T Lymphocyte Subsets Profile and Toll-Like Receptors Responses in Patients with Herpes Zoster.

Purpose: Herpes zoster (HZ) is caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), and 20% of healthy humans and 50% of people with immune dysfunction have a high probability of suffering from HZ. This study aimed to screen dynamic immune signatures and explore the potential mechanism during HZ progression. Patients and Methods: Peripheral blood samples from 31 HZ patients and 32 age-sex-matched healthy controls were collected and analyzed. The protein levels and gene levels of toll-like receptors (TLRs) were detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by flow cytometry and quantitative real-time PCR. Further, the characteristics of T cell subsets and cytokines were detected via a cytometric bead array. Results: Compared to healthy controls, the mRNA levels of TLR2, TLR4, TLR7, and TLR9 mRNA in PBMCs were significantly increased in HZ patients. The protein level of TLR4 and TLR7 was significantly increased in HZ patients, but the levels of TLR2 and TLR9 were dramatically decreased. The CD3+ T cells were constant in HZ and healthy controls. CD4+ T cells were decreased in HZ patients, while CD8+ T cells were increased, resulting in an improved CD4+/CD8+ T cells ratio. Further, it was found that Th2 and Th17 were not changed, but the decreased Th1 and upregulated Treg cells were found in HZ. The Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg ratios were significantly decreased. Last, the levels of IL-6, IL-10, and IFN-γ were significantly increased, but IL-2, IL-4, and IL-17A had no significant changes. Conclusion: The dysfunction of host's lymphocytes and activation of TLRs in PBMCs were the important mechanism in varicella-zoster virus induced herpes zoster. TLRs might be the core targets for the therapy drug development in treating HZ.

Novel KDM6A mutation in a Chinese infant with Kabuki syndrome: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Kabuki syndrome (KS) is a rare syndrome characterized by multisystem congenital anomalies and developmental disorder. KMT2D and KDM6A mutations were identified as the main causative genes in KS patients. There are few case reports and genetic analyses, especially of KDM6A gene mutation, in China. CASE SUMMARY: This study reports a de novo KDM6A mutation in a Chinese infant with KS. A 2-month-old Chinese baby was diagnosed with KS, which manifested as hypoglycemia, congenital anal atresia at birth, feeding difficulties, hypotonia, and serious postnatal growth retardation. He died of recurrent respiratory infections at age 13 mo. DNA sequencing of his blood DNA revealed a novel KDM6A frameshift mutation (c.704_705delAG, p. N236Sfs*26) (GRCh37/hg19). CONCLUSION: We present a Chinese KS patient with a novel KDM6A frameshift mutation (c.704_705delAG, p. N236Sfs*26) (GRCh37/hg19), broadening the mutation spectrum.

Establishment and Evaluation of a Novel High-Efficiency Model of Graded Traumatic Brain Injury in Mice.

BACKGROUND: Although previous studies have made significant contributions to establishing animal traumatic brain injury (TBI) models for simulation of human TBI, the accuracy, controllability, and modeling efficiency of animal TBI models need to be further improved. This study established a novel high-efficiency graded mouse TBI model induced by shock wave. METHODS: A total of 125 mice were randomly divided into sham, 0.7 mm, 0.6 mm, and 0.5 mm groups according to the depth of the cross groove of the aluminum sheets. The stability and repeatability of apparatus were evaluated, and the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, cerebral edema, neuropathologic immunohistochemistry, apoptosis-related protein, and behavioral tests of neurologic function were used to validate this new model. RESULTS: The results showed that 4 mice were injured simultaneously in 1 experiment. They received the same intensity of shock waves. Moreover, the mortality rates caused by 3 different aluminum sheets were consistent with the mortality rates of mild TBI, moderate TBI, and severe TBI. Compared with the sham group, mice in different injured groups significantly increased brain water content, blood-brain barrier permeability, and neuronal apoptosis. And the mice in all injured groups showed poor motor ability, balancing, spatial learning, and memory abilities. CONCLUSIONS: The novel TBI apparatus has advantages in its small size, simple operation, high repeatability, high efficiency, and graded severity. Our TBI apparatus provides a novel tool to investigate the neuropathologic changes and underlying mechanisms of TBI with various levels of severities.

