for
administration of the nucleic acid or vector in a liposome,
catheterization of an artery upstream from the target organ is a
preferred mode of delivery, because it avoids significant clearance
of the liposome by the lung and liver.
[0104] The nucleic acid or vector may be administered orally as
described herein for oral administration of the fusion polypeptides
of this invention, parenterally (e.g., intravenously), by
intramuscular injection, by intraperitoneal injection,
transdermally, extracorporeally, topically or the like, although
intravenous administration is typically preferred. The exact amount
of the nucleic acid or vector required will vary from subject to
subject, depending on the species, age, weight and general
condition of the subject, the severity of the disorder being
treated, the particular nucleic acid or vector used, its mode of
administration and the like. Thus, it is not possible to specify an
exact amount for every nucleic acid or vector. However, an
appropriate amount can be determined by one of ordinary skill in
the art using only routine experimentation given the teachings
herein (84).
[0105] As one example, if the nucleic acid of this invention is
delivered to the cells of a subject in an adenovirus vector, the
dosage for administration of adenovirus to humans can range from
about 10.sup.7 to 10.sup.9 plaque forming units (pfu) per
injection, but can be as high as 10.sup.12 pfu per injection (104,
105). Ideally, a subject will receive a single injection. If
additional injections are necessary, they can be repeated at six
month intervals for an indefinite period and/or until the efficacy
of the treatment has been established.
[0106] Parenteral administration of the nucleic acid or vector of
the present invention, if used, is generally characterized by
injection. Injectables can be prepared in conventional forms,
either as liquid solutions or suspensions, solid forms suitable for
solution or suspension in liquid prior to injection, or as
emulsions. A more recently revised approach for parenteral
administration involves use of a slow release or sustained release
system such that a constant dosage is maintained. See, e.g., U.S.
Pat. No. 3,610,795, which is incorporated by reference herein in
its entirety.
[0107] The present invention is more particularly described in the
following examples which are intended as illustrative only since
numerous modifications and variations therein will be apparent to
those skilled in the art.
EXAMPLES
Example 1
Materials and Methods
[0108] Mice and Tumor.
[0109] C3H/HeN female mice 6 to 12 weeks of age are obtained from
the Animal Production Area of the National Cancer
Institute-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center
(NCI-FCRDC, Frederick, Md.). The cell line 38c13 is a
carcinogen-induced murine B cell tumor cell line (125). The 38c13
tumor cell secretes and expresses IgM(.kappa.) on the cell surface
and is MHC class I positive but class II negative. 38c13 cells from
a common frozen stock are passaged in vitro 3 days before use in
RPMI 1640 supplemented with 100 U/ml of penicillin and
streptomycin, 2.times.10.sup.-5M 2-mercaptoethanol and heat
inactivated 10% fetal bovine serum (BioWhitaker).
[0110] Construction of Expression Vectors.
[0111] Two types of expression systems are used to produce scFv and
scFv fusions. In one system, nucleic acid encoding the fusion
protein is expressed in a modified pet11d vector (Stratagene) and
purified from inclusion bodies of E. coli. In the second system,
the nucleic acid encoding the fusion polypeptide is cloned into a
pCMVE/AB (Arya Biragyn) vector under regulatory elements of the
early promoter and enhancer of CMV and expressed in the epidermis
of mice as a naked DNA vaccine.
[0112] Fv fragments are cloned from two different B cell lymphomas,
38C13 and A20, respectively (106, 107) by RT/PCR and produced as
recombinant fusion peptides with either IP-10, respectively
designated as IP10scFv38 and IP10scFv20A, or MCP3scFv38 and
MCP3scFv20A. Specifically, lymphoma specific Vh and Vl fragments
are cloned by RT/PCR techniques as single chain antibody from total
RNA of 38c13 and A20 tumor cells, designated scFv38 and scFv20A
respectively, using the following primers.
TABLE-US-00001 PRVh-5': PRV.sub.H38-5': (SEQ ID NO: 4) CTCGAGG
TGAAGCTGGTGGAGTCTGGA PRVh-3': PRV.sub.H38-3': (SEQ ID NO: 5)
AGAGGAGA CTGTGAGAGTGGTGCCTT PRVl-5': PRV.sub.L38-5': (SEQ ID NO: 6)
GACATCCAGATGACACAGTCTCCA PRVl-3': PRV.sub.L38-3': (SEQ ID NO: 7)
GGATCCTTTTATTTCCAGCTTGGTCCCCCCTCCGAA PRV.sub.H20A-5': (SEQ ID NO:
8) CCATGGTCCAAC TGCAGCAGTCAGGGCCTGAC PRV.sub.H20A-3': (SEQ ID NO:
9) TGAGGAGACTGTGAGTTCGGTACCTT GGCC PRV.sub.L 20A-5': (SEQ ID NO:
10) GATGTTGTGATGACGCAGACTCCACTC PRV.sub.L20A-3': (SEQ ID NO: 11)
GGATCCTT TGACTTCCAGCTTTGTGCCTCCA
[0113] The resulting scFv contained a (Gly.sub.4Ser).sub.3 linker
and is cloned into the expression vector pET11d, which is modified
to fuse in frame with c-myc and the His tag peptide sequences,
followed by an amber stop codon. The resulting scFv contains a 17
a.a. residue linker, GGGGSGGGGSGGGGSGS (Gly.sub.4Ser).sub.3GlySer
(SEQ ID NO:12) (108).
[0114] Constructs for the nDNA vaccination are fused in frame to
the following defensins lacking the pro-sequence, as defensins are
first produced as inactive pro-defensins, and are activated by
proteolytic cleavage of the pro sequence. Thus, the nucleic acids
encoding murine .beta. defensin-2 (Def2), murine .beta.
defensin-3(Def3), HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, or HBD2 lacking their
pro sequence are inserted into pCMVE/AB to enable secretion. The
carboxy-terminus of scFv is then fused in frame with the tag
sequence encoding c-myc peptide and six His residues, respectively:
GGA TCC GCA GAA GAA CAG AAA CTG ATC TCA GAA GAG GAT CTG GCC CAC CAC
CAT CAC CAT CAC TAA CCCGGG (SEQ ID NO:13). Genes for the mature
sequence (i.e., lacking the pro-sequence) of defensins HNP-1,
HNP-3, HBD1, and HBD2, are cloned by RT/PCR technique from cell
lines which are known in the art, and fused in frame with sFv
utilizing suitable primers to form HNP-1sFv38, HNP-2sFv38,
HNP-3sFv38, HBD1sFv38, and HBD2sFv38. Murine beta defensin-2 and -3
are cloned by RT/PCR from the LPS-treated murine skin and fused in
frame with model lymphoma derived sFv antigen, self tumor antigen
(Def2sFv38 and Def3sFv38, respectively). As controls, sFv fusion
proteins with the pro-defensin form of each of the above listed
defensins are prepared.
[0115] Def2, Def3, HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, and HBD2 fusions are
made by fusing them to amino-terminus of scFv through a short
spacer sequence: 5' GAA TTC AAC GAC GCT CAG GCG CCG AAG AGT CTC GAG
3' (SEQ ID NO:14), encoding the amino acid sequence: EFNDQAPKSLE
(SEQ ID NO:15). Two unique restriction endonuclease sites are
introduced at the ends of the space to facilitate cloning: EcoRI at
the 5' end (underlined) and XhoI at the 3' end (underlined). All
constructs are verified by DNA dideoxy-sequencing method, using T7
SEQUENASE kit (Amersham).
[0116] Def2, Def3, HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, and HBD2 defensins
are cloned into the scFv38 expression vector through NcoI and XhoI
restriction sites. The resulting fusion nucleic acid contains the
defensin gene ligated to the 5'-end of the scFv38 gene and
separated with a short spacer sequence, as described above.
[0117] Bacterial Expression and scFv Purification.
[0118] The recombinant proteins are expressed in BL21(DE3) cells
(InVitrogen) as inclusion bodies after 8 hours of induction in
Super-Broth with 0.8 mM IPTG in the presence of 150 .mu.g/ml
carbenicillin and 50 .mu.g/ml ampicillin at 30.degree. C.
HNP-1-scFv38, HNP-2-scFv38, HNP-3-scFv38, HBD1-scFv38, and
HBD2-scFv38, are purified from the inclusion bodies with a modified
method (110). Briefly, inclusion bodies, denatured in 6M Gu HCl,
100 mM NaH.sub.2PO.sub.4, 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, are reduced in
0.3M DTE and refolded at a concentration of 80 .mu.g/ml in the
refolding solution (Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 0.5M arginine-HCL, 4 mM GSSG
and 2 mM EDTA) for 72 hours at 10.degree. C. The refolded solution
is dialyzed in 100 mM Urea and 20 mM tris-HCl, pH 7.4 and the
recombinant protein is purified by binding to heparin-sepharose
resins (Pharmacia, Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden). The integrity and
purity of the recombinant protein is tested by PAGE gel
electrophoresis in reducing conditions and by Western blot
hybridization with mAb 9E10. The purification yields 2-20 mg/l of
the soluble protein with greater than 90% purity.
[0119] Results
[0120] Purified fusion polypeptide is tested for the ability to
inhibit binding of native IgM 38c13 (Id38), as compared to positive
sera from mice immunized with Id38-KLH. ELISA plates are coated
with 10 .mu.g/ml Id38, then wells are incubated with anti-Id38
positive sera (1:500) and titrated amounts of scFv. Id38 (10
.mu.g/ml) and either Def2, Def3, HNP-1 scFv20, HNP-2 scFv20, HNP-3
scFv20, HBD1 scFv20, or HBD2 scFv20 HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, and
HBD2 defensins fused to an irrelevant scFv) are used as positive
and negative control samples, respectively.
[0121] Recombinant fusion proteins purified from E. coli are
characterized for proper idiotype folding by their ability to
inhibit 38c13 IgM binding to a monoclonal (SIC5 mAb) or polyclonal
anti-idiotypic sera, in order to determine if Def2, Def3, HNP-1,
HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, and HBD2 defensin fusions interfere with the
proper conformation of scFv38.
[0122] Next, defensin fusions, including controls, are tested for
their ability to induce chemotaxis of different subsets of immune
cells, including spenocytes and bone marrow derived immature
dendritic cells. Both Def2sFv38 and Def3sFv38 induce chemotaxis of
murine splenocytes and murine bone marrow derived immature DC in
dose dependent manner with the maximum migration to 10 ng/ml and
100 ng/ml of Def2sFv38 and Def3sFv38, respectively. The immature
phenotype of these DC has been confirmed by Facs staining and by
supported by their ability to migrate to MIP3, a chemo-attractant
specific for immature DC, and not react to MIP3, mature DC
chemo-attractant. In contrast, no chemotaxis is detected when cells
incubated with proDef2sFv38 or control protein MCP3TsFv38.
Moreover, day seven bone marrow derived DC, which acquired mature
phenotype as judged by Facs and by inability to migrate to MIP3
while acquiring migration to MIP3, do not respond to either of
defensin fusions. Therefore, murine beta defensin-2 and -3 fusion
proteins target specifically immature DC inducing their chemotaxis,
and do not affect mature DC.
[0123] In Vivo Immunization and Tumor Protection.
[0124] To test the ability of Def2-scFv38, Def3-scFv38,
HNP-1-scFv38, HNP-2-scFv38, HNP-3-scFv38, HBD1-scFv38, and
HBD2-scFv38 to render self tumor antigen, sFv38, immunogenic when
immunized as genetic vaccine in mice, ten mice per group are
gene-gun immunized with plasmid encoding fusions with mature
defensin fusions HNP-1-scFv38, HNP-2-scFv38, HNP-3-scFv38,
HBD1-scFv38, and HBD2-scFv38, in order to demonstrate whether these
fusions can target APC in vitro. As a control, mice are immunized
with the similar DNA constructs but encoding inactive pro-defensin
fusions (designated, e.g., pproDef2sFv38). Murine defensins induce
significant anti-idiotype specific antibodies compared to the
prototype Ig38-KLH protein vaccine. In contrast, no anti-idiotypic
antibody response is seen after immunization with pro-Defensin
fusions. Thus, non immunogenic sFv is rendered immunogenic by
mature defensins, and the response correlates with their ability to
induce chemotaxis of immature DC and other APC.
[0125] Groups of ten mice immunized with defensin or control
plasmids are challenged with 20-fold lethal dose of tumor two weeks
after the last of three serial immunizations. Control mice are
immunized with inactive pro-defensin-sFv38 fusions or with
corresponding active defensins fused with sFvA20 from irrelevant
lymphoma A20 sFv or PBS. Mice immunized with inactive pproDef2sFv38
do not survive. In contrast, significant protective immunity is
elicited in mice immunized with pDef2sFv38 and pDef3sFv38. The
survival closely correlates with the presence of functionally
intact or active defensins which can act on immature DC or other
APC via differentially expressing their receptors. Although Gen-gun
bombarded DNA would target variety of skin cells including skin APC
and LC, it is not sufficient to render self-tumor antigen (sFv)
immunogenic because it required physical linkage of sFv with
defensin moieties. No positive humoral response or survival is
detected in mice immunized with DNA plasmids expressing free
unlinked beta defensin or viral chemokine and sFv38.
[0126] Thus, the animal experiments clearly correlate with
functional data from in vitro studies. Id-specific responses and
tumor immunity is detected only when the defensin moiety in the
fusion retains the functional properties of the respective
defensin, while no immunity is observed when the defensin is
replaced with a mutant, functionally inactive defensin.
Furthermore, induction of chemotaxis to the site of vaccine
injection or production is not sufficient to generate immunity, as
demonstrated by the lack of humoral and anti-tumor immunity in mice
immunized with defensin alone or with either a mixture of free,
unlinked defensin and sFv or defensin fused with an irrelevant
sFv.
Example 2
[0127] Six- to nine-week old female C3H/HeN mice are immunized
intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 100 to 200 .mu.g of the soluble
protein in PBS and control immunogen Id38-KLH two times at two week
intervals or are shaved and immunized by Accell gene delivery
device (Agracetus, Inc., Middleton, Wis.) with 1.mu. gold particles
carrying 1-3 .mu.g plasmid DNA. Sera are collected by orbital
bleeding two weeks after each vaccination. Serum anti-idiotypic
(anti-Id) antibody levels are tested as described (111) over
microtiter plates coated with 10 .mu.g/ml native IgM 38c13. Two
weeks after the last immunization, mice are inoculated with 2000
38c13 tumor cells i.p. Survival is determined, and significance
with the respect to time to death, is assessed using BMDP IL
software (BMDP statistical software, Los Angeles). Mice are
observed daily for any signs of toxicity and date of death and
animals surviving >80 days after tumor challenge are killed and
reported as long-term survivors.
[0128] Mice are immunized either with a plasmid coding for
Def2-scFv38, Def3-scFv38, HNP-1-scFv38, HNP-2-scFv38, HNP-3-scFv38,
HBD1-scFv38, HBD2-scFv38, or a mixture of DNA constructs expressing
unlinked scFv38 and vMIPIscFv20A (scFv38D+vMIPIscfv20AD).
[0129] Ten mice per group are immunized with two types of scFv38
fused to Def2, Def3, HNP-2, HBD1, or HBD2, differing only in
orientation of variable genes in scFv. Control mice receive IgM-KLH
(Id38-KLH) and the corresponding defensin fusion to A20 lymphoma
scFv (IP10scFv20A). Ten mice per group are immunized i.d. with
plasmid coding either for defensin fusion vaccine (Def2-scFv38,
Def3-scFv38, HNP-1-scFv38, HNP-2-scFv38, HNP-3-scFv38, HBD1-scFv38,
and HBD2-scFv38), or free scFv (scFv38D), or viral epitope preS2
fused scFv (PreS2scFv38D).
[0130] Effector CD8.sup.+ and CD4.sup.+ cells are depleted two
weeks after the last immunization with three i.p. injections of 400
.mu.g .alpha.-CD8 mAb 53.6.72, or .alpha.-CD4 mAb GK1.5 (both
ammonium sulfate purified ascites, Biological Resource Branch,
NCI-FCRDC) (32, 34), or control rat IgG (Sigma). Control mice are
immunized with plasmid expressing Def2, Def3, HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3,
HBD1, or HBD2 fused to A20 scFv (MCP3scFv20AD).
[0131] Ten Balb/C mice per group are immunized i.p. twice with 100
.mu.g of Def2, Def3, HNP-1, HNP-2, HNP-3, HBD1, or HBD2 fused with
scFv20A protein in PBS and challenged i.p. with 10.sup.5 A20 tumor
cells. To determine the role of free versus linked defensin,
defensin-scFv20A is co-injected with the same defensin fused to an
irrelevant scFv38 (defensin-scFv20A+defensin-scFv38). Control mice
are immunized with A20 IgM-KLH (Id20A-KLH).
[0132] Immunoassays and Serum Anti-Idiotypic Antibody.
[0133] The assessments for correct folding of purified scFv38 and
fusion scFv38 are determined by ELISA with mAbs and by inhibition
assay with Id38-KLH sera (immunized with native IgM 38c13
conjugated to KLH). Briefly, microtiter plates (Nunc, Naperville,
Ill.) are coated overnight at 4.degree. C. with 10 .mu.g/ml
anti-c-myc mAb 9E10 in carbonate buffer (50 mM NaHCO.sub.3, pH
9.0). The wells are blocked with 5% nonfat dry milk in PBS for 30
min. Plates are washed in 0.05% Triton X-100 in PBS, and serially
diluted scFv (starting from 10 .mu.g/ml in 50 .mu.l 2% BSA/PBS) is
applied, after which plates are incubated 40 min at room
temperature. After washing, the wells are incubated with 50 .mu.l
of 1:300 diluted biotinylated anti-Id38 mAb in 2% BSA/PBS for 30
min at room temperature. Wells are washed and incubated with
streptavidin-HRP conjugate (1:5000) in 2% BSA/PBS for 30 min at
room temperature. Then, wells are washed and incubated with ABTS
peroxidase substrate (KPL, Gaithersburg, Md.) and the absorbance at
405 nm is measured.
[0134] Inhibition assays are performed as described above, except
plates are coated with 10 .mu.g/ml of native IgM 38c13, then wells
are incubated for 30 min at room temperature with a 1:2 dilution of
positive Id38-KLH sera mixed with serially diluted purified scFv
proteins starting from 50 .mu.g/ml in 2% BSA/PBS. The bound
antibodies from the sera are assayed by incubating wells for 30 min
at room temperature with anti-mouse IgG-HRP mAb (Jackson).
[0135] Serum anti-idiotypic (anti-Id) antibody levels are tested as
described (37). Briefly, mouse serum is serially diluted over
microtiter plates coated with 10 .mu.g/ml native IgM 38c13. Binding
of antibodies in the serum to 38c13 IgM is detected by goat
anti-mouse IgG-HRP. Serum anti-Id antibody levels are quantitated
by comparing sera titration curves with a standard curve obtained
with a known concentration of a mixture of purified monoclonal
anti-Id antibodies. Antibody levels are expressed in g/ml of serum
for individual mice. In each ELISA, sera obtained from mice
immunized with control IgM-KLH are included as negative controls.
Such sera never showed any titration binding activity on
Id-38c13.
[0136] In vitro and in vivo chemotaxis assays. Single cell
suspensions are prepared from spleens of untreated C3H/HeJ mice.
Murine T cell enrichment columns (R&D System, Minneapolis,
Minn.) are then used to prepare a purified murine T cell population
via high-affinity negative selection according to the
manufacturer's instructions. The isolation procedure typically
yields over 89% CD3.sup.+ T cells, as determined by FACS analysis.
T cell migration in vitro is assessed by 48-well microchemotaxis
chamber technique. Briefly, a 26 .mu.l aliquot of the recombinant
scFv fusion protein serially diluted in the chemotaxis medium (RPMI
1640, 1% BSA, 25 mM HEPES) is placed in the lower compartment and
50 .mu.l of cell suspension (5.times.10.sup.6 cells/ml) is placed
in the upper compartment of the chamber. The two compartments are
separated by a polycarbonate filter (5 .mu.m pore size; Neuroprobe,
Cabin John, Md.) coated with 10 .mu.g/ml of fibronectin (Sigma, St.
Luis, Mo.) and incubated overnight at 4.degree. C. or for 2 hours
at 37.degree. C. The chemotaxis assay is performed at 37.degree. C.
for 2 hours. Then the filter is removed, fixed and stained with
Diff-Quik (Harlew, Gibbstown, N.J.). The number of migrated cells
in three high power fields (400.times.) is counted by light
microscopy after coding the samples. The results are expressed as
the mean.+-.SE value of the migration in triplicate samples.
[0137] Migration of splenocytes and bone marrow-derived immature
dendritic cells in vitro is assessed by the 48-well micro
chemotaxis chamber technique as described (112).
[0138] In order to test in vivo effects on cell accumulation,
C3H/HeN mice are injected s.c. with a single 10 .mu.g dose of scFv
fusion proteins. Portions of the skin from the site of injection
are removed 72 hours after the injection, fixed in 10% neutral
buffered formalin, embedded in paraffin, sectioned at 5 .mu.m and
stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). Slides are evaluated
microscopically without knowledge of the experimental
treatment.
[0139] In Vivo Cellular Infiltration into Murine Skin.
[0140] The numbers of PMN and mononuclear (MN) cells infiltrated
into murine skin are graded as following: -, no significant lesion;
1, mild; 2, moderate; 3 severe; F, focal; MF, multi focal. Mice are
injected with 10 .mu.g of Deft-scFv38, Def3-scFv38, HNP-1-scFv38,
HNP-2-scFv38, HNP-3-scFv38, HBD1-scFv38, and HBD2-scFv38, or PBS,
subcutaneously. After 72 h, the injection site is excised and
examined histologically on coded slides to determine the extent of
infiltration. The amount of endotoxin injected with samples is
0.5-1 units.
[0141] The Traditional Approach to Enhance Immunogenicity by Cross
Linking to KLH is not Effective.
[0142] Several different approaches are used for the production of
single chain antibody fragments from 38c13 cells (scFv38) in E.
coli. Yield of scFv38 differ significantly depending on the method
used. Production of scFv38 through a secretory path using a PelB
leader sequence as a native protein is least efficient. The problem
is solved when scFv38 is produced as insoluble "inclusion" bodies,
which yield about 2-8 mg of refolded scFv per liter of the batch
culture with greater than 90% purity. Folding properties of the
produced scFv38 are monitored by either (i) inhibition assay with
native Id38; or (ii) modified ELISA assay where scFv38 is captured
through an anti-c-myc tag and detected with the biotinylated
monoclonal anti-Id38 antibody (anti-Id38 mAb does not recognize
linear or incorrectly folded epitope). These experiments
demonstrate that scFv38, but not irrelevant scFv20A, specifically
binds to anti-Id38c mAb and inhibits binding of the native Id38c to
anti-Id38c mAb, 50% binding inhibition by 10-15 fold excess of
scFv38. In addition, positive sera from Id38c-KLH immunized mice
specifically recognizes purified scFv38. These data indicate that
purified scFv38 is folded correctly and imitates the idiotype of
the native antibody (Id38c) of B cell lymphoma 38c13.
