JP5917626B2 - Vaccination with poxvirus vectors via mechanical epidermal destruction - Google Patents

Description

(Research supported by the federal government)
The present invention is based, in part, on the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Health (NIH).
(NIAID)) was granted with government support under grant numbers U19 AI057330 and 5U54AI057159-05. The US government has certain rights to the invention.

(Background of the Invention)
Vaccines traditionally consisted of live attenuated pathogens, whole inactivated organisms or inactivated toxins. In many cases, these approaches have been successful in inducing immune defenses based on antibody-mediated responses. However, certain pathogens such as HIV, HCV, TB, malaria and cancer are required to induce cell-mediated immunity (CMI). Non-live vaccines have generally been found to be ineffective at generating CMI. Furthermore, while live vaccines can induce CMI, some live attenuated vaccines can cause disease in immunosuppressed subjects.

  Thus, there is an unmet need for more effective vaccines and more effective delivery means of vaccines that result in enhanced therapeutic effects and protective immune responses.

(Summary of Invention)
Attenuated replication-deficient vaccinia viruses such as the modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) strain have already been proposed as promising live virus vaccine vectors because of their remarkable safety and immunogenic profiles, Have been tried. However, viral vaccines such as MVA have so far been administered only via the route of injection and to date have not been administered via skin sarcification. This may be due to the assumption that viral replication in the epidermis is required for the development of pox lesions and subsequent strong protection against antigen challenge. Nevertheless, the inventors immunized mice with MVA through cutaneous cuts, and surprisingly MVA cutaneous cuts induced characteristic pox lesions in a dose-dependent manner, vaccinia virus (VV) Produced a dose-dependent cellular and humoral immune response to the antigen. While not intending to be bound by any particular mechanism or theory, the inventors believe that viral replication is not required to elicit a strong immune response by immunization via cutaneous cuts.

  MVA skin disruption dies in mice challenged with intranasal Western Reserve Vaccinia virus (WR-VV) infection at doses where replicating VV immunization via conventional injection routes cannot protect mice from lethal challenge Provided complete protection against rate and disease. At comparable doses of MVA immunization, the conventional injection route only elicited weak and detectable T cell and antibody responses even after the secondary virus challenge, providing weak protection against WR-VV intranasal challenge. Although provided, strong skin protection with either MVA or VV provided strong immune protection. Thus, epidermal immunization with live viral vaccines such as replication deficient poxviruses (eg, MVA) using mechanical disruption of the skin currently requires high doses and multiple injection regimens. Compared to the injection route used in place, much lower doses produce a stronger immune response and stronger protection of the immune host.

  Accordingly, the present invention uses, in part, an infection (or infectious disease) using a modified replication deficient poxvirus vector containing an antigen applied to the mechanically disrupted epidermis of a subject. Alternatively, a novel method for immunizing a subject against cancer is aimed. A variant vaccinia virus that is replication-deficient or modified to be less infectious and genetically modified to contain cDNA encoding the antigen (s) may be used.

  In one aspect of the invention, a method for stimulating an immune response is provided. The method comprises administering to a subject a live modified non-replicating or replication-defective poxvirus comprising an antigen in an amount sufficient to stimulate an immune response, wherein the poxvirus is in the subject's machine. To the partially destroyed epidermis. The immune response can be a humoral response and / or a cellular response. In some embodiments, the cellular response is elicited by CD4 + T cells and / or CD8 + T cells and / or B cells.

The poxvirus may be orthopox, suipox, avipoxvirus, capripox, repolipox, parapox virus, infectious molluscumoma virus, or yatapox virus. In some embodiments, the poxvirus is TRICOM ^™ .

  In some embodiments, the orthopox virus is a vaccinia virus. The vaccinia virus may be a modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA), WR strain, NYCBH strain, Wyeth strain, ACAM2000, Lister strain, LC16m8, Eltree-BNm, Copenhagen strain, or Tiantan strain.

  The epidermis may be mechanically broken by a random cutting needle, hypodermic needle, or scraping device. The epidermis may be disrupted mechanically at the same time or prior to poxvirus administration.

  In some embodiments, the subject has cancer or is at risk of developing cancer. Cancer is skin cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, and thyroid cancer or colon. Can be rectal cancer. In some embodiments, the cancer is prostate adenocarcinoma, prostate epithelial neoplasia, lung squamous cell carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, small cell lung cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer, colorectal adenocarcinoma and smooth muscle species, gastric gland Cancer and leiomyosarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, pancreatic endocrine tumor, renal cell carcinoma, renal and bladder transitional cell carcinoma, bladder squamous cell carcinoma, papillary thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid Cancer, astrocytoma, or glioblastoma multiforme. The skin cancer can be melanoma, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, or basal cell carcinoma.

  In some embodiments, the subject has or is at risk of developing an infection. The infection can be a viral infection, a bacterial infection, a fungal infection, or a protozoal infection. Examples of viral infections include HIV, influenza, dengue fever, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human papilloma virus, Ebola, Marburg, rabies, hantavirus infection, West Nile virus, SARS-like coronavirus, These include, but are not limited to, herpes simplex virus, varicella-zoster virus, Epstein Barr virus, human herpes virus type 8, alphavirus, and St. Louis encephalitis.

Bacterial infections may be Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella typhi, Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia perstis, Francisella tularensis, Legionella, Chlamydia, Tickettis, Rickettis,
may be pallidum.

  Examples of fungal infections include, but are not limited to, Coccidioides immitis, Blastomyces dermatitis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus species.

Examples of protozoan infections include Malaria (Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malariae), Leishmania spp.
such as, but not limited to, fowleri, Acanthamoeba spp., Balamuthia mandrillaris, Toxoplasma gondii, and Pneumocystis carinii.

  In some embodiments, the antigen is a tumor associated antigen (TAA), a tumor specific antigen (TSA), or a tissue specific antigen. TAA, TSA or tissue specific antigens are mucin 1 (MUC1), mucin 2 (MUC2), BAGE-1, GAGE-1-8; GnTV, HERV-K-MEL, KK-LC-1, KM-HN-1 , LAGE-1, MAGE-A1 to A4, MAGE-A6, MAGE-A9, MAGE-A10, MAGE-A12, MAGE-C3, NA88, NY-ESO-1 / LAGE-2, SAGE, Sp17, SSX-2 SSX-4, TAG-1, TAG-2, TRAG-3, TRP2-INT2, XAGE-1b, carcinoembryogenic (CEA), CA-125, gp100 / Pmel17, kallikrein 4, mammaglobin-A , Melan-A / MART-1, NY-BR-1, OA-1, prostate specific antigen (PS ), RAB38 / NY-MEL-1, TRP-1 / gp75, TRP-2, tyrosinase, adipophilin, AIM-2, ALDH1A1, BCXL (L), BING-4, CPSF, cyclin D1, DKK1, ENAH (hMena) ), Ep-CAM, EphA3, EZH2, FGF5, G250 / MN / CAIX, HER-2 / neu, IL13Ralpha2, gut carboxylesterase, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), M-CSF, MCSP, mdm-2, MMP -2, MUC1, PBF, PRAME, PSMA, RAGE-1, RGS5, RNF43, RU2AS, Seselnin 1, SOX10, STEAP1, Survivin, Telomerase, VEGF, WT1, Alphaactinin-4, ARTC1, BCR-AB Fusion protein, B-RAF, CASP-5, CASP-8, beta catenin, Cdc27, CDK4, CDKN2A, COA-1, dek-can fusion protein, EFTUD2, elongation factor 2, ETV6-AML1 fusion protein, FLT3-ITD, FN1, GPNMB, LDLR-fucosyltransferase AS fusion protein, HLA-A2, HLA-Al1, hsp70-2, KIAAO205, MART2, ME1, MUM-1, MUM-2, MUM-3, neo-PAP, myosin class I, NFYC, OGT, OS-9, p53, pml-RAR alpha fusion protein, PRDX5, PTPRK, K-ras, N-ras, RBAF600, SIRT2, SNRPD1, SYT-SSX1 or -SSX2 fusion tamper It can be a protein, TGF-betaRlI or triose phosphate isomerase.

  In some embodiments, the antigen is a viral, bacterial, fungal or protozoal antigen. Antigens include HIV Gag, protease, reverse transcriptase, full-length envelope protein, Vpu, Tat and Rev; influenza hemagglutinin, nuclear protein, matrix protein 1 (M1), nonstructural protein 1 (NS-1); any major Dengue virus cross-protective antigen shared by serotype viruses (eg, nonstructural protein 1 or NS1, envelope domain III or EDIII), hepatitis A virus capsid protein 1 (VP-1), hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg ) And core antigen (HBcAg), hepatitis C core antigen, E1, E2, p7, NS2, NS4 and NS4 proteins, HPV E1, E2, L1, L2, Ebola and Marburg virus glycoproteins, nuclear proteins and Matrix protein, rabies glycoprotein, hantavirus nucleoprotein, envelope glycoprotein and G1 protein, West Nile virus premembrane (prM) and envelope (E) glycoprotein, SARS-like coronavirus Orf3, spike protein, nucleocapsid and membrane protein, Herpes simplex virus glycoproteins B and D; varicella-zoster virus envelope glycoproteins E and B (gE, gB), immediate early protein 63 (IE63), Epstein-Barr virus gp350, gp110, nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA-1), EBNA2 and EBNA-3C, human herpesvirus 8 complement regulatory protein (KCP), glycoprotein B, ORF6, ORF61, and ORF65, M. et al. tuberculosis antigen 85A, 85B, MPT51, PPE44, mycobacterial 65-kDa heat shock protein (DNA-hsp65), 6-kDa early secretory antigen target (ESAT-6), Salmonella SpaO, Hla, outer membrane protein (OMP), P . aeruginosa OMP, PcrV, OprF, OprI, PilA, and the mutant ToxA, B. et al. anthracis protective antigen (PA), Y. et al. pestis low calcium response protein V (LcrV), F1 and F1-V fusion proteins, Legionella peptidoglycan-related lipoprotein (PAL), mip, flagella, OmpS, hsp60, major secreted protein (MSP), Chlamydia protease-like activator (CPAF) Major outer membrane protein (MOMP), T.M. Pallidum outer membrane lipoprotein, CoccidioidsAg2 / Pra106, Prp2, phospholipase (P1b), alpha mannosidase (Amn1), aspartyl protease, Gel1, Blastomyces dermitomoxigmotropidemtoGimtocG ) Or Mannoprotein, Candida albicans hsp90-CA, 65-kDa mannoprotein (MP65), secreted aspartyl proteinase (Sap), Als1p-N, Als3p-N, Aspergillus Asp f16, Asp f2, Der p1, And FeldI, rodlet A, PEP2, Aspergillus HSP90, 90-kDa catalase, Plasmodium apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1), 25-kDa sexual generation protein (Pfs25), erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1), sporozoite surrounding protein (CSP) ), Merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1), Leishmania cysteine proteinase type III (CPC), ribosomal protein (LRP), A2 antigen, nucleosome histone, HSP20, G46 / M-2 / PSA-2 proflagellate surface protein , L infantum LACK antigen, GP63, LmSTI1, TSA, P4, NH36, papLe22, Trypansome beta tubulin (STI) 806), microtubule-associated protein (MAPp15), cysteine protease (CP), Cryptosporidium surface protein gp15 and gp40, Cp23 antigen, p23, Toxoplasma gondii surface antigen 1 (TgSAG1), protease inhibitor-1 (TgPI-1), surface Binding proteins MIC2, MIC3, ROP2, GRA1 to GRA7, Pneumocystis carinii major surface glycoprotein (MSG), p55 antigen, Schistosomiasis mansoni Sm14, 21.7 and SmFim antigen, tegument proteins Sm29, 26kDaSmSpSmSp , Sj22.7, or SjGST-32 Get.

  In some embodiments, the methods for stimulating an immune response described herein further comprise administering a co-stimulatory molecule, a growth factor, an adjuvant and / or a cytokine. Examples of costimulatory molecules, growth factors, adjuvants or cytokines include IL-1, IL-2, IL-7, IL-12, IL-15, IL-18, IL-23, IL-27, B7- 1, B7-2, LFA-3, B7-H3, CD40, CD40L, ICOS-ligand, OX-40L, 4-1BBL, GM-CSF, SCF, FGF, Flt3-ligand, CCR4, QS-7, QS- 17, QS-21, CpG oligonucleotide, ST-246, AS-04, LT R192G mutant, Montanide ISA720, heat shock protein, synthetic mycobacterial coding factor (CAF01), lipid A mimic, Salmonella enterica subtype , Typhimurium flagellin (FliC), Montanide 720, Leva Misole (LMS), imiquimod, diphtheria toxin, IMP321, AS02A, AS01B, AS15-SB, Alhydrogel, Montanide ISA, aluminum hydroxide, MF59, ISCOMATRIX, MLPA, MPL and other TLR-4 ligands, MDP, others Examples include, but are not limited to, TLR-2 ligand, AS02A, AS01B, heat labile toxins LTK63 and LT-R192G.

  In some embodiments, the costimulatory molecule is co-expressed with the antigen by a poxvirus. Co-stimulatory molecules that are co-expressed are IL-1, IL-2, IL-7, IL-12, IL-15, IL-18, IL-23, IL-27, B7-2, B7-H3, CD40. , CD40L, ICOS-ligand, OX-40L, 4-1BBL, GM-CSF, SCF, FGF, Flt3-ligand, or CCR4.

  Co-stimulatory molecules, growth factors, adjuvants and / or cytokines may be administered essentially simultaneously with the antigen, or may be administered before or after administration of the antigen. In some embodiments, the costimulatory molecule, growth factor, adjuvant and / or cytokine is administered at essentially the same site as the antigen, or is administered at a site different from the antigen.

  In some embodiments, the methods described herein further comprise a second administration of the antigen at a time after the first administration of the antigen.

  In some embodiments, the non-replicating or replication-impaired poxvirus comprises a viral vector that includes a nucleic acid encoding an antigen. The nucleic acid encoding the antigen can be operably linked to a promoter. The promoter may be a constitutively active promoter or an inducible promoter. The promoter may further comprise an enhancer or another transcriptional regulatory element (TRE).

  In some embodiments, the subject has not been challenged with the antigen prior to administration of the poxvirus comprising the antigen, and the subject is at risk of being challenged with the antigen. In these embodiments, stimulating an immune response provides a subject's protection against diseases caused by agents that present the antigen.

  In some embodiments, the subject has already been challenged with an antigen prior to administration of a poxvirus comprising the antigen. In these embodiments, stimulating an immune response treats a subject's disease caused by an agent that presents the antigen.

  In some embodiments, stimulating an immune response protects from or treats the disease. The disease can be cancer or infection. Cancer is melanoma, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, breast cancer, prostate adenocarcinoma, prostate epithelial neoplasia, lung squamous cell carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, small cell lung cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer, colorectal adenocarcinoma And leiomyosarcoma, gastric adenocarcinoma and leiomyosarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, ductal adenocarcinoma of pancreas, pancreatic endocrine tumor, renal cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma of the kidney and bladder, bladder squamous cell carcinoma, papillary thyroid It can be cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, astrocytoma, or glioblastoma multiforme.

  The infection can be a viral infection, a bacterial infection, a fungal infection, or a protozoal infection. Infections include HIV, influenza, dengue fever, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human papilloma virus, Ebola, Marburg, rabies, hantavirus infection, West Nile virus, SARS-like coronavirus, herpes simplex virus, Varicella-zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus 8 type, alphavirus, St. Louis encephalitis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella typhimurium dithramerithracis, Yersinia peristis, Francisella pultis, Francisella pultis. Coccidioides immitis, Blastomyces dermatitidis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans, Aspergillus species, Malaria (Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malariae), Leishmania species, Trypanosome species (Africa and the United States), Cryptosporidium, Isospora species, Naegleria fowleri, Acanthamoeba species, Balamuthia mandrillaris, Toxoplasma gondii, or Pneumocystis carini i.

  According to another aspect of the invention, a kit is provided. In some embodiments, the kit includes a device for disrupting the subject's epidermis and a live modified non-replicating or replication-incompetent poxvirus. The device can be a random cut needle, hypodermic needle or abrader.

  The poxvirus may be attached to the device or mixed in solution. The solution may further comprise an agent that enhances delivery of the poxvirus to the subject through the subject's epidermis. The solution may further comprise an agent that enhances the immune response in the subject.