Improvement in cognitive dysfunction following blast induced traumatic brain injury by thymosin α1 in rats: Involvement of inhibition of tau phosphorylation at the Thr205 epitope.

Cognitive impairment is a significant sequela of traumatic brain injury (TBI) especially blast induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI), which is characterized by rapid impairments of learning and memory ability. Although several neuroprotective agents have been postulated as promising drugs for bTBI in animal studies, very few ideal therapeutic options exist to improve cognitive impairment following bTBI. Thymosin α1(Tα1), a 28-amino-acid protein that possesses immunomodulatory functions, has exhibited beneficial effects in the treatment of infectious diseases, immunodeficiency diseases and cancers. However, it remains unclear whether Tα1 has a therapeutic role in bTBI. Thus, we hypothesized that Tα1 administration could reverse the outcomes of bTBI. The blast induced TBI (bTBI) rat model was established with the compressed gas driven blast injury model system. A consecutive Tα1 therapy (in 1 ml saline, twice a day) at a dose of 200 µg/kg or normal saline (NS) (1 ml, twice a day) for 3 days or 2 weeks was performed. Utilizing our newly designed bTBI model, we investigated the beneficial effects of Tα1 therapy on rats exposed to bTBI including: cognitive functions, general histology, regulatory T (Treg) cells, edema, inflammation reactions and the expression and phosphorylation level of tau via Morris Water Maze test (MWM test), HE staining, flow cytometry, brain water content (BWC) calculation, IL-6 assay and Western blotting, respectively. Tα1 treatment seemed to reduce the 24-hour mortality, albeit with no statistical significance. Moreover, Tα1 treatment markedly improved cognitive dysfunction by decreasing the escape latency in the acquisition phase, and increasing the crossing numbers in the probe phase of MWM test. More interestingly, Tα1 significantly inhibited tau phosphorylation at the Thr205 epitope, but not at the Ser404 and Ser262 epitopes. Tα1 increased the percentage of Treg cells and inhibited plasma IL-6 production on 3d post bTBI. Moreover, Tα1 suppressed brain edema as demonstrated by decrease of BWC. However, there was a lack of obvious change in histopathology in the brain upon Tα1 treatment. This is the first study showing that Tα1 improves neurological deficits after bTBI in rats, which is potentially related to the inhibition of tau phosphorylation at the Thr205 epitope, increased Treg cells and decreased inflammatory reactions and brain edema.

[Collagen Peptides Improve Lymphocyte Distribution in Peripheral Blood and T Lymphocyte Proliferation in Spleen of Mice under the Condition of Simulated Weightlessness].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether collagen peptides can improve the immune functions of mice under the condition of simulated weightlessness. METHODS: Mouse tail-suspension model was used to simulate the effects of weightlessness. Tail-suspended mice were intraperitoneally injected with 600 mg collagen peptides per kilogram body weight once a day for 10 days. Then, the mice were killed, and white blood cells were counted and classified. Lymphocyte subsets and T lymphocyte proliferations in spleens were analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with normal control group, total and differential count of leukocytes, lymphocytes, T cells，CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, B cells and NK cells, and splenic T lymphocyte proliferation all decreased in the weightlessness simulated mice (P＜0.05). Except for NK cells, the above-mentioned parameters were increased after administration of collagen peptides, and some of the parameters were recovered to the levels of normal control mice (P＜0.05). CONCLUSION: Collagen peptides can effectively improve peripheral blood lymphocyte distributions and T lymphocyte proliferations of mice under the condition of simulated weightlessness. This study nay provid the experimental basis for improvement of immune functions of astronauts.