[0143] Immunization experiments show that scFv38, similarly to the
native Id38c IgM, is a poor immunogen. Attempts were made to
convert scFv38 into a potent immunogen by chemical cross linking
with KLH, in analogy to the native Id38c. However, in contrast to
Id38-KLH, i.p. immunizations of syngeneic mice with 100 .mu.g of
scFv38-KLH did not elicit any anti-Id38c specific antibody
response. This inability to induce anti-Id38 response correlates
with the loss of ability to affect binding of anti-Id38 mAb (SIC5)
to Id38c by samples containing scFv38-KLH, while a control sample
of an equimolar mixture of non-cross linked scFv38 and KLH
(scFv38+KLH) inhibited anti-Id38/Id38c binding similarly to pure
scFv38. These data indicate that a fragile Id conformation of
scFv38 is removed by KLH cross linking and that this traditional
approach is not applicable for the enhancement of immunogenicity of
scFv38.
[0144] Design and Production of Defensin Fused scFv38.
[0145] Def2-scFv38, Def3-scFv38, HNP-1-scFv38, HNP-2-scFv38,
HNP-3-scFv38, HBD1-scFv38, and HBD2-scFv38 are subcloned from the
relevant cell lines by RT/PCR using specific primers as described
herein and inserted in frame in front of the scFv38 DNA sequence.
The resulting fusion genes are designated as Def2-scFv38,
Def3-scFv38, HNP-1-scFv38, HNP-2-scFv38, HNP-3-scFv38, HBD1-scFv38,
and HBD2-scFv38, respectively. In order to evaluate input of the
immunoglobulin V chain specific orientation, two variants of fusion
defensin-scFv genes are designed, one containing a V.sub.H-V.sub.L
and one containing a V.sub.L-V.sub.H sequence, respectively
designated as scFv38 MH and scFv38(INV)MH.
[0146] All fusion proteins used in these experiments are purified
from inclusion bodies of E. coli, solubilized and refolded as
described herein. A spacer sequence, as described herein, is
introduced into the defensin fusion proteins and correct folding is
tested for each recombinant protein.
[0147] The ability of Def2-scFv38, Def3-scFv38, HNP-1-scFv38,
HNP-2-scFv38, HNP-3-scFv38, HBD1-scFv38, and HBD2-scFv38 proteins
to induce chemotaxis in vivo in C3H/HeN mice is also tested. Mice
are s.c. injected once with 10 .mu.g of the fusion protein and
after 72 hours, the skin around the site of injection is removed
and analyzed as described herein.
[0148] Production of Fusion Polypeptides Comprising a Human
Defensin and a Human Tumor Antigen or HIV Antigen.
[0149] To produce the fusion polypeptides of the present invention
which comprise a defensin region and a human tumor antigen region
or HIV antigen region, the following procedures are carried out:
Tumor or viral antigen is cloned by PCR or RT/PCR from DNA or RNA
of biopsy cells of a patient, using specific primer. The primers
are made using standard methods for selecting and synthesizing
primer sequences from analysis of known sequences of the genes of
interest (e.g., from GenBank, Kabat Ig sequence database and other
available genetic databases, as are known in the art). For example,
lymphoma or myeloma-specific scFv is cloned by RT/PCR from the
nucleic acid from a patient's lymphoma or myeloma biopsy cells or
from nucleic acid from hybridoma cells expressing the patient's
immunoglobulin. Several sets of primers are used to clone human
variable (V) genes based on GenBank and Kabat IG sequence data. As
in cloning murine scFv, human tumor V fragments are cloned and
sequenced using a family-specific primer or primer mixture for
leader and constant region sequences. Next, scFv is constructed
using primers based on the sequence of each V gene cloned. These
primers can have specific restriction endonuclease sites to
facilitate routine cloning, or scFv is made by overlapping PCR,
according to methods well known in the art. The vector expressing
the fusion polypeptide can contain several unique restriction
endonuclease sites (e.g., XhoI, BamHI) between the 3' end of the
spacer sequence and the 5' end of the c-myc and six His tag
sequences, or the 5' end of the polyA transcription terminator
region (if a SmaI site is used), thus enabling routine cloning of
any scFv, tumor antigen or viral antigen.
[0150] As described herein, nucleic acid encoding the
defensin-tumor antigen fusion polypeptides of this invention is
expressed in yeast (e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Pichia
pastoris, etc.) or in mammalian cell culture, according to methods
standard in the art. The proteins produced in these systems are
affinity purified with anti-c-myc antibodies (e.g., 9E10; M5546,
Sigma) or anti-poly-His antibodies (e.g., H1029, Sigma).
Alternatively, immobilized metal chelate affinity chromatography
(Ni-NTA resin, Qiagen) is used for purification of soluble or
refolded fusion polypeptides.
[0151] Administration of Fusion Polypeptides to Human Subjects.
[0152] Immunity and Suppression of Tumor Growth in a Human
Subject.
[0153] To elicit a tumor cell growth-inhibiting response in a human
subject, a fusion polypeptide comprising a defensin and a tumor
antigen which is present in the human subject is administered to
the subject subcutaneously in a dose ranging from 1 to 500 .mu.g of
the fusion polypeptide once weekly for about eight weeks or once
monthly for about six months. Within the first month following the
initial immunization, blood samples can be taken from the subject
and analyzed to determine the effects of administration of the
fusion polypeptide. Particularly, the presence in the subject's
serum, of antibodies reactive with the tumor antigen in the fusion
protein can be determined by ELISA, Western blotting or
radioimmunoprecipitation, or other methods for detecting the
formation of antigen/antibody complexes as would be standard
practice for one of ordinary skill in the art of immunology. Also,
a cellular immune response to the tumor antigen in the fusion
polypeptide can be detected by peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL)
proliferation assays, PBL cytotoxicity assays, cytokine
measurements, or other methods for detecting delayed type
hypersensitivity and cellular immune response, as would be standard
practice for one of ordinary skill in the art of immunology.
Additionally, the kinetics of tumor growth and inhibition of tumor
cell growth can be determined by monitoring the subject's clinical
response, through physical examination, tumor measurement, x-ray
analysis and biopsy. The exact dosage can be determined for a given
subject by following the teachings as set forth herein, as would be
standard practice for one of ordinary skill in the art of vaccine
development.
Example 3
[0154] Using various chemokines and defensins, this example
demonstrates that protective antitumor immunity can be obtained by
targeting immature, but not mature DC. Thus, MIP-3.alpha. and
.beta.-defensins render otherwise non-immunogenic tumor antigens
immunogenic and induce protective and therapeutic antitumor
immunity. In contrast, immunizations with homeostatic chemokines
SLC or SDF1.beta. do not elicit antitumor immunity. While both
humoral and cellular immune responses are useful for treatment of
the more aggressive 38C13 tumor that expresses IgM primarily on its
surface (Campbell, M. J., L. Esserman, N. E. Byars, A. C. Allison,
and R. Levy. 1990. Idiotype vaccination against murine B cell
lymphoma. Humoral and cellular requirements for the full expression
of antitumor immunity. J. Immunol. 145:1029; Biragyn, A., Tani, K.,
Grimm, M. C., Weeks, S. D., and Kwak, L. W. 1999. Genetic fusion of
chemokines to a self tumor antigen induces protective, T-cell
dependent antitumor immunity. Nature Biotechnology 17: 253)
cellular immunity is protective for slower growing A20 lymphoma,
which largely secretes its idiotypic antigen. Thus, the breadth of
the disclosed compositions and methods as a generally useful for
vaccines was also made apparent by its ability to elicit for the
first time eradication of established A20 lymphoma.
Materials and Methods
[0155] Fusion Gene Cloning and Plasmid Constructions.
[0156] Cloning strategy for lymphoma specific V.sub.H and V.sub.L
fragments from 38C13 (Bergmanm Y. and Haimovich, J. 1977.
Characterization of a carcinogen-induced murine B lymphocyte cell
line of C3H/eb origin. J. Immunol. 7: 413) and A20 (Kim, K. J
Kanellopoulos, Langevin C., Merwin, R. M., Sachs, D. H., and
Asofsky, R. 1979. Establishment and characterization of BALB/c
lymphoma lines with B cell properties. J. Immunol. 122(2): 549)
cells as sFv38 and sFv20, respectively, with MCP-3 and IP-10 are
described elsewhere (Biragyn, A., Tani, K., Grimm, M. C., Weeks, S.
D., and Kwak, L. W. 1999. Genetic fusion of chemokines to a self
tumor antigen induces protective, T-cell dependent antitumor
immunity. Nature Biotechnology 17: 253). Genes for mature murine
.beta.-defensins were cloned from LPS (10 ng/ml) treated BALB/c
mouse skin in frame to the 5'-end of sFv by RT/PCR from total RNA
using specific primers as described previously (Biragyn, A., Tani,
K., Grimm, M. C., Weeks, S. D., and Kwak, L. W. 1999. Genetic
fusion of chemokines to a self tumor antigen induces protective,
T-cell dependent antitumor immunity. Nature Biotechnology 17: 253).
The following pairs of primers were used for .beta.-defensin 2
(GeneBank # AJ011800) PRmDF2.beta.-5' (ACCATGGAACTTGACCACTGCCACACC;
SEQ ID NO:16) and PRmDF2.beta.-3'
(TGAATTCAAGATCTTTCATGTACTTGCAACAGGGGTTGTT; SEQ ID NO:17) and for
.beta.-defensin 3 (GeneBank # AF092929) PRmDF3.beta.-5'
(ACCATGGAAAAAATCAACAATCAGTAAGTTGTTTGAGG; SEQ ID NO:18) and PRmDF3
.beta.-3' (CTCGAGCTAGAATTCTTTTCTCTTGCAGCATTTGAGGAAA; SEQ ID NO:61).
.beta.-pro-defensin 2 gene was cloned for eukaryotic expression
using PRproDF2.beta.L-5' (AAAGCTTCCACCATGAGGACTCTCTGCTCT; SEQ ID
NO:19) and PRmDF2.beta.-3', which contained native secretion signal
sequence. SDF-1.beta. (GeneBank # HSU16752) was cloned from 10
ng/ml LPS treated human monocytes using PRhSDF1.beta.-5'
(CTCTAGACACCATGAACGCCAAGGTCGTGGTCGTGCTG; SEQ ID NO:20) and
PRhSDF1.beta.-3' (TGAATTCCATCTTGAACCTCTTGTTTAAAGCTTT; SEQ ID
NO:21). Murine MIP-3.alpha. (GeneBank # AJ222694) was cloned from
mixture of thymus and kidney cDNA using PRmMIP3.alpha.-5'
(ACCATGGCAAGCAACTACGACTGTTGCCTC; SEQ ID NO:22) and
PRmMIP3.alpha.-3' (ATAGAATTCCATCTTCTTGACTCTTAGGCTGA; SEQ ID NO:23).
Murine SLC (GeneBank # U88322) was recloned from the plasmid (gift
of Dr. Shakhov, SAIC-Fredeick) using PRmSLC-5'
(ACCATGGATGGAGGGGGACAGGACTGCT; SEQ ID NO:24) and PRmSLC-3'
(ATAGAATTCTCCTCTTGAGGGCTGTGTCTGT; SEQ ID NO:25). All constructs
were verified by DNA dideoxy-sequencing method (Amersham, USA) and
purified using plasmid purification kit (Qiagen, Valencia,
Calif.).
[0157] Recombinant fusion proteins purified as inclusion bodies
after 8 hours of induction in Super-Broth (Digene Diagnostics,
Inc., Beltsville, Md.) with 0.8 mM IPTG as described elsewhere
(Biragyn, A., Tani, K., Grimm, M. C., Weeks, S. D., and Kwak, L. W.
1999. Genetic fusion of chemokines to a self tumor antigen induces
protective, T-cell dependent antitumor immunity. Nature
Biotechnology 17: 253), and refolded according to Buchner et al
(Buchner, J., Pastan, I., and Brinkmann, U. 1992. A method for
increasing the yield of properly folded recombinant fusion
proteins: single-chain immunotoxins from renaturation of bacterial
inclusion bodies. Anal. Biochem. 205(2): 263). The refolded fusion
proteins were purified by heparin-sepharose chromatography
(Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden). The integrity and purity
(greater than 90%) of recombinant proteins were tested by PAGE and
by western blot hybridization with 9E10 anti c-myc mAb (Sigma).
Correct folding of purified sFv38 proteins were determined by the
ability to bind to anti-idiotype mAb S1C5 in ELISA (Biragyn, A.,
Tani, K., Grimm, M. C., Weeks, S. D., and Kwak, L. W. 1999. Genetic
fusion of chemokines to a self tumor antigen induces protective,
T-cell dependent antitumor immunity. Nature Biotechnology 17: 253).
Briefly, serially diluted sFv were added to microtiter plates
coated with 10 mg/ml anti c-myc mAb 9E10. After washing, plates
were incubated with a 1:300 diluted biotin-labeled S1C5, followed
with streptavidin-HRP (1:5000, Jackson Lab., Inc., Bar Harbor, Me.)
and developed with ABTS peroxidase substrate (KPL, Gaithersburg,
Md.). Proteins were biotinilated using EZ-Link Sulfo-NHS-LC-Biotin
following manufacturer's protocol (Pierce).
[0158] Isolation of Murine Bone Marrow Derived Dendritic Cells
[0159] (Fields, R. C., Osterholzer, J. J., Fuller, J. A., Thomas,
E. K., Geraghty, P. J., and Mule, J. J. 1998. Comparative analysis
of murine dendritic cells derived from spleen and bone marrow. J.
Immunother. 21: 323). Briefly, bone marrow was collected from
tibias and femurs of 4 to 6 months old BALB/c mice. Erythrocytes
were lysed with ACK lysis buffer (BioWhittaker, Walkersville, Md.).
CD8.sup.+, CD4.sup.+, B220.sup.+ and I-A.sup.b cells were depleted
using a mixture of mAbs and rabbit complement. The mAbs were
TIB-146 (anti-B220), TIB-150 (anti-CD8), TIB-207 (anti-CD4),
TIB-229 (anti-1-A.sup.b) obtained from ATCC. Cells were cultured in
DC medium (RPM'' 1640 containing 5% heat inactivated fetal bovine
serum, 1% penicillin, streptomycin, 1% L-glutamine and
5.times.10.sup.-5 2-ME) containing 10 ng/mL each of murine IL-4 and
GM-CSF (Peprotech). Adherent cells were harvested on day 4 and day
7 and used in subsequent experiments. DC were matured by TNF.alpha.
(10 ng/ml, PharMingen), overnight in DC medium. iDC at day
four-five cultivation were in general CD11.sup.+ (69%), B7.2.sup.+
and I-A.sup.b+ (21%), B7.2.sup.+ and I-A.sup.b+ (18%), CD40.sup.+
(27%). Upon maturation the DC were CD11c.sup.+ (87%), B7.2.sup.+
and I-A.sup.b+ (62%), B7.2.sup.+ and I-A.sup.b+ (3%), CD40.sup.+
(87%). The following mAb used in FACS: CD-11c-APC, MAC3-PE,
Gr-1-FITC, B220-PE, Thy 1.2-FITC, I-A.sup.b-FITC, B7.2-PE, CD40-PE
(PharMingen).
[0160] In Vitro Chemotaxis Assay:
[0161] The migration of DC (50 ml, 10.sup.6 cells/ml) was assessed
using a 48-well microchemotaxis chamber (Neuro Probe, Cabin John,
Mass.) with a 5-mm polycarbonate filter (Osmonics, Livermore,
Calif.) as described (Falk, W., Goodwin, R. H. Jr, and Leonard, E.
J. 1980. A 48-well micro chemotaxis assembly for rapid and accurate
measurement of leukocyte migration. J. Immunol Methods 33(3): 239;
Yang, D., Chen, Q., Stoll, S., Chen, X., Howard, O. M., and
Oppenheim, J. J. 2000. Differential regulation of responsiveness to
fMLP and C5a upon dendritic cell maturation: correlation with
receptor expression. J. Immunol 165.(5.):2694). Cells were
incubated at 37.degree. C. in humidified air with 5% CO.sub.2 for
1.5 h. DC migrating across the filter were counted using a Bioquant
semiautomatic counting system. The results (as the mean.+-.SE of
triplicate samples) are presented as chemotactic index (C. I.)
defined as the fold increase in the number of migrating cells in
the presence of test factors over the spontaneous cell migration
(in the absence of test factors). Human MIP-3.alpha. and
MIP-3.beta. were from PeproTech (Rocky Hill, N.J.).
[0162] Cell Lines and Mice.
[0163] The carcinogen-induced, C3H 38C-13 B cell lymphoma is
described by Bergmanm Y. and Haimovich, J. 1977. Characterization
of a carcinogen-induced murine B lymphocyte cell line of C3H/eb
origin. J. Immunol. 7: 413. The 38C-13 tumor secretes and expresses
IgM (k) on the cell surface. The BALB/c A20 lymphoma (Kim, K. J.,
Kanellopoulos, Langevin C., Merwin, R. M., Sachs, D. H., and
Asofsky, R. 1979. Establishment and characterization of BALB/c
lymphoma lines with B cell properties. J. Immunol. 122(2): 549) was
from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Rockville, Md.)
and expresses IgGk. Murine CCR6 expressing HEK293 cells
(HEK293/CCR6) were obtained from Dr. Farber, J. (NIAID/NIH).
[0164] Flow Cytometric Analysis.
[0165] Trypsinized 2.5.times.10.sup.6 (HEK293/CCR6 or HEK293)
cells/ml were incubated with 20 mg/ml biotinilated mMIP3asFv38 for
30 min on ice in PBS with 2% BSA (PBS/BSA) and 20% mouse sera.
Cells were stained on ice for 30 min with 0.2 mg/ml Streptavidin-PE
(Pharmingen) and fixed with 1% paraformaldehyde.
[0166] In Vivo Immunizations and Tumor Protection Experiment.
[0167] Animal care was provided in accordance with the procedures
outlined in a Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH
Publication No. 86-23, 1985). Six- to nine-week old female
C3H/HeNCrIBR or BALB/c mice (Charles River Laboratories, Frederick,
Md.) were used. Mice (10 per group) were immunized with Helios Gene
Gun System (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif.) with 1-2 mg plasmid DNA
three times every two weeks as described (Biragyn, A., Tani, K.,
Grimm, M. C., Weeks, S. D., and Kwak, L. W. 1999. Genetic fusion of
chemokines to a self tumor antigen induces protective, T-cell
dependent antitumor immunity. Nature Biotechnology 17: 253.). Two
weeks after the last immunization, mice were challenged i.p. with
2.times.10.sup.3 or 2.5.times.10.sup.5 38C13 or A20 lymphoma cells,
respectively, and followed for survival. Differences in survival
between groups were determined by non-parametric logrank test (BMDP
statistical software, Los Angeles). P-values refer to comparison
with group immunized with DNA expressing the same chemokine or
defensin fused with an irrelevant sFv, or sFv fused with mutant
chemokine, unless specified.
[0168] Therapy of Established Tumor with DNA Vaccine.
[0169] Six- to nine-week old female BALB/c mice (ten per group)
were challenged with 2.5.times.10.sup.5 syngeneic A20 tumor cells.
At day 1, 4, 8 and 18 these mice were gene-gun immunized with DNA
plasmid (containing about 1-2 mg DNA per immunization) and mice
followed for tumor progression.
[0170] Adoptive Transfer Experiments.
[0171] BALB/c mice were gene gun immunized with 1-2 mg pMCP3sFv20
twice biweekly and splenocytes and sera were removed ten days after
the last immunization. Ten BALB/c mice per group were i.p. injected
in saline with 2.5.times.10.sup.5 A20 tumor cells per mouse mixed
with 2.times.10.sup.7 splenocytes or sera from immune or mock
treated mice and mice followed for tumor progression.
Results
[0172] Murine .beta.-Defensins and Chemokines Retain their
Functional Integrity as Fusion Proteins with sFv and Chemo-Attract
Immature, but not Mature, DC.
[0173] First, a variety of chemokine and .beta.-defensin fusion
proteins were cloned and purified with sFv, a lymphoma Ig-derived
non-immunogenic Fv from the two different B cell lymphomas 38C-13
and A20 (Table 1).
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 1 Ligand-Antigen fusion constructs DNA vaccine
Ligand: Defensin or name chemokine Antigen Protein Name Description
Antigen alone psFv38 none sFv38 sFv38 Single chain antibody
fragment from 38C-13 lymphoma psFv20 none sFv20 sFv20 Single chain
antibody fragment from A20 lymphoma Defensin fusions:
pmDF2.beta.sFv38 murine .beta.-defensin 2 sFv38 mDF2.beta.sFv38
Murine .beta.-defensin 2 fusion with sFv38 pmDF3.beta.sFv38 murine
.beta.-defensin 3 sFv38 mDF3.beta.sFv38 Murine .beta.-defensin 3
fusion with sFv38 pproDF2.beta.sFv38 murine pro-.beta.-defensin 2
sFv38 mproDF2.beta.sFv38 Murine pro-.beta.-defensin 2 fusion with
sFv38 pmDF2.beta.sFv20 murine .beta.-defensin 2 sFv20
mDF2.beta.sFv20 Murine .beta.-defensin 2 fusion with sFv20
pmSF3.beta.sFv20 murine .beta.-defensin 3 sFv20 mDF3.beta.sFv20
Murine .beta.-defensin 3 fusion with sFv20 Inflammatory chemokine
fusions: pmMIP3.alpha.sFv38 murine MIP3.alpha. sFv38
mMIP3.alpha.sFv38 Murine MIP3.alpha. fused with sFv38
pmMIP3.alpha.sFv20 murine MIP3.alpha. sFv20 mMIP3.alpha.sFv20
Murine MIP3.alpha. fused with sFv20 pmIP10sFv38 murine IP-10 sFv38
mIP10sFv38 Murine IP-10 fused with sFv38 pmIP10sFv20 murine IP-10
sFv20 mIP10sFv20 Murine IP-10 fused with sFv20 pMCP3sFv38 human
MCP-3 sFv38 MCP3sFv38 human MCP-3 fused with sFv38 pMCP3sFv20 human
MCP-3 sFv20 MCP3sFv20 human MCP-3 fused with sFv20 Homeostatic
chemokine fusions: pmSLCsFv38 murine SLC sFv38 mSLCsFv38 murine SLC
fused with sFv38 pmSDF1.beta.sFv38 human SDF1.beta. sFv38
SDF1.beta.sFv38 human SDF1.beta. fused with sFv38 Control fusions:
pmDF3.beta.Muc1 murine .beta.-defensin 3 Muc1 mDF3.beta.Muc1 Murine
.beta.-defensin 2 fusion with Muc1 phMCP3-EGFP hMCP-3 EGFP
hMCP3-EGFP human MCP-3 fusion with EGFP phMDC-EGFP hMDC EGFP
hMDC-EGFP human MDC fusion with EGFP pMC148MsFv38 viral, MC148
SFv38 MC148MsFv38 Viral MC148 fusion with sFv38 Protein vaccine:
Ig38-KLH None Ig38 Ig38-KLH 38C-13 lymphoma derived IgM protein
cross-linked with KLH Ig20-KLH None Ig20 Ig20-KLH A20 lymphoma
derived IgG2a protein cross-linked with KLH
For example, sFv fusion proteins with murine inflammatory chemokine
MIP-3.alpha., murine .beta.-defensin 2 and .beta.-defensin 3 were
designated mMIP3.alpha. sFv38, mDF2.beta. sFv38 and mDF3.beta.
sFv38, or mMIP3.alpha. sFv20, mDF2.beta. sFv20 and mDF3.beta.
sFv20, respectively. Similarly, sFv fusion proteins with
homeostatic chemokines SLC and SDF1.beta. were designated mSLCsFv38
and SDF1.beta. sFv38, respectively. Control proteins contained
either sFv fusions with mutant chemokine, generated by replacing
the first Cys residue with Ser or by truncation of the
amino-termini to abrogate a respective receptor binding, or an
inactive form pro-defensin 2, .beta.-defensin 2 with its
pro-sequence (mproDF2.beta. sFv38, Table 1). All fusion proteins
had comparable idiotype folding, as tested by inhibition ELISA with
monoclonal anti-Id antibodies, which bind only properly folded
parental lymphoma Id.
