Autologous iPSC-Based Vaccines Elicit Anti-tumor Responses In Vivo

Publication date: Available online 15 February 2018
Source:Cell Stem Cell
Author(s): Nigel G. Kooreman, Youngkyun Kim, Patricia E. de Almeida, Vittavat Termglinchan, Sebastian Diecke, Ning-Yi Shao, Tzu-Tang Wei, Hyoju Yi, Devaveena Dey, Raman Nelakanti, Thomas P. Brouwer, David T. Paik, Idit Sagiv-Barfi, Arnold Han, Paul H.A. Quax, Jaap F. Hamming, Ronald Levy, Mark M. Davis, Joseph C. Wu
Cancer cells and embryonic tissues share a number of cellular and molecular properties, suggesting that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may be harnessed to elicit anti-tumor responses in cancer vaccines. RNA sequencing revealed that human and murine iPSCs express tumor-associated antigens, and we show here a proof of principle for using irradiated iPSCs in autologous anti-tumor vaccines. In a prophylactic setting, iPSC vaccines prevent tumor growth in syngeneic murine breast cancer, mesothelioma, and melanoma models. As an adjuvant, the iPSC vaccine inhibited melanoma recurrence at the resection site and reduced metastatic tumor load, which was associated with fewer Th17 cells and increased CD11b⁺GR1^hi myeloid cells. Adoptive transfer of T cells isolated from vaccine-treated tumor-bearing mice inhibited tumor growth in unvaccinated recipients, indicating that the iPSC vaccine promotes an antigen-specific anti-tumor T cell response. Our data suggest an easy, generalizable strategy for multiple types of cancer that could prove highly valuable in clinical immunotherapy.

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Teaser

Wu and colleagues show that cancer immunity against multiple types of cancer can be achieved using an easily generalizable iPSC-based cancer vaccine. This immunity is based on overlapping epitopes between iPSCs and cancer cells and can also be achieved by reactivating the immune system as an adjuvant immunotherapy.


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