A novel model of blast induced traumatic brain injury caused by compressed gas produced sustained cognitive deficits in rats: involvement of phosphorylation of tau at the Thr205 epitope.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) represent the leading causes for casualties among civilians and soldiers in the present war (including counter-terrorism). Traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by IEDs results in different degrees of impairment of cognition and behavior, but the exact brain pathophysiological mechanism following exposure to blast has not been clearly investigated. Here, we sought to establish a rat model of closed-head blast injury using compressed gas to deliver a single blast only to the brain without systemic injuries. The cognitive functions of these bTBI models were assessed by Morris Water Maze test (MWM test). The HE staining, flow cytometry, ELISA and Western Blotting were used to measure the effects of shock wave on general histology, regulatory T (Treg) cells percentage, inflammatory reactions, the expression and phosphorylation level of tau, respectively. In addition, the brain water content and 24 -h mortality were also assessed. As the distance from the blast source increased, the input pressure did not change, the overpressure decreased, and the mortality decreased. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for predicting 24 -h mortality using peak overpressure fits with the following areas under ROC curves: 0.833. In 2 weeks after blast injury, cognitive tests revealed significantly decreased performance at 20 cm distance from the blast (about 136.44 kPa) as demonstrated by increased escape latency in the acquisition phase, and decreased crossing numbers in the probe phase of MWM test. Interestingly, a single blast exposure (at 20 cm) lead to significantly increased tau phosphorylation at the Thr205 epitope but not at the Ser404 and Ser262 epitopes at 12 h, 24 h, 3d, and 7d after blast injury. Blast decreased the percentage of CD4+T cells, CD8+T cells, Treg cells and lymphocytes at different time points after blast injury, and blast increased the percentage of neutrophils at 12 h after blast injury and significantly increased IL-6 production at 12 h, 24 h and 3d after blast injury. In addition, blast lead to an increase of brain edema at 24 h and 3d after blast injury. However, no obvious alterations in brain gross pathology were found acutely in the blast-exposed rats. In conclusion, we established a rat model of simple craniocerebral blast injury characterized by impairment of cognitive function, Thr205 phosphorylation of tau, decreased Treg cells and increased inflammatory reactions and brain edema. We expect this model may help clarify the underlying mechanism after blast injury and possibly serve as a useful animal model in the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic approaches.

Recombinant adenovirus of SEA and CD80 genes driven by MMRE and mouse TERT promoter induce effective antitumor immune responses against different types of tumor cells in vitro and in vivo.

Staphylococcus enterotoxin A (SEA) is a powerful immunostimulant and can stimulate T cells bearing certain T-cell receptor ß-chain variable regions when bound to major histocompatibility complex II molecules. SEA is widely used in research of antitumor therapy. The low affinity T-cell receptor (TCR) interaction with SEA in the absence of MHC class II antigens is sufficient for the induction of cytotoxicity but requires additional CD28/B7 signaling to result in proliferation of resting T cells. In this study, we constructed recombinant adenovirus (named as Ad-MMRE-mTERT-BIS) carrying membrane-expressing SEA (named as SEAtm) and CD80 driven by Myc-Max response elements (MMRE) and mouse telomerase reverse transcriptase (mTERT) promoter to reduce toxicity and to improve safety and efficiency. We demonstrated that Ad-MMRE-mTERT-BIS could make SEAtm and CD80 to co-express highly on the surface of Hepa1-6 and B16 cells, at low level on the surface of CT26 cells, but not in NIH3T3. Hepa1-6 and B16 cells infected by the recombinant adenovirus induced proliferation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and increased cytokine [interleukin (IL)-2, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interferon (IFN)-γ] production in vitro. Intratumoral injection of Ad-MMRE-mTERT-BIS in hepatoma and melanoma mouse models induced tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells in the spleen. Moreover, hepatoma and melanoma xenografts were suppressed by treatment with Ad-MMRE-mTERT-BIS and the survival time of treated mice was prolonged. These findings suggest that recombinant adenovirus of SEA and CD80 genes driven by mTERT promoter could induce effective antitumor immune responses against different kinds of tumor cells in vitro and in vivo.

