1. ¹Gene Therapy Group, Dept. Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
2. ²Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Dartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
3. ³Cardiovascular Research Department, St. Elizabeth Medical Center, Tufts University, Boston, MA

Abstract

Strategies to enhance the efficacy of DNA vaccination against malignancy remain to be established. In this study, plasmids expressing tumor antigen incorporated into the signal peptide of human IL-2 were tested as DNA vaccine in murine model system. Results showed that antigen-specific CTL responses were elicited by intramuscular injection of these plasmids. Importantly, compared with minigene vector expressing the same epitope, the antigen epitope-incorporated, IL-2 expression plasmid vaccination was more effective in protecting mice from antigen-expressing tumor challenge. The improved efficacy appears to result from enhanced antigen presentation as well as the immunostimulatory activity of IL-2. This approach may provide new perspectives in designing cytokine-adjuvant DNA vaccines for clinical applications.