Resistance to melanoma in mice immunized with semiallogeneic fibroblasts transfected with DNA from mouse melanoma cells

Abstract

Tumor-associated Ags (TAA) that characterize a population of malignant cells are recognized by CTLs in the context of determinants specified by the MHC class I locus. Nevertheless, most progressively growing neoplasms do not induce antitumor immune responses that can control tumor cell growth. The TAA may be insufficiently antigenic. We found previously that immunization of mice with a cellular immunogen prepared by transfecting tumor DNA into allogeneic mouse fibroblasts resulted in strong antitumor immune responses that were specific for the type of tumor from which the DNA was obtained. Since the fibroblasts differed at the MHC from the immunized mice, we postulated that the immunogenic properties of the allogeneic transfected cells might be enhanced if the cells were modified to express syngeneic class I determinants. In a mouse melanoma model system, the H-2Kb gene was introduced into LM mouse fibroblasts (H-2k). Afterward, the cells were transfected with DNA from B16 melanoma cells (H-2b). The transfected cells were tested for their immunotherapeutic properties in C57BL/6J mice (H-2b) with melanoma. Mice with melanoma treated solely by immunization with the semiallogeneic transfected cells developed strong, long-term resistance to the growth of the tumor. In some instances, the mice survived indefinitely. Intact rather than disrupted transfected cells were required to induce the antimelanoma response, consistent with direct presentation of TAA by the transfected cells. The augmented resistance to melanoma in mice treated with the semiallogeneic transfected cells points toward an analogous form of therapy for cancer patients.