[The effect of insulin-like growth factor-I on the proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity of human periodontal ligament cells under three-dimensional culture system].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of insulin-like growth factor- I (IGF- I) on the proliferation and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs) under three-dimensional (3D) culture system. METHODS: The hPDLCs were cultured from periodontium of human teeth by the outgrowth method. Rotary cell culture system (RCCS) was enrolled to set 3D culture system. Samples were set to four groups: Negative control group, positive control group (3D group, IGF-I group), and experimental group (3D with IGF- I group). Proliferation was tested with methylthiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT), and ALP activity was assayed by spectrophotometer at 1, 3, 5, 7 d respectively. RESULTS: Compared with that of negative control group, cell proliferation increased significantly in 3D with IGF-I group since 3 d (P < 0.05). Besides, the cell proliferation of 3D with IGF-I group was significantly higher than that of 3D group (P < 0.05). ALP activity of 3D with IGF- I group was significantly higher than that of negative control group, and 3D group at 3, 5, 7 d (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: IGF-I significantly promotes the proliferation and ALP activity of hPDLCs under 3D culture system.

[Construction of recombinant adenovirus of SEA and CD80 genes co-expression regulated by mouse TERT promoter and identification of its expression in hepatoma cells].

AIM: To construct recombinant co-expression adenovirus vector of SEA and CD80 genes regulated by mouse TERT(telomerase reverse transcriptase, TERT) promoter and to observe the expression of SEA and CD80 in the Hepa1-6 cells mediated by it. METHODS: Using AdEasy adenovirus system, the core promoter region of mTERT was subcloned to shuttle plasmid pShuttle2 and Myc-Max response element was inserted upstream of it to regulate the expression of SEA and CD80. The recombinant co-expression adenovirus vector of SEA and CD80 genes was constructed and named as Ad-MMRE-mTERT-BIS. Hepatoma cell line Hepa1-6 and fibroblast cell line NIH3T3 were infected by recombinant adenovirus at MOI(multiplicity of infection)of 100, the expression of SEA and CD80 on the surface of cells was detected by indirect immunofluorescent staining. RESULTS: SEA and CD80 was specifically co-expressed on the surface of infected Hepa1-6 cells but not on NIH3T3 cells. CONCLUSION: The recombinant co-expression adenovirus vector of SEA and CD80 gene regulated by mTERT promoter was sucessfully constructed and make targeting-expression of SEA and CD80 on the surface of hepatoma cells, which lays the foundation for further research on application of SEA and CD80 in targeted genetherapy for hepatoma.

[Effect of insulin-like growth factor on the proliferation and early stage osteogenesis of human periodontal ligament stem cells under three-dimensional culture system].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) on the proliferation and osteogenesis of human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPDLC) under three-dimensional (3D) culture system. METHODS: Human periodontal cells were isolated from the ligament of surgically extracted human teeth, and through the limiting dilution assay, got mono-clone of the cell, hPDLCs were isolated from MesenPRO RS medium. Rotary cell culture system (RCCS) was enrolled to set 3D environment. Control group and experiment groups were assigned according to the concentration of IGF-I. There were 5 level of experiment groups (0.1, 1, 10, 50, 100 µg/L). Proliferation was tested with methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT), and alkine phosphatase (ALP) level was assayed by spectrophotometer to analyze the osteogenesis of hPDLCs. Gene expression of ostetocalcin (OCN) and type I collagen (Col I) were assayed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: In 3D culture system, the effect of IGF-I on cell proliferation was significantly different between control group and experiment groups (P < 0.05), and there showed significant differences between the group of 0.1 µg/L (0.219 ± 0.021) IGF-I and the groups of 50, 100 µg/L (0.287 ± 0.011, 0.293 ± 0.012). However, there showed no significant differences among other groups. Significant differences of ALP activity were observed between the control group and experiment groups, and between the groups of 1, 10 µg/L (0.304 ± 0.020, 0.310 ± 0.013) and that of 50, 100 µg/L (0.347 ± 0.011, 0.344 ± 0.010) (P < 0.05). While no significant differences were detected between the group of 1 µg/L and that of 10 µg/L, nor between the group of 50 µg/L and that of 100 µg/L. Expressions of Col I and OCN in mRNA and protein level both showed dose-dependent increase. CONCLUSIONS: In 3D culture system, in the scale of 0.1 - 100 µg/L, the effect of IGF-I on the proliferation of hPDLCs increased dose-dependently. 100 µg/L IGF-I promotes osteogenesis of the cells significantly.