The kit described herein may further comprise instructions for using the kit.
The present invention also provides the following items.
(Item 1)
A method for stimulating an immune response comprising administering to a subject a live modified non-replicating or replication-defective poxvirus comprising an antigen in an amount sufficient to stimulate said immune response. The poxvirus is administered to a mechanically disrupted epidermis.
(Item 2)
Item 2. The method according to Item 1, wherein the immune response is a humoral response and / or a cellular response.
(Item 3)
Item 3. The method according to Item 2, wherein the cellular response is induced by CD4 + T cells and / or CD8 + T cells and / or B cells.
(Item 4)
Item 2. The method according to Item 1, wherein the poxvirus is selected from the group consisting of orthopox, suipox, tripox, capripox, repolipox, parapoxvirus, molluscum contagiosum virus, and Yatapox virus.
(Item 5)
Item 5. The method according to Item 4, wherein the orthopoxvirus is vaccinia virus.
(Item 6)
Item 5. The method described.
(Item 7)
Item 2. The method according to Item 1, wherein the epidermis is mechanically broken by a random cutting needle, a hypodermic needle, or a scraper.
(Item 8)
Item 2. The method of item 1, wherein the epidermis is mechanically disrupted essentially simultaneously with administration of the poxvirus.
(Item 9)
Item 2. The method according to Item 1, wherein the epidermis is mechanically destroyed before administration of the poxvirus.
(Item 10)
Item 2. The method according to Item 1, wherein the subject has cancer or is at risk of developing cancer.
(Item 11)
The above cancers are skin cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, and thyroid cancer or 11. The method of item 10, wherein the colorectal cancer.
(Item 12)
The above cancers are prostate adenocarcinoma, prostate epithelial neoplasia, lung squamous cell carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer derived from epithelium, colorectal adenocarcinoma and smooth muscle species, gastric adenocarcinoma and leiomyosarcoma, Hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, pancreatic endocrine tumor, renal cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma of the kidney and bladder, bladder squamous cell carcinoma, papillary thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, astrocytes Item 12. The method according to Item 11, wherein the method is selected from the group consisting of a tumor and a glioblastoma multiforme.
(Item 13)
Item 12. The method according to Item 11, wherein the skin cancer is selected from the group consisting of melanoma, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma.
(Item 14)
2. The method of item 1, wherein the subject has an infection or is at risk of developing an infection. (Item 15)
15. The method according to item 14, wherein the infection is a viral infection, a bacterial infection, a fungal infection, or a protozoal infection.
(Item 16)
The virus infection is HIV, influenza, dengue fever, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human papillomavirus, Ebola, Marburg, rabies, hantavirus infection, West Nile virus, SARS-like coronavirus, herpes simplex 16. The method of item 15, selected from the group consisting of a virus, varicella-zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus type 8, alphavirus, and St. Louis encephalitis.
(Item 17)
The bacterial infection is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella typhi, Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia
16. The method of item 15, selected from the group consisting of perstis, Francisella tularensis, Legionella, Chlamydia, Rickettsia typhi, and Treponema pallidum.
(Item 18)
16. The method of item 15, wherein the fungal infection is selected from the group consisting of Coccidioides immitis, Blastomyces dermatitis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus species.
(Item 19)
The protozoan infection, Malaria (Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malariae), Leishmania species, Trypanosome species (Africa and the United States), Cryptosporidium, Isospora species, Naegleria fowleri, Acanthamoeba species, Balamuthia mandrillaris, Toxoplasma gondii, and 16. The method of item 15, wherein the method is selected from the group consisting of Pneumocystis carinii.
(Item 20)
Item 2. The method according to Item 1, wherein the antigen is a tumor associated antigen (TAA), a tumor specific antigen (TSA), or a tissue specific antigen.
(Item 21)
Item 2. The method according to Item 1, wherein the antigen is a viral antigen, bacterial antigen, fungal antigen or protozoan antigen.
(Item 22)
2. The method of item 1, further comprising administering a costimulatory molecule, a growth factor, an adjuvant and / or a cytokine.
(Item 23)
24. The method of item 22, wherein the costimulatory molecule is co-expressed with the antigen by the poxvirus.
(Item 24)
The co-expressed costimulatory molecules are IL-1, IL-2, IL-7, IL-12, IL-15, IL-18, IL-23, IL-27, B7-2, B7-H3, 24. The method of item 23, selected from the group consisting of CD40, CD40L, ICOS-ligand, OX-40L, 4-1BBL, GM-CSF, SCF, FGF, Flt3-ligand, CCR4. (Item 25)
Item 2. The method according to Item 1, wherein the poxvirus is TRICOM ^™ .
(Item 26)
23. A method according to item 22, wherein the costimulatory molecule, growth factor, adjuvant and / or cytokine is administered essentially simultaneously with the antigen.
(Item 27)
23. A method according to item 22, wherein the costimulatory molecule, growth factor, adjuvant and / or cytokine is administered prior to the antigen.
(Item 28)
23. A method according to item 22, wherein the costimulatory molecule, growth factor, adjuvant and / or cytokine is administered after the antigen.
(Item 29)
29. A method according to any one of items 26 to 28, wherein the costimulatory molecule, growth factor, adjuvant and / or cytokine is administered at essentially the same site as the antigen.
(Item 30)
29. A method according to any one of items 26 to 28, wherein the costimulatory molecule, growth factor, adjuvant and / or cytokine is administered at a site different from the antigen.
(Item 31)
2. The method of item 1, further comprising a second administration of the antigen at a time after the first administration of the antigen.
(Item 32)
Item 2. The method according to Item 1, wherein the non-replicating or replication-defective poxvirus comprises a viral vector containing a nucleic acid encoding the antigen.
(Item 33)
33. The method of item 32, wherein the nucleic acid encoding the antigen is operably linked to a promoter.
(Item 34)
34. A method according to item 33, wherein the promoter is a constitutively active promoter or an inducible promoter.
(Item 35)
34. The method of item 33, further comprising an enhancer or other transcriptional regulatory element (TRE).
(Item 36)
2. The method of item 1, wherein the subject has not been challenged with the antigen prior to administration of the poxvirus comprising the antigen and the subject is at risk of being challenged with the antigen.
(Item 37)
38. The method of item 36, wherein stimulating the immune response provides protection of the subject against a disease caused by an agent presenting the antigen.
(Item 38)
2. The method of item 1, wherein the subject has been challenged with the antigen prior to administration of the poxvirus comprising the antigen.
(Item 39)
40. The method of item 38, wherein stimulating the immune response treats the subject's disease caused by an agent presenting the antigen.
(Item 40)
40. The method of item 37 or 39, wherein the disease is infection or cancer.
(Item 41)
The above cancers are melanoma, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, breast cancer, prostate adenocarcinoma, prostate epithelial neoplasia, lung squamous cell carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, small cell lung cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer, colorectal gland Cancer and leiomyosarcoma, gastric adenocarcinoma and leiomyosarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, pancreatic endocrine tumor, renal cell carcinoma, renal and bladder transitional cell carcinoma, bladder squamous cell carcinoma, papillary 41. The method of item 40, selected from the group consisting of thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, astrocytoma, and glioblastoma multiforme.
(Item 42)
41. The method of item 40, wherein the infection is a viral infection, bacterial infection, fungal infection, or protozoal infection.
(Item 43)
HIV, influenza, dengue fever, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human papillomavirus, Ebola, Marburg, rabies, hantavirus infection, West Nile virus, SARS-like coronavirus, herpes simplex virus, Varicella-zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus type 8, alphavirus, St. Louis encephalitis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella typhimurium dithramitis, Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia peristis, Francisella pultis ccidioides immitis, Blastomyces dermatitidis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans, Aspergillus species, Malaria (Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malariae), Leishmania species, Trypanosome species (Africa and the United States), Cryptosporidium, Isospora species, Naegleria fowleri, The group consisting of Acanthamoeba species, Balamuthia mandrillaris, Toxoplasma gondii, and Pneumocystis carinii Ri is selected The method of claim 42.
(Item 44)
A kit comprising a device for disrupting a subject's epithelium and a live modified non-replicating or replication-incompetent poxvirus.
(Item 45)
45. A kit according to item 44, wherein the device is a random cutting needle, a hypodermic needle or a scraping device.
(Item 46)
45. A kit according to item 44, wherein the poxvirus is attached to the device.
(Item 47)
45. A kit according to item 44, wherein the poxvirus is mixed in a solution.
(Item 48)
48. The kit of item 47, wherein the solution further comprises an agent that enhances delivery of the poxvirus to a subject, and the poxvirus is delivered through the epidermis of the subject.
(Item 49)
48. The kit of item 47, wherein the solution further comprises an agent that enhances an immune response in a subject, and the immune response is stimulated by the poxvirus.
(Item 50)
45. A kit according to item 44, further comprising instructions for using the kit.

  Each of the limitations of the invention can encompass various embodiments of the invention. Thus, it is anticipated that each of the limitations of the invention including any one element or combination of elements can be included in each aspect of the invention. The present invention is not limited to its application to the arrangement of components described in the details of construction and in the following description or illustrated in the figures. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Moreover, the language and terminology used herein is for purposes of explanation and should not be considered limiting. The use of “including”, “comprising”, or “having”, “containing”, “including” and variations thereof herein is It is meant to encompass the listed items and their equivalents as well as additional items.

