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Vaccination with mRNAs encoding tumor-associated antigens and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor efficiently primes CTL responses, but is insufficient to overcome tolerance to a model tumor/self antigen

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Abstract

Immunization of mice with dendritic cells transfected ex vivo with tumor-associated antigen (TAA)-encoding mRNA primes cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) that mediate tumor rejection. Here we investigated whether direct injection of TAA mRNA, encapsulated in cationic liposomes, could function similarly as cancer immunotherapy. Intradermal and intravenous injection of ovalbumin (OVA) mRNA generated specific CTL activity and inhibited the growth of OVA-expressing tumors. Vaccination studies with DNA have demonstrated that co-administration of antigen (Ag)- and cytokine-encoding plasmids potentiate the T cell response; in analogous fashion, the inclusion of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) mRNA enhanced OVA-specific cytotoxicity. The ability of this GM-CSF-augmented mRNA vaccine to treat an established spontaneous tumor was evaluated in the Transgenic Adenocarcinoma of Mouse Prostate (TRAMP) mouse, using the SV40 large T Ag (TAg) as a model tumor/self Ag. Repeated vaccination elicited vigorous TAg-specific CTL activity in nontransgenic mice, but tumor-bearing TRAMP mice remained tolerant. Adoptive transfer of naïve splenocytes into TRAMP mice prior to the first vaccination restored TAg reactivity, and slowed tumor progression. The data from this study suggests that vaccination with TAA mRNA is a simple and effective means of priming antitumor CTL, and that immunogenicity of the vaccine can be augmented by co-delivery of GM-CSF mRNA. Nonetheless, limitations of such vaccines in overcoming tolerance to tumor/self Ag may mandate prior or simultaneous reconstitution of the autoreactive T cell repertoire for this form of immunization to be effective.

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Abbreviations

Ag:

Antigen

APCs:

Antigen-presenting cells

AT:

Adoptive transfer

BMDC:

Bone marrow-derived dendritic cells

CaP:

Prostate carcinoma

CTL:

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte

CTLA-4:

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4

E:T:

Effector: target

GFP:

Green fluorescent protein

GM-CSF:

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor

GMTV:

Gene-modified tumor vaccine

HA:

Hemagglutinin

ID:

Intradermal

IL:

Interleukin

IV:

Intravenous

IVT:

In vitro transcribed

OVA:

Ovalbumin

pDNA:

Plasmid DNA

PI:

Postinjection

PIN:

Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia

PSA:

Prostate-specific antigen

SQ:

Subcutaneous

TAA:

Tumor-associated antigen

TAg:

SV40 large T antigen

TRAMP:

Transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate

wt:

Wild type

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Duane Mitchell, Brenda Faiola, Carmen Wong, Charu Adlakha, Justin Hart, and Catherine McLaughlin. We also thank Erning Li for help with statistical analysis, and Xu Lin, Barbara Foster, and Norman Greenberg for their assistance with the TRAMP mouse model.

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  1. Paul R. Hess

    Present address: Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, 4700 Hillsborough St, Box 8401, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Pathology, and Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA

    Paul R. Hess

  2. Department of Surgery, and Center for Genetic and Cellular Therapies, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Paul R. Hess, David Boczkowski, Smita K. Nair, David Snyder & Eli Gilboa

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Correspondence to Paul R. Hess.

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Eli Gilboa was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grants RO1-CA-85307 and RO1-CA-89536.

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Hess, P.R., Boczkowski, D., Nair, S.K. et al. Vaccination with mRNAs encoding tumor-associated antigens and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor efficiently primes CTL responses, but is insufficient to overcome tolerance to a model tumor/self antigen. Cancer Immunol Immunother 55, 672–683 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-005-0064-z

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