Cloning of mouse telomerase reverse transcriptase gene promoter and identification of proximal core promoter sequences essential for the expression of transgenes in cancer cells.

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex, whose function is to add motif-specific nucleotides to the end of chromosomes. Telomerase consists of three major subunits, the telomerase RNA template (hTR), the telomerase-associated protein (TEP1) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT). TERT is the most important component responsible for the catalytic activity of telomerase and a rate-limiting determinant of the activity. Telomerase activities were at high levels in approximately 90% of mouse cancers or tumor-derived cell lines through TERT transcriptional up-regulation. Unlike human telomerase, telomerase activity exists in colon, liver, ovary and testis but not in brain, heart, stomach and muscle in normal mouse tissues. In this study, we prepared 5' truncations of 1086 bp fragments upstream of the initiating ATG codon of the mTERT gene to construct luciferase reporter gene plasmids, and transfected these plasmids into a normal mouse cell line and several cancer lines to identify the core promoter region essential for transcriptional activation in cancer cells by a luciferase assay. We constructed a eukaryotic expression vector of membrane-expressing staphylococcal endotoxin A (SEA) gene driven by the core promoter region of the mTERT gene and observed if the core promoter region could express the SEA gene in these cancer cells, but not in normal cells following transfection with the construct. The results showed that the transcriptional activities of each fragment of the mTERT gene promoter in the cancer cell lines Hepa1-6, B16 and CT26 were higher than those in NIH3T3 cells, and the proximal 333-bp fragment was the core promoter of the mTERT gene in the cancer cells. The proximal 333-bp fragment was able to make the SEA express on the surface of the cancer cells, but not in NIH3T3 cells. It provides a foundation for cancer targeting gene therapy by using the mTERT gene promoter.

[Preparation and antitumor immunity of long circulating nano-liposome encapsulated tumor specific antigen].

AIM: To prepare Nano-Liposome encapsulated MAGE3/HSP70(NL M3H) and study its character and antitumor immunity in mouse. METHODS: NL M3H was prepared by the thin film-dispersion ultrasonic. The shape and size of NL M3H were detected by electron microscope. The encapsulation rate, drug-carrying capacity, stability and the releasing character were tested by Sephedex-G100 gel filtration. The mouse was immunized by NL M3H, and the antitumor immunity was detected by ELISPOT and LDH release assay. RESULTS: The mean size of NL M3H was lower than 100 nm. The encapsulation rate was 38%.The drug content was 0.038 g/L. NL M3H has good stability after stored in 4 degrees C for 6 months. The releasing profile showed that 74 percent of proteins was released during the first 24 hours in saline. The results of ELISPOT and LDH release assay showed that NL M3H generated tumor specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte(CTL)to damage tumor cell. CONCLUSION: NL M3H has novel characters, it can generate specific CTL to kill tumor cell, and can be used as new kind of vaccine against tumor.

The antitumor immune responses induced by nanoemulsion-encapsulated MAGE1-HSP70/SEA complex protein vaccine following different administration routes.

