Transgenic B7-H3 therapy in oral squamous cell cancer

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Tumors may present antigens to T-cells, however they lack the costimulatory signals which is necessary to initialize an effective immunologic response. The present study was purposed to develop a tumor cell-based cancer vaccine by genetically modifying oral squamous cell cancer cell line Tca8113 with human B7-H3 immunoglobulin, and evaluate its efficacy on enhancing the tumor specific immune response. METHODS: T lymphocytes were isolated from nine healthy volunteers. The human B7-H3 gene was extracted from the isolated T lymphocytes. Tumor cell vaccine TCV-hB7-H3 and the mock control were prepared by transfecting Tca8113 cells with B7-H3 or mock vector. The expression of B7-H3 in Tca8113, mock control cells and tumor cell vaccine TCV-hB7-H3 was assayed respectively by flow cytomentry, RT-PCR and Western blot. After being stimulated with TCV-hB7-H3 or mock control, the proliferation, IFN-g expression and cytotoxicity of the T cells were assessed. Results: The expression of B7-H3 was not detected in the tumor cell TCa8113 and mock control, but in the cell vaccine TCV-hB7-H3. Compared to the mock control, the cell vaccine TCV-hB7-H3 significantly enhanced the proliferation, IFN-g expression, and cytotoxicity of the T cells. CONCLUSIONS: The genetically modified OSCC cells encoding B7-H3 enhance the induction of tumor specific immune response.