[0174] The functional integrity of these proteins was tested by
their ability to induce chemotaxis of murine APC and THP-1 cells
and binding to the chemokine receptor transfected cells. CCR6
transfected, but not parental HEK293 cells specifically stained
with biotinylated murine MIP3.alpha. fusion protein. Furthermore,
as expected, chemokine fusion proteins, but not control mutant
fusion proteins, induced chemotaxis of THP-1 cells or murine DC.
Since human .beta.-defensin 2 was reported to interact with CCR6,
murine .beta.-defensin fusion proteins was tested for their ability
to induce chemotaxis of murine CCR6 transfected cells, HEK293/CCR6.
These cells were chemo-attracted by murine MIP3.alpha. (a ligand of
CCR6) fusion protein (mMIP3.alpha. sFv38). Both fusion proteins
.beta.-defensin 2 and 3, but not fusion proteins .beta.-defensin 2
containing pro-sequence (mproDF2.beta. 2sFv38) or control viral
chemokine (vMIP1MsFv38), chemo-attracted murine CCR6 expressing
cells, in a dose dependent manner. A control parental cell line,
HEK293, which does not express CCR6 was not attracted to these
proteins. Next, we tested the ability of these proteins to attract
murine bone marrow derived DC (which are known to express CCR6;
Sallusto, F., Palermo, B., Lenig, D., Miettinen, M., Matikainen,
S., Julkunen, I., Forster, R., Burgstahler, R., Lipp, M., and
Lanzavecchia, A. 1999. Distinct patterns and kinetics of chemokine
production regulate dendritic cell function. Eur. J. Immunol 29(5):
1617; Sallusto, F., P. Schaerli, P. Loetscher, C. Schaniel, D.
Lenig, C. R. Mackay, S. Qin, and A. Lanzavecchia. 1998. Rapid and
coordinated switch in chemokine receptor expression during
dendritic cell maturation. Eur. J. Immunol 28:2760) was tested. The
purity of murine bone marrow derived DC cells and their immature
phenotype at day four of cultivation was confirmed by expressions
of CD11c.sup.+ and low levels of I-A, B7.2 and CD40 respectively
(see Methods). Similarly to MIP3.alpha., both .beta.-defensin
fusion proteins induced chemotaxis of immature DC in a dose
dependent manner with peak activity at 10 ng/ml and 100 ng/ml for
mDF2.beta. sFv38 and mDF3bsFv38, respectively. The predominant
immature phenotype of these DC was also supported by their ability
to migrate to human MIP3.alpha., a chemo-attractant specific for
CCR6.sup.+ immature DC (Dieu, M. C., Vanbervliet, B., Vicari, A.,
Bridon, J. M., Oldham, E., Ait-Yahia, S., Briere, F., Zlotnik, A.,
Lebecque, S., and Caux, C. 1998. Selective recruitment of immature
and mature dendritic cells by distinct chemokines expressed in
different anatomic sites. J. Exp. Med. 188(2): 373; Yang, D.,
Howard, O. M., Chen, Q., and Oppenheim, J. J. 1999. Cutting edge:
immature dendritic cells generated from monocytes in the presence
of TGF-beta 1 express functional C-C chemokine receptor 6. J.
Immunol 163(4): 1737), and their limited ability to react to human
MIP3.beta. (Sallusto, F., Palermo, B., Lenig, D., Miettinen, M.,
Matikainen, S., Julkunen, I., Forster, R., Burgstahler, R., Lipp,
M., and Lanzavecchia, A. 1999. Distinct patterns and kinetics of
chemokine production regulate dendritic cell function. Eur. J.
Immunol 29(5): 1617), a chemo-attractant specific for CCR7.sup.+
mature DC. In contrast, none of the defensin and MIP3.alpha. fusion
proteins stimulated chemotaxis of TNF-induced mature DC, which
migrated to MIP3.beta.. Furthermore, control fusion protein with
mutant MIP3.alpha. or mproDF2.beta. sFv38 did not induce chemotaxis
of any DC. Therefore, murine .beta.-defensin 2 and 3 fusion
proteins can specifically target iDC and induce their CCR6-mediated
chemotaxis, similarly to MIP3.alpha..
[0175] Effect of Murine .beta.-Defensin or Inflammatory Chemokine
Fusion Constructs on Capacity of Non-Immunogenic Tumor Antigens to
Induce Humoral Immunity.
[0176] Lymphoma idiotype alone is non-immunogenic in syngeneic
mice. Similarly, DNA immunizations with lymphoma derived Fv or sFv
alone, particularly from 38C13 and A20 lymphomas, do not induce
immunity in syngeneic mice (Biragyn, A., Tani, K., Grimm, M. C.,
Weeks, S. D., and Kwak, L. W. 1999. Genetic fusion of chemokines to
a self tumor antigen induces protective, T-cell dependent antitumor
immunity. Nature Biotechnology 17: 253). Therefore, a fusion
construct of inflammatory peptides, such as MIP3.alpha. or
.beta.-defensins, with these sFv antigens was used to demonstrate
that it would induce specific immunity when administered as a DNA
vaccine in mice. Ten mice per group were immunized by gene-gun with
plasmids encoding fusion proteins consisting of mature forms of
.beta.-defensins (pmDF2.beta. sFv38 and pmDF3.beta. sFv38,
respectively) or MIP3.alpha. (pmMIP3.alpha. sFv38). Control mice
were immunized with DNA constructs encoding sFv fused with inactive
pro-Defensin (pproDF2.beta. sFv38), or mutated and inactive
chemokines (pvMC148MsFv38). As will be discussed later, no antibody
was generated when mice were immunized with 2 mg DNA expressing a
mixture of plasmids containing unlinked sFv and murine
.beta.-defensin (pmDF3.beta. Muc1+sFv38) or chemokine. In contrast,
mice immunized with plasmids encoding sFv fusion proteins with
murine .beta.-defensins, MIP3.alpha. or SLC produced
idiotype-specific antibody levels comparable to the levels induced
by vaccination with tumor-derived intact Ig protein conjugated to
KLH. However, control mice immunized with an inactive
pro-.beta.-defensin (pproDef2.beta. sFv38) or mutant chemokine sFv
fusion constructs (pvMC148MsFv38), or sFv38 alone did not produce
any anti-Id antibody responses. Interestingly, the two types of
.beta.-defensins differed in their capacity to elicit antibody
responses elicited, though both produced predominantly specific
IgG1 antibodies, .beta.-defensin 3 was superior to .beta.-defensin
2 for induction of specific antibodies to every antigen tested.
[0177] .beta.-Defensin Fusion Vaccines Elicit Protective and
Therapeutic Antitumor Immunity.
[0178] The vaccine protocol used to elicit protective antitumor
immunity was as follows: first, immunizing mice with 2 mg DNA
constructs three times with biweekly intervals, then, two weeks
after the last immunization, challenging them with a 20-fold lethal
dose of syngeneic tumor. No survival was observed in control groups
immunized with PBS or plasmids encoding sFv38 fused with inactive
pro-.beta.-defensin-2 (pproDef2.beta. sFv38), with irrelevant
chemokine plasmid vaccines pMDC-EGFP or with mutant constructs
pMC148MsFv38. In contrast, significant protective immunity was
elicited in mice immunized with pmDF2.beta. sFv38 or pmDF3.beta.
sFv38 (logrank P<0.001 and 0.004 as compared with pproDF2.beta.
sFv38 and pMC148MsFv38, respectively). The protection elicited with
both .beta.-defensin constructs was comparable to one induced by
Ig-KLH protein vaccine, a prototype vaccine which consists of
lymphoma derived IgM cross-linked with KLH, being successfully
tested in phase III clinical trial (Bendandi, M., Gocke, C. D.,
Kobrin, C. B., Benko, F. A., Sternas, L. A., Pennington, R.,
Watson, T. M., Reynolds, C. W., Gause, B. L., Duffey, P. L., Jaffe,
E. S., Creekmore, S. P., Longo, D. L., and Kwak, L. W. 1999.
Complete molecular remissions induced by patient-specific
vaccination plus granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating factor
against lymphoma. Nat. Med. 5(10): 1171). Similarly, DNA
immunizations with MIP3.alpha. fusions elicited potent tumor
protection (pmMIP3.alpha. sFv38, logrank P<0.0001 as compared
with pMC148MsFv38). In contrast, none of mice immunized with
constructs encoding sFv fusion with homeostatic chemokine murine
SLC were protected (pmSLCsFv38, logrank p*<0.02 compared with
pmMIP3.alpha. sFv38), despite the fact that this SLC fusion
construct generated anti-Id specific antibodies comparable to
pmMIP3.alpha. sFv38 vaccinated group. Moreover, no immunity was
detected in mice immunized with constructs expressing human SDF10,
which binds to murine CXCR4. Therefore, these data demonstrate that
fusion constructs with defensins, which target immature DC, can
render a non-immunogenic tumor antigen (sFv) immunogenic and elicit
protective antitumor immunity, even for a very aggressive lymphoma,
38C13, which kills all control mice within 20 days post
challenge.
[0179] Next, the fusion constructs were used to demonstrate
treatment of an established tumor. The A20 model (Kim, K. J.,
Kanellopoulos, Langevin C., Merwin, R. M., Sachs, D. H., and
Asofsky, R. 1979. Establishment and characterization of BALB/c
lymphoma lines with B cell properties. J. Immunol. 122(2): 549),
which is relatively slower growing, was used to demonstrate the
therapeutic potency of the approach. The therapeutic efficacy of
the DNA constructs was assessed. Ten mice per group tumor bearing
mice immunized with 2 mg DNA vaccine expressing .beta.-defensin 2
and 3 fusions with sFv20 (pmMIP3.alpha. sFv20, pmDF2.beta. sFv20
and pmDF3.beta. sFv20) starting one day after challenge with a
lethal dose of A20 tumor, followed by three booster vaccinations.
No survivors were observed in tumor bearing mice randomized to
control treatment with the same .beta.-defensin, but fused with sFv
derived from the 38C-13 lymphoma (pmDF2.beta. sFv38), suggesting
that non-specific effects of .beta.-defensins were not sufficient
for tumor eradication. In contrast, a significant number of
surviving mice was observed in the pmDF2.beta. sFv20 treatment
group (logrank P<0.002 compared with pmDF2.beta. sFv38). It is
notable that in this model, although the .beta.-defensin 3 fusion
vaccine also induced a superior specific antibody production, the
vaccine was not able to elicit antitumor immunity. A superior
antibody production also was generated by vaccinating with A20
lymphoma derived Ig-KLH protein (Biragyn, A., Tani, K., Grimm, M.
C., Weeks, S. D., and Kwak, L. W. 1999. Genetic fusion of
chemokines to a self tumor antigen induces protective, T-cell
dependent antitumor immunity. Nature Biotechnology 17: 253), though
it was not sufficient to elicit both protective (Biragyn, A., Tani,
K., Grimm, M. C., Weeks, S. D., and Kwak, L. W. 1999. Genetic
fusion of chemokines to a self tumor antigen induces protective,
T-cell dependent antitumor immunity. Nature Biotechnology 17: 253)
and therapeutic immunity in A20 model. Thus, these data suggest
that induction of humoral immunity is not sufficient to eradicate
A20 B cell lymphoma, and that fusions with inflammatory chemokines
MCP-3 and MIP3.alpha. or .beta.-defensin 2 induced specific
cellular antitumor responses.
[0180] Requirement for Chemokine Receptor Targeting with Fusion
Constructs.
[0181] Next it was demonstrated that .beta.-defensin should be
physically linked with sFv by immunizing with mixture of unlinked
.beta.-defensin and sFv. Ten mice per group immunized with a
mixture of separate plasmids encoding .beta.-defensin 3
(pmDF3.beta. Muc1T) and sFv antigen (sFv38) failed to elicit a
specific humoral response, thus, demonstrating a requirement for
sFv to be physically linked to b-defensin. Furthermore, these mice
challenged with lethal dose of syngeneic 38C13 tumor exhibited no
protection. These data also suggest that chemokine receptor
engagement with chemokine- or defensin-sFv fusion is essential for
the induction of immunity, and it was not sufficient to simply
attract APC, or induce inflammation at the site of production of
sFv antigen, but that direct APC targeting with antigen fused to
.beta.-defensin or chemokine was required, presumably via the
involvement of chemotactic receptors. To further demonstrate this,
receptor-mediated immunity was inhibited by injection of the
competing ligand. Ten per group C3H mice were immunized with either
pmDF3.beta. sFv38 alone or mixed with DNA encoding .beta.-defensin
fused with irrelevant antigen (pmDF3.beta. Muc1T). Sera of mice
immunized with a plasmid encoding sFv protein fused with murine
.beta.-defensin 3 by itself or in presence of an irrelevant plasmid
contained about 300 mg/ml idiotype-specific antibodies on average,
which was two-three fold higher than the levels induced by
vaccination with tumor-derived intact Ig protein conjugated to KLH.
However, much lower levels (5-15 mg/ml) of specific antibodies were
detected in sera of mice co-immunized with pmDF3.beta. sFv38 mixed
competing pmDF3.beta. Muc1T. Two weeks after the last immunization,
all mice were challenged with 20-fold lethal dose of syngeneic
38C13 tumor. No survival was observed in control groups immunized
with PBS or plasmid encoding .beta.-defensin 3 fused with an
irrelevant antigen (pmDF3.beta. Muc1T). Similarly, no protection
was detected in mice co-immunized with pmDF3.beta. sFv38 and
competing pmDF3.beta. Muc1T (pmDF3.beta. Muc1T/pmDF3.beta. sFv38).
In contrast, 40% of mice immunized with pmDF3.beta. sFv38 were
protected (Logrank P<0.001 compared with pmDF3.beta. Muc1T).
Therefore, these data support the view that immunity to
non-immunogenic tumor antigens fused with defensins or chemokines
depended on their ability to engage chemokine receptor(s).
Discussion
[0182] This example demonstrates that a non-immunogenic tumor
antigen, lymphoma idiotype (Stevenson, F. K., Zhu, D., King, C. A.,
Ashworth, L. J., Kumar, S., and Hawkins, R. E. 1995. Idiotypic DNA
vaccines against B-cell lymphoma. Immunol. Rev. 145: 211), is
rendered immunogenic when genetically fused with defensins. This
immunity is correlated with the ability of murine .beta.-defensin 2
and 3 to induce chemotaxis of murine bone marrow derived immature,
but not mature DC. Human .beta.-defensin-2 binds to CCR6
preferentially expressed on iDC and resting memory T cells (Dieu,
M. C., Vanbervliet, B., Vicari, A., Bridon, J. M., Oldham, E.,
Ait-Yahia, S., Briere, F., Zlotnik, A., Lebecque, S., and Caux, C.
1998. Selective recruitment of immature and mature dendritic cells
by distinct chemokines expressed in different anatomic sites. J.
Exp. Med. 188(2): 373; Yang, D., Howard, O. M., Chen, Q., and
Oppenheim, J. J. 1999. Cutting edge: immature dendritic cells
generated from monocytes in the presence of TGF-beta 1 express
functional C-C chemokine receptor 6. J. Immunol 163(4): 1737).
Example 4
Methods
[0183] Fusion Gene Cloning and Plasmid Constructions.
[0184] gp120 gene was cloned from the plasmid DNA containing
portion of HIV-1 (isolate 89.6) in frame with IP-10 secretion
signal sequence (pgp120) using primers PRM89.6ENV-5'
(AAAGTCGACAAAGAAAAAACGTGGGTCACAATCT; SEQ ID NO:26) and PR89.6ENV-3'
(ATTCCCGGGTTATTTTTCTCTTTGCACTGTTCTTCTC; SEQ ID NO:27). Cloning
strategy for lymphoma for chemokine genes has been reported
elsewhere (Biragyn, A., Tani, K., Grimm, M. C., Weeks, S. D., and
Kwak, L. W. 1999. Genetic fusion of chemokines to a self tumor
antigen induces protective, T-cell dependent antitumor immunity.
Nature Biotechnology 17: 253). Briefly, genes for mature human and
murine chemokines, such as MCP-3 and IP-10, and defensins were
cloned in frame to the 5'-end of gp120 by RT/PCR from total RNA
using specific primers as described previously (Biragyn, A., Tani,
K., Grimm, M. C., Weeks, S. D., and Kwak, L. W. 1999. Genetic
fusion of chemokines to a self tumor antigen induces protective,
T-cell dependent antitumor immunity. Nature Biotechnology 17: 253).
For example: genes for human MDC (GeneBank # HSU83171) was cloned
from LPS 10 ng/ml treated human monocytes using respectively pairs
of primers PRhMDC-5' (CTCTAGACACCATGGCTCGCCTACAGACTGCACT; SEQ ID
NO:28) and PRhMDC-3' (TGAATTCTTGGCTCAGCTTATTGAGAATCA; SEQ ID
NO:29); Murine .beta.-defensin 2 (GeneBank # AJ011800) and
.beta.-defensin 3 (GeneBank # AF092929) genes were cloned from LPS
(10 ng) Balb/c mouse skin using pairs of primers, respectively
PRmDF2.beta.-5' (ACCATGGAACTTGACCACTGCCACACC; SEQ ID NO:30) and
PRmDF2.beta.-3' (TGAATTCAAGATCTTTCATGTACTTGCAACAGGGGTTGTT; SEQ ID
NO:31) and PRmDF3.beta.-5' (ACCATGGAAAAAATCAACAATCAGTAAGTTGTTTGAGG;
SEQ ID NO:32) and PRmDF3.beta.-3'
(CTCGAGCTAGAATTCTTTTCTCTTGCAGCATTTGAGGAAA; SEQ ID NO:33).
Similarly, murine .beta.-pro-defensin 2 gene was cloned for
eukaryotic expression using PrproDF2.beta. L-5'
(AAAGCTTCCACCATGAGGACTCTCTGCTCT; SEQ ID NO:34) and PRmDF2.beta.-3',
which contained native secretion signal sequence. gp120 was fused
in frame with coding sequences from murine .beta.-defensin 2 or 3,
hMDC and hMCP3 to generate DNA constructs pmDF2.beta. gp120,
pmDF3.beta. gp120, phMDCgp120 and phMCP3gp120, respectively.
Chemokine and defensins have been fused with gp120 through a spacer
sequence NDAQAPKS (SEQ ID NO:35). To generate constructs encoding
mutant chemokines, the first Cys residue was replaced to Ser for
all chemokines, except for hMCP-3 and hMDC where the amino-terminus
up to the second Cys residue were truncated. All constructs were
verified by DNA dideoxy-sequencing method, using T7 sequenase kit
(Amersham, USA) and purified using Qiagen plasmid purification kit
(Qiagen, Valencia, Calif.).
[0185] In Vitro Chemotaxis Assay:
[0186] The chemotactic migration of murine dendritic cells was
assessed using a 48-well microchemotaxis chamber technique as
previously described (Falk, W., Goodwin, R. H. Jr, and Leonard, E.
J. 1980. A 48-well micro chemotaxis assembly for rapid and accurate
measurement of leukocyte migration. J. Immunol Methods 33(3): 239;
Yang, D., Chen, Q., Stoll, S., Chen, X., Howard, O. M., and
Oppenheim, J. J. 2000. Differential regulation of responsiveness to
fMLP and C5a upon dendritic cell maturation: correlation with
receptor expression. J. Immunol. 165.(5.):2694). Briefly, different
concentrations of 26 ml chemotactic factors or aliquots of sFv
fusion protein, serially diluted in chemotaxis medium (RPMI 1640,
1% BSA, 25 mM HEPES), were placed in the lower compartment of the
chamber (Neuro Probe, Cabin John, Mass.), and 50 ml of dendritic
cells (10.sup.6 cells/ml) were added to wells of the upper
compartment. The lower and upper compartments were separated by a
5-mm polycarbonate filter (Osmonics, Livermore, Calif.). After
incubation at 37.degree. C. in humidified air with 5% CO.sub.2 for
1.5 h, the filters were removed, scraped, and stained. Dendritic
cells migrating across the filter were counted with the use of a
Bioquant semiautomatic counting system. The results are presented
as chemotactic index (C. I.) defined as the fold increase in the
number of migrating cells in the presence of test factors over the
spontaneous cell migration (in the absence of test factors). The
results are expressed as the mean.+-.SE of triplicate samples.
MIP-3.alpha. and MIP-3.beta. were purchased from PeproTech (Rocky
Hill, N.J.).
[0187] HIV-1 env Antibody and CTL Assays.
[0188] Five BALB/c female mice per group were immunized with DNA
plasmids four times using gene-gun. Two weeks after the last
immunization, HIV-1 89.6 env specific CTL was assessed in spleens
and Peyer's patches as described elsewhere (Belyakov, I. M., Derby,
M. A., Ahlers, J. D., Kelsall, B. L., Earl, P., Moss, B., Strober,
W., and Berzofsky, J. A. 1998. Mucosal immunization with HIV-1
peptide vaccine induces mucosal and systemic cytotoxic T
lymphocytes and protective immunity in mice against intrarectal
recombinant HIV-vaccinia challenge. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A
95(4): 1709). Briefly, immune cells from spleen or Peyer's patch
were cultured at 5.times.10.sup.6 per/milliliter in 24-well culture
plates in complete T cell medium (CTM): RPMI 1640 containing 10%
fetal bovine serum, 2 mM L-glutamine, penicillin (100 U/ml),
streptomycin (100 mg/ml), and 5.times.10.sup.-5M 2-mercaptoethanol.
