Mucin gene (MUC1) transfer into human dendritic cells by cationic liposomes and recombinant adenovirus

Background: Dendritic cells (DC) as antigen presenting cells play an import ant role in immunotherapy of cancer. Mucin, encoded by the gene MUC1, is a human tumor antigen expressed in breast, pancreatic and ovarian cancers. Th erefore, MUC1-transfected DC would be an attractive tool in constructing ca ncer vaccines. Materials and Methods: Using two different cationic liposome preparations and, for comparison, a recombinant adenovirus expressing muci n, we tested the efficiency of mucin gene transfer into DC by flow cytometr y. We investigated if these transfected DC were able to specifically stimul ate autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from healthy donors. Resu lts: Flow cytometry revealed that 5-20% of DC transfected with liposomes Li pofectin (R) and 20-40% of DC transduced with adenovirus expressed the rele vant mucin epitopes. The expression of mucin on DC was similar to the expre ssion of mucin found on carcinoma cells. After antigen uptake, DC specifica lly stimulated autologous PBL. Conclusion: We have shown that cationic lipo somal gene transfer into human DC was feasible. We could obtain antigen spe cific stimulation of PBL at a similar rate as with adenoviral MUC1-transduc ed DC.