FIG. 1 is a graph showing that vaccinia virus inoculation by skin disruption is superior immunogenicity compared to other immunization routes. C57BL / 6 (B6) mice were immunized with VV at a dose of 2 × 10 ⁶ pfu by the indicated route. s. s. : Cut off skin, i. p. : Intraperitoneal injection, s. c. : Subcutaneous injection, i. d. : Intradermal injection, i. m. : Intramuscular injection. (A) Primary T cell response: Splenocytes harvested on day 7 after immunization (pi) were treated with VV infected target cells (untreated mice) in the presence of brefelding A for 6 hours. The frequency of IFN-γ producing CD8 T cells was measured by staining with intracellular cytokines. U1: mice not immunized. (B) Memory VV-specific T cell activity, p. i. Evaluation was made at 5 weeks. Spleen cells from the immunized mice were restimulated with VV infected target cells for 48 hours and the suspension collected. IFN-g production in suspension was measured by ELISA. (Cd). Serum VV-specific IgG levels are determined by ELISA by p. i. It was determined when indicated later. FIG. 1 is a graph showing that vaccinia virus inoculation by skin disruption is superior immunogenicity compared to other immunization routes. C57BL / 6 (B6) mice were immunized with VV at a dose of 2 × 10 ⁶ pfu by the indicated route. s. s. : Cut off skin, i. p. : Intraperitoneal injection, s. c. : Subcutaneous injection, i. d. : Intradermal injection, i. m. : Intramuscular injection. (A) Primary T cell response: Splenocytes harvested on day 7 after immunization (pi) were treated with VV infected target cells (untreated mice) in the presence of brefelding A for 6 hours. The frequency of IFN-γ producing CD8 T cells was measured by staining with intracellular cytokines. U1: mice not immunized. (B) Memory VV-specific T cell activity, p. i. Evaluation was made at 5 weeks. Spleen cells from the immunized mice were restimulated with VV infected target cells for 48 hours and the suspension collected. IFN-g production in suspension was measured by ELISA. (Cd). Serum VV-specific IgG levels are determined by ELISA by p. i. It was determined when indicated later. FIG. 2 shows that VV skin disruption causes superior protection against secondary dermal viral challenge compared to other routes of immunization. B6 mice were immunized with VV by various routes as indicated. Eight weeks after immunization, immunized mice were challenged with secondary cutaneous VV infection. Six days after challenge, viral load at the challenged site was measured by real-time PCR. Non-immunized mice were included as controls. FIG. 3 illustrates that cutaneous cuts provide excellent protection against secondary intranasal virus challenge. (Ab) B6 mice were immunized with VV by various routes at a dose of 2c10 ⁶ pfu. The immunized mice were p. i. At 6 weeks, lethal challenge with nasal infection of WR-VV. Survival (a) and weight change (BW) (b) were monitored daily after challenge. (Cd) B6 mice are immunized with VV by cutaneous skin at the indicated doses, p. i. At 6 weeks, lethal challenge with intranasal WR-VV infection. Survival (c) and BW change (d) were monitored daily after challenge. Non-immunized mice were included as controls. FIG. 3 illustrates that cutaneous cuts provide excellent protection against secondary intranasal virus challenge. (Ab) B6 mice were immunized with VV by various routes at a dose of 2c10 ⁶ pfu. The immunized mice were p. i. At 6 weeks, lethal challenge with nasal infection of WR-VV. Survival (a) and weight change (BW) (b) were monitored daily after challenge. (Cd) B6 mice are immunized with VV by cutaneous skin at the indicated doses, p. i. At 6 weeks, lethal challenge with intranasal WR-VV infection. Survival (c) and BW change (d) were monitored daily after challenge. Non-immunized mice were included as controls. FIG. 4 shows that immunization with VV skin disruption provides excellent protection against intradermal melanoma challenge. B6 mice were immunized with rVV-ova by the indicated route. Immunized mice were challenged 4 weeks later by intradermal injection of B16-ova melanoma cells. (Ae) Photographs of mice challenged with tumor were taken on day 18 after transplantation of tumor cells. (F) Tumor growth was monitored in challenged mice for up to 40 days. FIG. 5 shows that a T cell mediated immune response was required for good protection against secondary skin challenge after VV skin disruption. WT or B cell-deficient mMT mice are treated with cutaneous or i. p. Immunized with VV by injection. The mice are then p. i. At 6 weeks, challenged by secondary VV cutaneous infection. (A) Viral load at the challenged site was determined on day 6 after challenge. In some wt mouse groups, both CD4 ⁺ and CD8 ⁺ T cells were depleted prior to challenge. (Bc) Secondary T cell responses in challenged wt and mMt immunized mice were evaluated in the skin exclusion groin lymph node (b) and spleen (c) on day 6 of challenge. (D) Skin samples were collected from the challenged site 4 days after challenge. Skin infiltrating CD3 ⁺ T cells were identified by immunohistochemistry. FIG. 5 shows that a T cell mediated immune response was required for good protection against secondary skin challenge after VV skin disruption. WT or B cell-deficient mMT mice are treated with cutaneous or i. p. Immunized with VV by injection. The mice are then p. i. At 6 weeks, challenged by secondary VV cutaneous infection. (A) Viral load at the challenged site was determined on day 6 after challenge. In some wt mouse groups, both CD4 ⁺ and CD8 ⁺ T cells were depleted prior to challenge. (Bc) Secondary T cell responses in challenged wt and mMt immunized mice were evaluated in the skin exclusion groin lymph node (b) and spleen (c) on day 6 of challenge. (D) Skin samples were collected from the challenged site 4 days after challenge. Skin infiltrating CD3 ⁺ T cells were identified by immunohistochemistry. FIG. 6 shows that neither T cells nor B cells were required for survival after lethal intranasal WR-VV challenge, but T cells but not Abs were important for disease prevention. is there. Wild-type (wt) or B cell-deficient μMT mice were treated with cutaneous cuts (ab) or i. p. Immunized with VV by injection (cd). Mice were then p. i. At 6 weeks, challenged by lethal WR-VV intranasal infection. In some wt mouse groups, a large amount of anti-CD4 and anti-CD8 mAb treatment caused a depletion of both CD4 ⁺ and CD8 ⁺ T cells before and during challenge. Mouse survival (a, c) and BW changes (b, d) were monitored daily after challenge. FIG. 6 shows that neither T cells nor B cells were required for survival after lethal intranasal WR-VV challenge, but T cells but not Abs were important for disease prevention. is there. Wild-type (wt) or B cell-deficient μMT mice were treated with cutaneous cuts (ab) or i. p. Immunized with VV by injection (cd). Mice were then p. i. At 6 weeks, challenged by lethal WR-VV intranasal infection. In some wt mouse groups, a large amount of anti-CD4 and anti-CD8 mAb treatment caused a depletion of both CD4 ⁺ and CD8 ⁺ T cells before and during challenge. Mouse survival (a, c) and BW changes (b, d) were monitored daily after challenge. FIG. 7 shows that LN of T cell activation imprints differential expression of skin or intestinal homing molecules on CD8 ⁺ T cells as early as 60 hours after infection. FIG. CFSE-labeled Thy1.1 ⁺ OT-1 cells were adoptively transferred into Thy1.2 ⁺ B6 mice. Recipient mice are then cut through the skin or i. p. Infected with rVV-ova by either injection. (A) Sixty hours after infection, proliferation of OT-1 cells in ILN and MLN was shown by a histogram gated on Thy1.1 ⁺ donor cells. (Bc) ILN (b) and i. p. MLN (c) of infected mice was analyzed for OT-1 tissue homing phenotype 60 hours after rVV-ova infection. Dot plots were gated on Thy1.1 ⁺ cells. Numbers in quadrant indicate Thy1.1 ⁺ proportion in population. (D) The geometric mean fluorescence intensity (GMF1) of the indicated marker on OT-1 cells was plotted in the cell division cycle. FIG. 7 shows that LN of T cell activation imprints differential expression of skin or intestinal homing molecules on CD8 ⁺ T cells as early as 60 hours after infection. FIG. CFSE-labeled Thy1.1 ⁺ OT-1 cells were adoptively transferred into Thy1.2 ⁺ B6 mice. Recipient mice are then cut through the skin or i. p. Infected with rVV-ova by either injection. (A) Sixty hours after infection, proliferation of OT-1 cells in ILN and MLN was shown by a histogram gated on Thy1.1 ⁺ donor cells. (Bc) ILN (b) and i. p. MLN (c) of infected mice was analyzed for OT-1 tissue homing phenotype 60 hours after rVV-ova infection. Dot plots were gated on Thy1.1 ⁺ cells. Numbers in quadrant indicate Thy1.1 ⁺ proportion in population. (D) The geometric mean fluorescence intensity (GMF1) of the indicated marker on OT-1 cells was plotted in the cell division cycle. FIG. 8 shows that 5 days after VV skin disruption, T cells activated in skin exclusion ILN migrated into secondary lymphoid tissues without spreading of virus or viral antigen. (A) Lymphocytes were prepared from the indicated tissues 5 days after rVV-ova skin disruption. OT-1 cell proliferation was analyzed by flow cytometry. (B) RNA samples were prepared from the indicated tissues 5 days after VV disruption. VV infection was measured by real-time RT-PCT. Data are the mean ± sd of 4 independent experiments using 3 mice per group. d. Represents. (C) Antigen-presenting cells were purified from IL6, MLN and spleen of B6 mice using anti-MHC class II magnetic beads 4 days after skin disruption with rVV-ova. Cells were co-cultured with CFSE labeled Thy1.1 ⁺ OT-1 cells for 60 hours. OT-1 cell activation and proliferation was monitored by flow cytometer. Histograms were gated on the Thy1.1 ⁺ population. FIG. 9 shows that the gut homing molecule α4β7 was upregulated on scattered OT-1 CD8 ⁺ cells by secondary homing imprinting 5 days after rVV-ova skin disruption. is there. (A) ILN and MLN were collected 5 days after disruption with rVV-ova. The expression of the homing marker shown on Thy1.1 ⁺ OT-1 cells was determined by flow cytometry. Dot plots were gated on Thy1.1 ⁺ cells. (Bd) B6 mice receiving Thy1.1 ⁺ OT-1 cells received daily injections of FTY720 starting 24 hours prior to disruption with rVV-ova. On day 5 after infection, lymphocytes were collected from the indicated tissues and analyzed by flow cytometry. (B) Percentage of Thy1.1 ⁺ cells in total lymphocytes. (C) E-Lig and (d) α4β7 expression on OT-1 cells in ILN. Histograms were gated on the Thy1.1 ⁺ population. FIG. 9 shows that the gut homing molecule α4β7 was upregulated on scattered OT-1 CD8 ⁺ cells by secondary homing imprinting 5 days after rVV-ova skin disruption. is there. (A) ILN and MLN were collected 5 days after disruption with rVV-ova. The expression of the homing marker shown on Thy1.1 ⁺ OT-1 cells was determined by flow cytometry. Dot plots were gated on Thy1.1 ⁺ cells. (Bd) B6 mice receiving Thy1.1 ⁺ OT-1 cells received daily injections of FTY720 starting 24 hours prior to disruption with rVV-ova. On day 5 after infection, lymphocytes were collected from the indicated tissues and analyzed by flow cytometry. (B) Percentage of Thy1.1 ⁺ cells in total lymphocytes. (C) E-Lig and (d) α4β7 expression on OT-1 cells in ILN. Histograms were gated on the Thy1.1 ⁺ population. FIG. 10 shows that primary and secondary imprinting of tissue-specific homing molecules during acute viral infection was maintained during the memory phase. Lymphocytes were collected from the indicated tissues 30 days after rVV-ova skin disruption. The percentage of E-Lig ⁺ or α4β7 ⁺ cells in Thy1.1 ⁺ OT-1 cells was analyzed by flow cytometry. Data are the mean ± sd of 6 mice. d. Represents. FIG. 11 shows that MVA immunization with cutaneous cuts (ss) induces a dose-dependent immune response. (A) B6 mice received different doses of MVA (from left to right: 1.8 × 10 ⁷ , 1.8 × 10 ⁶ , 1.8 × 10 ⁵ and 1.8 × 10 ⁴ pfu) and s. s. Immunized with. Seven days after immunization, pox lesions were observed in a dose-dependent manner. (Bc) B6 mice were s.d. at the indicated dose (pfu / mouse). s. Immunized with MVA or VV. (B) Seven days after immunization, primary vaccinia-specific T cell responses were measured in the spleen. (C) Serum vaccinia-specific IgG was measured 6 weeks after immunization. (D) 6 weeks after immunization, mice were lethal i.v. by WR-VV. n. Challenged with infection. Survival and BW changes were monitored daily. FIG. 11 shows that MVA immunization with cutaneous cuts (ss) induces a dose-dependent immune response. (A) B6 mice received different doses of MVA (from left to right: 1.8 × 10 ⁷ , 1.8 × 10 ⁶ , 1.8 × 10 ⁵ and 1.8 × 10 ⁴ pfu) and s. s. Immunized with. Seven days after immunization, pox lesions were observed in a dose-dependent manner. (Bc) B6 mice were s.d. at the indicated dose (pfu / mouse). s. Immunized with MVA or VV. (B) Seven days after immunization, primary vaccinia-specific T cell responses were measured in the spleen. (C) Serum vaccinia-specific IgG was measured 6 weeks after immunization. (D) 6 weeks after immunization, mice were lethal i.v. by WR-VV. n. Challenged with infection. Survival and BW changes were monitored daily. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing that skin disruption by MVA provides superior immune response and protective efficiency compared to the injection route. B6 mice were immunized with 2 × 10 ⁶ pfu MVA by the indicated route. (A) The primary T cell response is expressed as p. i. Measurements were taken at 7 days. (B) VV specific IgG, p. i. Measurements were taken at 6 weeks. (Cf) a memory mouse, p. i. At 6 weeks, intranasal challenge with a lethal dose of WR-VV, secondary T cell responses (c) and post-challenge VV-specific IgG were measured 6 days after challenge (d). Survival (e) and BW change (f) were monitored daily after challenge. Mice with VV skin disruption (2 × 10 ⁶ pfu) mice were included as controls. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing that skin disruption by MVA provides superior immune response and protective efficiency compared to the injection route. B6 mice were immunized with 2 × 10 ⁶ pfu MVA by the indicated route. (A) The primary T cell response is expressed as p. i. Measurements were taken at 7 days. (B) VV specific IgG, p. i. Measurements were taken at 6 weeks. (Cf) a memory mouse, p. i. At 6 weeks, intranasal challenge with a lethal dose of WR-VV, secondary T cell responses (c) and post-challenge VV-specific IgG were measured 6 days after challenge (d). Survival (e) and BW change (f) were monitored daily after challenge. Mice with VV skin disruption (2 × 10 ⁶ pfu) mice were included as controls. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing that skin disruption by MVA provides superior immune response and protective efficiency compared to the injection route. B6 mice were immunized with 2 × 10 ⁶ pfu MVA by the indicated route. (A) The primary T cell response is expressed as p. i. Measurements were taken at 7 days. (B) VV specific IgG, p. i. Measurements were taken at 6 weeks. (Cf) a memory mouse, p. i. At 6 weeks, intranasal challenge with a lethal dose of WR-VV, secondary T cell responses (c) and post-challenge VV-specific IgG were measured 6 days after challenge (d). Survival (e) and BW change (f) were monitored daily after challenge. Mice with VV skin disruption (2 × 10 ⁶ pfu) mice were included as controls. FIG. 13 shows that MVA skin disruption is safe even in immunodeficient hosts. Rag − / − mice were immunized with 2 × 10 ⁶ pfu of MVA or VV by skin disruption. (A) Photographs of pox lesions, p. i. Photographed on days 7 and 28. (B) Survival and (c) BW changes were monitored weekly. (D) Three months after MVA disruption, viral load collected from Rag1 − / − mice was determined by real-time PCR. Untreated skin and day 7 VV disrupted wt mouse skin were used as controls. FIG. 13 shows that MVA skin disruption is safe even in immunodeficient hosts. Rag − / − mice were immunized with 2 × 10 ⁶ pfu of MVA or VV by skin disruption. (A) Photographs of pox lesions, p. i. Photographed on days 7 and 28. (B) Survival and (c) BW changes were monitored weekly. (D) Three months after MVA disruption, viral load collected from Rag1 − / − mice was determined by real-time PCR. Untreated skin and day 7 VV disrupted wt mouse skin were used as controls.

(Detailed explanation)
Aspects of the invention include, in part, a strong and persistent immune response to an antigen that causes an altered replication-deficient or non-replicating poxvirus containing the antigen to mechanically disrupted epidermis in a subject. It is based on the discovery that it can be realized by administration.

Methods of Treatment Provided herein are novel methods for stimulating an immune response and / or immunizing a subject against an infection (or infectious disease) or cancer. The method comprises administering to a subject in need thereof a modified replication deficient or non-replicating poxvirus vector containing the antigen in an amount sufficient to stimulate an immune response against the antigen; Here the poxvirus is administered to the mechanically disrupted epidermis of the subject.

  Subjects include humans, dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, turkeys, chickens, primates (eg, monkeys or chimpanzees), rodents (eg, mice, rats or hamsters) and fish Vertebrates including, but not limited to. Preferably, the subject is a mammal, more preferably a human.

  The methods of the invention are useful for stimulating an immune response and / or immunizing a subject in need of such treatment. A subject in need of treatment is a subject suffering from or at risk of getting a cancer or a subject who is infected or at risk for infection (eg, viral infection, bacterial infection, fungal infection or Protozoal infection or subject at risk of contraction).

  A subject having cancer is a subject having detectable cancer cells. As used herein, “cancer” refers to uncontrolled cell growth that interferes with the normal functioning of body organs and systems.

  A subject at risk of developing cancer is a subject who has a higher probability of developing cancer than normal. These subjects include, for example, subjects with genetic abnormalities whose presence has been demonstrated to correlate with a higher likelihood of developing cancer. These subjects may have been exposed to cancer-causing agents (ie, carcinogens) such as tobacco, asbestos, or other chemical toxins, or may have been previously treated for cancer Includes subjects in remission.

  An infected subject is a subject who has been exposed to infectious microorganisms, has acute or chronic detectable levels of microorganisms in the body, or has signs and symptoms of infectious microorganisms. Methods of assessing and detecting infection in a subject are known to those skilled in the art.

  A subject at risk of infection is a subject that can be expected to contact infectious microorganisms. Examples of such subjects are health care workers or travelers to areas with a high incidence of global infection. In some embodiments, the subject is at high risk of infection because it has one or more risk factors for infection. Examples of risk factors for infection include, for example, immunosuppression, immunocompromised state, age, trauma, burns (eg, burns), surgery, foreign body, cancer, newborn, especially premature infants. The degree of risk of infection depends on the number and severity or magnitude of the risk factors that the subject has. Risk charts and prediction algorithms are available to assess the risk of infection in a subject based on the presence and severity of risk factors. Other methods for assessing the risk of infection in a subject are known to those skilled in the art. In some embodiments, a subject at high risk of infection may be an apparently healthy subject. An apparently healthy subject is one that has no signs or symptoms of disease.

  Some embodiments of the invention involve administering to a subject a live modified replication-incompetent or non-replicating poxvirus comprising an antigen.

Viral vectors Poxviruses are useful vectors for various uses, such as vaccines that generate an immune response, development of new vaccines, delivery of desired proteins, and gene therapy. The advantages of these poxvirus vectors include (i) ease of production and production, (ii) large size genomes that allow insertion of multiple genes (ie, as multivalent vectors), (iii) antigens Efficient delivery of genes to multiple cell types, including presenting cells, (iv) high levels of protein expression, (v) optimal presentation of antigens to the immune system, and (vi) cell-mediated immune and antibody responses The ability to elicit, (vii) the ability to use a combination of poxviruses from different genera because they are not immunologically cross-reactive, and (viii) the use of this vector as a pressure ulcer vaccine in humans Long-term experience.

  A poxvirus can be genetically engineered to contain and express foreign DNA with or without loss of the virus's ability to replicate. Such foreign DNA can encode a wide range of proteins such as antigens that induce protection against one or more infectious agents, immunoregulatory proteins such as costimulatory molecules, or enzyme proteins. For example, recombinant vaccinia virus has been engineered to express immune antigens of herpes virus, hepatitis B, rabies, influenza, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and other viruses (Kieny et al., Nature 312: 163-6 (1984); Smith et al., Nature 302: 490-5 (1983); Smith et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80: 7155-9 (1983); Nature 326: 249-50 (1987); Cooney et al., Lancet 337: 567-72 (1991); Graham et al., J. Infect. Dis. 166: 244-52 (1992). ), Influenza virus, dengue Virus, to induce an immune response has been demonstrated against RS virus, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Pox viruses have also been used to generate immune responses against tumor-associated antigens such as CEA, PSA and MUC.

  A poxvirus is a well-known cytoplasmic virus. The genetic material expressed by such viral vectors typically remains in the cytoplasm and there is no possibility of accidental integration of genetic material into a host cell gene unless certain steps are taken. As a result of the non-integral cytoplasmic nature of poxviruses, the poxvirus vector system will not be persistent in other cells. Thus, the vector and transformed cells will not adversely affect the cells in the host animal at a location remote from the target cells.

  Compared to other systems such as retroviral vectors (including lentiviral vectors), adenoviral vectors, and adeno-associated viral vectors, the large genome of poxvirus allows large genes to be integrated into pox-based vectors. . Advantageously, foreign DNA is not integrated into the host cell genome because poxviruses are cytoplasmic in nature.

  Several poxviruses have been developed as live viral vectors for the expression of heterologous proteins, such as attenuated vaccinia virus strains modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) and Wyeth (Cepko et al., Cell 37: 1053-1062 (1984). Morin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84: 4626-4630 (1987); Lowe et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 84: 3896-3900 (1987). Panicali & Paoletti, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 79: 4927-4931 (1982); Macckett et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 79 Volume: 7415-7419 (1982)). Other attenuated vaccinia virus strains include WR strain, NYCBH strain, ACAM2000, Lister strain, LC16m8, Eltree-BNm, Copenhagen strain, and Tiantan strain.

  Vaccinia virus is a prototype of the genus Orthopoxvirus. Vaccinia virus is a double-stranded DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) virus that has a broad host range under experimental conditions (Fenner et al., Orthopoxviruses. San Diego, Calif .: Academic Press, Inc., 1989; Damaso et al., Virology 277). Volume: 439-49 (2000)).

Modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) or its derivatives were generated by long-term serial passage of vaccinia virus Ankara strain (CVA) in chicken embryo fibroblasts (for review see Mayr, A. et al., Infection, 3 Volume: 6-14 (1975)). The MVA virus itself can be obtained from several public sources. For example, MVA was deposited at CNCM (Institut Pasteur, Collection National de Cultures Microorganisms, 25, rue du Doctour Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15) on December 15, 1987, according to the requirements of the Budapest Treaty. (US Pat. No. 5,185,146); MVA virus was founded on January 27, 1994, European Collection of Cell in accordance with the Budapest Treaty.
Deposited at Cultures (ECACC) (CAMR, Porton Down, Salisbury, SP4 OJG, UK) under deposit number V94012707 (US Pat. No. 6,440,422 and US Patent Publication No. 2003/0013190). Moreover, US Patent Publication No. 2003/0013190 further discloses certain MVA strains deposited with ECACC under deposit number 99101431 and ECACC provisional accession number 010214111. THERION-MVA, THERION PRIFERE vector, and THERION M-SERIES vector (Therion Biology Corporation, MA) are commercially available.

MVA was generated by 516 serial passages in chicken embryo fibroblasts of the Ankara strain of vaccinia virus (CVA) (reviewed by Mayr, A. et al., Infection
3, see pages 6-14 [1975]). As a result of these long passages, approximately 31 kilobases of genomic sequences have been deleted from the virus (deletions I, II, III, IV, V, and VI), and thus the resulting MVA virus is It has been described as being highly restricted to avian cells (Meyer, H. et al., J. Gen. Virol. 72, 1031-1038 [1991]). The MVA thus obtained has been shown to be remarkably asymptomatic in various animal models (Mayr, A. & Danner, K. [1978] Dev. Biol. Stand. 41: 225-34). . In addition, this MVA strain has been tested in clinical trials as a vaccine to immunize against human pressure ulcer disease (Mayr et al., Zbl. Bakt. Hyg. I, Abt. Org.
B 167, 375-390 [1987], Stickl et al., Dtsch. med. Wschr. 99, 2386-2392 [1974]). These studies include more than 120,000 humans, including high-risk patients, and MVA is less toxic or infectious than vaccinia-based vaccines, but a good specific immune response Proved to induce. In general, a virus strain is considered attenuated if it has lost or only has a low ability to reproductively replicate in the host cell.