Three days later 10% concanavalin A supernatant was added as a
source of IL-2 (T-STIM, Collaborative Biomedical Products, Bedford,
Mass.). Spleen or Peyer's patch cells were stimulated in vitro with
P18-89.6A9 peptide (IGPGRAFYA; SEQ ID NO:36) (Belyakov, I. M.,
Wyatt, L. S., Ahlers, J. D., Earl, P., Pendleton, C. D., Kelsall,
B. L., Strober, W., Moss, B., and Berzofsky, J. A. 1998. Induction
of a mucosal cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response by intrarectal
immunization with a replication-deficient recombinant vaccinia
virus expressing human immunodeficiency virus 89.6 envelope
protein. J. Virol. 72(10): 8264) for a 7-day culture periods before
assay. Cytolytic activity of CTL lines was measured by a 4-hour
assay with .sup.51Cr-labeled P815 cell targets. For testing the
peptide specificity of CTL, .sup.51Cr-labeled P815 targets were
pulsed for 2 hours with peptide at the beginning of the assay or
left unpulsed as controls. The percent specific .sup.51Cr release
was calculated as 100.times. (experimental release-spontaneous
release)/(maximum release-spontaneous release). Maximum release was
determined from supernatants of cells that were lysed by addition
of 5% Triton-X 100. Spontaneous release was determined from target
cells incubated without added effector cells (Belyakov, I. M.,
Derby, M. A., Ahlers, J. D., Kelsall, B. L., Earl, P., Moss, B.,
Strober, W., and Berzofsky, J. A. 1998. Mucosal immunization with
HIV-1 peptide vaccine induces mucosal and systemic cytotoxic T
lymphocytes and protective immunity in mice against intrarectal
recombinant HIV-vaccinia challenge. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.U.S.A
95(4): 1709).
[0189] Serum anti-env antibodies assessed by ELISA on 5 mg/ml gp120
protein from isolate 89.6 produced in vaccinia virus coated 96-well
plate. The bound antibodies were detected by goat anti-mouse Ig-HRP
mAb (Caltag) and developed with ABTS peroxidase substrate (KPL,
Gaithersburg, Md.).
[0190] In Vivo Immunizations.
[0191] Animal care was provided in accordance with the procedures
outlined in a Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH
Publication No. 86-23, 1985). Six- to nine-week old female BALB/c
mice (Charles River Laboratories, Frederick, Md.) were immunized
with Helios Gene Gun System (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif.) with
plasmid DNA four times every two weeks. The abdominal area of mice
was shaved, and 1 m gold particles (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif.)
carrying 1-3 mg DNA were injected at 400 psi.
Results and Discussion.
[0192] Mammalian expression plasmid vectors were constructed by
cloning gp120 alone (pgp120), or as fusion constructs of gp120 with
.beta.-Defensin 2 or 3, human MDC or MCP-3 (pmDF2.beta. gp120,
pmDF3.beta. gp120, pMDCgp120 and pMCP3gp120, respectively, Table
2). All constructs expressed equivalent amounts of gp120 when
transfected transiently in 293 cells. Purified fusion proteins with
proinflammatory chemokines or murine .beta.-defensins generally
retained chemokine functional integrity, such as chemo-attraction
of murine bone-marrow derived immature, but not mature DC (see
Example 3).
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 2 Ligand-Antigen fusion constructs DNA vaccine
Ligand: Defensin or name chemokine Antigen Description Antigen
alone pgp120 none gp120 HIV-1 gp120, 89.6. Defensin fusion:
pmDF2.beta.gp120 murine .beta.-defensin 2 gp120 Murine
.beta.-defensin 2 fusion with gp120 Chemokine fusions: pMCP3gp120
hMCP-3 gp120 human MCP-3 fusion with gp120 pMDCgp120 hMDC gp120
human MDC fusion with gp120
[0193] BALB/c mice were immunized four times biweekly using a gene
gun with DNA plasmids encoding gp120 alone, or fusion constructs of
gp120 with .beta.-Defensin 2 or 3, human MDC or MCP-3 (pgp120,
pmDF2.beta. gp120, pmDF3.beta. gp120, pMDCgp120 and pMCP3gp120,
respectively). Two weeks after the last immunization, sera from
these mice were tested for .alpha.-gp120 antibodies using
recombinant gp120 produced in Vaccinia. As expected, control mice
immunized with DNA encoding gp120 alone did not induce any
anti-gp120 antibody (Putkonen, P., Quesada-Rolander, M.,
Leandersson, A. C., Schwartz, S., Thorstensson, R., Okuda, K.,
Wahren, B., and Hinkula, J. 1998. Immune responses but no
protection against SHIV by gene-gun delivery of HIV-1 DNA followed
by recombinant subunit protein boosts. Virology 250(2): 293). In
contrast, mice immunized with pmDF2.beta. gp120, pmDF3.beta. gp120,
phMDCgp120 and phMCP3gp120 fusions all produced high titers of
env-specific antibodies. These data suggest that the inability of
gp120 to elicit humoral immunity was circumvented by fusion to
either proinflammatory chemokines or .beta.-defensins.
[0194] These DNA fusions were used to induce anti-gp120 cellular
responses. Spleen cells from mice immunized with .beta.-Defensin 2
or MCP-3 fusion constructs demonstrated significant lysis of P815
target cells pulsed with MV-1 89.6 A9 peptide (pmDF2.beta. gp120
and phMCP3g120, respectively, pulsed (*) vs. unpulsed targets). In
contrast, no CTL were detected in mice immunized with pgp120 alone
or PBS. These data thus demonstrate that immunizations with DNA
plasmids encoding gp120 fused with proinflammatory chemokines or
.beta.-defensins induced significant gp120 V3-loop specific
systemic CTL. Mice immunized with DNA encoding gp120 fused with
MCP3- or .beta.-defensin 2 elicited significant CTL activity in
Peyer's patches, suggesting that these vaccines also induced
mucosal immunity. This data indicate that DNA immunizations in the
skin can induce mucosal immunity in addition to systemic immunity,
a feature that had not been demonstrated prior to the disclosed
compositions.
[0195] In addition to targeting gp120 to professional APC,
expressed fusion proteins may induce expression of co-stimulatory
molecules and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by various
subsets of immature DC in vivo. Moreover, Th1 or Th2 cells could be
differentially attracted by chemokines, thus modulating immunity.
For example, MCP-1 stimulates IL-4 production (Karpus, W. J., N. W.
Lukacs, K. J. Kennedy, W. S. Smith, S. D. Hurst, and T. A. Barrett.
1997. Differential CC chemokine-induced enhancement of T helper
cell cytokine production. J. Immunol 158:4129) and thereby induces
control Th2 polarization (Gu, L., S. Tseng, R. M. Horner, C. Tam,
M. Loda, and B. J. Rollins. 2000. Control of TH2 polarization by
the chemokine monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. Nature 404:407).
Moreover, MDC has been reported to selectively chemo-attract Th2
cells towards APC (Imai, T., M. Nagira, S. Takagi, M. Kakizaki, M.
Nishimura, J. Wang, P. W. Gray, K. Matsushima, and O. Yoshie. 1999.
Selective recruitment of CCR4-bearing Th2 cells toward
antigen-presenting cells by the CC chemokines thymus and
activation-regulated chemokine and macrophage-derived chemokine.
Int. Immunol 11:81). Comparison of MDC fusion vaccines to fusions
with MCP-3, which binds multiple receptors, such as CCR1-4
expressed on variety of APC, demonstrated that each vaccine
construct induced .alpha.-gp120 antibody production. However, the
highest yield was observed in sera of mice immunized with MDC
fusions, which unlike to the MCP-3 or .beta.-defensin 2 fusion
constructs, failed to induce .alpha.-gp120 CTL. In concordance,
non-immunogenic tumor antigens fused with MDC did not induce
therapeutic antitumor immunity in murine tumor models, despite
production of high levels of specific antibody. In contrast, tumor
antigen fusion constructs with both MCP-3 and .beta.-defensin 2
induced moderate antibody production and significant therapeutic
antitumor immunity (see Example 3). Therefore, these data show that
preferential immunity may be elicited by differential use of
chemokines or defensin. Thus, the disclosed compositions and
methods represent a very efficient and simple approach to generate
systemic and mucosal immunity. These results also stand in contrast
to the widely accepted view that DNA vaccinations alone cannot
induce anti-gp120 HIV-1 responses without additional protein or
recombinant viral vaccine boosts (Hanke, T., Samuel, R. V.,
Blanchard, T. J., Neumann, V. C., Allen, T. M., Boyson, J. E.,
Sharpe, S. A., Cook, N., Smith, G. L., Watkins, D. I., Cranage, M.
P., and McMichael, A. J. 1999. Effective induction of simian
immunodeficiency virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in macaques
by using a multiepitope gene and DNA prime-modified vaccinia virus
Ankara boost vaccination regimen. J. Virol. 73(9): 7524; Putkonen,
P., Quesada-Rolander, M., Leandersson, A. C., Schwartz, S.,
Thorstensson, R., Okuda, K., Wahren, B., and Hinkula, J. 1998.
Immune responses but no protection against SHIV by gene-gun
delivery of HIV-1 DNA followed by recombinant subunit protein
boosts. Virology 250(2): 293).
Example 5
[0196] This example demonstrates that antigens elicit effective
immunity when they are targeted to APC, particularly iDC, via
chemokine receptors as fusions with proinflammatory chemokines
factors. Moreover, this example demonstrates that proinflammatory
factors such as murine .beta.-defensins induce chemotaxis of
immature, but not mature, DC and, thus, can serve effectively as an
carrier for targeting antigens to APC. Non-immunogenic tumor
antigens or xenogeneic HIV gp120 antigen were rendered effectively
immunogenic when immunized as fusion with murine .beta.-defensin 2.
This example also demonstrates the use of xenogeneic human and
viral chemokines such as Kaposi's sarcoma virus derived chemokine
analogues of human MIP-1s, designated vMIP1 and vMIP2 (Nicholas,
J., V. R. Ruvolo, W. H. Burns, G. Sandford, X. Wan, D. Ciufo, S. B.
Hendrickson, H. G. Guo, G. S. Hayward, and M. S. Reitz. 1997.
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated human herpesvirus-8 encodes homologues
of macrophage inflammatory protein-1 and interleukin-6. Nat. Med.
3:(3)287-292), which bind multiple receptors on murine cells and
which might circumvent the potential development of autoimmunity
against host chemokine carriers (Luster, A. D. 1998.
Chemokines--chemotactic cytokines that mediate inflammation. N.
Engl. J. Med. 338:(7)-436-445; Pelchen-Matthews, A., N. Signoret,
P. J. Klasse, A. Fraile-Ramos, and M. Marsh. 1999. Chemokine
receptor trafficking and viral replication. Immunol Rev.
168:33-49:33-49). In addition, using a pair of viral chemokines
that bind to CCR8, the agonist vMIP1 (Endres, M. J., C. G. Garlisi,
H. Xiao, L. Shan, and J. A. Hedrick. 1999. The Kaposi's
sarcoma-related herpesvirus (KSHV)-encoded chemokine vMIP-I is a
specific agonist for the CC chemokine receptor (CCR)8. J. Exp. Med.
189:(12)1993-1998) and antagonist MC148, expressed by Molluscum
contagiosum virus (MCV) (Luttichau, H. R., J. Stine, T. P. Boesen,
A. H. Johnsen, D. Chantry, J. Gerstoft, and T. W. Schwartz. 2000. A
highly selective CC chemokine receptor (CCR)8 antagonist encoded by
the poxvirus molluscum contagiosum J. Exp. Med. 191:(1)171-180), we
demonstrate that antigen targeting alone in the absence of
chemotaxis is sufficient for induction of immunity.
Methods
[0197] Fusion Gene Cloning and Plasmid Constructions.
[0198] Cloning strategy for lymphoma specific V.sub.H and V.sub.L
fragments from 38C13 (Bergmanm Y. and J. Haimovich. 1977.
Characterization of a carcinogen-induced murine B lymphocyte cell
line of C3H/eb origin. J. Immunol. 7:413-417) and A20 (Kim, K. J.,
L. C. Kanellopoulos, R. M. Merwin, D. H. Sachs, and R. Asofsky.
1979. Establishment and characterization of BALB/c lymphoma lines
with B cell properties. J. Immunol. 122:(2)549-554) cells as sFv38
and sFv20, respectively, has been reported elsewhere (Biragyn, A.,
K. Tani, M. C. Grimm, S. D. Weeks, and L. W. Kwak. 1999. Genetic
fusion of chemokines to a self tumor antigen induces protective,
T-cell dependent antitumor immunity. Nature Biotechnology
17:253-258). Genes for mature human and murine chemokines and
defensins were cloned in frame to the 5'-end of sFv by RT/PCR from
total RNA using specific primers as described previously (Biragyn,
A., K. Tani, M. C. Grimm, S. D. Weeks, and L. W. Kwak. 1999.
Genetic fusion of chemokines to a self tumor antigen induces
protective, T-cell dependent antitumor immunity. Nature
Biotechnology 17:253-258). For example: genes for human MDC
(GeneBank # HSU83171) and SDF-113 (GeneBank # HSU16752) were cloned
from LPS 10 ng/ml treated human monocytes using respectively pairs
of primers PRhMDC-5' (CTCTAGACACCATGGCTCGCCTACAGACTGCACT; SEQ ID
NO:37) and PRhMDC-3' (TGAATTCTTGGCTCAGCTTATTGAGAATCA; SEQ ID
NO:38); and PRhSDF1.beta.-5'
(CTCTAGACACCATGAACGCCAAGGTCGTGGTCGTGCTG; SEQ ID NO:39) and
PRhSDF1.beta.-3' (TGAATTCCATCTTGAACCTCTTGTTTAAAGCTTT; SEQ ID
NO:40). Murine .beta.-defensin 2 (GeneBank # AJ011800) and
.beta.-defensin 3 (GeneBank # AF092929) genes were cloned from LPS
(10 ng) Balb/c mouse skin using pairs of primers, respectively
PRmDF2.beta.-5' (ACCATGGAACTTGACCACTGCCACACC; SEQ ID NO:41) and
PRmDF2.beta.-3' (TGAATTCAAGATCTTTCATGTACTTGCAACAGGGGTTGTT; SEQ ID
NO:42) and PRmDF3.beta.-5' (ACCATGGAAAAAATCAACAATCAGTAAGTTGTTTGAGG;
SEQ ID NO:43) and PRmDF3.beta.-3'
(CTCGAGCTAGAATTCTTTTCTCTTGCAGCATTTGAGGAAA; SEQ ID NO:44).
Similarly, murine .beta.-pro-defensin 2 gene was cloned for
eukaryotic expression using PrproDF2.beta.-5'
(AAAGCTTCCACCATGAGGACTCTCTGCTCT; SEQ ID NO:45) and PRmDF2.beta.-3',
which contained native secretion signal sequence. For bacterial
expression, the signal sequence was removed using PRmDF2.beta.-5'
(ACCATGGCTGTTGGAAGTTTAAAAAGTATTGGA; SEQ ID NO:46) and
PRmDF2.beta.-3'. Viral chemokine genes vMIP-I (GeneBank # KSU74585)
and vMIP-II (GeneBank # KSU67775) were cloned from BCBL-1 lymphoma
cell line infected with HHV-8 (NIH AIDS Research & Ref. Reag.
Program), using pairs of primers, respectively PRvMIP1IL-5'
(TAAGCTTCCACCATGGCCCCCGTCCACGTTTTATGCT; SEQ ID NO:47) and
PRvMIP1-3' (TGAATTCAGCTATGGCAGGCAGCCGCTGCATCAGCTGCCT; SEQ ID NO:48)
and PRvMIP1IL-5' (TAAGCTTCACCATGGACACCAAGGGCATCCTGCTCGT; SEQ ID
NO:49) and PRvMIP1I-3' (TGAATTCGCGAGCAGTGACTGGTAATTGCTGCAT; SEQ ID
NO:50). Mature sequences of vMIP-I and vMIP-II for expression in
bacterial system were cloned using the following pairs of primers:
PRvMIP1M-5' (ACCATGGCGGGGTCACTCGTGTCGTACA; SEQ ID NO:51) and
PRvMIP-3' and PRvMIP2M-5' (ACCATGGGAGCGTCCTGGCATAGA; SEQ ID NO:52)
and PRvMIP1I-3'. MC148 chemokine gene (GeneBank # U96749) was
cloned from plasmid DNA containing a portion of Moluscum
contagiosum virus type 1 genome (Damon, I., P. M. Murphy, and B.
Moss. 1998. Broad spectrum chemokine antagonistic activity of a
human poxvirus chemokine homolog. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A
95:(11)6403-6407) using pairs of primers PRMC148L-5'
(AAAGCTAGCACCATGAGGGGCGGAGACGTCTTC; SEQ ID NO:53) and PRMC148-3'
(AGAATTCCAGAGACTCGCACCCGGACCATAT; SEQ ID NO:54) and PRMC148M-5'
(ACCATGGCACTCGCGAGACGGAAATGTTGTTTGAAT; SEQ ID NO:55) and
PRMC148-3', respectively for eukaryotic and bacterial expression.
The carboxy-terminus of sFv was fused in frame with a tag sequence
coding c-myc peptide AEEQKLISEEDLA (SEQ ID NO:56) and six His,
respectively. Chemokine and defensins have been fused with sFv
through a spacer sequence NDAQAPKS (SEQ ID NO:57). To generate
constructs encoding mutant chemokines, the first Cys residue was
replaced to Ser for all chemokines, except for hMCP-3 and hMDC
where the amino-terminus up to the second Cys residue were
truncated. Bacterial expression vectors contained only genes
encoding mature peptide genes, while constructs for DNA vaccination
were fused in frame to a leader sequence of IP-10 in pCMVE/AB,
except for constructs designed for pMDCsFv38 and pSDF1.beta.sFv38
plasmids, which contained their native signal sequences. All
constructs were verified by DNA dideoxy-sequencing method, using T7
sequenase kit (Amersham, USA) and purified using Qiagen plasmid
purification kit (Qiagen, Valencia, Calif.).
[0199] For the second model, gp120 gene was cloned from the plasmid
DNA containing portion of HIV-1 (isolate 89.6) in frame with IP-10
secretion signal sequence (pgp120) using primers PRM89.6ENV-5'
(AAAGTCGACAAAGAAAAAACGTGG GTCACAATCT; SEQ ID NO:58) and
PR89.6ENV-3' (ATTCCCGGGTTATTTTTCTCTTTGCACTGTTCTTCTC; SEQ ID NO:59).
Similarly, gp120 was fused in frame with coding sequences from
murine .beta.-defensin 2, hMDC and hMCP3 to generate DNA constructs
pmDF2.beta. gp120, phMDCgp120, phMCP3gp120, respectively.
[0200] Recombinant fusion proteins purified as inclusion bodies
after 8 hours of induction in Super-Broth (Digene Diagnostics,
Inc., Beltsville, Md.) with 0.8 mM IPTG in the presence of 150
.mu.g/ml carbenicillin and 50 .mu.g/ml ampicillin at 30.degree. C.,
and refolded according to Buchner, et al (Buchner, J., I. Pastan,
and U. Brinkmann. 1992. A method for increasing the yield of
properly folded recombinant fusion proteins: single-chain
immunotoxins from renaturation of bacterial inclusion bodies. Anal.
Biochem. 205:(2)263-270) with modifications (Biragyn, A., K. Tani,
M. C. Grimm, S. D. Weeks, and L. W. Kwak. 1999. Genetic fusion of
chemokines to a self tumor antigen induces protective, T-cell
dependent antitumor immunity. Nature Biotechnology 17:253-258) from
BL21(DE3) cells (Invitrogen, Milford, Mass.). The refolded fusion
proteins were purified by heparin-sepharose chromatography
(Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden). The integrity and purity of
recombinant proteins were tested by PAGE under reducing conditions
and by western blot hybridization with 9E10 anti-c-myc mAb (Sigma).
Purification usually yielded soluble protein with greater than 90%
purity. Correct folding of purified sFv38 proteins were determined
by the ability to bind to anti-idiotype mAb S1C5 by ELISA (Biragyn,
A., K. Tani, M. C. Grimm, S. D. Weeks, and L. W. Kwak. 1999.
Genetic fusion of chemokines to a self tumor antigen induces
protective, T-cell dependent antitumor immunity. Nature
Biotechnology 17:253-258). Briefly, serially diluted sFv were added
to microtiter plates coated with 10 .mu.g/ml anti-c-myc mAb 9E10.
After washing, plates were incubated with a 1:300 diluting of
biotinylated S1C5. Plates were washed, incubated with
streptavidin-HRP (1:5000, Jackson Immuno research Lab., Inc., Bar
harbor, ME) and developed with ABTS peroxidase substrate (KPL,
Gaithersburg, Md.).
[0201] Isolation of Murine Bone Marrow Derived Dendritic Cells.
[0202] Murine bone marrow derived DC were isolated as described
elsewhere (Fields, R. C., J. J. Osterholzer, J. A. Fuller, E. K.
Thomas, P. J. Geraghty, and J. J. Mule. 1998. Comparative analysis
of murine dendritic cells derived from spleen and bone marrow. J.
Immunother. 21:(5)323-339). Briefly, bone marrow was collected from
tibias and femurs of 4 to 6 months old BALB/c mice by flushing with
PBS using a 10 mL syringe with a 27 gauge needle. Erytrocytes were
lysed by treatment with ACK lysis buffer (BioWhittaker,
Walkersville, Md.). Cells expressing CD8, CD4, B220 and I-A.sup.b
were depleted using a mixture of mAbs and rabbit complement. The
mAbs were TIB-146 (anti-B220), TIB-150 (anti-CD8), TIB-207
(anti-CD4), TIB-229 (anti-1-A.sup.b) obtained from ATCC. Cells were
then resuspended with DC medium (RPMI 1640 containing 5% heat
inactivated fetal bovine serum, 1% penicillin streptomycin, 1%
L-glutamine and 5.times.10.sup.-52-ME) supplemented with 10 ng/mL
recombinant murine IL-4 and 10 ng/mL recombinant murine GM-CSF
(Peprotech) and cultured in 6 well plates (7.times.10.sup.5
cells/mL, 5 mL/well). On day two, 200 .mu.l DC medium containing 10
ng/mL of both IL-4 and GM-CSF were added to each well. Then, at day
four, 5 .mu.l of DC medium containing cytokines were added to each
well after non-adherant cells were removed, and cells were cultured
for additional 4 days. Cells were harvested on day 4 and day 7 and
used in subsequent experiments.
[0203] In Vitro Chemotaxis Assay:
[0204] The chemotactic migration of murine dendritic cells was
assessed using a 48-well microchemotaxis chamber technique as
previously described (Falk, W., R. H. J. Goodwin, and E. J.
Leonard. 1980. A 48-well micro chemotaxis assembly for rapid and
accurate measurement of leukocyte migration. J. Immunol Methods
33:(3)239-247; Yang, D., Q. Chen, S. Stoll, X. Chen, O. M. Howard,
and J. J. Oppenheim. 2000. Differential regulation of
responsiveness to fMLP and C5a upon dendritic cell maturation:
correlation with receptor expression. J. Immunol.
165:(5)2694-2702). Briefly, different concentrations of 26 ml
chemotactic factors or aliquots of sFv fusion protein, serially
diluted in chemotaxis medium (RPMI 1640, 1% BSA, 25 mM HEPES), were
placed in the lower compartment of the chamber (Neuro Probe, Cabin
John, Mass.), and 50 .mu.l of dendritic cells (10.sup.6 cells/ml)
were added to wells of the upper compartment. The lower and upper
compartments were separated by a 5-.mu.m polycarbonate filter
(Osmonics, Livermore, Calif.). After incubation at 37.degree. C. in
humidified air with 5% CO.sub.2 for 1.5 h, the filters were
removed, scraped, and stained. Dendritic cells migrating across the
filter were counted with the use of a Bioquant semiautomatic
counting system. The results are presented as chemotactic index (C.
