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RETRACTED ARTICLE: Inhibition of RM-1 prostate carcinoma and eliciting robust immune responses in the mouse model by using VEGF-M2-GnRH3-hinge-MVP vaccine

This article was retracted on 27 June 2023

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Abstract

GnRH and VEGF have been investigated as prostate carcinoma enhancers that support tumor spread and progression. Although both have documented roles in prostate carcinoma and many cancer types, the weak immunogenicity of these peptides has remained a major challenge for use in immunotherapy. Here, we describe a novel strategy to inhibit GnRH and VEGF production and assess the effect on the immune responses against these hormones using the RM-1 prostate cancer model. We designed a novel recombinant fusion protein which combined GnRH and VEGF as a vaccine against this tumor. The newly constructed fusion protein hVEGF121-M2-GnRH3-hinge-MVP contains the human vascular endothelial growth factor (hVEGF121) and three copies of GnRH in sequential linear alignment and T helper epitope MVP as an immunogenic vaccine. The effectiveness of the vaccine in eliciting an immune response and attenuating the prostate tumor growth was evaluated. Results showed that administration of a new vaccine effectively elicited humoral and cellular immune responses. We found that, a novel fusion protein, hVEGF121-M2-GnRH3-hinge-MVP, effectively inhibited growth of RM-1 prostate model and effectively promoted immune response. In conclusion, hVEGF121-M2-GnRH3-hinge-MVP is an effective dual mechanism tumor vaccine that limits RM-1 prostate growth. This vaccine may be a promising strategy for the treatment of hormone refractory prostate malignancies.

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported by the National Training Programs of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Undergraduates (No. J1030830); Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD); Excellent Youth Foundation of Jiangsu Scientific Committee (BK20140029); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81373232 and 81172973).

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Correspondence to Liang Jin or Rongyue Cao.

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Wang, Y., Alahdal, M., Ye, J. et al. RETRACTED ARTICLE: Inhibition of RM-1 prostate carcinoma and eliciting robust immune responses in the mouse model by using VEGF-M2-GnRH3-hinge-MVP vaccine. Genes Immun 20, 245–254 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41435-017-0005-9

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