  As used herein, the term "non-replicating" or "replication-incompetent" poxvirus means replicating to any significant degree in the majority of normal mammalian cells or normal primary human cells. It's a poxvirus that can't. As used herein, “significant degree” means a replication capacity of 75% or less compared to wild-type vaccinia virus in a standardized assay. In some embodiments, the poxvirus has a replication capacity of 65%, 55%, 45%, 35%, 25%, or 15% compared to the wild type vaccinia virus. In some embodiments, the poxvirus has a replication capacity of 5% or less, or 1% or less compared to the wild type vaccinia virus. Non-replicating viruses are 100% replication defective in normal primary human cells.

  Viral replication assays are known in the art and can be performed, for example, on vaccinia virus on primary keratinocytes, see, eg, Liu et al. Virol. 2005, 79:12, 7363-70. A virus that is non-replicating or replication-incompetent is naturally (ie it may have been isolated from nature) or artificially, for example by in vitro propagation, or genetic engineering, for example, This may have been due to a deletion of a gene that is crucial for replication. In general, for MVA there are one or a few cell types in which the virus can grow, such as CEF cells.

  As used herein, a “modified” poxvirus is altered in some way that alters one or more characteristics of the modified virus compared to the wild-type virus. It is a pox virus. These changes may have occurred naturally or through engineering operations. In some embodiments, the modified poxvirus has been altered to include antigen (s) that are immunogenic (ie, induce an immune response in the host). For example, the antigen includes a cancer antigen or a microbial antigen.

  In some embodiments, alterations in poxviruses include, for example, changes in the viral gene expression profile. In some embodiments, the modified poxvirus may express a gene or portion of a gene that encodes a peptide or polypeptide that is foreign to the poxvirus, ie, not present in a wild-type poxvirus. These foreign or heterologous peptides or polypeptides are, for example, sequences that are immunogenic, such as tumor-specific antigens (TSA), bacterial antigens, viral antigens, fungal antigens, and protozoal antigens, or viruses other than poxviruses Of the antigenic sequence. In some embodiments, the modified poxvirus described herein can express a non-poxvirus polypeptide comprising an antigen and is further attenuated. That is, the ability to propagate is low due to modifications that affect the rate of viral replication such that these modified poxviruses are replication defective or non-replicating.

  One advantage of a poxvirus as a vector is its large genome size that allows insertion of a wide range of genetic material, including multiple genes (ie, as a multivalent vector). The genetic material can be inserted at an appropriate site within the poxvirus genome so that the recombinant virus remains viable. That is, the genetic material ensures that the recombinant virus retains the desired immunogenicity and attenuated toxicity while retaining certain sites of viral DNA (eg, viral DNA) to ensure that it retains the ability to infect foreign cells and express DNA. (Non-essential site). For example, as described above, MVA contains six natural deletion sites that have been demonstrated to serve as insertion sites. See, for example, US Pat. No. 5,185,146, and US Pat. No. 6,404,422. The poxviruses described herein are sometimes referred to herein as viral vectors or viral vector systems.

  In some embodiments, the gene encoding the desired antigen is inserted into the poxvirus genome in such a way that the gene is expressed in the poxvirus along with the expression of the normal complement of the parent viral protein. This can be achieved by first constructing a DNA donor vector for in vivo recombination with poxvirus.

  In general, a DNA donor vector provides the following elements: (i) a prokaryotic origin of replication so that the vector can be amplified in a prokaryotic host; (ii) selection of a prokaryotic host cell containing the vector A gene encoding a marker (eg, a gene encoding antibiotic resistance); (iii) at least one gene encoding a desired protein located adjacent to a transcriptional promoter capable of directing expression of the gene; and (iv) ) Contains a DNA sequence that is homologous to the region of the parental viral genome into which the foreign gene (s) is inserted, which is adjacent to the construct of element (iii).

  A method for constructing a donor plasmid for introducing multiple foreign genes into a poxvirus is described, for example, in WO 91/19833, which technique is incorporated herein by reference. In general, any DNA fragment for construction of a donor vector, including a fragment containing a transcriptional promoter and a fragment containing a sequence homologous to a region of the parental viral genome into which the foreign gene will be inserted, is genomic DNA or cloning It can be obtained from the obtained DNA fragment. The donor plasmid can be monovalent, divalent or multivalent (ie, can contain one or more inserted foreign gene sequences).

  The donor vector may contain an additional gene that encodes a marker that allows the identification of a recombinant virus containing the inserted foreign DNA. Several marker genes can be used to allow identification and isolation of recombinant viruses. These genes include, for example, genes encoding antibiotic resistance or chemical resistance (eg, Spyropoulos et al., J. Virol., 62: 1046 (1988); Falkner and Moss., J. Virol., 62: 1849 (1988); see Franke et al., Mol. Cell. Biol., 5: 1918 (1985)) and E. coli which allow the identification of recombinant viral plaques by colorimetric assays. genes such as the E. coli lacZ gene (Panicali et al., Gene, 47: 193-199 (1986)).

  Homologous recombination between donor plasmid DNA and viral DNA in infected cells forms a recombinant virus that incorporates the desired elements. Suitable host cells for in vivo recombination are generally eukaryotic cells that can be infected by viruses and can be transfected with plasmid vectors. Examples of such cells suitable for use with poxviruses are chicken embryo skin (CED) cells, HuTK143 (human) cells, and CV-1 and BSC-40 (both monkey kidney) cells. Infection of cells with poxviruses and transfection of these cells with plasmid vectors is accomplished by standard techniques in the art (Panicali and Paoletti, US Pat. No. 4,603,112, WO 89/03429). Alternatively, donor DNA can be directly ligated to a unique restriction site in the parental viral genome (Scheiflinger et al. (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 89: 9977-9981). .

Following in vivo recombination or ligation, recombinant viral progeny can be identified by several techniques well known in the art. For example, DNA donor vector, if it is designed to insert foreign genes into the parent virus thymidine kinase (TK) within the gene, viruses containing integrated DNA will TK ^- becomes, selected on the basis of this (Macckett et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 79: 7415 (1982)). Alternatively, as described above, recombinant offspring can be identified using co-integration of the foreign gene (s) of interest with the marker-encoding gene or indicator gene. is there. One preferred indicator gene is E. coli. A recombinant virus that is an E. coli lacZ gene and expresses β-galactosidase can be selected using a chromogenic substrate for the enzyme (Panicali et al., Gene, 47: 193 (1986)).

  Once a recombinant virus is identified, the expression of the polypeptide encoded by the inserted gene can be assayed using a variety of methods well known in the art. These methods include, for example, black plaque assay (in situ enzyme immunoassay performed on viral plaque), Western blot analysis, radioimmunoprecipitation (RIPA), enzyme immunoassay (EIA), or CTL assay. Functional assays are included.

  Since poxviruses have a large genome, they can easily be used to deliver a wide range of genetic material, including multiple genes (ie, act as a multivalent vector). The size of the poxvirus genome ranges from about 130-300 kbp, depending on the virus strain, with a maximum of 300 genes. Therefore, it is possible to insert large fragments of foreign DNA into these viruses and still maintain the stability of the viral genome.

Antigens and immunostimulatory molecules expressed by viral vectors In some embodiments, at least one nucleic acid fragment encoding a gene is inserted into a poxvirus vector. In another embodiment, at least two and up to about 10 different nucleic acids encoding different genes are inserted into the poxvirus vector.

  In some embodiments, the poxvirus is inserted with DNA encoding a disease-related antigen of interest, such as an antigen (s) from a disease-causing factor or an antigen associated with a disease state. ) Is expressed.

  In certain embodiments, the poxvirus is inserted with DNA encoding the costimulatory molecule (s) and expresses the costimulatory molecule (s).

  In certain embodiments, the poxvirus is inserted with DNA encoding the disease-related antigen (s) and costimulatory molecule (s) of interest, and the antigen (s) and costimulatory molecule (s). Express).

  Any DNA of interest can be inserted into the poxvirus vectors described herein. The foreign gene for insertion into the poxvirus genome in an expressible form can be obtained by any conventional technique for isolating the desired gene.

  In organisms containing a DNA genome, the gene encoding the antigen of interest may be isolated from genomic DNA, and in organisms having an RNA genome, the desired gene may be isolated from a cDNA copy of the genome. If a restriction map of the genome is available, it is possible to design a strategy for cleaving genomic DNA by restriction endonuclease digestion to produce a DNA fragment containing the gene of interest. In some cases, the desired gene may be previously cloned, and thus the gene can be obtained from available clones. Alternatively, if the DNA sequence of the gene is known, the gene can be synthesized by either conventional techniques for polymerase chain reaction or deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis (eg, phosphate or phosphite triester techniques). Is possible.

Manipulation of a viral vector for expressing an antigen A gene encoding a target antigen can be amplified by cloning the gene into a bacterial host. Various prokaryotic cloning vectors can be used for this purpose. Examples are plasmids pBR322 and pEMBL.

It is possible to prepare a gene encoding an antigen of interest for insertion into a poxvirus vector by standard techniques. In general, cloned genes can be excised from prokaryotic cloning vectors by restriction enzyme digestion. The DNA fragments carrying the genes to be cloned are modified, if necessary, for example to make the ends of the fragments compatible with the insertion site of the poxvirus vector, and then the restriction endonuclease cleavage sites (cloning sites) of these vectors It is possible to purify prior to insertion into. Basic techniques for inserting genes into viruses are known to those skilled in the art, for example, involving recombination between viral DNA sequences flanking the gene in the donor plasmid and homologous sequences present in the parent virus (Macckett). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
USA 79: 7415-7419 (1982)).

  For example, a DNA gene sequence to be inserted into a virus is a plasmid in which a homologous DNA is inserted into a part of DNA (such as a poxvirus DNA). E. coli plasmid constructs can be included. Separately, the inserted DNA gene sequence is ligated to a promoter. The promoter-gene bond is placed in the plasmid construct so that the promoter-gene bond is flanked at both ends with DNA homologous to the DNA sequence flanking the region of pox DNA, which is the desired insertion region. The plasmid construct thus obtained is then E. coli. amplified and isolated by growth inside E. coli bacteria. Preferably, the plasmid is E. coli. E. coli replication origin, and E. coli replication origin. It also contains markers such as antibiotic resistance genes for selection and growth in E. coli. The isolated plasmid containing the DNA gene sequence to be inserted is transfected into a cell culture, such as chicken embryo fibroblasts, along with the poxvirus. Recombination between the homologous pox DNA in the plasmid and the viral genome, respectively, modifies the poxvirus by the presence of a promoter-gene construct at a site in the genome that does not affect virus viability.

  In certain embodiments, two or more nucleic acids are inserted, eg, one or more antigen (s) and costimulatory molecule (s).

In some embodiments, the gene (s) is a site or region (insertion region) in the poxvirus that does not significantly affect the virus viability of the resulting recombinant virus, eg, between viral genes, preferably non- It can be inserted into an intragenic region between essential viral genes. Those skilled in the art will be able to determine such regions within a virus, for example, by testing a segment of viral DNA for a region that allows recombinant formation without significantly affecting the virus viability of the recombinant. Can be easily identified. For example, one region that can be readily used and is present in many viruses is the thymidine kinase gene found in every poxvirus genome tested (Repolipoxvirus: Upton et al., J. Virology, 60: 920 (1986) (Shoop Fibroma virus); Capripox virus: Gershon et al., J. Gen. Virol., 70: 525 (1989) (Kenya sheep- 1); Orthopoxvirus: Weir et al., J. Virol., 46: 530 (1983) (vaccinia); Esposito et al., Virology, 135: 561 (1984) (monkey pox and variola virus); Hruby et al., PNAS, 80:34 1 (1983) (vaccinia); Kilpatrick et al., Virology, 143: 399 (1985) (Yabasal tumor virus); Tripoxvirus: Binns et al., J. Gen. Virol. 69: 1275 (1988) Year) (fowlpox); Boyle et al., Virology, 156: 355 (1987) (fowlpox); Schnitzlein et al., J. Virological Methods, 20: 341 (1988) (fowlpox, quail pox) Enmopox (Lytvyn et al., J. Gen. Virol. 73: 3235-3240 (1992)) In fowlpox, in addition to the TK region, other insertion regions include, for example, BamHI J (Jenkins et al. , AIDS Research and Hu an-Retroviruses 7: 991-998 (1991)) EcoRI-HindIII fragment, BamHI fragment, EcoRV-HindHIII fragment, BamHI fragment and HindIII fragment (described in European Patent Application No. 0308220A1) (Calvert) Et al.
of Virol. 67: 3069-3076 (1993); Taylor et al., Vaccine 6: 497-503 (1988); Spehner et al. (1990) and Boursnell et al., J. Biol. of Gen. Virol. 71: 621-628 (1990)).

  In some embodiments, the poxvirus described herein optionally has one or more genes or portions thereof encoding one or more immunostimulatory molecules or portions of the genes or portions thereof. It may already be integrated into the genome.

  In certain embodiments, the foreign DNA does not encode the entire protein, but encodes an antigenic fragment or epitope of the protein. These fragments can be of any length sufficient to be immunogenic or antigenic. Fragments may be at least 4 amino acids long, preferably 5-9 amino acids, but for example 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 30, 40, 50, It may be longer, such as 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 500 amino acids in length or longer, or any length in between. Preferably, epitopes that induce a protective immune response against any of various pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa such as those described herein may be expressed, cytokines, type 1 interferons, It can be combined with a heterologous gene sequence encoding a protein having immunomodulating activity such as gamma interferon, colony stimulating factor, interleukin-1, -2, -4, -5, -6, -12.

  In some embodiments, the heterologous sequence can be derived from a tumor antigen and the resulting recombinant poxvirus can be used to generate an immune response against tumor cells that result in tumor regression in vivo. The recombinant virus can be engineered to express a tumor associated antigen (TAA), a tumor specific antigen (TSA), or a tissue specific antigen.

  In some embodiments, the inserted gene (s) encoding the antigen can be operably linked to a promoter that expresses the inserted gene. Promoters are well known in the art and can be easily selected depending on the host and cell type that one wishes to target. For example, poxviruses can use poxvirus promoters such as vaccinia 7.5K, 40K, fowlpox. In certain embodiments, enhancer elements can be used in combination to increase expression levels. In certain embodiments, inducible promoters (well known in the art) may also be used.

  In some embodiments, the poxvirus promoter includes, for example, an entomopox promoter, a tripox promoter, or an orthopox promoter, such as a vaccinia promoter, such as HH, 11K, or Pi. For example, the Pi promoter is derived from the Ava IH region of vaccinia, but Wachsman et al. of Inf. Dis. 155, 1188-1197, (1987). More specifically, this promoter is derived from the Ava IH (Xho IG) fragment of the L-variant WR vaccinia strain, which directs transcription from right to left. The map position of the promoter is approximately 1.3 Kbp (kilobase pairs) from the 5 'end of Ava IH, approximately 12.5 Kbp from the 5' end of the vaccinia genome, and approximately 8.5 Kbp 5 'from the HindIII C / N junction. is there. The HindIII H promoter (also “HH” and “H6” herein) sequences are described in Rosel et al. Virol. 60, 436-449 (1986), upstream of the open reading frame H6. The 11K promoter is described by Wittek, J. et al. Virol. 49, 371-378 (1984) and Berthole, C.I. Et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82, 2096-2100 (1985). The advantage of whether the promoter is an early or late promoter for temporal expression of a particular gene can be exploited.

In some embodiments, the poxvirus vector comprises a promoter that is regulated by an external factor or external cue, which is a poly produced by the vector by activating that external factor or external cue. Allows control of peptide levels. For example, a heat shock protein is a protein encoded by a gene whose promoter is regulated by temperature. The promoter of the gene encoding the metallothionine metal-containing protein is responsive to Cd ⁺ ions. Incorporation of this promoter or another promoter affected by an external cue can also regulate the production of a polypeptide containing the antigen.

In some embodiments, the poxvirus genome carries a nucleic acid encoding at least one gene of interest (eg, encoding an antigen) operably linked to an “inducible” promoter. Is modified. Such an induction system allows careful regulation of gene expression. Miller and Whelan, Human Gene
See Therapy, 8: 803-815 (1997). As used herein, the phrase “inducible promoter” or “induction system” includes systems in which promoter activity can be regulated using an agent delivered externally. Such systems include, for example, E. coli as a transcriptional modulator. a system that uses a lac repressor from E. coli to regulate transcription from a mammalian cell promoter with a lac operator (Brown et al., Cell, 49: 603-612, 1987); a tetracycline repressor (tetR) USA (Gossen and Bujard, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89: 5547-5551, 1992; Yao et al., Human Gene Ther. 9: 1939-1950, 1998; Shokelt et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92, 6522-6526, 1995). Other such systems include FK506 dimer, VP16 or p65 using castradiol, RU486 / mifepristone, diphenol muristerone or rapamycin (see Miller and Whelan, supra, FIG. 2). Yet another example is the ecdysone induction system (see, eg, Karns et al., MBC Biotechnology 1:11, 2001). Induction systems are available from, for example, Invitrogen, Clontech, and Arad. A system using a repressor with an operon is preferred. These promoters can be adapted by using portions of the pox promoter instead of the mammalian promoter.

