This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Haupt, K. Articles by Saller, B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Haupt, K. Articles by Saller, B.

Induction of a Cellular and Humoral Immune Response against Preprocalcitonin by Genetic Immunization: A Potential New Treatment for Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma¹

Institute for Virology, Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine (K.M., B.S.), and Central Animal Laboratory (G.H.), University of Essen, 45122 Essen, Germany

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Katharina Haupt, M.D., Institute for Virology, University of Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45122 Essen, Germany.

Currently, no effective therapy exists for patients suffering from progressive medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), a calcitonin (CT)-secreting C cell tumor. As CT, which arises from the precursor protein preprocalcitonin (PPCT), is expressed by almost all MTC cases, these molecules may represent target antigens for immunotherapy against MTC. In our study we investigated whether DNA immunization is able to induce cellular and humoral immune responses against human PPCT (hPPCT) in mice. Antigen-encoding expression plasmids were delivered intradermally by gene gun. One group of mice received DNA encoding hPPCT only. Two groups were coinjected with mouse cytokine genes. We observed in lymphocyte proliferative assays substantial proliferation against hPPCT in mice coinjected with the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene, in contrast to mice vaccinated with hPPCT expression plasmid only. In addition, codelivery of the GM-CSF gene augmented the frequency of anti-hPPCT antibody seroconversions in sera of immunized animals, as shown by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. These results illustrate that cellular and humoral immune responses against hPPCT can be generated by DNA immunization and increased by coinjection of the GM-CSF gene. Our findings may have implications for the use of DNA immunization as a potential novel immunotherapeutic treatment for patients suffering from progressive MTC.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Papewalis, M. Wuttke, J. Seissler, Y. Meyer, C. Kessler, B. Jacobs, E. Ullrich, H. S. Willenberg, S. Schinner, T. Baehring, et al. Dendritic Cell Vaccination with Xenogenic Polypeptide Hormone Induces Tumor Rejection in Neuroendocrine Cancer Clin. Cancer Res., July 1, 2008; 14(13): 4298 - 4305. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Schott Immunesurveillance by dendritic cells: potential implication for immunotherapy of endocrine cancers. Endocr. Relat. Cancer, September 1, 2006; 13(3): 779 - 795. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Haupt, M. Roggendorf, and K. Mann The Potential of DNA Vaccination against Tumor-Associated Antigens for Antitumor Therapy Experimental Biology and Medicine, April 1, 2002; 227(4): 227 - 237. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Schott, J. Seissler, M. Lettmann, V. Fouxon, W. A. Scherbaum, and J. Feldkamp Immunotherapy for Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma by Dendritic Cell Vaccination J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., October 1, 2001; 86(10): 4965 - 4969. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]