I.) defined as the fold increase in the number of migrating cells
in the presence of test factors over the spontaneous cell migration
(in the absence of test factors). The results are expressed as the
mean.+-.SE of triplicate samples. MIP-3.alpha. and MIP-3.beta. were
purchased from PeproTech (Rocky Hill, N.J.).
[0205] Chemokine Receptor Binding Assay.
[0206] Binding assays were performed by using a single
concentration of radio-labeled MIP-1.beta. or SDF-1.alpha. (human
[.sup.125-I]-[Leu.sup.3, Gly.sup.47]-MIP-1.beta. and human
[.sup.125I]-SDF-1.alpha., 2200 Ci/mmol, NEN Life Science Products
Inc., Boston, Mass.) in the presence of increasing concentrations
of unlabeled ligands (MIP-1.beta. and SDF-1.alpha. obtained from
PeproTech, Rocky Hill, N.J.). Human HEK293 cells transfected with
CCR5 at 1.times.10.sup.h6/sample were suspended in 200 .mu.l
binding medium composed of RPMI1640, 1 mg/ml BSA, 25 mM HEPES, and
0.05% sodium azide, and incubated in duplicates at room temperature
for 40 min. After incubation, the cells were pelleted through a 10%
sucrose/PBS cushion and the radioactivity associated with cell
pellets was determined in a .gamma.-counter (Clinigamma-Pharmacia,
Gaithersburg, Md.). The binding data were then analyzed with a
Macintosh computer program LIGAND (P. Munson, Division of Computer
Research and Technology, NIH, Bethesda, Md.). The degree of
competition for binding by unlabeled chemokines was calculated as
follows: % competition for binding=1-(cpm obtained in the presence
of unlabeled ligand/cpm obtained in the absence of unlabeled
ligand) X 100%.
[0207] HIV-1 env Antibody and CTL Assays.
[0208] Five BALB/c female mice per group were gene-gun immunized
with DNA plasmids four times using gene-gun. Two weeks after the
last immunization, HIV-1 89.6 env specific CTL was assessed in
spleens and Peyer's patches as described elsewhere (Belyakov, I.
M., M. A. Derby, J. D. Ahlers, B. L. Kelsall, P. Earl, B. Moss, W.
Strober, and J. A. Berzofsky. 1998. Mucosal immunization with HIV-1
peptide vaccine induces mucosal and systemic cytotoxic T
lymphocytes and protective immunity in mice against intrarectal
recombinant HIV-vaccinia challenge. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A
95:(4)1709-1714). Briefly, immune cells from spleen or Peyer's
patch were cultured at 5.times.10.sup.6 per/milliliter in 24-well
culture plates in complete T cell medium (CTM): RPMI 1640
containing 10% fetal bovine serum, 2 mM L-glutamine, penicillin
(100 U/ml), streptomycin (100 mg/ml), and 5.times.10.sup.-5 M
2-mercaptoethanol. Three days later 10% concanavalin A supernatant
was added as a source of IL-2 (T-STIM, Collaborative Biomedical
Products, Bedford, Mass.). Spleen or Peyer's patch cells were
stimulated in vitro with P18-89.6A9 peptide (IGPGRAFYA; SEQ ID
NO:60) (Belyakov, I. M., L. S. Wyatt, J. D. Ahlers, P. Earl, C. D.
Pendleton, B. L. Kelsall, W. Strober, B. Moss, and J. A. Berzofsky.
1998. Induction of a mucosal cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response by
intrarectal immunization with a replication-deficient recombinant
vaccinia virus expressing human immunodeficiency virus 89.6
envelope protein. J. Virol. 72:(10)8264-8272) for a 7-day culture
periods before assay. Cytolytic activity of CTL lines was measured
by a 4-hour assay with .sup.51Cr-labeled P815 cell targets. For
testing the peptide specificity of CTL, .sup.51Cr-labeled P815
targets were pulsed for 2 hours with peptide at the beginning of
the assay or left unpulsed as controls. The percent specific
.sup.51Cr release was calculated as 100.times. (experimental
release-spontaneous release)/(maximum release-spontaneous release).
Maximum release was determined from supernatants of cells that were
lysed by addition of 5% Triton-X 100. Spontaneous release was
determined from target cells incubated without added effector cells
(Belyakov, I. M., M. A. Derby, J. D. Ahlers, B. L. Kelsall, P.
Earl, B. Moss, W. Strober, and J. A. Berzofsky. 1998. Mucosal
immunization with HIV-1 peptide vaccine induces mucosal and
systemic cytotoxic T lymphocytes and protective immunity in mice
against intrarectal recombinant HIV-vaccinia challenge. Proc. Natl.
Acad. Sci.U.S.A 95:(4)1709-1714).
[0209] Serum anti-env antibodies assessed by ELISA on 5 .mu.g/ml
gp120 protein from isolate 89.6 produced in vaccinia virus coated
96-well plate. The bound antibodies were detected by goat
anti-mouse Ig-HRP mAb (Caltag) and developed with ABTS peroxidase
substrate (KPL, Gaithersburg, Md.).
[0210] Tumor Cell Lines and Mice.
[0211] The carcinogen-induced, C3H 38C-13 B cell lymphoma (Bergmanm
Y. and J. Haimovich. 1977. Characterization of a carcinogen-induced
murine B lymphocyte cell line of C3H/eb origin. J. Immunol.
7:413-417) was obtained from R. Levy (Stanford, Calif.). The 38C-13
tumor secretes and expresses IgM (.kappa.) on the cell surface.
Inoculation of as few as 10.sup.2 38C-13 tumor cells i.p. into
normal syngeneic mice results in progressive tumor growth and death
of the host with a median survival time of only two weeks. Mice
surviving past 60 days from tumor challenge are long-term
survivors. The BALB/c A20 lymphoma (Kim, K. J., L. C.
Kanellopoulos, R. M. Merwin, D. H. Sachs, and R. Asofsky. 1979.
Establishment and characterization of BALB/c lymphoma lines with B
cell properties. J. Immunol. 122:(2)549-554) was obtained from the
American Type Culture Collection (Rockville, Md.) and expresses
IgGk. 38C-13 and A20 cells from a common frozen stock were passaged
in vitro 3 days before use in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 100 U/ml
of penicillin and streptomycin, 2.times.10.sup.-5M
2-mercaptoethanol, and heat inactivated 10% fetal bovine serum
(Gibco BRL, Gaithersburg, Md.).
[0212] In Vivo Immunizations and Tumor Protection Experiment.
[0213] Animal care was provided in accordance with the procedures
outlined in a Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH
Publication No. 86-23, 1985). Six- to nine-week old female
C3H/HeNCrlBR or BALB/c mice (Charles River Laboratories, Frederick,
Md.) were used. Syngeneic C3H/HeN or BalbC mice (10 per group) were
immunized with Helios Gene Gun System (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif.)
with plasmid DNA three times every two weeks. The abdominal area of
mice was shaved, and 1.mu. gold particles (Bio-Rad, Hercules,
Calif.) carrying 1-3 .mu.g DNA were injected at 400 psi. Two weeks
after the last immunization, mice were challenged i.p. with 2000
38C-13 lymphoma cells from a single preparation of tumor and
followed for survival. Differences in survival between groups were
determined by non-parametric logrank test (BMDP statistical
software, Los Angeles). P-values refer to comparison with group
immunized with DNA expressing the same chemokine or defensin fused
with an irrelevant sFv, or sFv fused with mutant chemokine, unless
specified.
[0214] Therapy of Established Tumor with DNA Vaccine.
[0215] Six- to nine-week old female BALB/c mice (ten per group)
were challenged with 2.5.times.10.sup.5 syngeneic A20 tumor cells.
At day 1, 4, 8 and 18 these mice were gene-gun immunized with DNA
plasmid (containing about 1-2 .mu.g DNA per immunization) and mice
followed for tumor progression.
Results
[0216] Property of Constructs: Murine .beta.-Defensins and Viral
Chemokines Retain Their Functional Integrity when Produced as
Fusion Proteins with sFv.
[0217] First, a variety of chemokine and .beta.-defensin fusion
proteins with sFv, a lymphoma Ig-derived non-immunogenic Fv, were
cloned and purified (Table 3). The functional integrity of these
proteins were tested by the ability to induce chemotaxis of murine
APC and THP-1 cells. As expected, chemokine fusion proteins induced
dose-dependent chemotaxis. THP-1 cells were chemo-attracted to
vMIP1, human MCP-3, and SDF-1.beta. fusion proteins, but not to the
fusion with antagonist chemokine vMIP2, vMIP2sFv38. Control mutant
fusion proteins generated for the each chemokine by replacing the
first Cys residue by Ser or by truncation of the amino-termini, as
expected, did not induce chemotaxis of THP-1 cells or murine DC.
Furthermore, vMIP2 fusion proteins were tested for their ability to
bind to their respective receptor (-s). vMIP2sFv38 could displace
labeled MIP1.beta. and SDF1.alpha. in a dose dependent manner from
CCR5 and CXCR4 transfected cell lines, respectively. In contrast,
no displacement was detected by vMIP2MsFv38 fusion protein, which
contained a replacement Cys/Ser mutation in vMIP2 or by control sFv
protein alone.
[0218] Since human .beta.-defensin 2 was reported to act via CCR6,
murine .beta.-defensin fusion proteins were assayed for their
ability to induce chemotaxis of different subsets of murine cells.
.beta.-defensin fusion proteins induced chemotaxis of murine bone
marrow derived iDC in a dose dependent manner with peak activity at
10 ng/ml and 100 ng/ml for Def2.beta.sFv38 and Def3.beta.sFv38,
respectively. The immature phenotype of these DC (see Methods) was
also supported by their ability to migrate to human MIP3.alpha., a
chemo-attractant specific for CCR6.sup.+ immature DC (Dieu, M. C.,
B. Vanbervliet, A. Vicari, J. M. Bridon, E. Oldham, S. Ait-Yahia,
F. Briere, A. Zlotnik, S. Lebecque, and C. Caux. 1998. Selective
recruitment of immature and mature dendritic cells by distinct
TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 3 Ligand-Antigen fusion constructs DNA vaccine
Ligand: Defensin or name chemokine Antigen Protein Name Description
Antigen alone psFv38 none sFv38 sFv38 Single chain antibody
fragment from 38C-13 lymphoma psFv20 none sFv20 sFv20 Single chain
antibody fragment from A20 lymphoma pgp120 none gp120 gp120 gp120
antigen (HIV-1, isolate 89.6) Defensin fusions: pmDF2.beta.sFv38
murine .beta.-defensin 2 sFv38 mDF2.beta.sFv38 Murine
.beta.-defensin 2 fusion with sFv38 pmDF2.beta.gp120 murine
.beta.-defensin 2 gp120 mDF2.beta.gp120 Murine .beta.-defensin 2
fusion with gp120 (HIV-1, 89.6) pmDF3.beta.sFv38 murine
.beta.-defensin 3 sFv38 mDF3.beta.sFv38 Murine .beta.-defensin 3
fusion with sFv38 pproDF2.beta.sFv38 murine pro-.beta.-defensin 2
sFv38 mproDF2.beta.sFv38 Murine pro-.beta.-defensin 2 fusion with
sFv38 Viral chemokine Fusions: pvMIP2sFv38 viral MIP2 sFv38
vMIP2sFv38 Viral MIP2 fusion with sFv38 pvMIP1sFv38 viral MIP1
sFv38 vMIP1sFv38 Viral MIP1 fusion with sFv38 pMC148sFv38 MC148
sFv38 MC148sFv38 Viral MC148 fusion with sFv38 Pro-inflammatory
Chemokine fusions: phMCP3sFv38 Human MCP-3 sFv38 hMCP3sFv38 Human
MCP-3 fusion with sFv38 phMCP3sFv20 Human MCP-3 sFv20 hMCP3sFv20
Human MCP-3 fusion with sFv20 phMCP3gp120 Human MCP-3 gp120
hMCP3gp120 Human MCP-3 fusion with gp120 (HIV-1, isolate 89.6)
phMDCsFv38 Human MDC sFv38 hMDCsFv38 Human MDC fusion with sFv38
phMDCsFv20 Human MDC sFv20 hMDCsFv20 Human MDC fusion with sFv20
phMDCgp120 Human MDC gp120 hMDCgp120 Human MDC fusion with gp120
(HIV-1, isolate 89.6) phSDF1.beta.sFv38 Human SDF-1.beta. sFv38
hSDF1.beta.sFv38 Human SDF1-.beta. fusion with sFv38 Mutant
chemokine fusions: pvMIP2MsFv38 Mutant vMIP2 sFv38 vMIP2MsFv38
Mutant vMIP2 fusion with sFv38 pvMIP1MsFv38 Mutant vMIP1 sFv38
vMIP1MsFv38 Mutant vMIP1 fusion with sFv38 phMCP3MsFv38 Mutant
hMCP-3 sFv38 hMCP3MsFv38 Mutant human MCP-3 fusion with sFv38
phMDCMsFv38 Mutant hMDC sFv38 hMDCMsFv38 Mutant human MDC fusion
with sFv38 Control fusions: pmDF3.beta.Muc1 .beta.-defensin 3 Muc-1
mDF3.beta.Muc1 Murine .beta.-defensin 3 fusion with 80 aa hMuc-1
peptide phMCP3-EGFP Human MCP-3 EGFP hMCP3-EGFP Human MCP-3 fusion
with EGFP protein phMDC-EGFP Human MDC EGFP hMDC-EGFP Huma MDC
fusion with EGFP protein Protein vaccine: Ig38-KLH None Ig38
Ig38-KLH 38C-13 lymphoma derived IgM protein cross-linked with KLH
Ig20-KLH none Ig20 Ig20-KLH A20 lymphoma derived IgG2a protein
cross-linked with KLH
chemokines expressed in different anatomic sites. J. Exp. Med.
188:(2)373-386; Yang, D., O. M. Howard, Q. Chen, and J. J.
Oppenheim. 1999. Cutting edge: immature dendritic cells generated
from monocytes in the presence of TGF-beta 1 express functional C-C
chemokine receptor 6. J. Immunol 163:(4)1737-1741), and their
inability to react to human MIP3.beta. (Sallusto, F., B. Palermo,
D. Lenig, M. Miettinen, S. Matikainen, I. Julkunen, R. Forster, R.
Burgstahler, M. Lipp, and A. Lanzavecchia. 1999. Distinct patterns
and kinetics of chemokine production regulate dendritic cell
function. Eur. J. Immunol 29:(5)1617-1625), a chemo-attractant
specific for CCR7.sup.+ mature DC. None of the defensin fusion
proteins stimulated chemotaxis of mature DC, which migrated to
MIP3.beta.. Control fusion protein proDef2.beta.sFv38 did not
induce chemotaxis of any DC. Therefore, murine .beta.-defensin 2
and 3 fusion proteins can specifically target immature DC.
Furthermore, sFv fusion with .beta.-defensin and xenogeneic human
or viral chemokines does not disrupt their functional chemokine
properties.
[0219] Marine .beta.-Defensin, Xenogeneic Proinflammatory and Viral
Chemokine Fusion Constructs Render Non-Immunogenic Tumor Antigen
Immunogenic.
[0220] Next, these fusion proteins were used to induce specific
immunity against non-immunogenic sFv38 when administered as a DNA
vaccine in mice. Ten mice per group were immunized by gene-gun with
plasmids encoding fusion proteins with mature .beta.-defensins,
pDef2.beta.sFv38 and pDef3.beta.sFv38, respectively, or with human
or viral chemokines, pSDF1.beta.sFv38, pMDCsFv38, pvMIP1sFv38 or
pvMIP2sFv38. Control mice were immunized with DNA constructs
encoding sFv fused with inactive pro-Defensin
(pproDef2.beta.sFv38), or mutated chemokines (phMCP3MsFv38,
pMDCMsFv38, pMIP1MsFv38 and pvMIP2MsFv38). Mice immunized with
plasmids encoding sFv fusion proteins with both murine
.beta.-defensins, murine MCP-3, human MDC or viral chemokines
induced significant idiotype-specific antibodies which were
comparable to the levels induced by vaccination with tumor-derived
intact Ig protein conjugated to KLH. In contrast, control mice
immunized with an inactive pro-.beta.-defensin
(pproDef2.beta.sFv38) or mutant chemokine sFv fusion constructs
(hpMCP3MsFv38, pMDCMsFv38 and pvMIP2MsFv38), or sFv38 alone did not
produce any anti-Id antibody responses. Moreover, a mixture of
separate plasmids encoding .beta.-defensin 3 (pmDF3.beta.Muc1T) and
sFv antigen (sFv38) failed to elicit a specific humoral response,
demonstrating a requirement for sFv to be physically linked to
.beta.-defensin or chemokine moiety. Therefore, non-immunogenic sFv
was rendered immunogenic by fusion with mature murine
.beta.-defensins, syngeneic murine, xenogeneic human or viral
chemokines. These results also suggest that it was not sufficient
to simply attract APC to the site of production of sFv, but that
direct APC targeting with self-antigen fused to .beta.-defensin or
chemokine was required. Thus, induction of anti-Id antibodies by
sFv fusion proteins appeared to involve receptor-mediated binding
and delivery of antigen to APC. Vaccination elicited anti-Id
antibodies of various isotypes, suggesting activation of different
effector cells by different pro-inflammatory moieties. All carriers
induced specific IgG1 antibodies. However, MDC containing vaccines
also elicited high titers of IgG2b and IgG3, while fusion
constructs with .beta.-defensin-3 and vMIP2 elicited high titers of
IgG2b but little IgG3, and little IgG2b or IgG3, respectively.
[0221] Two weeks after the last of three serial immunizations, mice
were challenged with a 20-fold lethal dose of syngeneic tumor. No
survival was observed in control groups immunized with PBS or
plasmids encoding sFv38 fused with inactive pro-.beta.-defensin-2
(pproDef2.beta.sFv38), MDC alone (pMDC-EGFP), or with mutant
constructs pMDCMsFv38, pvMIP2MsFv38, pvMIP1MsFv38. Moreover, no
protection was observed in mice immunized with DNA encoding a
mixture of unlinked functionally active .beta.-defensin or
chemokine with sFv. In contrast, significant protective immunity
was elicited in mice immunized with pDef2.beta.sFv38 and
pDef3.beta.sFv38 (logrank P<0.001 as compared with
pproDef2.beta.sFv38 and pMIP2MsFv38, respectively). Similarly,
pMDCsFv38, pvMIP2sFv38 and pvMIP1sFv38 immunized mice demonstrated
statistically significantly prolonged survival (logrank P<0.001
as compared with pMDC-EGFP and mutant pvMIP2MsFv38 and
pvMIP1MsFv38, respectively). Therefore, .beta.-defensins and
xenogeneic human and viral chemokines can render a non-immunogenic
self-tumor antigen (sFv) immunogenic and elicit specific antitumor
immunity. These data also suggest that chemokine receptor
engagement with chemokine- or defensin-sFv fusion is useful for the
induction of immunity.
[0222] Requirement for Secretion but not for Chemotaxis for
Induction of Immune Responses.
[0223] Additional constructs were used for testing in vivo. Mice
were immunized with MCP-3 fusion constructs with or without a
secretory leader sequence (pMCP3sFv38 and pMCP3sFv38-w/o-SL,
respectively). High levels of Id-specific antibodies were detected
in mice immunized with pMCP3sFv38, containing an intact secretory
leader; however, no antibodies were elicited in mice immunized with
pMCP3sFv38-w/o-SL. Furthermore, tumor protection was elicited only
in those mice immunized with pMCP3sFv38, but not with
pMCP3sFv38-w/o-SL (logrank P<0.001). In addition, no protection
was detected in mice immunized with DNA expressing a secretable but
mutated MCP-3 fusion protein, which could not bind the respective
receptor (pMCP3MsFv38). These data are consistent with immunity
being induced by APC which took up (via chemokine receptor) a
functionally active chemokine fusion protein which was secreted
from bystander cells, rather than by APC directly being transduced
by gene gun immunization.
[0224] It was determined whether activation of receptor-mediated
chemotaxis was required for eliciting immune responses, or whether
receptor binding alone was sufficient. Immune responses of a
selective pair of agonist (vMIP1) (Endres, M. J., C. G. Garlisi, H.
Xiao, L. Shan, and J. A. Hedrick. 1999. The Kaposi's
sarcoma-related herpesvirus (KSHV)-encoded chemokine vMIP-I is a
specific agonist for the CC chemokine receptor (CCR)8. J. Exp. Med.
189:(12)1993-1998) and antagonist (MC148) (Luttichau, H. R., J.
Stine, T. P. Boesen, A. H. Johnsen, D. Chantry, J. Gerstoft, and T.
W. Schwartz. 2000. A highly selective CC chemokine receptor
(CCR).sub.8 antagonist encoded by the poxvirus molluscum
contagiosum. J. Exp. Med. 191:(1)171-180) chemokines, which bind to
CCR8, were compared to immune responses in mice immunized with
plasmids encoding pvMIP1 and MC148 fusion proteins, respectively
(pMIP1sFv38 and pMC148sFv38). Mice immunized with either of these
chemokine fusion constructs produced comparable levels of specific
antibodies. Moreover, significant tumor protection was detected in
both groups of mice challenged with a high dose of 38C-13 cells
(logrank P<0.001 for pMC148sFv38 and P<0.01 for pvMIP1sFv38,
respectively, compared with control pvMIP1MsFv38). These data
suggest that chemokine receptor binding alone, in the absence of
subsequent signaling for chemotaxis, is sufficient to induce
immunity.
Discussion
[0225] This example demonstrates that use of proinflammatory
factors of innate and adaptive immunity such as .beta.-defensins 2
and 3 and viral chemokines (Luster, A. D. 1998.
Chemokines--chemotactic cytokines that mediate inflammation. N.
Engl. J. Med. 338:(7)436-445) can help to elicit strong immune
responses both against a model non-immunogenic tumor antigen,
lymphoma idiotype (Stevenson, F. K., D. Zhu, C. A. King, L. J.
Ashworth, S. Kumar, and R. E. Hawkins. 1995. Idiotypic DNA vaccines
against B-cell lymphoma. Immunol. Rev. 145:211-228), and viral
antigen, HIV gp120. The appeal of this approach was based not only
on the ability of these mediators of innate and adaptive immunity
to target surface receptors on APC, particularly on iDC (Yang, D.,
O. Chertov, S. N. Bykovskaia, Q. Chen, M. J. Buffo, J. Shogan, M.
Anderson, J. M. Schroder, J. M. Wang, O. M. Howard, and J. J.
Oppenheim. 1999. Beta-defensins: linking innate and adaptive
immunity through dendritic and T cell CCR6. Science
286:(5439)525-528), presumably resulting in increased uptake of
antigen, but possibly also to induce of expression of
co-stimulatory molecules and, in turn, production of other
pro-inflammatory cytokines and factors. This example demonstrates
that both murine .beta.-defensin 2 and 3 efficiently induced
chemotaxis of immature, but not mature, murine bone marrow derived
DC, suggesting that a .beta.-defensin specific receptor(s) is
expressed on immature DC.