  In some embodiments, a “transcriptional regulatory element” or “TRE” is introduced for regulation of the gene of interest. As used herein, a TRE is a polynucleotide sequence, preferably a DNA sequence, that regulates (ie, regulates) transcription of an operably linked polynucleotide sequence by RNA polymerase to form RNA. As used herein, TRE increases transcription of operably linked polynucleotide sequences in a host cell that allows TRE to function. A TRE contains an enhancer element and / or a pox promoter element, which may or may not be derived from the same gene. The TRE promoter and enhancer components may be in any orientation and / or distance from the coding sequence of interest and may include the aforementioned multimers as long as the desired transcriptional activity is obtained.

  In some embodiments, an “enhancer” is provided for regulation of the gene of interest. Enhancer is a term well understood in the art and when operably linked to a gene is operably linked to the promoter to a greater extent than the transcriptional activation provided by the promoter itself. A polynucleotide sequence derived from a gene that increases transcription of the gene. That is, the enhancer increases transcription from the promoter.

  The activity of regulatory elements such as TREs or enhancers generally depends on the presence of transcriptional regulators and / or the absence of transcriptional regulatory inhibitors. Transcriptional activation can be measured by several methods known in the art, but generally the mRNA of a coding sequence that is under the control of a regulatory element (ie, is operably linked). Alternatively, it is measured by detection and / or quantification of the protein product. The regulatory elements can be of various lengths and various sequence compositions. By transcriptional activation, it is intended that transcription is increased by at least about 2-fold, preferably at least about 5-fold, preferably at least about 10-fold, more preferably at least about 20-fold, over basal levels in the target cell. ing. More preferably, it is at least about 50 times, more preferably at least about 100 times, more preferably at least about 200 times, more preferably at least about 400 to about 500 times, more preferably at least about 1000 times. The basal level is generally the level of activity in the non-target cells, if any, or the level of activity (if any) of the reporter construct lacking the TRE or enhancer of interest being tested in the target cell type.

  Certain point mutations within the sequence of TRE have been shown to reduce transcription factor binding and gene activation. One of ordinary skill in the art will likely have some alterations in bases in and around known transcription factor binding sites that can adversely affect gene activation and cell specificity, and may result in bases not involved in transcription factor binding. We recognize that changes are less likely to have such an effect. Certain mutations can also increase TRE activity. Testing for the effect of changing bases can be done by mobility shift assays or any method known in the art, such as transfecting TRE functional and non-TRE functional cells with vectors containing these changes. It can be performed in vitro or in vivo. Furthermore, those skilled in the art recognize that point mutations and deletions can be made to the TRE sequence without altering the ability of the sequence to regulate transcription.

Disorders Treated or Prevented by Vaccination with Viral Vectors As described herein, a poxvirus vector provided herein encodes an antigenic or immunogenic fragment (antigen). Yes. The antigen of interest can be an antigen from a pathogenic microorganism or a tumor (or cancer) antigen. The gene or nucleic acid fragment encoding the antigen can be from any organism, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, parasites, normal or transformed cells, or other microorganisms.

  In some embodiments, the gene of interest is a gene encoding an immunogenic protein of a pathogenic organism. In certain embodiments, these may be protein components of surface structures such as bacterial cell walls or viral envelopes.

Cancer In some embodiments, the gene of interest encodes a tumor associated antigen (TAA), tumor specific antigen (TSA), tissue specific antigen, viral tumor antigen, cellular oncogene protein, and / or tumor associated differentiation antigen. It is a gene.

  In some embodiments, immunogenic fragments or subunits of proteins may be used. Multiple immunogenic fragments or subunits of various proteins can be used. For example, several different epitopes can be expressed from different sites of a single protein, from different proteins of the same species, or from protein orthologs from different species.

The immunotherapeutic approach to the treatment of cancer is based on the finding that human tumor cells express various tumor-associated antigens (TAA) or tumor-specific antigens (TSA) that are typically not expressed on normal cells. . These antigens can serve as targets for the host immune system and elicit responses that result in tumor destruction. This immune response is mainly mediated by lymphocytes, and generally T cells, particularly MHC class I restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes, play a central role in tumor rejection. Hellstrom, K.M. E. , Et al. (1969) Adv. Cancer Res. 12: 167-223; Greenberg, P.M. D. (1991) Advances in Immunology, 49 (Dixon,
D. J. et al. Ed. ), Pages 281-355, Academic Press, Inc. , Orlando, FL. TAA cloning for cancer immunotherapy is described, for example, in Boon, T .; (1994) Annu. Rev. Immunol. 12: 337-365; Brithcard, V.M. (1993) J. Org. Exp. Med. 178: 489-495; Cox, A.M. L. (1994) Science 264: 716-719; Houghton, A. et al. N. (1994) J. Am. Exp. Med. 180: 1-4; Pardoll, D.M. M.M. (1994) Nature 369: 357-358; Kawakami, Y .; (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 91: 3515-3519; Kawakami, Y. et al. (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 91: 6458-6462.

The use of vaccinia virus for anti-tumor immunotherapy is described, for example, in Hu, S .; L. Hellstrom, I .; , And Hellstrom K. E. (1992) Vaccines: New Approaches to Immunological
Problems (R.W. Ellis, ed.), Pages 327-343, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston. Anti-tumor responses have been elicited using recombinant poxviruses that express TAAs such as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and prostate specific antigen (PSA) (Muraro, R. et al. (1985). ) Cancer Res. 4S: 5769-5780); (Kantor, 3. et al. (1992) J. Natl. Cancer Inst. (Year) Cancer Res. 51: 3657-3622) (Kantor, 3. et al. (1992) Cancer Res. 52: 6917-6925). No toxicity was observed with these vectors.

  In general, viral vaccines are thought to mediate tumor rejection by activating MHC class I-restricted T cells, particularly cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). T cell activation is often enhanced by providing an appropriate immunomodulator, for example, a T cell costimulator such as that of the B7 gene family. See, for example, Greenberg, P.A. D. (1991) Advances in Immunology, 49 (Dixon, D. J., ed.), 281-355, Academic Press, Inc. Orlando, Fla. Fox B .; A. Et al. (1990) J. MoI. Biol. Response Mod. 9: 499-511.

In some embodiments, the antigen is selected from the group consisting of a tumor associated antigen (TAA), a tumor specific antigen (TSA) and / or a tissue specific antigen. These antigens include MART-1 (Kawakami et al., J. Exp. Med. 180: 347-352, 1994), MAGE-1, MAGE-3, GP-100, (Kawakami et al., Proc. Nat. 'l. Acad. Sci. USA 91: 6458-6462, 1994), including CEA and tyrosinase (Brichard et al., J. Exp. Med. 178: 489, 1993). Melanoma TAA, TAA such as, but not limited to, MUC-1, MUC-2, point mutation ras oncogene and point mutation p53 oncogene (pancreatic cancer), CA-125 (ovarian cancer), PSA (prostate cancer) ), C-erb / B2 (breast cancer), KS 1/4 pan-carcinoma antigen (Perez) And Walker, 1990, J. Immunol. 142: 3662-3667; Bumal, 1998, Hybridoma 7 (4): 407-415), ovarian cancer antigen (CA125) (Yu et al., 1991). Cancer Res. 51 (2): 468-475), prostatic acid phosphate (Taylor et al., 1990, Nucl.
Acids Res. 18 (16): 4928), prostate specific antigen (PSA) (Henttu and Vihko, 1989, Biochem. Biophys.
Res. Comm. 160 (2): 903-910; Israeli et al., 1993, Cancer Res. 53: 227-230), melanoma-associated antigen p97 (Estin et al., 1989, J. Natl. Cancer Insit.
81 (No. 6) 445-446), melanoma antigen gp75 (Vijayasardl et al., 1990, J. Exp. Med. 171 (4): 1375-1380), high molecular weight melanoma antigen (HMW-MAA) (Natali et al., 1987, Cancer 59: 55-63; Mittelman et al., 1990, J. Clin. Invest. 86: 2136-2144), prostate-specific membrane antigen, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (Foon et al., 1994, Proc. Am. Soc. Clin. Oncol. 13: 294), polymorphic epithelial mucin antigens, human milk fat globule antigens, colorectal tumor associated antigens such as CEA, TAG-72. (Yokata et al., 1992, Cancer Res. 52: 3402-34. 8)), CO17-1A (Ragnhammar et al., 1993, Int. J. Cancer 53: 751-758); GICA 19-9 (Herlyn et al., 1982, J. Clin. Immunol. 2: 135). , CTA-1 and LEA, Burkitt's lymphoma antigen-38.13, CD19 (Ghetie et al., 1994, Blood 83: 1329-1336), human B lymphoma antigen-CD20 (Refeff et al., 1994, Blood 83). : 435-445), CD33 (Sgouros et al., 1993, J. Nucl. Med. 34: 422-430), Ganglioside GD2 (Saleh et al., 1993, J. Immunol., 151, 3390-3398). Page), Ganglioside GD3 ( Shitara et al., 1993, Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 36: 373-380), Ganglioside GM2 (Livingston et al., 1994, J. Clin. Oncol. 12: 1036-1044), Ganglioside GM3 (Hoon et al., 1993 Cancer Res. 53: 5244-5250), tumor-specific transplant type cell surface antigens such as virus-inducible tumor antigens including envelope antigens of T antigen DNA tumor virus and RNA tumor virus. (TSTA), carcinoembryonic antigen alphafetoprotein such as CEA of the colon, bladder tumor carcinoembryonic antigen (Hellstrom et al., 1985, Cancer. Res. 45: 2210-2188), differentiation antigens such as human lung cancer antigens L6 and L20 (Hellstrom et al., 1986, Cancer Res. 46: 3917-3923), fibrosarcoma antigen, human leukemia T cell antigen-Gp37 (Bhattacharya-Chatterjee et al., 1988, J. of Immunospecifically 141: 1394-1403), neoglycoprotein, sphingolipid, breast cancer antigens such as EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor), HER2 antigen (p185 ^HER2 ), Polymorphic epithelial mucin (PEM) (Hilkens et al., 1992, Trends in Bio. Chem. Sci. 17: 359), malignant human lymphocyte antigen-APO-1 (Bernhard et al., 1989, Sc ience 245: 301-304), differentiation antigen (Feizi, 1985, Nature 314: 53-57), for example, fetal erythrocytes, I antigen found in early endoderm, adult erythrocytes, preimplantation embryo I antigen found, I (Ma) found in gastric adenocarcinoma, M18, M39 found in breast epithelium, SSEA-1 found in myeloid cells, VEP8, VEP9, Myl, VIM-D5 found in colorectal cancer D _156-22 , TRA-1-85 found in colon adenocarcinoma (blood group H), C14, F3 found in lung adenocarcinoma, AH6 found in gastric cancer, Y hapten found in embryonic cancer cells, le ^y, TL5 found in A431 cells (blood group a), EGF receptor, _{E 1} series (blood group B) found in pancreatic cancer, Heading embryonic carcinoma cells FC10.2, gastric adenocarcinoma antigen, CO-514 found in adenocarcinoma (blood group Le ^a group), NS-10 found in adenocarcinoma, CO-43 (blood group Le ^b group), EGF of A431 cells G49 found in the receptor, MH2 found in colon adenocarcinoma (blood group ALe ^b / Le ^y group), 19.9 found in colon cancer, gastric cancer mucin, T _5A7 found in myeloid cells, found in melanoma _{R 24, 4.2} found in embryonal carcinoma _{cells, G D3, D1.1, OFA-} 1, G M2, OFA-2, G D2 , and M1 to be: 22: 25: 8, and from cutaneous T cell lymphoma SSEA-3 and SSEA-4 found in 4-8 cell stage embryo T cell receptor derived peptides (Edelson, 1998, The Cancer Journal 4: 62), IL 1, IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10, IL-11, IL-12, IFN-α, IFN-β, IFN-β17 mutant, IFN-65, CD2, CD3, CD4, CD5, CD8, CD11a, CD11b, CD11c, CD16, CD18, CD21, CD28, CD32, CD34, CD35, CD40, CD44, CD45, CD54, CD56, OX40L, 4-1BBL, K2, K1, Pβ, Oα, Mα, Mβ2, Mβ1, hepsin, Pim-1, LMP1, TAP2, LMP7, TAP1, TRP, Oβ, IAβ, IAα, IEβ, IEβ2, IEα, CYP21, C4B, CYP21P, C4A, Bf, C2, HSP, G7a / b, TNF-α, TNF-β, D, L, Qa T1a, COL11A2, DPβ2, DPα2, DPβ1, DPα1, DNα, DMα, DMβ, LMP2, TAPi1, LMP7, DOβ, DQβ2, DQα2, DQβ3, DQβ1, DQα1, DRβ, DRα, G250, HSP-70, HLA-B HLA-C, HLA-X, HLA-E, HLA-J, HLA-A, HLA-H, HLA-G, HLA-F, nerve growth factor, somatotropin, somatomedin, paratolumon, FSH, LH, EGF, TSH, THS releasing factor, HGH, GRHR, PDGF, IGF-I, IGF-II, TGF-β, GM-CSF, M-CSF, G-CSF1, erythropoietin, β-HCG, 4-N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase, GM2, GD2, GD3, JADE, MART, BAGE, GA E, MAGE-1, MAGE-2, MAGE-3, XAGE, MUC-1, MUC-2, MUC-3, MUC-4, MUC-18, ICAM-1, C-CAM, V-CAM, ELAM, NM23, EGFR, E-cadherin, N-CAM, LFA-3 (CD58), EpCAM, B7.1, CEA, DCC, PSA, Her2-neu, UTAA, melanoma antigen p75, K19, HKer8, pMel17, TP10, tyrosinase Related proteins 1 and 2, p97, p53, RB, APC, DCC, NF-1, NF-2, WT-1, MEN-I, MEN-II, BRCA1, VHL, FCC and MCC, ras, myc, neu, raf, erb, src, fms, jun, trk, ret, gsp, hst, bcl and abl C1q, C1r, C1s, C4, C2, Factor D, Factor B, properdin, C3, C5, C6, C7, C8, C9, C1Inh, Factor H, C4b binding protein, DAF, membrane cofactor protein, anaphylatoxin Activator S protein, HRF, MIRL, CR1, CR2, CR3, CR4, C3a / C4a receptor, C5a receptor, Epstein-Barr virus antigen (EBNA), BZLF-1, BXLF-1 and nuclear matrix protein, modified TAA or TSA , TAA or TSA splice variants, functional epitopes, epitope agonists, and degenerate nucleic acid variants thereof.

  In some important embodiments, the antigen includes mucin 1 (MUC1), mucin 2 (MUC2), BAGE-1, GAGE-1-8, GnTV, HERV-K-MEL, KK-LC-1, KM. -HN-1, LAGE-1, MAGE-A1 to A4, MAGE-A6, MAGE-A9, MAGE-A10, MAGE-A12, MAGE-C3, NA88, NY-ESO-1 / LAGE-2, SAGE, Sp17 , SSX-2, SSX-4, TAG-1, TAG-2, TRAG-3, TRP2-INT2, XAGE-1b, carcinoembryogenic antigen (CEA), CA-125, gp100 / Pmel17, kallikrein 4 , Mammaglobin-A, melan-A / MART-1, NY-BR-1, OA-1, prostate specific antigen PSA), RAB38 / NY-MEL-1, TRP-1 / gp75, TRP-2, tyrosinase, adipophilin, AIM-2, ALDH1A1, BCLX (L), BING-4, CPSF, cyclin D1, DKK1, ENAH ( hMena), Ep-CAM, EphA3, EZH2, FGF5, G250 / MN / CAIX, HER-2 / neu, IL13Ralpha2, intestinal carboxylesterase, alphafetoprotein (AFP), M-CSF, MCSP, mdm-2, MMP -2, MUC1, PBF, PRAME, PSMA, RAGE-1, RGS5, RNF43, RU2AS, Seselnin 1, SOX10, STEAP1, Survivin, Telomerase, VEGF, WT1, Alphaactinin-4, ARTC1, BCR- BL fusion protein, B-RAF, CASP-5, CASP-8, beta catenin, Cdc27, CDK4, CDKN2A, COA-1, dek-can fusion protein, EFTUD2, elongation factor 2, ETV6-AML1 fusion protein, FLT3-ITD FN1, GPNMB, LDLR fucosyltransferase AS fusion protein, HLA-A2, HLA-A11, hsp70-2, KIAAO205, MART2, ME1, MUM-1, MUM-2, MUM-3, neo-PAP, myosin class I, NFYC, OGT, OS-9, p53, pml-RAR alpha fusion protein, PRDX5, PTPRK, K-ras, N-ras, RBAF600, SIRT2, SNRPD1, SYT-SSX1 or -SSX2 fusion tamper Quality, TGF-beta RII, and triose phosphate isomerase.

