Antitumor Response to a Codon-Optimized HPV-16 E7/HSP70 Fusion Antigen DNA Vaccine

• Main Authors: Hoorieh Soleimanjahi, Hadi Razavinikoo, Fatemeh Fotouhi, Abdollah Ardebili
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shiraz University of Medical Sciences 2017-09-01
• Series: Iranian Journal of Immunology
• Online Access: http://iji.sums.ac.ir/article_39308_06a6513856f9ff2890487ea2d125671d.pdf
• ISSN: 1735-1383; 1735-367X

<strong>Background</strong>: Vaccines based on virus-like particles are effective against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection; however, they have not shown a therapeutic effect against HPV-associated diseases. New immunotherapy strategies based on immune responses against tumor antigens can positively affect the clearance of HPV-associated lesions. <strong>Objective</strong>: To generate two therapeutic fusion DNA vaccines (optimizedE7/mouseHSP70 and wildE7/mouseHSP70) to induce antitumor specific responses in mice models. <strong>Methods</strong>: Mice were immunized with recombinant DNA vaccines. The splenocytes of immunized mice were collected and lactate dehydrogenase and IFN-γ productions were measured after three injections in order to evaluate cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) activity. MTT assay was carried out for lymphocyte stimulation. <strong>Results: </strong>The fusion DNA vaccines, specifically uE7-HSP70, elicited varying levels of IFN-γ and CTLs responses compared to the control group (P<0.05). Furthermore, antitumor response and tumor size reduction in fusion DNA vaccines groups were significantly higher than in the negative control group (P<0.05). <strong>Conclusion:</strong> It is concluded that our fusion DNA vaccines considerably enhanced specific cellular responses against HPV tumor model. In addition, optimized E7 showed a notable immunogenicity and inhibitory effect on the reduction of tumor size.