Publications by authors named "Christine Pampeno"

This review article provides a comprehensive overview of a novel Sindbis virus vaccine platform as potential immunotherapy for ovarian cancer patients. Ovarian cancer is the most lethal of all gynecological malignancies. The majority of high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) patients are diagnosed with advanced disease.

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Sindbis alphavirus vectors offer a promising platform for cancer therapy, serving as valuable models for alphavirus-based treatment. This review emphasizes key studies that support the targeted delivery of Sindbis vectors to tumor cells, highlighting their effectiveness in expressing tumor-associated antigens and immunomodulating proteins. Among the various alphavirus vectors developed for cancer therapy, Sindbis-vector-based imaging studies have been particularly extensive.

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Our laboratory has been developing a Sindbis viral (SV) vector platform for treatments of ovarian and other types of cancers. In this study we show that SV.IL-12 combined with an agonistic OX40 antibody can eliminate ovarian cancer in a Mouse Ovarian Surface Epithelial Cell Line (MOSEC) model and further prevent tumors in mice rechallenged with tumor cells after approximately 5 months.

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Article Synopsis
  • The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has prompted a global effort to create effective vaccines, with a need for alternatives that provide long-term protection and are cost-effective to manufacture.
  • Researchers have developed a new vaccine using a Sindbis alphavirus vector expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein combined with an OX40 immunostimulatory antibody, which has shown promising results in eliciting strong immune responses in mice.
  • This novel vaccine approach not only produced lasting neutralizing antibodies and a vigorous T-cell response but also provided effective protection against the coronavirus in mice, highlighting its potential as a candidate for tackling SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens.
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Article Synopsis
  • The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has led to a global push for effective vaccine development, highlighting the need for new alternatives that ensure long-term protection and can be produced affordably at scale.
  • Researchers have developed a novel vaccine using a Sindbis alphavirus vector that expresses the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein combined with an immunostimulatory antibody, showing strong immune responses in mice, including the production of neutralizing antibodies and T-cell activation.
  • The study suggests this vaccine platform not only offers significant protection against SARS-CoV-2 but also shows promise for broader applications against other pathogens and variants.
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Despite remarkable responses to cancer immunotherapy in a subset of patients, many patients remain resistant to therapies. It is now clear that elevated levels of tumor-infiltrating T cells as well as a systemic anti-tumor immune response are requirements for successful immunotherapies. However, the tumor microenvironment imposes an additional resistance mechanism to immunotherapy.

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Oncolytic viruses represent a promising form of cancer immunotherapy. We investigated the potential of Sindbis virus (SV) for the treatment of solid tumors expressing the human cancer testis antigen NYESO-1. NYESO-1 is an immunogenic antigen frequently expressed in numerous cancers, such as ovarian cancer.

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The laminin receptor (LamR) is a cell surface receptor for extracellular matrix laminin, whereas the same protein within the cell interacts with ribosomes, nuclear proteins and cytoskeletal fibers. LamR has been shown to be a receptor for several bacteria and viruses. Furthermore, LamR interacts with both cellular and infectious forms of the prion protein, PrP(C) and PrP(Sc).

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Sindbis virus is a prototypic member of the Alphavirus genus, Togaviridae family. Sindbis replication results in cellular cytotoxicity, a feature that has been exploited by our laboratory for treatment of in vivo tumors. Understanding the interactions between Sindbis vectors and the host cell can lead to better virus production and increased efficacy of gene therapy vectors.

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Previous studies conducted in our laboratory with Sindbis viral vectors in animal models demonstrated excellent in vivo targeting of tumor cells and significant reduction of metastatic implant size. To explore the influence of Sindbis strain on these factors, we constructed new plasmids from the wild-type Ar-339 Sindbis virus strain and compared their sequences. We found differences in the replicase and envelope proteins between JT, HRSP, and Ar-339 sequences.

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Background: Sindbis virus, a blood-borne virus transmitted by mosquitoes, has been used as a vector to efficiently express exogenous genes in vitro and in vivo and to induce apoptosis. Because Sindbis virus infects mammalian cells by interacting with the high-affinity laminin receptors, which are expressed at higher levels in several human cancers than in normal cells, we determined whether a Sindbis viral vector could be used to target cancers in vivo.

Methods: C.

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The Notch transmembrane protein is involved in a broad range of different developmental pathways in vertebrates and invertebrates. Targeted thymocyte expression of the Notch-1 intracellular domain has been shown to affect lineage commitment decisions such as those involving T cell vs. B cell, thymocyte alpha beta vs.

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