In some embodiments, the gene of interest is a gene encoding an antigen of a pathogenic microorganism that causes a disease. These include influenza virus hemagglutinin (Genbank accession number JO2132; Air, 1981, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78: 7639-7463; Newton et al., 1983, Virology 128: 495. 501), human RS virus G glycoprotein (Genbank accession number Z33429; Garcia et al., 1994, J. Virol .; Collins et al., 1984, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81: 7683), Dengue virus core protein, matrix protein or other proteins (Genbank accession number M19197; Hahn et al., 1988, Virology 162) 167-180), measles virus hemagglutinin (Genbank accession number M81899; Rota et al., 1992, Virology 188: 135-142), herpes simplex virus type 2 glycoprotein gB (Genbank accession number M14923); Bzik et al., 1986, Virology 155: 322-333), Poliovirus I VP1 (Emini et al., 1983, Nature 304: 699), HIV I envelope glycoprotein (Putney et al., 1986, Science 234) Vol .: 1392 to 1395), hepatitis B surface antigen (Itoh et al., 1986, Nature 308: 19; Neurath et al., 1986, Vaccine 4: 34), Difteri Toxin (Audibert et al., 1981, Nature 289: 543), Streptococcus 24M epitope (Beachey, 1985, Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 185: 193), Neisseria gonorrhoeae pilin (Rothbard and Schoolnik, 1985) Exp. Med. Biol. 185: 247), pseudorabies virus g50 (gpD), pseudorabies virus II (gpB), pseudorabies virus gIII (gpC), pseudorabies virus glycoprotein H, pseudorabies virus Glycoprotein E, infectious gastroenteritis glycoprotein 195, infectious gastroenteritis matrix protein, porcine rotavirus glycoprotein 38, porcine parvovirus capsid protein, Serpulina hydro ysenteriae protective antigen, bovine virus diarrhea glycoprotein 55, Newcastle disease virus hemagglutinin neuraminidase, swine influenza hemagglutinin, swine influenza neuraminidase, foot-and-mouth disease virus, swine fever virus, swine influenza virus, African swine fever virus, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, bovine infection Rhinotracheitis virus (eg, bovine infectious rhinotracheitis virus glycoprotein E or glycoprotein G), or infectious laryngotracheitis virus (eg, infectious laryngotracheitis virus glycoprotein G or glycoprotein 1), lacrosse Viral glycoproteins (Gonzales-Scanano et al., 1982, Virology 120: 42), Newborn calf diarrhea virus (Matsuno and Inouye, 1983, Infection and Immunity 39: 155), Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (Mathews and Roehrig, 1982, J. Am. Immunol.
129: 2763), Puntatrovirus (Dalrympl et al., 1981 Replication of Negative Viruses, Bishop and Compans (ed.), Elsevier, NY, 167), mouse leukemia virus (Steves et al., 1974). J. Virol. 14: 187), mouse mammary tumor virus (Massey and Schochetman, 1981, Virology 115: 20), hepatitis B virus core protein and / or hepatitis B virus surface antigen or fragment or derivative thereof (For example, British Patent Publication No. GB 20343323A, published June 4, 1980; Ganem and Varmus, 1987, Ann. Rev. Bioc. 56: 651-693; Tiollais et al., 1985, Nature 317: 489-495), equine influenza virus or equine herpesvirus antigens (eg, equine influenza A virus / Alaska 91 neuraminidase, equine A type Influenza virus / Miami63 neuraminidase, equine influenza A virus / Kentucky 81 neuraminidase, equine herpesvirus type 1 glycoprotein B, and equine herpesvirus type 1 glycoprotein D), bovine RS virus or bovine parainfluenza virus antigens (eg, bovine RS) Virus attachment protein (BRSV G), bovine RS virus fusion protein (BRSV F), bovine RS virus nucleocapsid tamper Quality (BRSV N), bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 fusion protein, and bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 hemagglutinin neuraminidase), bovine viral diarrhea virus glycoprotein 48 or glycoprotein 53, RSV-virus protein, eg RSV F Glycoproteins, RSV G glycoproteins, influenza virus proteins such as influenza virus neuraminidase, influenza virus hemagglutinin, herpes simplex virus proteins such as herpes simplex virus glycoproteins including gB, gC, gD and gE HIV (GP -120, p17, GP-160, gag, po1, qp41, gp120, vif, tat, rev, nef, vpr, vpu, vpx antigen), in Fluenza (NP, hemagglutinin (HA antigen), neuraminidase, PB1, PB2, PA, NP, M ₁ , M ₂ , NS ₁ , NS ₂ ), papillomavirus (E1, E2, E3, E4, E5a, E5b, E6, E7, E8, L1, L2), adenovirus (E1A, E1B, E2, E3, E4, E5, L1, L2, L3, L4, L5), HSV (ribonucleotide reductase, α-TIF, ICP4, ICP8) , 1CP35, LAT related proteins, gB, gC, gD, gE , gH, gI, gJ, and dD antigen), human papilloma virus, equine encephalitis virus, hepatitis (B hepatitis surface antigen ^{(gp27s, gp36s, gp42s, p22} c, pol, x)) and the like.

  In some embodiments, the antigenic or immunogenic protein fragment or epitope is a family of adenoviruses (eg, mast adenovirus and avian adenovirus), herpesviridae (eg, herpes simplex virus type 1, simple Herpesvirus type 2, herpes simplex virus type 5, and herpes simplex virus type 6), Leviviridae (eg, Levivirus, Enterobacteria phase MS2, Allorevirus), poxiridae (eg, Code Poxvirus) Subpoxiririae, parapoxvirus, tripox virus, capripox virus, repolipox virus, suipox virus, infectious molluscumoma virus, and entomo Subfamily), Papovaviridae (eg, polyoma virus and papillomavirus), Paramyxoviridae, eg, paramyxovirus, parainfluenza virus type 1, morbillivirus (eg, measles virus), rubra virus (Eg mumps virus), pneumoviridae (eg pneumovirus, human RS virus), metapneumovirus (eg avian pneumovirus and human metapneumovirus), picornaviridae (eg enterovirus, rhinovirus, hepatovirus) (Eg, human hepatitis A virus), cardiovirus, and aphthovirus), reoviridae (eg, orthoreovirus, Viruses, rotaviruses, cypoviruses, physiviruses, phytoviruses, and orizaviruses), retroviridae (eg, mammalian type B retrovirus, mammalian type C retrovirus, avian type C retrovirus, type D retrovirus) Virus group, BLV-HTLV retrovirus), lentivirus (eg, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and human immunodeficiency virus type 2), spumavirus, flaviviridae (eg, hepatitis C virus), hepadnaviridae ( For example, hepatitis B virus), Togaviridae (eg, alphavirus (eg, Sindbis virus) and rubivirus (eg, rubella virus)), Rhabdoviridae (eg, Vegiculovirus, Lissavirus, Ephemerovirus, Cytla grape Rus, and Necrolabdovirus), arenaviridae (eg, arenavirus, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, ippi virus, and lassa virus), and coronaviridae (eg, coronavirus and torovirus) It may be derived from a pathogenic virus such as an antigen.

Bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases In some important embodiments, the antigenic or immunogenic protein fragment or epitope is HIV, influenza, dengue fever, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C. Virus, human papillomavirus, Ebola, Marburg, rabies, hantavirus infection, West Nile virus, SARS-like coronavirus, herpes simplex virus, varicella-zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus type 8, alphavirus or St. Louis encephalitis It may be derived from a pathogenic virus.

  In some embodiments, the antigenic or immunogenic protein fragment or epitope may be derived from pathogenic bacteria such as Anthrax, Chlamydia, Mycobacterium, Legionella. Pathogenic protozoa include, but are not limited to, Malaria, Babesia, Schistosomiasis. Pathogenic yeasts include, for example, Aspergillus and invasive Candida.

In some important embodiments, the antigenic or immunogenic protein fragment or epitope is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella.
It may be derived from pathogenic bacteria such as typhi, Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia perstis, Francisella tularensis, Legionella, Chlamydia, Rickettsia typhi, or Treponema pallidum.

  In some embodiments, the antigenic or immunogenic protein fragment or epitope is from a pathogenic fungus that may include, but is not limited to, Coccidioides immitis, Blastomyces dermatitis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus species.

  In some embodiments, the antigenic or immunogenic protein fragment or epitope is, for example, Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malariae, Leishmania sp It may be derived from pathogenic protozoa such as Naegleria fowleri, Acanthamoeba species, Balamuthia mandrillaris, Toxoplasma gondii, or Pneumocystis carinii.

In some important embodiments, the antigenic or immunogenic protein fragment or epitope of the infectious agent includes HIV Gag, protease, reverse transcriptase, full-length envelope protein, Vpu, Tat and Rev; influenza hemagglutinin, Nuclear protein, matrix protein 1 (M1), nonstructural protein 1 (NS-1); dengue virus cross-protective antigen shared by all major serotypes of the virus (eg nonstructural protein 1 or NS1, envelope domain III or EDIII) ), Hepatitis A virus capsid protein 1 (VP-1); hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) and core antigen (HBcAg); hepatitis C core antigen, E1, E2, p7, NS2, NS4 and NS4 proteins: HP V E1, E2, L1, L2; Ebola and Marburg virus glycoprotein, nucleoprotein and matrix protein; rabies glycoprotein; hantavirus nucleoprotein, envelope glycoprotein and G1 protein; West Nile virus premembrane (prM) and envelope (E ) Glycoprotein; SARS-like coronavirus Orf3, spike protein, nucleocapsid and membrane protein; herpes simplex virus glycoprotein B and D; varicella zoster virus envelope glycoprotein E and B (gE, gB), immediate early protein 63 (IE63) Epstein-Barr virus gp350, gp110, nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA-1), EBNA2 and EBNA-3C; human herpesvirus 8 complement control Protein (KCP), glycoprotein B, ORF6, ORF61, and ORF65; tuberculosis antigen 85A, 85B, MPT51, PPE44, mycobacterial 65-kDa heat shock protein (DNA-hsp65), 6-kDa early secretory antigenic target (ESAT-6); Salmonella SpaO and H1a, outer membrane protein ( OMP); aeruginosa OMP, PcrV, OprF, OprI, PilA and mutant ToxA; anthracis protective antigen (PA); pestis low calcium response protein V (LcrV), F1 and F1-V fusion proteins; Legionella peptidoglycan-related lipoprotein (PAL), mip, flagella, OmpS, hsp60, major secreted protein (MSP); Chlamydia protease-like activator (CPAF) Major outer membrane protein (MOMP); Pallidum outer membrane lipoprotein; Coccidioids Ag2 / Pra106, Prp2, phospholipase (P1b), alpha mannosidase (Amn1), aspartyl protease, Gel1; Protein Candida albicans hsp90-CA, 65-kDa mannoprotein (MP65), secreted aspartyl proteinase (Sap), Als1p-N, Als3p-N; Aspergillus Asp f16, Asp f2, Der p1, and Feld d1, rodlet PEP2, Aspergillus H P90, 90-kDa catalase; Plasmodium apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1), 25-kDa sexual generation protein (Pfs25), erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1), sporozoite surrounding protein (CSP), merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP1) Leishmania cysteine proteinase type III (CPC), ribosomal protein (LRP), A2 antigen, nucleosome histone, HSP20, G46 / M-2 / PSA-2 preflagellar surface protein, L child LACK antigen, GP63, LmSTI1, TSA, P4, NH36, papLe22; Trypanosome beta tubulin (STIB806), microtubule binding protein (MAP)
p15), cysteine protease (CP); Cryptosporidium surface proteins gp15 and gp40, Cp23 antigen, p23; Toxoplasma gondii surface antigen 1 (TgSAG1), protease inhibitor-1 (TgPI-1), surface-associated proteins MIC2, MIC3, ROP2, GRA1-GRA7; Pneumocystis carinii major surface glycoprotein (MSG), p55 antigen; Schistosomiasis mansoni Sm14, 21.7 and SmFim antigens, tegument proteins Sm29, 26 kDa GST, SchistosomajSPIJS 32.

  In certain embodiments, a recombinant poxvirus administered as described herein comprises an antigen that elicits an immune response in a subject. In certain embodiments, the poxvirus may further comprise a cytokine or costimulatory molecule. Cytokines such as IL-2, IL-6, IL-12, IL-15, or costimulatory molecules such as B7.1, B7.2 may be used as adjuvants. In certain embodiments, either a cytokine or a costimulatory molecule is mixed with a co-insertion of a gene encoding the molecule into a recombinant pox vector, or a recombinant poxvirus that expresses an antigen. Can be co-administered via a second recombinant poxvirus. Alternatively, cytokines can be administered to the host separately and systemically.

Immunostimulation In certain embodiments, the recombinant poxvirus encoding the antigen fragment is, for example, a T cell costimulator and / or interleukin (IL) (eg, IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, Immunomodulators such as DNA encoding cytokines such as IL-12), interferon (IFN) (eg IFN-γ), granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or accessory molecules (eg ICAM-1) Is further modified to include The construction of such multivalent vectors such as poxvirus vectors is within the level of skill in the art based on this disclosure. In some cases, co-expression of immunomodulators such as T cell costimulators and antigens with multivalent vectors may be desirable. For example, it may be desirable to administer a substantially pure preparation of an immunomodulator that boosts vaccine efficacy.

  In certain embodiments, a nucleic acid for insertion into a poxvirus includes a costimulatory molecule, an accessory molecule, and / or a gene encoding a cytokine and / or growth factor. Examples of costimulatory molecules include, but are not limited to, B7-1, B7-2, ICAM-1, CD40, CD40L, LFA-3, CD72, OX40L (with or without OX40).

  Examples of cytokines and growth factors include granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), tumor necrosis factor (TNFα and TNFβ) , Transforming growth factors (TGFα and TGFβ), epidermal growth factor (EGF), stem cell factor (SCF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor, nerve growth factor (NGF), fibroblast proliferation Factor (FGF), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I and IGF-II), growth hormone, interleukins 1-15 (IL-1 to IL-15), interferon α, β, γ (IFN-α, IFN- β and IFN-γ), brain-derived neurotrophic factor, neurotrophins 3 and 4, hepatocytes Growth factor, erythropoietin, EGF-like mitogen, TGF-like growth factor, PDGF-like growth factor, melanocyte growth factor, breast-derived growth factor 1, prostate growth factor, cartilage-derived growth factor, chondrocyte growth factor, bone-derived growth Factor, osteosarcoma-derived growth factor, glial growth promoting factor, colostrum basic growth factor, endothelial cell growth factor, tumor angiogenesis factor, hematopoietic stem cell growth factor 2, B cell stimulating factor 2, B cell differentiation factor, leukemia derived growth factor , Myelomonocytic growth factor, macrophage-derived growth factor, macrophage activation factor, erythrocyte potentiating activity, keratinocyte growth factor, ciliary neurotrophic growth factor, Schwann cell-derived growth factor, vaccinia virus growth factor, bombyxin, neu differentiation factor , V-Sis, glial growth factor / acetylcholine receptor Tone-inducing activity, including transferrin, bombesin and bombesin-like peptide, angiotensin II, endothelin, atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and ANF-like peptide, vasoactive intestinal peptide, RANTES, bradykinin and related growth factors Not.

  In some preferred embodiments, the costimulatory molecule, growth factor, adjuvant or cytokine is IL-1, IL-2, IL-7, IL-12, IL-15, IL-18, IL-23, IL. -27, B7-1, B7-2, B7-H3, LFA-3, B7-H3, CD40, CD40L, ICOS-ligand, OX-40L, 4-1BBL, GM-CSF, SCF, FGF, Flt3-ligand , CCR4, QS-7, QS-17, QS-21, CpG oligonucleotide, ST-246, AS-04, LT R192G mutant, Montanide ISA 720, heat shock protein, synthetic mycobacterial coding factor (CAF01), lipid A mimetic, Salmonella enterica subtype Typhimurium flagellin ( liC), Montanide 720, levamisole (LMS), imiquimod, diphtheria toxin, IMP321, AS02A, AS01B, AS15-SB, Alhydrogel, Montanide ISA, aluminum hydroxide, MF59, ISCOMATRIX, MLPA, MPL and other TLR-4 Ligand, MDP and other TLR-2 ligands, AS02A, AS01B, heat labile toxins LTK63 and LT-R192G.

