A melanoma multiepitope polypeptide induces specific CD8+ T-cell response.

Strategies using epitope-based vaccination are being considered for melanoma immunotherapy, in an attempt to overcome failure of other modalities. In the present study, we designed and produced a multiepitope polypeptide for melanoma (MEP-mel), which contains three repeats of four antigenic epitopes (gp100: 209-217 (210M); gp100: 280-288 (288V); Mart1: 26-35 (27L); tyrosinase: 368-376 (370D). The peptides were attached to each other by linkers containing sequences recognized by the proteasome, to improve protein cleavage and antigen presentation.

Heat labile enterotoxin of E. coli: a potential adjuvant for transcutaneous cancer immunotherapy.

Escherichia coli heat labile enterotoxin (LT) has been shown to penetrate intact skin and to activate adaptive immunity. A nontoxic mutant, nLT, and its B subunit (LTB), have been evaluated separately for their potential use as a tool for transcutaneous delivery of antigens for cancer immunotherapy. We have shown that FITC-labeled nLT is taken up by human dendritic cells (hDC) in vitro and in mouse skin, and induces maturation and activation of hDC in vitro.