Our previous study showed that nanoemulsion-encapsulated MAGE1-HSP70/SEA (MHS) complex protein vaccine elicited MAGE-1 specific immune response and antitumor effects against MAGE-1-expressing tumor and nanoemulsion is a useful vehicle with possible important implications for cancer biotherapy. The purpose of this study was to compare the immune responses induced by nanoemulsion-encapsulated MAGE1-HSP70 and SEA as NE(MHS) vaccine following different administration routes and to find out the new and effective immune routes. Nanoemulsion vaccine was prepared using magnetic ultrasound methods. C57BL/6 mice were immunized with NE(MHS) via po., i.v., s.c. or i.p., besides mice s.c. injected with PBS or NE(-) as control. The cellular immunocompetence was detected by ELISpot assay and LDH release assay. The therapeutic and tumor challenge assay were also examined. The results showed that the immune responses against MAGE-1 expressing murine tumors elicited by NE(MHS) via 4 different routes were approximately similar and were all stronger than that elicited by PBS or NE(-), suggesting that this novel nanoemulsion carrier can exert potent antitumor immunity against antigens encapsulated in it. Especially, the present results indicated that nanoemulsion vaccine adapted to administration via different routes including peroral, and may have broader applications in the future.

The antitumor immune responses induced by nanoemulsion-encapsulated MAGE1-HSP70/SEA complex protein vaccine following peroral administration route.

Previous studies have shown that there are profuse lymphatic tissues under the intestinal mucous membrane. Moreover, vaccine administered orally can elicit both mucous membrane and system immune response simultaneously, accordingly induce tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte. As a result, the oral route is constituted the preferred immune route for vaccine delivery theoretically. However, numerous vaccines especially protein/peptide vaccines remain poorly available when administered by this route. Nanoemulsion has been shown as a useful vehicle can be developed to enhance the antitumor immune response against antigens encapsulated in it and it is good for the different administration routes. Of particular interest is whether the protein vaccine following peroral route using nanoemulsion as delivery carrier can induce the same, so much as stronger antitumor immune response to following conventional ways such as subcutaneous (sc.) or not. Hence, in the present study, we encapsulated the MAGE1-HSP70 and SEA complex protein in nanoemulsion as nanovaccine NE (MHS) using magnetic ultrasound method. We then immuned C57BL/6 mice with NE (MHS), MHS alone or NE (-) via po. or sc. route and detected the cellular immunocompetence by using ELISpot assay and LDH release assay. The therapeutic and tumor challenge assay were examined then. The results showed that compared with vaccination with MHS or NE (-), the cellular immune responses against MAGE-1 could be elicited fiercely by vaccination with NE (MHS) nanoemulsion. Furthermore, encapsulating MHS in nanoemulsion could delay tumor growth and defer tumor occurrence of mice challenged with B16-MAGE-1 tumor cells. Especially, the peroral administration of NE (MHS) could induce approximately similar antitumor immune responses to the sc. administration, but the MHS unencapsulated with nanoemulsion via po. could induce significantly weaker antitumor immune responses than that via sc., suggesting nanoemulsion as a promising carrier can exert potent antitumor immunity against antigen encapsulated in it and make the tumor protein vaccine immunizing via po. route feasible and effective. It may have a broad application in tumor protein vaccine.

The anti-tumor immune response induced by a combination of MAGE-3/MAGE-n-derived peptides.

Tumor antigen-derived peptides have been widely used to elicit tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). MAGE gene products are of particular interest owing to their wide expression in many tumors and their potential to induce tumor-specific CTL responses. Antigen-specific CTLs induced by MAGE gene-derived peptides have proven to be highly efficacious in the prevention and treatment of various types of tumors. MAGE-3 has been used as a target for tumor immunotherapy. MAGE-n is a new member of the MAGE gene family and has been shown to be closely associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the majority of previous investigations focused on the single MAGE antigen-derived peptides as a cancer vaccine which has many limitations. The tumor antigen expression is known to be heterogeneous and tumor cells can express multiple tumor antigens. Thus, vaccines incorporating single antigen-derived epitopes may be inadequate in generating a complete immune response against the tumor. Instead, a polyvalent vaccine incorporating epitopes derived from several tumor antigens may be more effective. Our study combined the MAGE-3 and MAGE-n-derived peptides as a cancer vaccine. The results showed that the combination of MAGE-3 and MAGE-n epitopes induced more effective anti-tumor immune responses than either of the peptides alone. In addition, the peptide-specific activity was observed to be in an MHC-restricted manner. Our study indicated that the combination of several tumor antigen-derived peptides may present a better peptide-based cancer immunotherapy.

