Immunogenicity and efficacy of an anthrax/plague DNA fusion vaccine in a mouse model

The efficacy of multi-agent DNA vaccines consisting of a truncated gene encoding Bacillus anthracis lethal factor (LFn) fused to either Yersinia pestis V antigen (V) or Y. pestis F1 was evaluated. A/J mice were immunized by gene gun and developed predominantly IgG1 responses that were fully protective against a lethal aerosolized B. anthracis spore challenge but required the presence of an additional DNA vaccine expressing anthrax protective antigen to boost survival against aerosolized Y. pestis

Cell therapy products: focus on issues with manufacturing and quality control of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies

Recent accelerated approvals of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T‐cell (CAR‐T) therapies targeting refractory haematological malignancies underscore the potential for this novel technology platform to provide new therapeutic options for oncology areas with high unmet medical needs. However, these powerful ‘living drugs’ are markedly different to conventional small molecule and biologic therapies on several levels. The highly complex nature and varied composition of CAR‐T based products still requires considerable investigation to resolve the best approaches to ensure reproducible and cost‐effective manufacture, clinical development, and application. This review will focus on key issues for manufacturing and quality control of these exciting new therapeutic modalities, preceded by a brief description of CAR principals and clinical development considerations. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry

Mucosal or Parenteral Administration of Microsphere-Associated Bacillus anthracis Protective Antigen Protects against Anthrax Infection in Mice

Existing licensed anthrax vaccines are administered parenterally and require multiple doses to induce protective immunity. This requires trained personnel and is not the optimum route for stimulating a mucosal immune response. Microencapsulation of vaccine antigens offers a number of advantages over traditional vaccine formulations, including stability without refrigeration and the potential for utilizing less invasive routes of administration. Recombinant protective antigen (rPA), the dominant antigen for protection against anthrax infection, was encapsulated in poly-l-lactide 100-kDa microspheres. Alternatively, rPA was loosely attached to the surfaces of microspheres by lyophilization. All of the microspheric formulations were administered to A/J mice with a two-dose schedule by either the intramuscular route, the intranasal route, or a combination of these two routes, and immunogenicity and protective efficacy were assessed. An intramuscular priming immunization followed by either an intramuscular or intranasal boost gave optimum anti-rPA immunoglobulin G titers. Despite differences in rPA-specific antibody titers, all immunized mice survived an injected challenge consisting of 10(3) median lethal doses of Bacillus anthracis STI spores. Immunization with microencapsulated and microsphere-associated formulations of rPA also protected against aerosol challenge with 30 median lethal doses of STI spores. These results show that rPA can be encapsulated and surface bound to polymeric microspheres without impairing its immunogenicity and also that mucosal or parenteral administration of microspheric formulations of rPA efficiently protects mice against both injected and aerosol challenges with B. anthracis spores. Microspheric formulations of rPA could represent the next generation of anthrax vaccines, which could require fewer doses because they are more potent, are less reactogenic than currently available human anthrax vaccines, and could be self-administered without injection

Immunodominant Francisella tularensis antigens identified using proteome microarray.

Stimulation of protective immune responses against intracellular pathogens is difficult to achieve using non-replicating vaccines. BALB/c mice immunized by intramuscular injection with killed Francisella tularensis (live vaccine strain) adjuvanted with preformed immune stimulating complexes admixed with CpG, were protected when systemically challenged with a highly virulent strain of F. tularensis (Schu S4). Serum from immunized mice was used to probe a whole proteome microarray in order to identify immunodominant antigens. Eleven out of the top 12 immunodominant antigens have been previously described as immunoreactive in F. tularensis. However, 31 previously unreported immunoreactive antigens were revealed using this approach. Twenty four (50%) of the ORFs on the immunodominant hit list belonged to the category of surface or membrane associated proteins compared to only 22% of the entire proteome. There were eight hypothetical protein hits and eight hits from proteins associated with different aspects of metabolism. The chip also allowed us to readily determine the IgG subclass bias, towards individual or multiple antigens, in protected and unprotected animals. These data give insight into the protective immune response and have potentially important implications for the rational design of non-living vaccines for tularemia and other intracellular pathogens