  In some embodiments, a nucleic acid is provided that expresses the antigenic domain rather than the entire protein. For example, if an immune response is desired, only the fragments necessary to stimulate the immune response need be encoded. The costimulatory molecules, accessory molecules and cytokines described herein are useful as adjuvants that can be administered systemically to the host by inserting the nucleic acid encoding them into the same or different recombinant poxvirus vectors. In one embodiment, a poxvirus vector comprising B7, LFA-3 and ICAM-1 is administered in combination with a tumor associated antigen. In a further embodiment, the poxvirus also includes OX40L. Other useful adjuvants that can be administered separately from the poxvirus are, for example, RIBI Detox (Ribi Immunochemical), QS21 (Aquila), incomplete Freund's adjuvant.

In some embodiments, a poxvirus expressing B7-1, ICAM-1 and LFA-3, also known as TRICOM, is provided that induces the activation of both CD4 ⁺ and CD8 ⁺ T cells (US Patent). Hodge et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 92: 1228-39 (2000); Hodge et al., Cancer Research 59: 5800-07 (1999)). OX40 is the first costimulator of T cells with the antigens encountered, not naïve T cells, and promotes T cell proliferation after T cell tolerance is induced. (Bansal-Pakal et al., Nature Med. 7: 907-12 (2001)). OX40L a) sustained long-term proliferation of CD4 ⁺ and CD8 ⁺ T cells, and b) IL-2, IGN from both CD4 ⁺ and CD8 ⁺ T cells without changing IL-4 expression. -Play a role during T cell activation by enhancing the production of Th1 cytokines such as γ and TNF-α and c) protecting T cells from apoptosis. In certain embodiments, the combination of B7-1, ICAM-1, LFA-3 and OX40L enhances the initial activation of naive and effector T cells, and then further enhances sustained activation.

  In some embodiments, the poxvirus described herein has low replication efficiency in the target cell. As a result of the low replication efficiency and non-integrated cytoplasmic nature of poxvirus vectors, the vector system does not cause sustained replication and infection of other cells. Thus, cells infected with poxvirus do not adversely affect cells in the host at a location remote from where the target cells are present.

  In some embodiments, the modified poxvirus is associated with aspects of the viral life cycle such as target cell specificity, infection route, infection rate, replication rate, virion assembly rate and / or virus spreading rate. It can also have altered features.

  In some embodiments, the poxvirus described herein can infect host cells in a host. The host cell is susceptible to infection by poxviruses and contains a poxvirus genome containing any foreign gene inserted therein (eg, encoding an antigen) at a level sufficient to elicit a host immune response to the antigen. Any cell capable of expressing

  The poxvirus described herein can be used with any host. In some embodiments, the host is a non-mammalian host such as a bird, fish. In some embodiments, the host is a mammal. Mammals include primates such as humans and chimpanzees, domestic animals such as horses, cows, pigs, pets such as dogs and cats, and rodents such as mice, rats and hamsters.

Culture of viral vectors in host cells Introduction of viral vectors carrying genes to be delivered to target host cells can be effected by any method known to those skilled in the art.

  Most viral vaccines, such as attenuated or recombinant viruses, are manufactured from cell culture systems. The cells used to produce the virus / vaccine can be in vitro, either as cell lines, ie single cell suspension cultures in bioreactors, or monolayers on the cell support surface of tissue culture flasks or roller bottles. May be cells that grow continuously. Primary animal cells as well as cell lines can be used for the production of vaccines. For example, code poxviridae, particularly MVA, is grown in cell cultures of primary or secondary chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF). Cells are obtained from chicken egg embryos incubated for 10-12 days. The embryonic cells are then separated and purified. These primary CEF cells can be used directly or as secondary CEF cells after one additional cell passage. Thereafter, primary or secondary CEF cells are infected with MVA. Infected cells are incubated for 2-3 days at 37 ° C. for MVA growth (eg, Meyer, H. et al., 1991; J. of General Virology 72, 1031-1038; Stutter et al., 1994). Vaccine, Vol. 12, No. 11, pages 1032-1040). CEF cells are often used because many virus vaccines are made by attenuating disease-causing virulence viruses by serial passage in CEF cells. Attenuated viruses such as WVA are preferably not propagated on human cells because there is concern that the virus may become capable of replication in cells of human origin. When administered to humans, especially when the individual's immunity is reduced, a virus that has restored its ability to replicate in human cells represents a health risk. For this reason, some attenuated viruses, such as MVA, are produced exclusively from CEF cells when intended for human use. Furthermore, CEF cells are used for viruses that grow only in these cells, for example, avian viruses such as avian pox virus, canary pox virus, ALVAC, fowlpox virus and NYVAC.

  In certain embodiments, host cells such as epidermal epithelial cells, fibroblasts or dendritic cells infected with recombinant viruses express the antigen (s) and add the immunostimulatory molecule (s). Can be expressed. In these embodiments, the antigen can be expressed on the cell surface of the infected host cell. Immunostimulatory molecules can be expressed on the cell surface or actively secreted by the host cell.

Expression of both antigen and immunostimulatory molecules provides the necessary signal to MHC-restricted peptides and specific T cells in the skin that are required for specific T cells that are immune-surveilling, antigen recognition and antigen specific T cell proliferation or clonal expansion can be aided. The overall result can be an up-regulation of the immune system. In certain embodiments, up-regulation of the immune response can kill, for example, disease-causing factors (such as cancer cells) or cells infected with a disease-causing factor (such as cells infected with viruses, bacteria, fungi, or protozoa). Or an increase in antigen-specific helper T lymphocytes and / or cytotoxic lymphocytes, including Th1 or Th2 CD4 ⁺ helper T cell mediated or CD8 ⁺ cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which can inhibit their proliferation. In certain embodiments, immunostimulation may also include an antibody response that includes the production of one or more antibody classes such as IgM, IgG and / or IgA.

Methods for Determining an Immune Response Methods for determining an immune response are known in the art. In some embodiments, viral lesions can be examined to determine the occurrence of an immune response to the virus and / or antigen. In some embodiments, in vitro assays can be used to determine the occurrence of an immune response. Examples of such in vitro assays include ELISA assays and cytotoxic T cell (CTL) assays. In some embodiments, serum of a subject treated by administering a live modified non-replicating or replication-defective poxvirus (including antigen) compared to the amount of antibody in the untreated subject. The immune response is measured by detecting and / or quantifying the relative amount of antibody that specifically recognizes the antigen therein.

  Techniques for assaying antibodies and antibody filters in a sample are known in the art and include, for example, sandwich assays, ELISAs and ELISpots. Antibodies include antibody portions, mammalianized (eg, humanized) antibodies, recombinant or synthetic antibodies, and hybrid and single chain antibodies.

  Both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies are obtained by immunization with immune effectors or antigenic fragments thereof. Either type can be utilized for immunoassays. Methods for obtaining both types of serum are well known in the art.

  Polyclonal serum is relatively injected by injecting an effective amount of an immune effector or antigenic portion thereof into a suitable laboratory animal, collecting the serum obtained from the animal, and separating the specific serum by any known immunosorbent technique. Easy to prepare. The antibodies produced by this method can be utilized for virtually any type of immunoassay.

  The use of monoclonal antibodies in an immunoassay is preferred because of their ability to produce them in large quantities and product uniformity. Preparation of hybridoma cell lines for production of monoclonal antibodies, obtained by fusing lymphocytes sensitized to immortal cell lines and immunogenic preparations, can be accomplished by techniques well known to those skilled in the art. it can.

  In other embodiments, an ELISA assay can be used to determine the level of isotype-specific antibodies using methods known in the art. CTL assays can be used to determine the lytic activity of CTL by measuring the specific lysis of target cells expressing certain antigens.

  Immunoassays can be used to measure the activation (eg, degree of activation) of sample immune cells. Sample immune cells refer to immune cells contained in a sample from any source, including from human patients, human donors, animals or tissue culture cell lines. The immune cell sample can be obtained from peripheral blood, lymph nodes, bone marrow, thymus, any other tissue source, including in situ or resected tumor, or tissue or organ culture. Samples can be fractionated or purified prior to analysis to produce or enrich for specific immune cell subsets. Immune cells can be separated and isolated from their source by standard techniques.

  Immune cells include both non-resting cells and resting cells, as well as cells of the immune system that can be assayed, including but not limited to B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, natural killer (NK) cells, lymphokine activated killer (LAK). ) Cells, monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, granulocytes, mast cells, platelets, Langerhans cells, stem cells, dendritic cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

  The immune cell activity that can be measured includes, but is not limited to, (1) cell proliferation by measuring cell or DNA replication, (2) γIFN, GM-CSF or TNFalpha, IFNalpha, IL-6, IL-10, IL Enhanced cytokine production, including specific measurements of cytokines such as -12, (3) cell-mediated target killing or lysis, (4) cell differentiation, (5) immunoglobulin production, (6) phenotypic changes, (7) Production of chemotactic factor or chemotaxis, which means the ability to respond to chemotactin with chemotaxis, (8) activity of several other immune cell types Immunosuppression by inhibiting, (9) secretion of chemokines such as IP-10, (10) costimulatory molecules (eg CD80, CD86) and mature molecules (eg CD83) Expression, as an indicator of upregulation, and (13) abnormal activation of (12) class II MHC expression, apoptosis refers to the fragmentation of activated immune cells in some circumstances and the like.

  Reporter molecules can be used in many of the described immunoassays. A reporter molecule is a molecule that, by its chemical nature, provides an analytically identifiable signal that allows detection of antigen-binding antibodies. Detection can be either qualitative or quantitative. Most reporter molecules most commonly used in this type of assay are either enzymes, fluorophores or radionuclide containing molecules (ie, radioisotopes) and chemiluminescent molecules. In the case of enzyme immunoassays, the enzyme is conjugated to a secondary antibody, typically using glutaraldehyde or periodate. However, as will be readily recognized, there are a wide variety of different conjugation techniques readily available to those skilled in the art. Commonly used enzymes include horseradish peroxidase, glucose oxidase, beta galactosidase and alkaline phosphatase, among others. The substrate used with a specific enzyme is generally selected for the production of a detectable color change upon hydrolysis by the corresponding enzyme. Examples of suitable enzymes include alkaline phosphatase and peroxidase. Instead of the above chromogenic substrate, a fluorogenic substrate that produces a fluorescent product can also be employed. In all cases, enzyme-labeled antibody is added to the initial antibody-antigen complex, allowed to bind, and then excess reagent is washed away. A solution containing the appropriate substrate is then added to the antibody-antigen-antibody complex. The substrate will react with the enzyme bound to the secondary antibody, resulting in a qualitative visual signal, which can usually be further quantified spectrophotometrically, measuring the amount of antigen present in the sample. It becomes possible to point out. Alternatively, fluorescent compounds such as fluorescein and rhodamine can be chemically coupled with antibodies without changing their binding ability. When activated by illumination with light of a specific wavelength, fluorophore-labeled antibodies absorb light energy (which induces an excitable state in the molecule), which is then visually detected with a light microscope Emits light with a characteristic color that can be. The fluorescently labeled antibody can bind to the initial antibody-antigen complex. After washing away unbound reagent, the remaining tertiary complex is then exposed to light of the appropriate wavelength and the observed fluorescence indicates the presence of the antigen of interest.

  Some common immunoassay examples include the following:

Cell proliferation assay: proliferation of activated immune cells is measured by cell number, cell weight, or cell number, cell growth, cell as measured by incorporation of radiolabeled nucleic acid, amino acid, protein or other precursor molecule It is intended to include an increase in division or cell proliferation. As one example, DNA replication is measured by incorporation of a radioisotope label. In some embodiments, the stimulated immune cell culture is pulse-labeled with tritiated thymidine ( ³ H-Tdr), a nucleoside precursor that is incorporated into newly synthesized DNA. labeling) can be measured by DNA synthesis. Thymidine incorporation usually allows a quantitative measurement of the rate of DNA synthesis that is directly proportional to the rate of cell division. The amount of ³ H-labeled thymidine incorporated into the replicated DNA of the cultured cells is determined by scintillation counting in a liquid scintillation spectrophotometer. Scintillation counts generate data in counts per minute (cpm), which can then be used as a standard measure of immune cell responsiveness. The cpm in resting immune cell cultures can be subtracted from the cpm of primed immune cells, or the cpm of prestimulated immune cells can be divided by the cpm in resting immune cell culture, thereby increasing the stimulation index A ratio will be generated.

  Flow cytometry can also be used to measure proliferation by measuring DNA by light scattering, Coulter volume and fluorescence, all of which are well known techniques in the art.

  Enhanced cytokine production assay: A measure of immune cell stimulation is the ability of a cell to secrete cytokines, lymphokines or other growth factors. Cytokine production, including specific measurements for cytokines such as γIFN, GM-CSF or TNFalpha, should be done by measuring radioimmunoassay (RIA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), bioassay or messenger RNA levels Can do. In general, these immunoassays are used to specifically bind to a cytokine using monoclonal antibodies directed against the cytokine being measured, thereby identifying the cytokine. Immunoassays are well known in the art and can include both competitive and immunoassay assays such as forward sandwich immunoassays, reverse sandwich immunoassays and simultaneous immunoassays.

  In each of the above assays, the sample-containing cytokine is incubated with the cytokine-specific monoclonal antibody under conditions and for a time sufficient for the cytokine to bind to the monoclonal antibody. In general, it is desirable to achieve sufficient incubation conditions to bind as many cytokines and antibodies as possible. This is because this maximizes the signal. Of course, the specific concentration of antibody, incubation temperature and time, and other such assay conditions may vary depending on various factors including cytokine concentration in the sample, sample nature, and the like. One skilled in the art can determine the operational and optimal assay conditions for each determination by using routine experimentation.

Cell-mediated target cell lysis assay: Another type of indicator for the extent of immune cell activation is immune cell-mediated target cell lysis, which leads to cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity, apoptosis and activity And includes any type of cell death, including induction of target lysis by molecules secreted from stimulated non-resting immune cells. Cell-mediated lymphocyte lysis techniques typically measure the ability of stimulated immune cells to lyse ⁵¹ Cr-labeled target cells. Cytotoxicity is measured as the percentage of ⁵¹ Cr released in specific target cells compared to the percentage of ⁵¹ Cr released from control target cells. Cell killing can also be measured by counting the number of target cells or by quantifying inhibition of target cell proliferation.

  Cell differentiation assay: Another indicator of immune cell activity is the differentiation and maturation of immune cells. Cell differentiation can be assessed in several different ways. One such method is by measuring the phenotype of the cell. Immune cell phenotypes and any phenotypic changes can be assessed by flow cytometry after immunofluorescence staining using monoclonal antibodies that bind to membrane proteins exhibiting characteristics of various immune cell types.

  A second means of assessing cell differentiation is by measuring cell function. This can be done biochemically by measuring the expression of an enzyme, mRNA, gene, protein or other metabolite in or secreted from the cell. Bioassays can also be used to measure functional cell differentiation.

  Immune cells express a variety of cell surface molecules that can be detected using monoclonal antibodies or polyclonal antisera. Differentiated or activated immune cells can also be enumerated in stained smears of cultured cells by staining for the presence of characteristic cell surface proteins by direct immunofluorescence.

  Mature B cells can be measured, for example, in immunoassays with cell surface antigens including CD19 and CD20, using monoclonal antibodies labeled with fluorescent dyes, or enzymes can be used for these antigens. B cells differentiated into plasma cells can be enumerated by staining for intracellular immunoglobulins by direct immunofluorescence in smears with fixed cultured cells.

  Immunoglobulin production assay: Activation of B cells results in a small but detectable amount of polyclonal immunoglobulin. After several days in culture, these immunoglobulins can be measured by radioimmunoassay or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods.

  B cells producing immunoglobulins can also be quantified by reverse hemolytic plaque assay. In this assay, red blood cells are coated with goat or rabbit anti-human immunoglobulin. These immunoglobulins are mixed with activated immunoglobulin-producing lymphocytes and semisolid agar and complement is added. The presence of hemolytic plaques indicates the presence of immunoglobulin producing cells.

  Chemotaxis factor assay: A chemotaxis factor is a molecule that induces or inhibits the migration of immune cells into or out of blood vessels, tissues or organs, including cell migration factors. Immune cell chemotactic factors can be assayed by flow cytometry using monoclonal antibodies labeled against the chemotactic factor (s) to be assayed. Chemotaxis factors can also be assayed by ELISA or other immunoassays, bioassays, messenger RNA levels, and by direct measurements such as cell counts of immune cell migration in specialized migration chambers.

