VACCINES: Targets Identified on Human Papilloma Virus

Applied Genetics News,  April, 2001  

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Researchers from Epimmune, Inc. (5820 Nancy Ridge Dr., San Diego, CA 92121; Tel: 858/860-2500, Fax: 858/860-2600) in collaboration with colleagues at Loyola University, Chicago, IL; Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands; and University of Wales College of Medicine, Wales, U.K., have identified new vaccine targets for cancer-causing strains of the human papilloma virus (HPV). The scientists report their results in the most recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Cancer Research. They have discovered four epitopes from the virus that can induce a cellular immune response in human cells in vitro and may lead to an effective vaccine for treatment and prevention of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), precancerous lesions that develop into cervical cancer.

An estimated 20 million Americans are infected with HPV, a virus that accounts for over 95% of cervical cancer cases. CIN lesions, which precede most, if not all, cases of cervical cancer, occur in over 50,000 women in the United States each year. Currently, CIN is detected by PAP smear and treated by surgical removal of the precancerous lesions, a costly procedure that may result in reproductive complications and requires continual postsurgery monitoring for recurrence.

Using Epimmune's proprietary Epitope Identification System, scientists have identified epitopes predicted to activate cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) from several proteins of most cancer- causing HPV strains. The current study showed that four epitopes from HPV-18, three derived from E6 and one derived from E7, were highly immunogenic using human cells in vitro, meaning they induce a CTL response. E6 and E7 proteins are "oncoproteins" responsible for the transformation of HPV-infected cells into CIN and cancer cells. Epimmune believes that a vaccine based on epitopes derived from these proteins may provide strong therapeutic benefit by teaching the immune system to recognize and attack HPV-infected cells at all stages of precancerous and cancerous development.

"An effective vaccine to treat CIN and cervical cancer must target multiple cancer-causing strains of HPV," says Robert Chesnut, executive vice president, R&D at Epimmune. "Epimmune's approach directly addresses this challenge by combining epitopes from multiple virus strains into a single vaccine to combat all of the HPV strains frequently associated with causing cancer."

COPYRIGHT 2001 Business Communications Company, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group