The Insertion of an Evolutionary Lost Four-Amino-Acid Cytoplasmic Tail Peptide into a Syncytin-1 Vaccine Increases T- and B-Cell Responses in Mice
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Human endogenous retrovirus type W (HERV-W) is expressed in various cancers. We previously developed an adenovirus-vectored cancer vaccine targeting HERV-W by encoding an assembled HERV-W group-specific antigen sequence and the HERV-W envelope sequence Syncytin-1. Syncytin-1 is constitutively fusogenic and forms large multinucleated cell fusions when overexpressed. Consequently, immunising humans with a vaccine encoding Syncytin-1 can lead to the formation of extensive syncytia, which is undesirable and poses a potential safety issue. Here, we show experiments in cell lines that restoring an evolutionary lost cleavage site of the fusion inhibitory R-peptide of Syncytin-1 inhibit cell fusion. Interestingly, this modification of the HERV-W vaccine’s fusogenicity increased the expression of the vaccine antigens in vitro. It also enhanced Syncytin-1-specific antibody responses and CD8+-mediated T-cell responses compared to the wildtype vaccine in vaccinated mice, with a notable enhancement in responses to subdominant T-cell epitopes but equal responses to dominant epitopes and similar rates of survival following a tumour challenge. The impairment of cell–cell fusion and the enhanced immunogenicity profile of this HERV-W vaccine strengthens the prospects of obtaining a meaningful immune response against HERV-W in patients with HERV-W-overexpressing cancers.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 1686 |
Journal | Viruses |
Volume | 15 |
Issue number | 8 |
ISSN | 1999-4915 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
- adenoviral vector, cell fusion, human endogenous retrovirus type W (HERV-W), R-peptide, Syncytin-1
Research areas
ID: 368671090