Example 6
[0226] As an example of how the vaccine of this invention can be
administered to a patient to treat cancer or to treat or prevent
HIV infection (with the additional administration of adjuvants,
such as immunostimulatory cytokines, if desired), the following is
a complete protocol for a clinical trial describing the
administration of Id-KLH and GM-CSF to patients to treat follicular
lymphoma. The same study design can be employed for the
administration of the defensin-tumor antigen fusion polypeptide or
the defensin-viral antigen fusion polypeptide of the present
invention or nucleic acids encoding the fusion polypeptides of this
invention, with appropriate modifications, as would be apparent to
one of skill in the art. In particular, studies to test the
efficacy of HIV vaccines are well known in the art and the clinical
protocol described herein can be readily modified by one of skill
in the art as appropriate to test the efficacy of the HIV fusion
polypeptide or HIV fusion polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid of this
invention according to well known protocols for testing HIV
vaccines (126, 127).
Background and Rationale
[0227] Immunoglobulin (Ig) molecules are composed of heavy and
light chains, which possess highly specific variable regions at
their amino termini. The variable regions of heavy and light chains
combine to form the unique antigen recognition site of the Ig
protein. These variable regions contain determinants that can
themselves be recognized as antigens, or idiotopes. B-cell
malignancies are composed of clonal proliferations of cells
synthesizing a single antibody molecule with unique variable
regions in the heavy and light chains. B-cell lymphomas are
neoplasms of mature resting and reactive lymphocytes which
generally express synthesized Ig at the cell surface. The idiotypic
determinants of the surface Ig of a B-cell lymphoma can thus serve
as a tumor-specific marker for the malignant clone.
[0228] Studies in experimental animals, as well as in man, have
demonstrated the utility of the Ig idiotype as a tumor-specific
antigen for the study of the biology of B-cell lymphoma in vitro
and as a target for passive immunotherapy in vivo (1, 2, 3).
Furthermore, active immunization against idiotypic determinants on
malignant B cells has been demonstrated to produce resistance to
tumor growth in a number of syngeneic experimental tumor models, as
well as specific anti-tumor therapy against established tumors
(4-13). These results, taken together, provided the rationale for
testing autologous tumor-derived idiotypic surface Ig (Id) as a
therapeutic "vaccine" against human B-cell lymphoma. Furthermore,
preclinical studies in subhuman primates demonstrated that optimal
immunization with human lymphoma-derived Id required conjugation of
the protein to an immunogenic protein carrier (keyhole limpet
hemocyanin; KLH) and emulsification in an adjuvant (14).
[0229] Guided by these observations, nine patients with B-cell
lymphoma were immunized with autologous Id protein (15). These
patients received no anti-tumor therapy during the time of the
study. They were either in complete remission or in a state of
minimal residual disease following conventional chemotherapy. In
addition, three patients with rapidly progressive recurrent
lymphoma were enrolled in a separate safety study; all three
required reinstitution of chemotherapy shortly after enrollment,
did not complete the immunization series, and were not studied
further. They received intramuscular injections of 0.5 mg of Id
conjugated to KLH at 0, 2, 6, 10 and 14 weeks, followed by two
booster injections at 24 and 28 weeks. Patients in the first trial
(five patients) received Id-KLH alone for the first three
immunizations, then Id-KLH emulsified in a Pluronic polymer-based
adjuvant vehicle formulation for all subsequent immunizations.
Because no idiotype-specific immune responses were observed prior
to the addition of the adjuvant to the program in this first group
of patients, patients in the second trial (four patients) received
the entire series of immunizations with this adjuvant. All patients
were analyzed for idiotype-specific antibody production and
peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferative responses in
vitro immediately before each immunization and at one to two month
intervals following the last immunization. The KLH carrier provided
a convenient internal control for immunocompetence of the patients
and all patients demonstrated both humoral and PBMC proliferative
responses to the KLH protein, with the exception of one patient,
who demonstrated only the latter. Seven of the nine patients
demonstrated either a humoral (n=2) or a cell-mediated (n=4)
anti-idiotypic immunological response, or both (n=1).
[0230] Anti-idiotypic antibody responses were detected by analysis
of pro- and hyperimmune sera in either direct, or competition,
ELISA. The immunization with autologous Id protein induced
significant titers of anti-idiotypic antibody that either directly
bound or inhibited the binding of a murine anti-idiotype monoclonal
antibody (anti Id mAb) to Id on the plate. The specificity of the
humoral response for the Ig idiotype was demonstrated by the lack
of significant binding of hyperimmune serum to a panel of
isotype-matched human Igs of unrelated idiotype, or by the lack of
significant inhibition of a panel of heterologous Id-anti-Id
systems, respectively. Peak humoral responses were obtained after
the fifth immunization and persisted for at least nine months. The
anti-idiotypic antibody produced by patient 1 was affinity-purified
and shown to contain heterogeneous light chains as well as
immunoglobulin G heavy chains. This patient's antibody titer was
successfully boosted with a single administration of Id-KLH in
adjuvant after a decline of the humoral response after 15
months.
[0231] Cellular immune responses were measured by the proliferation
of PBMC to KLH and to autologous Id separately at concentrations
ranging from 1-100 .mu.g per milliliter of soluble protein in five
day in vitro cultures. None of the pre-immune PBMC demonstrated any
preexisting proliferation to autologous Id above that to culture
medium alone. Hyperimmune PBMC from all patients demonstrated
strong proliferative responses to the KLH carrier. Of primary
interest, significant hyperimmune proliferative responses to Id
were detected in five patients. Although their responses were of
lower magnitude than parallel responses to KLH, patients 3, 4, 6, 8
and 9 were classified as responders on the basis of reproducible
increases in counts-per minute (cpm) .sup.3H-thymidine
incorporation in wells containing Id, compared with medium alone,
that were sustained over multiple time points. Patients
demonstrating occasional increases in cpm in wells containing Id
compared with medium alone were classified as non-responders
(patients 1 and 5).
[0232] Flow cytometry analysis of cultures demonstrating
proliferation to Id revealed a predominance of cells staining
positively for CD4 (>95%), suggesting the phenotype of the
responding cell subpopulation. These cultures could be successfully
expanded for approximately four weeks by stimulation alternatively
with interleukin-2 (IL-2) and Id-pulsed autologous irradiated PBMC
as antigen-presenting cells. Specificity of the responses for Ig
idiotype was confirmed by the lack of significant proliferation to
an isotype-matched human Ig of unrelated idiotype compared with
medium alone. Such idiotype-specific PBMC proliferative responses
were observed only after the addition of the adjuvant to the
program and also persisted for at least 9-14 months.
[0233] The ability of the idiotype-specific humoral response to
bind autologous tumor cells was also tested. This was shown by the
inhibition of binding of a labeled murine anti-idiotype mAb to
tumor cells from a pre-treatment lymph-node specimen from patient 8
by hyperimmune, but not by pre-immune, serum from this patient. In
addition, affinity purified anti-idiotypic antibodies from the
hyperimmune sera of the two other patients who demonstrated
idiotype specific humoral responses were demonstrated by flow
cytometry to bind autologous tumor.
[0234] All patients were also closely monitored for disease
activity with physical examinations and routine laboratory and
radiographic studies. Of the two patients with measurable tumor at
the initiation of Id immunization, one (patient 1) experienced
complete regression of a single 2.5 cm left submandibular lymph
node, and the other (patient 4) experienced complete regression of
a 4.5 cm cutaneous lymphomatous mass on the right arm. This
clinical response in patient 4 correlated with an Id-specific, PBMC
proliferative response in vivo. Correlating with the duration of
their immunological responses, the clinical responses in both
patients have continued at 24 and 10 months, respectively, after
completion of the immunization series. Moreover, with a median
follow up time of 10 months, the only case of tumor recurrence
among those patients who were in remission and completed the
immunization series occurred in patient 5, who was one of the two
patients who failed to demonstrate an idiotype-specific
immunological response.
[0235] Toxicity was minimal in all twelve patients. All patients
experienced transient local reactions characterized by mild
erythema, induration, and discomfort, without skin breakdown, at
the injection sites. Splitting the components of the vaccine
(Id-KLH and adjuvant) in one patient who had experienced a moderate
local reaction and in another patient who had experienced a
moderate systemic reaction, characterized by fever, rigors and
diffuse arthralgias, established the adjuvant as the component
associated with these reactions. Both of these moderate reactions
resolved completely after 24-48 hours. The only laboratory
abnormality associated with Id immunization was a mild elevation
(less than twice the normal value) of serum creatine phosphokinase
24 hours after immunization in an occasional case.
[0236] These results demonstrate that patients with B-cell lymphoma
can be induced to make sustained idiotype-specific immune responses
by active immunization with purified autologous tumor-derived
surface Ig. They show that autologous Id, made immunogenic by
conjugation to KLH, can serve as an immunogen (antigen) to elicit
host immunological responses. The induction of low levels of
idiotype-specific immunity was demonstrated in the setting of
minimal tumor burden following conventional chemotherapy. These
results, taken together with the induction of relatively stronger
immune responses to the KLH carrier, and exogenous antigen, suggest
that chemotherapy-induced immunosuppression is not an obstacle to
active immunotherapy administered adjunctively to cytoreductive
drug therapy in this manner.
[0237] This initial study also established the requirement for an
immunological adjuvant, as no Id-specific responses were observed
prior to the addition of an adjuvant to the program. The objective
of further clinical trials using tumor derived Id as a therapeutic
vaccine is to further optimize the immunogenicity of this vaccine.
To this end, this study will focus on the use of novel
immunological adjuvants which are 1) more potent and 2) more
effective in the induction of cell-mediated immune responses,
compared with the pluronic polymer-based adjuvant used in the
study.
[0238] The 38C13 B cell tumor is used as a model system to screen
promising immunological adjuvants. A number of these have included
cytokines and among these, GM-CSF has emerged as a promising
adjuvant for idiotypic Ig antigen. In these experiments (10 mice
per group), syngeneic mice were immunized with 50 .mu.g Id-KLH
derived from the tumor, either alone or in combination with GM-CSF
mixed together with the antigen and administered subcutaneously.
Three additional daily doses of GM-CSF were administered s.c. as
close to the original site of immunization as possible. Mice
immunized with an irrelevant Id-KLH (4C5 IgM) served as negative
controls for the vaccine. Two weeks after this single immunization,
all mice were challenged with a single preparation of 38C13 tumor
cells (5.times.10.sup.3 cells i.p.) and followed for survival. The
results demonstrated that the augmented survival benefit afforded
by immunization with relevant Id-KLH alone can be significantly
enhanced by the addition of GM-CSF at either the 100 or 10,000 unit
dose. The loss of this protective effect at a higher dose of GM-CSF
of 50,000 units was also observed. These data suggest that GM-CSF
may have a potent adjuvant effect in vivo for Id-KLH antigen,
especially at relatively low doses.
[0239] The follicular lymphomas are follicular small cleaved cell
(FSC) and follicular mixed lymphoma (FM). Stage I and II patients
comprise only 10% to 15% of all cases of follicular lymphomas and
are best managed with radiation therapy. Eight-five percent of
patients with follicular lymphomas present with stage III or IV
disease. The optimal management of these patients remains
controversial and has generally followed two divergent approaches
(16, 17). One is an aggressive approach, which has included
radiation therapy, combination chemotherapy, or combined modality
therapy and the other is a conservative approach that involves no
initial treatment followed by a single-agent chemotherapy or
involved-field radiotherapy when required (18; 19). Most forms of
systemic therapy have the capacity to produce high complete
response rates. However, they have failed to produce long-term
disease-free survival or to prolong overall survival; thus, it has
become clear that the vast majority of patients with this disease
will relapse and die of their lymphoma, despite its usually
indolent course.
[0240] The NCI study (MB-110, BRMP 8903) begun in 1978, is a
prospective randomized study comparing these two distinct
approaches to the management of stage III or IV indolent histology
lymphoma. Most patients were randomized between no initial therapy
or aggressive combined modality therapy with ProMACE/MOPP
flexitherapy followed by low dose (2400 cGy) total nodal
irradiation. Among the 149 patients treated thus far, 125 (84%)
were randomized; 62 to watch and wait (W & W) and 63 to
aggressive treatment. Among the 62 patients on the watch and wait
arm, 29 continue to be observed for periods up to 10+ years. The
median time to cross over to aggressive therapy is 23 months.
[0241] It is apparent that patients in whom therapy is initiated
after the development of symptoms have a significantly lower
complete response rate to therapy than patients randomized to
receive the same therapy at diagnosis (74% vs 40%, P.sub.2=0.0039).
The complete responder (CR) rate of patients randomized to initial
aggressive treatment is comparable to those obtained in patients
with advanced-stage intermediate grade lymphoma receiving the same
treatment. The CR rate in indolent lymphoma does not appear to be
significantly higher than what can be achieved with other
combination regimens. For patients randomized to watch and wait,
median follow-up of CRs is shorter because of the delay in
initiating treatment. However, the median duration of remission has
not been reached at five years and 57% of patients are projected to
be disease-free >8 years and 44% are projected to be in a CR at
12 years. The disease-free survival curves are not significantly
different between the two arms. Thus, allowing the patient to reach
a greater tumor burden before instituting systemic therapy reduces
the likelihood of obtaining a CR, but once achieved, CRs are
comparably durable to those obtained from primary aggressive
therapy. The lengthening of the remission duration, however, has
not resulted in a survival advantage for patients randomized to
receive primary aggressive chemotherapy. Furthermore, even though a
minority of complete responders have relapsed, the probability of
relapse appears to be continuous over time, and the vast majority
of patients are expected to eventually succumb to their
disease.
[0242] Thus, even immediate aggressive therapy has not resulted in
improved survival. Therefore, although patients diagnosed with
follicular lymphoma enjoy relatively longer survival times compared
with patients with solid tumors, follicular lymphoma remains an
incurable disease. Novel experimental therapies designed to improve
the durability of the remissions already effectively induced by
chemotherapy are justified.
Summary of Treatment Plan
[0243] The goal is to treat patients with follicular lymphomas to
complete remission or maximal response with ProMACE chemotherapy.
After the completion of chemotherapy, in an effort to reduce the
relapse rate (by eradicating microscopic disease resistant to
chemotherapy), patients will receive an autologous Id vaccine
administered in combination with GM-CSF.
[0244] The goal of this study is to evaluate the ability of the Id
vaccine to clear the bone marrow of malignant cells detectable by
pathologic (morphologic) examination or molecular examination
(polymerase chain reaction, PCR) in patients with PCR amplifiable
translocations. All patients have serial bone marrow and peripheral
blood samples collected to search for clonal abnormalities by PCR.
Patients are followed after vaccine therapy and their remission
status correlated with clinical vs. molecular determinations of
response. There should be three categories of complete responders:
those who had a clinical complete response before the vaccine but
had an abnormal clone by PCR that cleared after the vaccine; those
with a clinical CR before the vaccine who were also PCR negative
before the vaccine; and those who achieved a clinical complete
response but had PCR positive marrows before and after the vaccine.
It is a goal of this study to assess whether "molecular complete
responses" can be achieved using the vaccine in patients following
chemotherapy.
Objectives
[0245] The objectives of this trial are to:
[0246] To induce cellular and humoral immunity against the unique
idiotype expressed on the surface of patients' B-cell
lymphomas.
[0247] To determine the ability of Id immunization to eradicate
bcl-2 positive tumor cells from the bone marrow as detected by
PCR.
[0248] As a secondary objective, to determine the more biologically
active of the two GM-CSF doses as an adjuvant, as measured by the
endpoints in the above objectives.
[0249] To determine the impact of Id immunization on disease free
survival of patients achieving a CR with chemotherapy.
Patient Selection
[0250] Patient Sample [0251] A. Sample size, approximately 42
patients [0252] B. Sex distribution: male and female [0253] C. Age:
patients must be .gtoreq.18 years old
[0254] Eligibility Criteria [0255] Patient must meet all of the
following eligibility criteria: [0256] A. Tissue diagnosis of:
follicular small cleaved cell, or follicular mixed lymphoma with
surface IgM, IgG or IgA phenotype with a monoclonal heavy and light
chain. Pathology slides must be submitted to the NIH Pathology
Department for review. [0257] B. Stage III or IV lymphoma. [0258]
C. Only previously untreated patients are eligible. [0259] D.
Previous treatment with radiation alone (less than TBI) is
permissible. [0260] E. A single peripheral lymph node of at least 2
cm size accessible for biopsy/harvest. [0261] F. Karnfsky status
.gtoreq.70%. [0262] G. Life expectancy of > one year. [0263] H.
Serum creatinine .ltoreq.1.5 mg/dl unless felt to be secondary to
lymphoma. [0264] I. Bilirubin .ltoreq.1.5 mg/dl unless felt to be
secondary to lymphoma or Gilbert's disease. SGOT/SGPT<3.5.times.
upper limit of normal. [0265] J. Ability to give informed consent.
Ability to return to clinic for adequate follow-up for the period
that the protocol requires.
[0266] Patient Exclusion Criteria [0267] The presence of any
exclusion criteria (listed below) will prohibit entry into study:
[0268] A. Prior total body irradiation. [0269] B. Presence of
antibodies to HIV, hepatitis B surface antigen or other active
infectious process. [0270] C. Pregnancy or lactation. Fertile men
and women must plan to use effective contraception. A beta-HCG
level will be obtained in women of childbearing potential. [0271]
D. Patients with previous or concomitant malignancy, regardless of
site, except curatively treated squamous or basal cell carcinoma of
the skin, or effectively treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix.
[0272] E. Patient unwilling to give informed consent. [0273] F.
Failure to meet any of the eligibility criteria described above.
[0274] G. Any medical or psychiatric condition that in the opinion
of the protocol chairman would compromise the patient's ability to
tolerate this treatment. [0275] H. Patient with CNS lymphoma
(current or previously treated) will not be eligible.
Clinical Evaluation
[0276] Complete history and physical examination.
[0277] CBC, diff., platelet count.
[0278] Serum chemistry, .beta..sub.2-microglobulin.
[0279] PT/PTT
[0280] Quantitative immunoglobulins, serum protein electrophoresis,
immunoelectrophoresis.
[0281] HIV antibody, HBsAg.
[0282] Urinalysis.
[0283] Serum .beta.-HCG in women of child-bearing potential.
[0284] EKG and MUGA.
[0285] 5 TT for serum storage.
[0286] Leukapheresis to obtain 3.times.10.sup.9 lymphocytes. These
samples will be used for baseline studies of T-call activation and
response to Id.
[0287] Tumor Biopsy--prior to therapy, all patients must undergo
biopsy/harvest of a clinically involved peripheral lymph node to
obtain tissue for morphological classification, immunophenotypic
characterization, determination of immunoglobulin gene
rearrangements, bcl-2 translocation, cytogenetics, and to provide
starting material for an Id vaccine. The sample should be at least
2 cm in size. Only patients with tumors that are surface
immunoglobulin positive with a monoclonal heavy and light chain
will be accepted as study candidates. Use standard lymphoma vaccine
biopsy orders (see protocol below). Leftover tumor biopsy samples
may be used for basic studies of lymphoma biology in vitro. Such
future studies may be done without re-consenting the subjects only
if the studies involve risks already outlined in the original
consent form.
[0288] CXR--PA and LAT.
[0289] CT scan of abdomen and pelvis.
[0290] Lymphangiogram, unless contraindicated by massive pedal
edema, severe chronic lung disease, ethiodal sensitivity (Note:
sensitivity to other iodine compounds, e.g., renograffin, are
relative, but not absolute contraindications).
[0291] Other tests (CT chest, ultrasound, liver scan, bone scan,
upper and lower GI series, IVP, MRI) should be performed as needed
to evaluate all disease sites adequately.
[0292] Examination of pleural fluid or ascites when present.
[0293] Bilateral bone marrow aspirates and biopsies--In addition to
the normal aspirate and biopsy, 5 cc of marrow will be aspirated
from each side into 0.5 ml of PFH for PCR analysis. The procedure
should be performed in the usual manner with a biopsy performed
first. Then a small volume (0.5-1 cc) can be aspirated for the
smear and clot tube. A separate Rosenthal needle with bevel should
be used for the aspirate. The 5 cc sample for PCR can be obtained
from the same site as the initial aspirate.
[0294] CT scan of the head and lumbar puncture with CSF analysis if
clinically indicated.
Patient Registration
[0295] Patients will be registered prior to the initiation of
therapy at which time eligibility criteria will be reviewed.
Stratification and randomization are described in detail below (see
Statistical considerations).
Study Design
[0296] ProMACE
TABLE-US-00005 Day 0 Day 7 Day 28 Cyclophosphamide Cyclophosphamide
Next cycle begins 650 mg/m.sup.2 IV 650 mg/m.sup.2 IV Doxorubicin
Doxorubicin 25 mg/m.sup.2 IV 25 mg/m.sup.2 IV Etoposide VP-16
Etoposide BP-16 120 mg/m.sup.2 IV 120 mg/m.sup.2 IV Prednisone 60
mg/m.sup.2 po qd x 14 (days 0 to 13) Bactrim one double strength
tablet po BID throughout therapy
[0297] All patients will be treated until a complete remission is
obtained and two additional cycles of chemotherapy have been given,
or until disease has been stable for two cycles of chemotherapy, or
progressive disease develops. A minimum of six cycles will be given
to each complete responder before therapy is discontinued. Patients
with more than 90% PR or a full CR will be continued on the
vaccination part of the protocol. Patients with less than 90% PR or
progressive disease will be taken off of the study.
[0298] Postinduction Therapy--Three to six months (or whenever a
customized GMP vaccine is available, up to a maximum period of 12
months) after the completion of chemotherapy, all patients in whom
either a complete clinical remission or minimal disease status
(.gtoreq.90% partial response) has been achieved will receive a
series of five injections of a vaccine consisting of 0.5 mg
autologous tumor derived immunoglobulin (Id) conjugated to KLH. The
vaccine will be administered together with GM-CSF as an
immunological adjuvant. Both the vaccine and GM-CSF will be
administered subcutaneously according to the following
schedule:
[0299] Schedule: At 0, 1, 2, 3 and 5 months [0300] Id-KLH (0.5 mg
s.c.) day 0 [0301] adjuvant (s.c.) days 0-3 [0302] Cohort 1: GM-CSF
500 mcg/m.sup.2/d s.c. for 4 days [0303] Cohort 2: GM-CSF 100
mcg/m.sup.2/d s.c. for 4 days
[0304] The sites of injection will be rotated between the upper and
lower extremities. Each dose of vaccine or GM-CSF will be split
equally between the two upper or lower extremities. All GM-CSF
injections will be given in close proximity to the vaccination
site, as close to the exact site of injection as possible. If local
reactions to GM-CSF are severe, GM-CSF injections may be given
elsewhere. Patients will be observed in the clinic for two hours
following Id-KLH and/or GM-CSF administration. During the
observation period, vital signs will be taken every 15 minutes
during the first hour and every 30 minutes during the second
hour.
Supportive Care
[0305] G-CSF 5 mcg/kg/d SC may be used in all patients who are
hospitalized for the treatment of febrile neutropenia, regardless
of how long the neutropenia persists.
