Intramuscular gene transfer of soluble B7.1/IgG1 fusion cDNA induces potent antitumor immunity as an adjuvant for DNA vaccination

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Abstract
Soluble B7.1/IgG Fc fusion protein, which has costimulatory effects, is an effective molecular adjuvant in tumor immune therapy. Here, we describe a nonviral intramuscular (i.m.) gene transfer method to deliver this therapeutic protein. Gene transfer was greatly enhanced by electroporation and highly efficient production of this protein was achieved. Serum levels reached up to 1 μg/ml with considerable length of expression and without apparent systemic adverse effects. Lymphocytes from mice coinjected with soluble B7.1/IgG1 and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-encoding plasmids showed significantly elevated CEA-stimulated proliferation, cytokine production, and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activity. These mice gained significant protection against a CEA-positive transplanted tumor, in terms of reduced tumor incidence and growth. The effects were superior when soluble B7.1/IgG1 was expressed as compared to membrane-bound wild-type B7.1. Notably, expression of soluble B7.1/IgG1 alone did not induce any protection against tumor, confirming its primary role as a costimulatory molecule rather than a direct antitumor agent. The plasmid encoding B7.1/IgG1 did not have to be injected at the same site as the antigen-encoding plasmid to exert its adjuvant effect, indicating that circulating protein was sufficient. Muscle histopathology revealed minimal damage to DNA-injected muscles. Importantly, we show that, after gene transfer, muscle tissue can produce this protein in large quantity to exert its immune costimulatory effect for cancer therapy and it would be otherwise difficult and expensive to maintain this high a level of recombinant protein.