Tr. Petersen et al., Human p53(264-272) HLA-A2 binding peptide is an immunodominant epitope in DNA-immunized HLA-A2 transgenic mice, CANCER LETT, 137(2), 1999, pp. 183-191
C57BL/10 mice transgenic for HLA-A2 were immunized with either a full-lengt
h DNA-construct of the tumor suppressor p53 or with a minigene encoding the
p53-derived immunodominant peptide p53(264)LLGRNSEEV(272) (L9V). Vaccinati
on with the full-length p53 construct induced potent cytotoxic activity of
splenocytes against L9V-puIsed target cells after in vivo restimulation. Va
ccination with the L9V-encoding minigene likewise induced specific anti-L9V
cytotoxicity in vitro. Subsequent experiments revealed that peptide-pulsed
dendritic cells were the most efficient cell types for in vitro re-stimula
tion. In concordance with this, immunization with L9V-pulsed dendritic cell
s also induced a potent and specific anti-L9V cytotoxic response in vitro.
These data show that HLA-A2/peptide-specific cytotoxic immunity can be gene
rated in vivo against the same immunodominant epitope by immunizing either
with full-length DNA or with a DNA minigene encoding the immunodominant pep
tide epitope. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.