Grading and Management of Toxicity
[0306] Chemotherapy: Dose modification of chemotherapy will be
based on the granulocyte count done at the time of drug
administration (day 0 or 7 of each cycle). The percentage of drugs
administered may be further modified based on toxicity in prior
cycles (see below). If the granulocyte count is <1200, and the
patient is due for day 0 drugs, delay day 0 for one week until
appropriate parameters are met. In general, delays of up to one
week are preferable to starting G-CSF. If after a one week delay,
appropriate parameters are still not met, then G-CSF may be started
as above. Also, in general, delays of up to one week are preferable
to dose reductions. Full doses of all drugs should be given on time
if blood count suppression is due to bone marrow involvement with
disease.
[0307] Dose Modification for Hematologic Toxicity
TABLE-US-00006 IF GRANULOCYTE COUNT IS: On Day 0 THEN DOSE AS
FOLLOWS: .gtoreq.1200 100% all drugs .ltoreq.1200 Day 0 Delay
[0308] For neutrophil nadir <500 or platelet count <25,000 on
previous cycle, 75% of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and etoposide
should be considered. For neutrophil nadir (day 21 counts)>750
on a previous cycle, dose escalation of cyclophosphamide,
doxorubicin, and etoposide by 10-20% should be prescribed.
TABLE-US-00007 IF PLATELET COUNT IS: THEN DOSE AS FOLLOWS:
>100,000 100% of all drugs 50-99,999 100% Prednisone 75%
Etoposide 50% Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin <50,000 Delay
[0309] Dose Modification for Non-hematologic Toxicity
[0310] Assessment of non-hematologic toxicity will be graded
according to the CRB/DCS/NCI Common Toxicity Criteria. Chemotherapy
will be withheld in patients experiencing grade 2 or greater
non-hematologic toxicity until the patient has completely recovered
from the toxicity. For nausea/vomiting 2: grade 2, drug therapy
should be continued with non-steroid antiemetics.
[0311] Doxorubicin dosage should be adjusted as follows in the
presence of the following LFT abnormalities:
TABLE-US-00008 % Dose Bilirubin SGOT 100 <1.5 mg/dl <75 U 50
1.5-2.9 mg/dl 75-150 U 25 3.0-5.9 mg/dl 151-300 U 0 .gtoreq.6.0
mg/dl >300 U
[0312] Immunotherapy
[0313] Id-KLH Vaccine
[0314] Based on previous experience with autologous Id-KLH
vaccines, little or no toxicity is expected from the Id-KLH
component of the vaccine (15). Nevertheless, any local skin
reactions will be carefully noted and scored for erythema,
induration, pain and disruption of the barrier surface. If any
patient has a reaction suggestive of sensitization, the vaccine may
be split into its component parts; specifically, the patient will
be tested with Id-KLH alone and then GM-CSF alone. Toxicities will
be graded according to the CRBINCI/DCS common toxicity
criteria.
[0315] GM-CSF
[0316] Anticipated toxicities from GM-CSF administration in this
dose range are expected to be mild based on previous experience.
Potential toxicities include fever, chills, myalgias, arthralgias,
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dyspnea, tachycardia, arrhythmias,
elevation of liver function tests, elevation of BUN and creatinine.
However, local skin reactions, such as erythema and induration, may
be observed and will be carefully noted. Attempts will be made to
maintain these patients as outpatients. For grade IV fever (not
responsive to lndocin or Tylenol), or grade III vomiting
(unresponsive to therapy), GM-CSF will be held until toxicity is
less than grade II and will be restarted at 50% of the original
dose level for the rest of that weekly injection cycle and for
subsequent cycles. For neurologic toxicity that affects daily
function (unable to carry on simple routine duties, or grade II in
the toxicity grading scale), hold treatment until symptoms resolve,
then reduce GM-CSF by 50%. If symptoms persist, the adjuvant should
be removed for subsequent immunizations. Patients with grade III
neurotoxicity will be removed from the study.
[0317] For well-documented evidence of cardiac toxicity (i.e.,
grade III, including evidence of ischemia or ventricular
arrhythmia, but not supraventricular tachycardia or atrial
fibrillation controlled by digoxin or calcium channel blocking
agents), the adjuvant will be removed for subsequent
immunizations.
[0318] Asymptomatic elevations in serum bilirubin and creatinine
(not resulting in hyperkalemia) will be tolerated. For SGOT or
SGPT>10.times. normal, GM-CSF will be held until values return
to <5.times. normal, then resumed at 50% of the GM-CSF dose for
all remaining doses.
[0319] Fever and chills associated with vaccine administration
and/or GM-CSF will be treated with TYLENOL and/or DEMEROL. The use
of non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs and/or steroids should be
avoided. Should non-steroidals or steroids be required for
unrelated medical conditions for a course exceeding 2 weeks, the
patient will be taken off of the study.
Adverse Drug Reactions
[0320] All toxicities and adverse events will be recorded on the
study flow sheet and appropriately graded as to severity and cause.
Toxicities that are related to the underlying disease should be
clearly differentiated from drug toxicities.
[0321] Adverse drug reactions related to chemotherapy will be
submitted based on guidelines for commercial drugs.
[0322] Reports of adverse reactions to Id-KLH and GM-CSF will be
made using the Division of Cancer Treatment Common Toxicity
Criteria for reference according to the guidelines published by the
DCT, NCI. These guidelines can be summarized as follows: [0323] A.
Report by telephone to IDB within 24 hours (301) 230-2330 [0324] 1.
All life-threatening events (grade 4, except for grade 4
myelosuppression) which may be due to administration of the
investigational drug(s), [0325] 2. All fatal events (grade 5),
[0326] 3. All first occurrences of any previously unknown toxicity
(regardless of grade). [0327] B. A written report should follow
within 10 working days. [0328] C. All adverse drug reactions will
also be reported in writing to the NCI Institutional Review Board
within 10 working days. [0329] D. All adverse drug reactions will
also be reported to the FDA in accordance with Federal regulations.
[0330] E. Data will be submitted at least every two weeks.
Study Parameters
[0331] During Chemotherapy [0332] Weekly: CBC, diff. platelets;
except day 14, i.e. CBC on day 0, 7, 21, and 28. [0333] Beginning
of each cycle: Chem 20, CXR, LAG follow-up (KUB), CT scans (only
after 4 cycles, then every 2 cycles). [0334] Bilateral bone marrow
aspirate and biopsy after four cycles and every additional two
cycles thereafter. Include 5 cc of aspirate in PFH from each side
for PCR analysis.
[0335] At Maximal Response to Chemotherapy [0336] If residual
disease is obvious, record measurements and perform bone marrows as
above. [0337] For complete responders, complete restaging should be
performed. This should include all studies that were positive at
initial staging evaluation with the exception of repeat thoracotomy
or laparotomy. Bilateral bone marrows should be performed as
above.
[0338] During Vaccine Therapy [0339] If residual disease is
obvious, record measurements and perform bone marrows as above.
[0340] PT-PTT day 0 [0341] UA, .beta..sub.2 microglobulin day 0 of
each immunization. [0342] Leukapheresis is performed on the day of
initiation of vaccine therapy (prior to the first cycle only) to
obtain pre-vaccine lymphocytes for storage. Five tiger top tubes
are drawn at this time to obtain serum for storage. [0343] Two
tiger top tubes and peripheral blood (60 cc in PHI) are collected
on day 0 of each monthly cycle, for preparation of serum and
lymphocytes, respectively. [0344] Skin Biopsy is obtained near a
planned immunization site on day 0 prior to the first cycle
(baseline sample) and again on day 1, 2, or 3 of cycle 3 at an
active site of erythema and/or induration as close to the original
biopsy site as possible. [0345] DTH--Delayed type hypersensitivity
test (DTH) to autologous idiotype protein is performed during cycle
4 and again following completion of the immunization regimen, i.e.,
during or after cycle 5. The DTH-test is performed by intradermal
injection of 0.5 mg of idiotype protein in 0.1-0.2 ml of NS. To
ascertain the specificity of a positive reaction, 0.5 mg of a
heterologous isotype matched Id-protein (from another patient on
the same study) in the same volume will be used as a negative
control. The control idiotypes used on these two occasions will be
from two different patients, also in the study, in order to
minimize the possibility of eliciting an immunologic response
against a particular irrelevant idiotype. A skin biopsy will also
be obtained at the site of the intradermal injection of idiotype
protein and at the control site, one to three days, after the
intradermal injections. [0346] Fine needle aspiration or core
biopsy (with or without CT guidance) of any enlarged lymph node
draining the vaccination sites is performed to obtain lymphocytes
for in vitro assays.
[0347] At Discontinuation of Vaccine [0348] Restaging as described
for Chemotherapy (see "At Maximal Response to Chemotherapy,"
above). [0349] Bilateral bone marrow aspirates and biopsies at
completion of therapy and every six months for two years after
completing therapy and yearly thereafter. [0350] 10 cc of serum for
storage and 60 cc of peripheral blood in PFH is collected at
completion of therapy and every three months for a year.
Specimen Processing and Immunological Assays
[0351] Lymph Node Harvest/Biopsy
[0352] Each lymph node biopsy will be divided as follows: (a)
one-third of the specimen will be sent in saline to the
Hematopathology Section, Laboratory of Pathology, NIH. Biopsies are
processed for routine histopathy and for immunophenotypic
characterization, particularly with respect to monotypic heavy and
light chain expression; and (b) two-thirds of the specimen is sent
in sterile saline in a sterile container to Clinical Immunology
Services, NCIFCRDC, where it is processed into a single-cell
suspension and cryopreserved.
[0353] Blood and Bone Marrow Samples
[0354] All peripheral blood and bone marrow aspirate samples are
sent in an expedited manner to Clinical Immunology Services,
NCI-FCRDC. Tiger top tubes are spun down and serum divided into 1
ml aliquots for frozen storage. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells
(PBMC) are isolated prior to freezing by Ficoll-hypaque
centrifugation using standard protocols.
[0355] Assay for Serum Antibody
[0356] In a direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA),
preimmune and hyperimmune serum samples from each patient are
diluted over wells of a microtiter plate that are coated with
either autologous immunoglobulin idiotype or a panel of
isotype-matched human tumor immunoglobulins of unrelated idiotype.
Bound antibody is detected with horseradish peroxidase-goat
antihuman light-chain antibodies directed against the light chain
not present in the immunoglobulin idiotype (Caltag Laboratories,
South San Francisco).
[0357] Assay for Idiotype-Specific Proliferative Response
[0358] Whenever feasible, fresh PBMC, isolated above, are used on
the same day they are obtained. Stored frozen PBMC are available as
a back-up. PBMC are washed and plated at a concentration of
4.times.10.sup.5 cells per well in Iscove's modified Dulbecco's
medium (IMDM) with 1 percent human AB7 serum (IMDM-1 percent AB).
KLH, autologous immunoglobulin idiotype, or a panel of isotype
matched immunoglobulins of irrelevant idiotypes at concentrations
of 0 to 100 .mu.g per milliliter in IMDM-1 percent AB preparation
are added in triplicate. After the cells are incubated for three
days at 37.degree. C. in an atmosphere containing 5 percent carbon
dioxide, they are transferred to a preparation of IMDM and 5
percent fetal-.calf serum containing recombinant interleukin-2 (30
U per milliliter). The plates are incubated for two days and pulsed
for 16 to 20 hours with .sup.3H-labeled thymidine (1 .mu.Ci per
well). Data are expressed as mean (.+-.SEM) counts per minute of
[.sup.3H]thymidine incorporation.
[0359] Initial five-day cultures of PBMCs established as described
above are expanded in IMDM-5 percent fetal-calf serum containing
interleukin-2 (30 U per milliliter). Harvested cells are replaced
in IMDM-1 percent AB containing autologous immunoglobulin idiotype
and fresh irradiated (5000 R) autologous PBMCs (4.times.10.sup.5
cells per well) as antigen-presenting cells for five days, before
pulsing with .sup.3[H]thymidine.
[0360] Cytotoxicity Assays
[0361] The potential cytotoxicity of PBMC cultured with Id as
above, or with irradiated fresh cryopreserved tumor cells, is
assayed against either autologous lymphoblastoid cell lines (LBL)
pulsed with Id or fresh cryopreserved tumor targets. Autologous LBL
pulsed with soluble antigen have been used successfully as targets
to detect gp 160-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (20).
Historically, the inability to establish long-term cultures of
follicular lymphoma has hindered their availability as targets.
However, two recent reports have described the use of fresh
cryopreserved lymphoma cell targets, with levels of spontaneous
incorporated radioisotope release in the acceptable range of
<35% (21-22). Standard four hour .sup.51Cr release, as well as
18-24 hour .sup.111In release assays are used.
[0362] Autologous LBL are prepared from pre-immune PBMC by the AIDS
Monitoring Laboratory, NCI-FCRDC, using published methods.
[0363] Monitoring of T-cell Receptor (TCR) Status
[0364] Pre-chemotherapy and pre- and postimmunization serum samples
are assayed for TCR status by Western blot assay. Approximately
7.times.10.sup.6 purified T-cells from PBMC are lysed for 5 minutes
at 4.degree. C. in lysis buffer (25 mM Tris, pH 7.4 [Sigma Chemical
Co., St Louis, Mo.], 300 mM NaCl, 0.05% Triton X-100, 1 mM Na
orthovanadate, 10 .mu.g/ml aprotinin, 10 .mu.g/ml leupeptin, 10 mM
nitrophenol-guanidine benzoate [NPGB] and 5 mM EDTA). The lysates
are centrifuged at 12,000 rpm at 4.degree. C. for 5 minutes and
supernatant is removed with a micropipettor, making sure the
nuclear pellet is not disturbed. A sample of the supernatant is
then used to quantitate protein using the BCA protein assay
(Pierce, Rockford, Ill.). The rest of the lysate is boiled with
3.times. reducing sample buffer for 5 minutes and placed on ice
before its use in Western blot.
[0365] Varying concentrations of cellular lysate ranging between 1
and 30 .mu.g are electrophoresed in 14% Tris-glycine gels (Novex
Experimental Technology, CA) under reducing conditions and then
transferred to Imobilon-p PVDF transfer membranes (Millipore Co.,
Bedford, Mass.). The membranes are incubated with a 5% solution of
non-fat dried milk for one hour and then blotted for one hour at
room temperature with anti-TCR.zeta. anti-serum (Onco-Zeta 1,
OncoTherapeutics, Cranbury, N.J.) at a 1:2000 dilution. The
membranes are washed with TBS-T buffer [1 M Tris base, 5M NaCl,
0.1% Tween 20 (pH 7.5)] and incubated with anti-rabbit or
anti-mouse Ig horseradish peroxidase (Amersham, Buckinghamshire,
UK). After washing with TBS-T, the membranes are developed with the
chemiluminescence kit ECL (Amersham, UK) for 1-5 minutes. X-OMAT AR
film (Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y.) is used to detect the
chemiluminescence.
[0366] PCR Amplification of Rearranged bcl-2
[0367] Nested oligonucleotide amplification is performed at the MBR
or mcr of the bcl-2/Ig.sub.H hybrid gene using previously published
methods (23). Briefly, samples containing 1 .mu.g of genomic DNA
are initially amplified for 25 cycles in a final volume of 50 .mu.g
containing 50 mmol/L KCl, 10 mmol/L Tris HCL, 2.25 mmol/L
MgCl.sub.2, 200 mmol/L oligonucleotide primers, 200 mmol/L each of
dGTP, dCTP, dTTP and dATP, and 1.5 U Tag polymerase (Cetus,
Emeryville, Calif.). Reamplification of an aliquot of product is
performed for 30 cycles in a final volume of 50 .mu.l using
identical conditions to the original amplification, with
oligonucleotide primers internal to the original primers. Aliquots
of the final product are analyzed by gel electrophoresis in 4%
agarose gels containing ethidium bromide and visualized under UV
light. DNA is Southern blotted onto Zeta-probe blotting membrane
(BioRad. Richmond, Calif.) and bcl-2-specific DNA is detected by
hybridization with oligonucleotide probes radiolabeled with
.sup.32P(ATP) using T4 polynucleotide kinase.
Removal of Patients from Protocol Therapy [0368] Patients will be
removed from protocol for any of the following reasons: [0369]
Unacceptable toxicity (as defined above). [0370] The patient
declines further therapy. [0371] The patient experiences
progressive lymphoma. [0372] It is deemed in the best interest of
the patient. In this instance, [0373] The Principal Investigator
should be notified. [0374] The reasons for withdrawal should be
noted in the flow sheet.
Response Criteria
[0375] Patients will be reevaluated for tumor response after every
two cycles of chemotherapy using the following criteria:
[0376] Complete Response--disappearance of all clinical and
laboratory (excluding PCR) signs and symptoms of active disease for
a minimum of one month.
[0377] Partial Response--a 50% or greater reduction in the size of
the lesions as defined by the sum of the products of the longest
perpendicular diameters of all measured lesions lasting for a
minimum of one month. No lesions may increase in size and no new
lesions may appear.
[0378] Minimal Residual Response--a .gtoreq.90% partial response.
For most patients in this category, this will mean .ltoreq.10%
residual bone marrow involvement by lymphoma.
[0379] Progressive Disease--an increase of 25% or more in the sum
of the products of the longest perpendicular diameters of all
measured indicator lesions compared to the smallest previous
measurement or the appearance of a new lesion.
Drug Formulation and Toxicity Data
[0380] Cyclophosphamide (CTX. Cytoxan)-NSC #26271 [0381] Source and
Pharmacology--CTX is an alkylating agent, related to nitrogen
mustard, which is biochemically inert until it is metabolized to
its active components by the liver phosphoramidases. It is
non-phase-specific. The drug is excreted exclusively by the kidney
after parenteral administration. [0382] Formulation and
Stability--CTX is supplied as a 100, 200, 500, 1000 mg and a 2 gram
lyophilized powder with 75 mg mannitol per 100 mg (anhydrous)
cyclophosphamide. The vials are stored at room temperature
(59-86.degree. F.) and reconstituted with sterile water for
injection to yield a final concentration of 20 mg/ml as described
in the package insert. Reconstituted cyclophosphamide is stable for
at least 6 days under refrigeration and for 24 hours at room
temperature. Reconstituted drug and diluted solutions should be
stored under refrigeration. [0383] Supplier--Commercially
available. [0384] Route of Administration--The cyclophosphamide
used in this regimen is given IV over 30 minutes and is diluted in
100 cc of either D.sub.5W or NSS. [0385] Toxicity--Toxicities
described with cyclophosphamide include nausea, vomiting,
myelosuppression, gonadal failure in both males and females,
alopecia, interstitial pneumonitis, pulmonary fibrosis. hemorrhagic
cystitis, cardiac events (cardiomyopathy), syndrome of
inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) and rarely,
anaphylaxis.
[0386] Prednisone (Deltasone. Meticorten, Liquid Pred) NSC#10023
[0387] Source and Pharmacology--Prednisone is the synthetic
congener of hydrocortisone, the natural adrenal hormone. It binds
with steroid receptors on the nuclear membrane, blocks mitosis, and
inhibits protein synthesis. It kills primarily during the S-phase
of the cell cycle. It is catabolized in the liver and excreted in
the urine. Peak blood levels occur within two hours after oral
intake. Plasma half-life is 3-6 hours. (Biologic half-life is 12-30
hours.)
TABLE-US-00009 [0387] Cortisone 25 Equivalent Hydrocortisone 20
strength in mg Prednisone 5 Decadron 0.75
[0388] Formulation and Stability--Available in 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 20
and 50 mg tablets; 5 mg/5 ml liquid. [0389] Supplier--Prednisone is
commercially available. [0390] Route of Administration--PO; NOTE:
May cause GI upset; take with meals or snacks. Take in the morning
prior to 9 a.m. [0391] Toxicity--Toxicities described with
prednisone include fluid and electrolyte changes, edema,
hypertension, hyperglycemia, gastritis, osteoporosis, myopathy,
behavioral and mood changes, poor wound healing, and Cushing's
syndrome (moon face, buffalo hump, central obesity, acne, hirsutism
and striae).
[0392] VP-16 (Etoposide.VePesid) NSC#141540 [0393] Source and
Pharmacology--VP-16 is a semisynthetic derivative of
podophyllotoxin which inhibits topoisomerase II and functions as
mitotic inhibitor, but does not bind microtubules. Its main effect
appears to be in the S and G.sub.2-phase of the cell cycle. The
mean terminal half-life is 11.5 hours, with a range of 3 to 15
hours. It is primarily excreted in the urine. [0394] Formulation
and Stability--VP-16 is supplied in vials containing either 100 or
500 mg of etoposide (20 mg/ml) in a polyethylene vehicle. VP-16 is
diluted in either 500 cc of 5% dextrose or 0.9% Sodium Chloride
Injection. Diluted solutions (concentrations of 0.2, 0.4 mg/ml and
1 mg/ml) are stable for 96, 48 hours and 2 hours, respectively at
room temperature under normal room fluorescent light in both glass
and plastic containers. Do not refrigerate etoposide-containing
solutions. [0395] Supplier--VP-16 is commercially available. [0396]
Route of Administration--Etoposide is administered as an IV
infusion over 60 minutes. [0397] Toxicity--Toxicities described
with etoposide administration include myelosuppression
(neutropenia), nausea, vomiting, mucositis, allergic reactions
characterized by anaphylactic symptoms and hypotension and
alopecia.
[0398] Doxorubricin (Adriamycin) NSC #123127 [0399] Source and
Pharmacology--Doxorubicin is an anthracycline antibiotic isolated
from cultures of Streptomyces peucetius. It binds to DNA and
inhibits nucleic acid synthesis, with its major lethal effect
occurring during the S-phase of the cell cycle. Since it is
primarily excreted by the liver, any liver impairment may enhance
toxicity. Some of the drug has a very short .alpha. T 1/2 of <20
minutes and a .beta.1/2 of 17 hours. Animal studies indicate
cytotoxic levels persist in tissue for as long as 24 hours. Biliary
excretion also is a source of elimination for Doxorubicin;
therefore, patients with hyperbilirubinemia/cholestasis caused by
something other than lymphoma should have dosage modification.
[0400] Formulation and stability--Doxorubicin is available as a
freeze-dried powder in 10, 50 and 150 mg vials. The drug is stored
at room temperature, protected from light, and is reconstituted
with sodium chloride 0.9% (NSS) to yield a final concentration of 5
mg/ml. The reconstituted solution is stable for 7 days at room
temperature (1 5-30.degree. C.) or if stored under refrigeration
(2-8.degree. C.). [0401] Supplier--Doxorubicin is commercially
available. [0402] Route of Administration--Doxorubicin is given as
a slow IV injection over 5-7 minutes through an established line
with a free flowing IV. [0403] Special precautions: Avoid
extravasation and local contact with skin or conjunctiva. [0404]
Toxicity--Toxicities described with doxorubicin administration
include myelosuppression, nausea, vomiting, mucositis, stomatitis,
alopecia. diarrhea, facial flushing, dose-related congestive
cardiomopathy, arrhythmias, vein streaking (hypersensitivity
reaction), radiation-recall dermatitis, local cellulitis,
vesication and tissue necrosis upon extravasation (SQ and dermal
necrosis).