[Adenovirus mediated targeted genetherapy of Staphylococcal enterotoxin A and CD80 for hepatoma and its primary immune mechanisms].

AIM: To observe the effects of hepatoma-targeting recombinant adenovirus vectors of staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) and/or CD80 gene on hepatoma and to study its immunological mechanisms. METHODS: Using AdEasy adenovirus system, we constructed recombinant adenovirus vectors of SEA and/or CD80 gene driven by alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) enhancer I and promoter. After intratumoral therapy for the mice bearing subcutaneous xenograft hepatoma with the recombinant adenoviruses, SEA and/or CD80 mRNA and protein were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. IFN-gamma-producing cell frequency and specific cytotoxicity of T lymphocytes to Hepa1-6 cells were detected by ELISpot and LDH-released assay in the splenocytes. Effects of recombinant adenoviruses on hepatoma were assessed by changes of tumor volumes and survival time in the treated mice. RESULTS: The recombinant adenoviruses constructed by us made SEA and/or CD80 mRNA and protein targetedly express in hepatoma tissues. When compared with the empty vector and PBS groups, the IFN-gamma-producing cell frequency and specific cytotoxicity of T lymphocytes increased, the tumor volumes of mice decreased and the survival time increased in the double-gene and single-gene groups. Double genes elicited better antitumor effects and stronger immune responses. There were no significant differences in the effects between CD80 group and SEA group or between empty vector group and PBS group. CONCLUSION: The hepatoma-targeting recombinant adenovirus vectors constructed in this study can elicit effective antitumor effects on hepatoma and the effects of double genes are better than that of single gene.

Immunization with truncated sequence of Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase induces a specific antitumor response in vivo.

To select the MHC-I-binding epitope-rich sequence of mice telomerase reverse transcriptase (mTERT) and study the antitumor immune response induced by truncated TERT through mRNA-transfected dendritic cells (DCs) immunization in mice. The MHC-I-binding epitopes of TERT were predicted using bioinformatics software. The selected sequence of TERT (Truncated mTERT, TERT(t), mTERT cDNA 1776 bp-2942 bp encoding 584 aa-969 aa) was cloned from B16 mouse melanoma cells and inserted into pBluescriptIIKS(+) plasmid downstream of the T7 promoter. TERT(t) RNA was prepared through in vitro transcription. Bone marrow-derived DCs were electroporated with TERT(t) RNA and used to immunize syngeneic naïve mice. The quantity and cytotoxic activity of TERT-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in mice spleen were evaluated using IFN-gamma enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) and Lactate dehydrogenase release assay. The immunoprophylactic effects against TERT positive tumor induced by TERT(t) RNA transfected DC in vivo were evaluated through an immunized-challenged mouse model. TERT(t) was cloned and in vitro transcribed into TERT(t) mRNA. As shown in FCM analysis, the efficiency of DC electroporation is 35.1% (29.7-41.2%). After electroporation, a subtle increase of costimulator and MHC-II molecules were expressed on the cell surface. Immunization of TERT(t) mRNA transfected DCs induced IFN-gamma-secreting CTLs which manifested specific cytotoxic activity against TERT-positive target cells. In a cancer mouse model, vaccination of TERT(t) mRNA-transfected DCs suppressed the growth of TERT positive tumors (p=0.001) and prolong the survival time of tumor-bearing animals (p=0.029). TERT(t) evokes an antitumor immune response in vivo which is targeted to TERT. TERT(t) can be used as an antigeneic sequence to produce anti-TERT tumor vaccine.

[Construction of hepatoma-targeting recombinant co-expression adenovirus vector of SEA and CD80 and identification of its expression].