Defining the spatial distribution of extracellular adenosine revealed a myeloid-dependent immunosuppressive microenvironment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Peer reviewed: TrueBackground: The prognosis for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains extremely poor. It has been suggested that the adenosine pathway contributes to the ability of PDAC to evade the immune system and hence, its resistance to immuno-oncology therapies (IOT), by generating extracellular adenosine (eAdo). Methods: Using genetically engineered allograft models of PDAC in syngeneic mice with defined and different immune infiltration and response to IOT and autochthonous tumors in KPC mice we investigated the impact of the adenosine pathway on the PDAC tumor microenvironment (TME). Flow cytometry and imaging mass cytometry (IMC) were used to characterize the subpopulation frequency and spatial distribution of tumor-infiltrating immune cells. Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) was used to visualize adenosine compartmentalization in the PDAC tumors. RNA sequencing was used to evaluate the influence of the adenosine pathway on the shaping of the immune milieu and correlate our findings to published data sets in human PDAC. Results: We demonstrated high expression of adenosine pathway components in tumor-infiltrating immune cells (particularly myeloid populations) in the murine models. MSI demonstrated that extracellular adenosine distribution is heterogeneous in tumors, with high concentrations in peri-necrotic, hypoxic regions, associated with rich myeloid infiltration, demonstrated using IMC. Protumorigenic M2 macrophages express high levels of the Adora2a receptor; particularly in the IOT resistant model. Blocking the in vivo formation and function of eAdo (Adoi), using a combination of anti-CD73 antibody and an Adora2a inhibitor slowed tumor growth and reduced metastatic burden. Additionally, blocking the adenosine pathway improved the efficacy of combinations of cytotoxic agents or immunotherapy. Adoi remodeled the TME, by reducing the infiltration of M2 macrophages and regulatory T cells. RNA sequencing analysis showed that genes related to immune modulation, hypoxia and tumor stroma were downregulated following Adoi and a specific adenosine signature derived from this is associated with a poorer prognosis in patients with PDAC. Conclusions: The formation of eAdo promotes the development of the immunosuppressive TME in PDAC, contributing to its resistance to conventional and novel therapies. Therefore, inhibition of the adenosine pathway may represent a strategy to modulate the PDAC immune milieu and improve therapy response in patients with PDAC

Liposome/DNA complexes coated with biodegradable PLA improve immune responses to plasmid encoding hepatitis B surface antigen

We hypothesized that the addition of polymer to the surface of liposome/DNA complexes may potentially enhance in vivo delivery of plasmid DNA to antigen-presenting cells and thereby facilitate enhanced immune responses to encoded protein. BALB/c mice were immunized subcutaneously or intramuscularly three times with a total of 50 µg of the plasmid pRc/CMV-HBs(S) (ayw subtype) encoding for the hepatitis B surface antigen. We measured transgene-specific total immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgG2a, IgG2b and IgG1 antibody responses as well as splenocyte and T-cell proliferation and cytokine production upon re-stimulation following immunization. Modification of lipid/DNA complexes by the polymer precipitation method used here for the addition of poly(d,l-lactic acid) was found to be consistently and significantly more effective than either unmodified liposomal DNA or naked DNA in eliciting transgene-specific immune responses to plasmid-encoded antigen when administered by the subcutaneous route. In addition, the polymer-modified formulations delivered by this route were more effective than naked DNA delivered by the intramuscular route in inducing antibody responses (n=5, P<0·03). Our observations provide ‘proof of principle’ for the use of these multicomponent formulations, which offer potential for manipulation and increased transfection efficiency in vivo for the purposes of genetic immunization