[0405] ID-KLH Vaccine [0406] Source--Idiotype protein from the
individual B cell lymphomas is obtained from tissue culture,
purified, and covalently coupled to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH)
as previously described. Each batch is produced according to Good
Manufacturing Practices standards and tested for sterility,
endotoxin contamination, and general safety prior to its use in any
patient. The preparation and quality control/quality assurance
testing of the Id-KLH conjugate is performed by TSI Washington
under CRB contract. The IND for the Id-KLH vaccine will be held by
the Drug Regulatory Affairs Section, CTEP. [0407] How
supplied--Formulated product for subcutaneous administration
contains 0.5 mg of Id and KLH each per ml of normal saline. Id-KLH
is supplied as a 1 ml vial. [0408] Storage--Prior to
administration, Id-KLH is stored at -20.degree. C. [0409]
Administration--After thawing and gentle agitation, the vial
contents are drawn up using an 18-gauge needle on a syringe. After
the entire contents have been drawn up, the 18-gauge needle is
replaced by a 25-gauge needle for injection. This procedure is
important to ensure that all particulates (normal components of
this vaccine) are obtained from the vial. [0410]
Toxicity--Toxicities described with Id-KLH vaccine administration
include local site reactions (erythema, induration, swelling and
tenderness), fever, chills, rash, myalgias and arthralgias. Mild
elevations in creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) have been
observed.
[0411] GM-CSF (Sargramostim: NSC #613795; BB-IND 2632 [0412] Source
and Pharmacology--The GM-CSF used in this study is glycosylated,
recombinant human GM-CSF. This GM-CSF is an altered form of the
native molecule; the position 23 arginine has been replaced with a
leucine to facilitate expression of the protein in yeast
(Saccharomyces cerevisiae). [0413] Formulation and Stability--The
GM-CSF is formulated as a white lyophilized cake and is provided in
vials containing 500 .mu.g of the GM-CSF protein as well as 10.0 mg
of sucrose, 40.0 mg of mannitol, and 1.2 mg of Tris (Trimethamine).
[0414] To prepare a vial of GM-CSF for direct subcutaneous use,
aseptically inject 1.0 ml of Sterile Water for Injection, USP, into
the vial to dissolve the lyophilized cake. The diluent should be
directed against the side of the vial to avoid excess foaming.
Avoid vigorous agitation of the vial; do not shake. This yields a
solution containing 500 .mu.g/ml. The unreconstituted material
should be kept refrigerated at 2-8.degree. C. and is stable for at
least eighteen months. Once reconstituted, the solution is stable
for at least 24 hours at 2-8.degree. C. or at 18-25.degree. C.
Because the product does not contain a preservative, vials should
be treated as unit-dose containers; reconstituted solution should
be held at 2-8.degree. C. and discarded after no more than six
hours. Do not freeze GM-CSF. [0415] Supplier. Manufactured by
Immunex. [0416] Route of Administration--The appropriate total dose
is withdrawn into and administered from a plastic tuberculin
syringe. The GM-CSF is injected subcutaneously as close as possible
to the Id-KLH injection site. All GM-CSF doses for each patient are
administered by the nursing staff in the outpatient unit. [0417]
Toxicity--Toxicities described in patients receiving GM-CSF
include: fever, chills, diaphoresis, myalgias, fatigue, malaise,
headache, dizziness, dyspnea, bronchospasm, pleural effusion,
anorexia, indigestion, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, injection site
tenderness, urticaria, rash, pruritus, hypersensitivity reaction,
bone pain, thromboembolic events, phlebitis, hypotension,
peripheral edema, leukocytosis, thrombocytosis or thrombocytopenia,
hepatic enzyme abnormalities, and bilirubin elevation. The first
administration of GM-CSF has provoked a syndrome of dyspnea and
hypotension within two hours after GM-CSF injection in a single
patient receiving yeast-derived GM-CSF; this type of reaction has
more frequently been observed in patients receiving GM-CSF produced
in E. coli. One report of a vascular leak-like syndrome occurring
after autologous bone marrow transplant in a patient receiving
continuous IV infusion of GM-CSF has been recorded.
[0418] Unconjugated Lymphoma Immunoglobulin Idiotype (for
intradermal skin testing) NSC#684151 [0419] Source--The
patient-specific purified idiotype protein, previously produced
according to GMP standards as described above, is vialed as a
separate product by TSI Washington Laboratories and will be
supplied by CTEP, DCT, NCI. This vialed product is tested
separately for sterility, endotoxin, and mycoplasma, according to
IND specifications previously discussed with the FDA. [0420] Each
vial of patient-specific unconjugated idiotype will be labeled to
include the following information: [0421] Purified sterile
immunoglobulin idiotype patient-specific lot [0422] final volume
and concentration of product [0423] patient-specific immunoglobulin
subtype [0424] storage conditions [0425] fill date [0426] patient
identification (first name/last initial) [0427] How Supplied--This
product is available as a solution containing 0.2-0.3 ml of
unconjugated idiotype diluted in sodium chloride 0.9%. The solution
is contained inside a sterile vial. The final solution contains 0.5
mg of patient-specific immunoglobulin idiotype protein. Intact
vials are stored at -20.degree. C. [0428] Toxicity--The toxicities
associated with administration of unconjugated Id protein are
anticipated to be identical to those described with the Id-KLH
vaccine. [0429] The safety issues regarding the injection of
heterologous idiotype protein isolated from other patients' B-cell
tumors have already been fully addressed in CRB #9407 (NCI
T94-0085; Active immunization of Healthy Sibling Marrow Transplant
Donors With Myeloma-derived Idiotype) and are felt to be minimal,
because of the highly purified nature of the protein. [0430]
Briefly, an immune response of any consequence to the isotype
matched idiotype used as a negative control during the second skin
test is not likely, based on: [0431] 1. The isotype matched
idiotype will only be administered once and is not conjugated to a
carrier protein. These minimize the chance of eliciting a sustained
immune response to the protein. [0432] 2. Any immune response
specifically directed against the idiotype (i.e., variable region)
on the control idiotype protein is not likely to cross-react with
host cells and is therefore not likely to be of any consequence.
[0433] 3. An autoimmune response against constant region or
allotype determinants shared between the idiotype of the patient's
own tumor and that of the control idiotype tumor is theoretically
possible. However no evidence of such autoimmune responses have
been observed either in vivo or in vitro during the course of
immunization of sibling bone marrow transplant donors with purified
myeloma protein. [0434] Furthermore, a safety precedent exists for
immunizing patients with material derived from tumor cells from
other patients. For example, in attempting to develop immune
responses against metastatic melanomas, patients were immunized
with 1) intact melanoma cells; 2) shed antigens fractionated by
detergent treatment and ultracentrifugation; 3) melanoma cells
infected with vaccinia virus and melanoma cells freeze thawed and
mechanically disrupted, all using a pool of allogeneic melanoma
cell lines (24-28).
[0435] Bactrim will be supplied by the Clinical Center.
[0436] Filgrastim (G-CSF)/Neupogen [0437] Source and
Pharmacology--The G-CSF to be used in this study is the recombinant
methionyl human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor
(r-methi-HuG-CSF). G-CSF is a hematopoietic growth factor with
effects on both immature bone marrow progenitors and mature myeloid
cells. It acts by supporting growth of human bone marrow derived
colony forming units and enhancing neutrophil growth and
proliferation. [0438] Formulation and Stability--The G-CSF is
formulated as a clear, sterile solution and is provided in vials at
a final concentration of 300 mcg/ml. The commercial vials are
available in 300 and 480 mcg sizes. The intact vials are stored
under refrigeration (2-8.degree. C.) prior to use and must not be
frozen and are stable at this temperature for at least one year.
[0439] Supplier--Manufactured by Amgen; supplied by the Clinical
Center. [0440] Route of Administration--The appropriate total dose
is withdrawn into and administered from a plastic tuberculin
syringe. The G-CSF is injected as a subcutaneous injection. The
patient or other care-giver is instructed on proper injection
technique. [0441] Toxicities--Toxicities described with G-CSF
include: transient bone pain (sternal/pelvic) myalgias, fatigue,
mild elevations in uric acid, LDH and alkaline phosphate, fluid
retention, transient hypotension, local inflammation at injection
site, rarely cutaneous vasculitis, rarely pericardial effusion and
rare anaphylactic reactions with first dose.
Statistical Considerations
[0442] Statistical issues to be addressed include identification of
significant endpoints, sample size determination, power
considerations, stratification, randomization and design.
[0443] The design of this study is viewed primarily within the
framework of a Single Arm Phase II trial. However, as the purpose
is also to investigate possible differences between GM-CSF doses as
adjuvants, it incorporates design elements characteristic of a
Multiple Arm Phase II or a randomized Phase III trial. Statistical
methods that are appropriate to both single and double arm designs
are described.
[0444] Patients receive combination chemotherapy to best response
followed by Id-KLH combined with GM-CSF. Several outcome measures
(endpoints) are evaluated in order to meet the objectives of this
study. They include:
[0445] 1) The clinical complete response rate (in contradistinction
to the molecular or PCR response rate) of all patients to
ProMACE--a percentage indicated by the disappearance of all
clinical and laboratory signs and symptoms of active disease,
excluding PCR, for a minimum of one month.
[0446] 2) The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) response rate
(molecular-complete response rate)-the percentage of patients who,
having achieved a clinical complete response still remain PCR (+)
at the end of chemotherapy, and who then become PCR (-) with the
administration of immunotherapy.
[0447] 3) Disease Free Survival Rate--computed by Kaplan-Meier
curves and related survival measures.
[0448] The PCR response rate is taken as the primary outcome
variable of interest to ascertain the following: (1) to determine
the ability of Id immunization to eradicate bcl-2 positive tumor
cells from the bone marrow and; (2) to identify the more
biologically active of the two doses of GM-CSF. In this endeavor,
the plan is to accrue 42 patients. It is estimated that
approximately 38 (90%) of these patients will be bcl-2 (+) and thus
evaluable for molecular response rate. The other four patients may
still be evaluable for a molecular response rate based on Ig gene
amplification using allele-specific (CDR3) primers by PCR. From
previous experience with ProMACE-based regimens, it is estimated
that 32 (85%) of these patients will achieve either a complete
response (complete clinical response, CCR) or a partial response in
which a >90% partial remission has been obtained (high partial
response, HPR). The accuracy of these estimates are of some
interest. For the 42 (90%) patients anticipated to be bcl-2 (+),
lower and upper 95% confidence intervals are 77% and 96%. For the
38 (85%) patients anticipated to achieve either a complete clinical
response or a high partial response, the lower and upper confidence
intervals are 70% and 93%.
[0449] Patients are stratified on the basis of their ProMACE
treatment performance as either a complete clinical responder (CCR)
or as a high partial responder (HPR). It is not known exactly what
percentage of these 32 patients will be CCRs and what percentage
will be HPR'S. Hence a block size of four (4) is used in the
randomization scheme to assure a reasonably balanced allocation to
each dose group. Given the patients allocation stratum, he (she) is
randomly assigned to one of the adjuvant groups according to the
envelope method (29). Specifically, a block of four assignments is
placed in four separate envelopes. The block of four is placed in
one of the two allocation strata, say CCR. Another block of four is
placed in the other allocation strata, say CCR. Another block of
four is placed in the other allocation stratum, HPR. When a patient
is to be randomized, a call is made to the biostatistician who,
after being informed of the patients status as either a CCR or an
HPR, randomly draws an envelope from the appropriate stratum to
determine the patients dose group assignment. After the four
envelopes pertinent to a particular stratum have been exhausted,
the next batch of four envelopes is made available for use. This
procedure is continued until a total of 32 patients have been
assigned to the two dose groups.
[0450] For example, it is estimated that 50-80 percent of
pathological complete responders will fall into the CCR category.
If 75% of 32, or 24 patients were to be classified as CCRs, six
blocks of four envelopes would be required to randomly assign 12
patients to cohort 1 and 12 patients to cohort 2. A similar
procedure would occur concurrently with the 8 patients classified
as HPRs. Two blocks of four envelopes would be required to randomly
assign 4 patients to cohort 1 and 4 patients to cohort 2. At no
time could the number of patients in each dose group differ by more
than four.
[0451] At the time of data analysis, approximately 16 subjects will
comprise each dose group and a test for the difference in PCR
response rates between the two groups will be conducted. By
hypothesis, neither dose group is predicted to have a higher PCR
response rate than the other; hence, a two-tailed test is
appropriate. Power calculations show that, with the groups limited
to 1 6 patients, the difference in PCR response rates will have to
be large (30, 31). For example, to detect a difference at the
.alpha.=0.05 level of significance with power (1-.beta.) equal to
80%, the response rates must differ by 55%; with power equal to
50%, the response rates must differ by 50%. In the event that no
significant difference is detected, the subjects will be pooled and
the overall PCR response rate will be assessed. With a total of 32
CCRs and HPRs treated with vaccine, the width of a two-tailed 95%
confidence interval for a response rate of 50% will not exceed 17
percentage points. If the actual response rate is higher or lower
than 50%, the confidence interval will be smaller.
[0452] Disease-free survival distributions are estimated by the
Kaplan-Meier (product-limit) method and dose groups are compared
using the log rank test. If no dose group differences are detected,
the subjects from both groups are pooled and the Kaplan-Meier
estimate of the survivorship function and related functions are
evaluated. If suggested by the data analysis, parametric
distributions (e.g., Weibull, log-normal) are fit as well (32,
33).
[0453] Research ethics: Subjects from [both genders and] all
racial/ethnic groups are eligible for this study if they meet the
eligibility criteria outlined above. To date, there is not
information that suggests that differences in grud metabolism or
disease response would be expected in one group compared to
another. Efforts are made to extend accrual to a representative
population, but in this preliminary study, a balance must be struck
between patient safety considerations and limitations on the number
of individuals exposed to potentially toxic and/or ineffective
treatments on the one hand and the need to explore gender and
ethnic aspects of clinical research on the other hand. If
differences in outcome that correlate to gender or to ethnic
identity are noted, accrual can be expanded or a follow-up study
can be written to investigate those differences more fully.
Alternatively, substantial scientific data exist demonstrating that
there is no significant difference in outcome between genders or
various ethnic groups.
Records to be Kept and Quality Assurance
[0454] Consent form: The original signed informed consent documents
will be kept with the patient's other study documentation (e.g.,
the research chart). A copy of the informed consent document will
also be retained by the Data Management Section.
[0455] The Clinical Coordinator, Data Management Section, will
ascertain the dates of the IRB approvals before registering the
first patient.
[0456] It is understood that the disclosed invention is not limited
to the particular methodology, protocols, and reagents described as
these may vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology
used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments
only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present
invention which will be limited only by the appended claims.
[0457] It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended
claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural
reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for
example, reference to "a host cell" includes a plurality of such
host cells, reference to "the antibody" is a reference to one or
more antibodies and equivalents thereof known to those skilled in
the art, and so forth.
[0458] Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms
used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of
skill in the art to which the disclosed invention belongs. Although
any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described
herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present
invention, the preferred methods, devices, and materials are as
described. Publications cited herein and the material for which
they are cited are specifically incorporated by reference. Nothing
herein is to be construed as an admission that the invention is not
entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of prior
invention.
[0459] Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to
ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many
equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described
herein. Such equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the
following claims.
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Sequence CWU 1
1
67120PRTArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note
= Synthetic Construct 1Pro Asp Thr Arg Pro Ala Pro Gly Ser Thr Ala
Pro Pro Ala His Gly 1 5 10 15 Val Thr Ser Ala 20 212PRTArtificial
SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic
Construct 2Glu Phe Asn Asp Ala Gln Ala Pro Lys Ser Leu Glu 1 5 10
340PRTArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note =
Synthetic Construct 3Asn Cys Thr Arg Pro Asn Asn Asn Thr Arg Lys
Arg Ile Arg Ile Gln 1 5 10 15 Arg Gly Pro Gly Arg Ala Phe Val Thr
Ile Gly Lys Ile Gly Asn Met 20 25 30 Arg Gln Ala His Cys Asn Ile
Ser 35 40 427DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial
Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 4ctcgaggtga agctggtgga gtctgga
27526DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note
= Synthetic Construct 5agaggagact gtgagagtgg tgcctt
26624DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note
= Synthetic Construct 6gacatccaga tgacacagtc tcca
24736DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note
= Synthetic Construct 7ggatcctttt atttccagct tggtcccccc tccgaa
36832DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note
= Synthetic Construct 8ccatggtcca actgcagcag tcagggcctg ac
32930DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note
= Synthetic Construct 9tgaggagact gtgagttcgg taccttggcc
301027DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 10gatgttgtga tgacgcagac tccactc
271131DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 11ggatcctttg acttccagct ttgtgcctcc a
311217DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 12ggggsggggs ggggsgs 171372DNAArtificial
SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic
Construct 13ggatccgcag aagaacagaa actgatctca gaagaggatc tggcccacca
ccatcaccat 60cactaacccg gg 721436DNAArtificial SequenceDescription
of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 14gaattcaacg
acgctcaggc gccgaagagt ctcgag 361511PRTArtificial
SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic
Construct 15Glu Phe Asn Asp Gln Ala Pro Lys Ser Leu Glu 1 5 10
1627DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note
= Synthetic Construct 16accatggaac ttgaccactg ccacacc
271740DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 17tgaattcaag atctttcatg tacttgcaac
aggggttgtt 401838DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial
Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 18accatggaaa aaatcaacaa
tcagtaagtt gtttgagg 381930DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of
Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 19aaagcttcca
ccatgaggac tctctgctct 302038DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of
Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 20ctctagacac
catgaacgcc aaggtcgtgg tcgtgctg 382134DNAArtificial
SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic
Construct 21tgaattccat cttgaacctc ttgtttaaag cttt
342230DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 22accatggcaa gcaactacga ctgttgcctc
302332DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 23atagaattcc atcttcttga ctcttaggct ga
322428DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 24accatggatg gagggggaca ggactgct
282531DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 25atagaattct cctcttgagg gctgtgtctg t
312634DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 26aaagtcgaca aagaaaaaac gtgggtcaca atct
342737DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 27attcccgggt tatttttctc tttgcactgt
tcttctc 372834DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial
Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 28ctctagacac catggctcgc
ctacagactg cact 342930DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of
Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 29tgaattcttg
gctcagctta ttgagaatca 303027DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of
Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 30accatggaac
ttgaccactg ccacacc 273140DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of
Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 31tgaattcaag
atctttcatg tacttgcaac aggggttgtt 403238DNAArtificial
SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic
Construct 32accatggaaa aaatcaacaa tcagtaagtt gtttgagg
383340DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 33ctcgagctag aattcttttc tcttgcagca
tttgaggaaa 403430DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial
Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 34aaagcttcca ccatgaggac
tctctgctct 30358PRTArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial
Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 35Asn Asp Ala Gln Ala Pro Lys
Ser 1 5 369PRTArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial
Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 36Ile Gly Pro Gly Arg Ala Phe
Tyr Ala 1 5 3734DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial
Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 37ctctagacac catggctcgc
ctacagactg cact 343830DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of
Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 38tgaattcttg
gctcagctta ttgagaatca 303938DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of
Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 39ctctagacac
catgaacgcc aaggtcgtgg tcgtgctg 384034DNAArtificial
SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic
Construct 40tgaattccat cttgaacctc ttgtttaaag cttt
344127DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 41accatggaac ttgaccactg ccacacc
274240DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 42tgaattcaag atctttcatg tacttgcaac
aggggttgtt 404338DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial
Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 43accatggaaa aaatcaacaa
tcagtaagtt gtttgagg 384440DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of
Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 44ctcgagctag
aattcttttc tcttgcagca tttgaggaaa 404530DNAArtificial
SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic
Construct 45aaagcttcca ccatgaggac tctctgctct 304633DNAArtificial
SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic
Construct 46accatggctg ttggaagttt aaaaagtatt gga
334737DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 47taagcttcca ccatggcccc cgtccacgtt
ttatgct 374840DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial
Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 48tgaattcagc tatggcaggc
agccgctgca tcagctgcct 404937DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of
Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 49taagcttcac
catggacacc aagggcatcc tgctcgt 375034DNAArtificial
SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic
Construct 50tgaattcgcg agcagtgact ggtaattgct gcat
345128DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 51accatggcgg ggtcactcgt gtcgtaca
285224DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 52accatgggag cgtcctggca taga
245333DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 53aaagctagca ccatgagggg cggagacgtc ttc
335431DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 54agaattccag agactcgcac ccggaccata t
315536DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence;
Note = Synthetic Construct 55accatggcac tcgcgagacg gaaatgttgt
ttgaat 365613PRTArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial
Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 56Ala Glu Glu Gln Lys Leu Ile
Ser Glu Glu Asp Leu Ala 1 5 10 578PRTArtificial SequenceDescription
of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 57Asn Asp Ala
Gln Ala Pro Lys Ser 1 5 5834DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of
Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 58aaagtcgaca
aagaaaaaac gtgggtcaca atct 345937DNAArtificial SequenceDescription
of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic Construct 59attcccgggt
tatttttctc tttgcactgt tcttctc 37609PRTArtificial
SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note = Synthetic
Construct 60Ile Gly Pro Gly Arg Ala Phe Tyr Ala 1 5
6140DNAArtificial SequenceDescription of Artificial Sequence; Note
= Synthetic Construct 61ctcgagctag aattcttttc tcttgcagca tttgaggaaa
406230PRTHomo sapiens 62Ala Cys Tyr Cys Arg Ile Pro Ala Cys Ile Ala
Gly Glu Arg Arg Tyr 1 5 10 15 Gly Thr Cys Ile Tyr Gln Gly Arg Leu
Trp Ala Phe Cys Cys 20 25 30 6329PRTHomo sapiens 63Cys Tyr Cys Arg
Ile Pro Ala Cys Ile Ala Gly Glu Arg Arg Tyr Gly 1 5 10 15 Thr Cys
Ile Tyr Gln Gly Arg Leu Trp Ala Phe Cys Cys 20 25 6430PRTHomo
sapiens 64Asp Cys Tyr Cys Arg Ile Pro Ala Cys Ile Ala Gly Glu Arg
Arg Tyr 1 5 10 15 Gly Thr Cys Ile Tyr Gln Gly Arg Leu Trp Ala Phe
Cys Cys 20 25 30 6533PRTHomo sapiens 65Ala Cys Ser Cys Arg Leu Val
Phe Cys Arg Arg Thr Glu Leu Arg Val 1 5 10 15 Gly Asn Cys Leu Ile
Gly Gly Val Ser Phe Thr Tyr Cys Cys Thr Arg 20 25 30 Val
6636PRTHomo sapiens 66Asp His Tyr Asn Cys Val Ser Ser Gly Gly Gln
Cys Leu Tyr Ser Ala 1 5 10 15 Cys Pro Ile Phe Thr Lys Ile Gln Gly
Thr Cys Tyr Arg Gly Lys Ala 20 25 30 Lys Cys Cys Lys 35 6735PRTHomo
sapiens 67Thr Cys Leu Lys Ser Gly Ala Ile Cys His Pro Val Phe Cys
Pro Arg 1 5 10 15 Arg Tyr Lys Gln Ile Gly Thr Cys Gly Leu Pro Gly
Thr Lys Cys Cys 20 25 30 Lys Lys Pro 35
* * * * *