AIM: To construct hepatoma-targeting recombinant co-expression adenovirus vector of Staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) and CD80 gene. METHODS: Us-ing the adenovirus transfer plasmids pShuttle and pShuttle-CMV, we constructed a new transfer plasmid pShuttle2 with polyA signal sequence instead of CMV enhancer/promoter. AFP enhancer, promoter, SEA or CD80 gene was subcloned into pShuttle2 from the vectors pKS-EP or pMD18-T-BIS respectively, and then the constructed plasmid pShuttle2-BIS containing AFP enhancer, promoter, SEA or CD80 gene was cotransformed into E.coli BJ5183 with backbone vector pAdEasy-1 to obtain recombinant adenovirus DNA. The recombinant adenovirus DNA was transfected into 293 cells to prepare adenovirus. After AFP-producing cell line Hepa1-6 and AFP-nonproducing cell lines B16 and NIH3T3 were infected by recombinant adenovirus, the expression of SEA and CD80 on the surface of cells was detected by indirect immunofluorescent staining, laser confocal microscope and flow cytometry (FCM). RESULTS: SEA and CD80 was specifically co-expressed on the surface of infected Hepa1-6 cells but not on B16 and NIH3T3 cells. CONCLUSION: Hepatoma-targeting recombinant co-expression adenovirus vector of SEA and CD80 gene was successfully constructed, which lays the foundation for further research on application of SEA and CD80 in targeted gene therapy for hepatoma and the underlying immunological mechanisms.

Tumor cells with B7.1 and transmembrane anchored staphylococcal enterotoxin A generate effective antitumor immunity.

Staphylococcus enterotoxin A (SEA) stimulates T cells bearing certain TCR beta-chain variable regions, when bound to MHC-II molecules, and is a potent inducer of CTL activity and cytokines production. To decrease toxicity of SEA to the normal MHC-II(+) cells and to localize the immune response induced by SEA to the tumor site, my colleague previously genetically fused SEA with B7.1 transmembrane region (named as SEAtm) to make SEA express on the surface of tumor cells and tumor cells modified with SEAtm could induce efficient antitumor immunity in vitro. The tumor cell vaccines modified with multiple immune activators frequently elicited stronger antitumor immune responses than single-modified vaccines. In this study, we modified the tumor cell vaccine with B7.1 and SEAtm to improve efficiency in the application of SEA. First, SEAtm gene was subcloned from recombinant plasmid pLXSNSEP by PCR and murine B7.1 gene was cloned from splenocytes derived from C57BL/6 mice by RT-PCR. Then, the eukaryotic co-expression vector of SEA and murine B7.1 gene was constructed and named as pcDNA-BIS. B16 cell lines stably expressing SEA and/or B7.1 were established by screening with G418 after transfection and inactivated for the preparation of tumor cell vaccines to treat mice bearing established B16 tumors. The results indicated that the dual-modified tumor cell vaccine B16/B7.1+SEAtm (B16-BIS) elicited significantly stronger antitumor immune responses in vivo when compared with the single-modified tumor cell vaccines B16/B7.1 (B16-B7.1) and B16/SEAtm (B16-SEAtm), and supported the feasibility and effectiveness of the dual-modified tumor cell vaccine with superantigen and co-stimulatory molecule.

[Establishment of an HHCC cell line stably transfected by tumor antigen MAGE-3 gene and its mRNA expression].

AIM: To construct the eukaryotic expression vector of tumor antigen MAGE-3 and establish human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HHCC) expressing MAGE-3. METHODS: The MAGE-3 gene was amplified by PCR and cloned into the eukaryotic expression vector pIRES2-EGFP to construct the pIRES2-EGFP-MAGE-3 plasmid. The recombinant plasmid pIRES2-EGFP-MAGE-3 was transfected into HHCC cells by lipofectamine, and then the positive clones were screened by G418. The expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and MAGE-3 mRNA in positive clones were detected by fluorescence microscope and RT-PCR, respectively. RESULTS: The eukaryotic expression vector pIRES2-EGFP-MAGE-3 was successfully constructed. The expression of EGFP was found by fluorescence microscope detection and MAGE-3 mRNA transcription was detected by RT-PCR in the positive clones. CONCLUSION: The stable MAGE-3-transfected HHCC cell line is successfully established, which will provide experimental basis for further study on immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma using MAGE-3 as target antigen.