  Addback assay: When added to fresh peripheral blood mononuclear cells, ex vivo activated autologous cells have an enhanced response to "recall" antigen, an antigen previously exposed to peripheral blood mononuclear cells Indicates. Pre-stimulated or stimulated immune cells should enhance other immune cell responses to “recall” antigens when cultured together. These assays are referred to as “helper” or “addback” assays. In this assay, pre-stimulated or stimulated immune cells are added to untreated, usually autoimmune cells, and the response of untreated cells is determined. The added pre-stimulated cells can be irradiated to prevent their growth, simplifying the measurement of the activity of untreated cells. These assays can be particularly useful for assessing cells for blood exposed to the virus. Addback assays can measure proliferation, cytokine production and target cell lysis as described herein.

  The above methods and other additional methods for determining an immune response are well known in the art.

Administration of viral vectors to the skin The skin represents and enhances an attractive target site for antigen delivery due to high concentrations of antigen-presenting cells (APCs), APC precursors and immune cells found in this tissue A protective immune response occurs. By reproducing the natural process of keratinocyte infection by vaccinia virus that results in an unparalleled immune response to the vaccinia gene, the methods described herein can be The subject's immunity against a heterologous antigen expressed by the poxvirus provided herein is similarly enhanced. The resulting immune response can protect the immunized subject or can help alleviate or treat the disease caused by the antigen presenting factor if the subject has already developed the disease.

  In some embodiments, the recombinant poxvirus comprising an antigen described herein can be one or more other pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, including any suitable diluent or excipient. Can be administered in the form of a composition. Preferably, a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier does not itself induce a physiological response, such as an immune response. Most preferably, the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier does not cause any harmful or undesirable side effects and / or does not cause excessive toxicity. Pharmaceutically acceptable carriers include, but are not limited to, saline, buffered saline, dextrose, water, glycerol, sterile isotonic aqueous buffer, and combinations thereof. Additional examples of pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, diluents and excipients can be found in Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences (Mack Pub. Co., NJ, latest edition; all herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. Built in).

  The modified poxvirus is preferably administered by mechanical disruption of the epidermis (eg, by skin ablation, scratching, abrasion or surface cutting). Methods and devices for breaking the skin and depositing material in the epidermis of the skin are known in the art. Examples of devices for breaking the skin include a random needle, a hypodermic needle or a scraper.

  The poxvirus and compositions thereof of the present invention can be delivered into the epidermal compartment of the skin in any pharmaceutically acceptable form. In some embodiments, the poxvirus and its composition are applied to the skin and then a device that mechanically disrupts the epidermis (eg, a scraper) is moved or rubbed over the skin and the poxvirus. . In certain embodiments, a random needle or hypodermic needle can be used to destroy the epidermis. It is preferred to use a minimum amount of abrasion / mechanical failure to produce the desired result. Determination of the appropriate amount of scratch / mechanical breakage for the selected poxvirus and / or composition thereof is within the ordinary skill in the art. In another embodiment, the poxvirus and / or composition thereof can be applied in a dry form to the abrasion surface of the abrasion device prior to application. In this embodiment, the reconstitution liquid is applied to the skin at the delivery site, and the poxvirus (composition) coated scraping device is applied to the skin at the site of the reconstitution liquid. It is then moved or rubbed on the skin so that the poxvirus (composition) can be dissolved in the reconstituted liquid on the surface of the skin and delivered simultaneously by abrasion. Alternatively, a reconstituted liquid can be included in the device (eg, a scissor needle, hypodermic needle or scraper) and released when the device is applied to the skin for mechanical destruction of the epidermis The poxvirus (composition) can be dissolved. Certain poxvirus (es) (compositions) can also be coated on a device (eg, a scraping device) in the form of a gel.

  In some embodiments, a device (eg, a random needle, hypodermic needle or scraper) for accurately targeting the epidermal space is provided. These devices can have microprotrusions or hollow microprojections that are not hollow. The microprojections can have a length of up to about 1500 microns. In some embodiments, the microprojections have a length of about 200 to 1500 microns. In some embodiments, the microprojections have a length in the range of about 300 to 1000 microns or about 400 to 800 microns.

  Devices that can be used in the methods described herein (eg, random cutting needles, hypodermic needles or scrapers) are devices that can penetrate the epidermis and break the skin, preferably without penetrating the dermis. In some embodiments, the device penetrates the stratum corneum without penetrating the entire epidermis.

  In certain embodiments, poxviruses and compositions administered using the methods described herein can be applied to the skin prior to, simultaneously with, or after rubbing.

  In certain embodiments, a method is provided for delivering a poxvirus and its composition into the epidermis of a subject, the method comprising the outside of a patient's skin layer or a device (eg, a scraper or a severing needle). Or a hypodermic needle) to coat the poxvirus and its composition, and to move the device across the subject's skin and transfer the poxvirus and its composition into the viable epidermis of the subject. Including mechanical failure leaving a sufficient groove.

  In order to achieve the desired mechanical destruction of the epidermis, the device (eg, a scraper or a scissor or hypodermic needle) should be moved across the subject's skin at least once. The subject's skin can be destroyed by changing direction. The device absorbs the poxvirus and / or its composition more effectively, thereby applying less poxvirus and its composition to the skin of the subject, or with less poxvirus and its composition It becomes possible to coat the device. The surface of the device can be coated with a poxvirus and / or composition thereof desired for delivery to a subject. In some embodiments, the poxvirus and / or composition thereof may be a powder disposed on the scraping surface of the device. In certain embodiments, the delivered poxvirus and / or composition thereof can be applied directly to the subject's skin prior to application and transfer of the device on the subject's skin.

  In some embodiments, the device (eg, severing needle, hypodermic needle or scraper) and microprojections can be made from a plastic material that does not react with the substance being administered. Suitable plastic materials include, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide, polystyrene, polyester and polycarbonate as known in the art. Alternatively, the microprojections can be made from metals such as stainless steel, tungsten steel, nickel alloys, molybdenum, chromium, cobalt, titanium, and their alloys, or other materials such as silicon, ceramic and glass polymers it can. The metal protrusions can be manufactured using a variety of techniques similar to photolithographic etching of silicon wafers or micromachining using a tip-to-diamond mill as known in the art. The microprojections can also be produced by photolithographic etching of a silicon wafer using standard techniques as known in the art. They can also be made of plastic by an injection molding process, as described, for example, in US patent application Ser. No. 10 / 193,317, incorporated herein by reference.

  The length and thickness of the microprojections are selected based on the particular material to be administered and the thickness of the epidermis at the location where the device is applied. The microprojections penetrate the epidermis without penetrating or passing through the entire dermis. In some embodiments, the protrusion penetrates the stratum corneum without substantially penetrating or passing through the entire epidermis.

In some embodiments, a method of preparing a delivery site on the skin includes placing a device (eg, a micro-abrader, a severing needle or a hypodermic needle) against the patient's skin at a desired location. The device is gently pushed against the skin and then moved over or across the skin. The length of the device stroke is defined by the desired delivery area and can vary depending on the desired size of the delivery site. The size of the delivery site can be selected to achieve the intended result and can vary depending on the substance and the form of the substance being delivered. In some embodiments, the device is moved about 2 to 15 centimeters (cm). In some embodiments, the device is moved to provide a mechanically disrupted epidermal site having a surface area of about 4 cm ² to about 300 cm ² .

  In certain embodiments, the device can then be lifted from the skin to expose the mechanically destroyed epidermal area and the recombinant poxvirus and its composition can be applied to the mechanically destroyed epidermal area. In certain embodiments, the poxvirus to be administered and / or the composition thereof can be applied to the surface of the skin either before or simultaneously with the mechanical destruction of the epidermis.

  The degree of mechanical destruction of the epidermis depends on the pressure applied during movement and the number of repetitions by the device (eg, a severing needle, hypodermic needle or scraper). In some embodiments, the device is lifted off the skin after the first pass and placed back on the starting position at substantially the same location and position. The device is moved in the same direction and the same distance the second time. In certain embodiments, after making the first pass, the direction is changed and moved repeatedly across the same site without lifting from the skin. Generally, two or more passes are performed by the device. In some embodiments, the device is grid-like pattern, circular only in the same direction for a time sufficient to destroy the epidermis to a depth suitable to enhance delivery of the poxvirus and / or composition thereof. It can be swiped back and forth, left and right in a pattern, or some other pattern.

  Any device known in the art for breaking the epidermis by mechanical fracture can be used in the methods described herein. These include, for example, microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices that use short microneedles or arrays of small protrusions, sandpaper-like devices, scrapers, random cut needles, hypodermic needles, and the like.

  In some embodiments, when an immune response to an antigen is applied by mechanical disruption of the epidermis compared to a conventional injection route, a poxvirus constructed as discussed herein is applied to the subject. , Between about 100 times and less than about 100 times pfu (plaque forming units). In certain embodiments, the specific immune response to the antigen is about 90-fold, 80-fold, 70-fold, 60-fold, 50-fold when applied by mechanical disruption of the epidermis compared to conventional injection routes. , 40 times, 30 times, 20 times, 10 times, less than 5 times the poxvirus pfu. In some embodiments, a single deposition of recombinant poxvirus is necessary to elicit a long lasting strong antigen-specific immune response in the subject.

  In some embodiments, the poxvirus and / or composition thereof provided herein is in a first administration of the poxvirus and / or composition thereof with a dosing schedule, eg, subsequent administration of a booster immunization. Can also be administered. In certain embodiments, the second administration of the poxvirus and / or composition thereof is administered anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 year, preferably 1 to 6 months after the first administration. Furthermore, the third administration can be administered after the second administration and 3 months to 2 years from the first administration, or even longer, preferably 4 to 6 months, or 6 months to 1 year later. . Booster antigens can be administered using the same poxvirus or as the whole protein, an immunogenic peptide fraction of the protein, another recombinant viral vector or DNA encoding the protein or peptide. In some embodiments, different poxviruses are used. For example, vaccinia may be followed by chicken pox or other tripox, or vice versa. In some preferred embodiments, immunization with a boost is not necessary.

Viral vector kits for administration The present invention also contemplates the use of kits. In one aspect of the invention, a pharmaceutical pack or kit comprising a poxvirus and / or composition thereof is provided. In one embodiment, a kit is provided that includes one or more containers filled with one or more of the following ingredients: either in a salt-dried form (eg, lyophilized) or in solution. A live, modified, non-replicating or replication-impaired poxvirus containing the antigen and optionally a costimulatory molecule, optionally either in salt-dried form (eg lyophilized) or in solution A second virus containing a stimulatory molecule, optionally a solution or gel for dissolving or mixing the virus (es), and optionally an adjuvant. In some embodiments, the kit additionally includes a device for destroying the epidermis. Accompanying such a kit may be instructions on how to use the kit, and possibly a notice in the form prescribed by the government that regulates the manufacture, use or sale of the drug or biological product, The notice reflects the agency's approval for manufacture, use or sale for human administration.

  The present invention also contemplates a method for treating a disease. The method includes stimulating an immune response against the antigen in the subject. The method comprises the steps of administering to a subject in need thereof a live modified non-replicating or replication-defective poxvirus comprising an amount of an antigen sufficient to stimulate an immune response in the subject. Including, the poxvirus is administered to the mechanically disrupted subject's epidermis, and stimulation of the immune response treats the subject's disease caused by the antigen. In some embodiments, the subject was challenged with the antigen prior to administration of the poxvirus comprising the antigen.

  In some embodiments, a method for protecting a subject at risk of being challenged with an antigen or developing a disease caused by an antigen is provided. The method includes stimulating an immune response against the antigen in the subject, which comprises a live modified non-replicating or replication-inhibited poxvirus comprising an amount of the antigen sufficient to stimulate the immune response. Is administered to a subject in need thereof, wherein the poxvirus is administered to mechanically disrupted skin and the immune response stimulates the subject against disease caused by the antigen. Is possible. In some embodiments, the subject has not been challenged with the antigen prior to administration of the poxvirus comprising the antigen.

  As used herein, “treating” or “treatment” of a disease means ameliorating the condition of a subject having the disease. This can include partial or complete improvements.

  In the case of cancer, “treating” cancer refers to completely or partially inhibiting the growth or metastasis of cancer or tumor cells and any increase in the growth or metastasis of cancer or tumor cells. Means to inhibit. Treatment can lead to tumor quiescence, partial or complete remission, or can inhibit metastatic spread of the tumor.

  In the case of an infectious disease, “treating” the infectious disease means reducing the load of the infectious agent completely or partially in the subject. The load can be a viral load; reducing the viral load can, for example, reduce the number of cells infected with the virus compared to an untreated subject, It means reducing, reducing the number of new virions produced, and reducing the total viral genome copy number in the cell. The load may be a bacterial, yeast, fungal, protozoan, helminth or parasite load, and reducing such a load is, for example, a bacterium, fungus, protozoan in a host compared to an untreated subject. Produced by bacteria, yeast, fungi, protozoa, worms or parasites, reducing the number of helminths, yeasts or parasites, reducing the population growth rate, reducing the spread throughout the body of a subject Means to reduce the amount of toxic products.

  “Protecting” or “protecting” a subject from developing a disease or being susceptible to an infection as referred to herein refers to partially or fully protecting the subject. Means that. As used herein, “fully protected” means that the treated subject is caused by factors such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, helminths, parasites, or cancer cells. Means that the disease or infection cannot be developed. As used herein, “partially protect” means that a certain subset of subjects can be fully protected from developing a disease or infection after treatment, or the subject has been treated. Means that it is not possible to develop a disease or infection having the same severity as a non-subject.

  Provided herein are methods for treating and / or preventing an infection (or infectious disease) in a subject, preferably a human. The method comprises administering a recombinant poxvirus comprising the antigen and / or composition thereof to the mechanically disrupted subject's epidermis. Infections or infectious diseases that can be treated or prevented by these methods are caused by infectious agents including, but not limited to, bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, helminths and parasites.

  Examples of viruses that can be treated by the methods described herein or that can be protected by the methods described herein include, but are not limited to, HIV, influenza, dengue fever, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus. , Hepatitis C virus, human papillomavirus, Ebola, Marburg, rabies, hantavirus infection, West Nile virus, SARS-like coronavirus, herpes simplex virus (HSV1 and HSV2), varicella-zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus 8 Type, alphavirus, St. Louis encephalitis.

  Other viruses that can be treated or protected by the methods described herein include, but are not limited to, enteroviruses (such as, but not limited to, viruses of the Picornaviridae family such as poliovirus, coxsackie virus, echovirus) Rotavirus, adenovirus and hepatitis viruses such as A, B, C, D and hepatitis E. Specific examples of viruses found in humans include, but are not limited to, retroviridae (eg, human immunodeficiency viruses such as HIV-1 (HTLV-III, LAV or HTLV-III / LAV or HIV- And other isolates such as HIV-LP); Picornaviridae (eg, poliovirus, hepatitis A virus, enterovirus, human coxsackie virus, rhinovirus, echovirus); Caliciviridae (eg Togaviridae (eg equine encephalitis virus, rubella virus); Flaviviridae (eg encephalitis virus, yellow fever virus); Coronaviridae (eg coronavirus); Rhabdoviridae ( For example, vesicular stomatitis virus, rabies Filoviridae (eg, Ebola virus); Paramyxoviridae (eg, parainfluenza virus, mumps virus, measles virus, RS virus); Orthomyxoviridae (eg, influenza virus); Bunyaviridae (eg, Bunyavirus, Frevovirus and Nairovirus); Arenaviridae (Hemorrhagic Fever Virus); Reoviridae (eg, Reovirus, Orbivirus and Rotavirus); Birnaviridae; Hepadnaviridae (Hepatitis B Virus); Parvoviridae (Parvovirus); Papovaviridae (Papillomavirus, Polyomavirus); Adenoviridae (Most adenovirus); Cytomegalovirus (CMV); Poxviridae (痘Viruses, vaccinia viruses, poxviruses); Iridoviridae (eg African swine fever virus) and other viruses acute laryngeal bronchitis virus, alphavirus genus, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus, Newcastle disease virus, Nipper virus, Norwalk virus , Papillomavirus, parainfluenza virus and avian influenza.

  Bacterial infections or diseases that can be treated or prevented by the poxviruses and methods described herein include, but are not limited to, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella typhi, Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia peristis, Francisella ultranis, L. caused by bacteria including Pallidum.

  Other bacteria that can be treated or protected by the methods herein include, but are not limited to, Pasteurella species, Staphylococci species and Streptococcus species. Gram negative bacteria include, but are not limited to, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas species and Salmonella species. Specific examples of infectious bacteria include, but are not limited to, Helicobacter pyloris, Borelia burgdorferi, Mycobacterium species (eg, M. avium, M. intracellulare, M. kansaliis, M. gordonae, M. gordonae), , Neisseria meningitidis, Listeria monocytogenes, Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus), Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus), Streptococcus, Streptococcus cus faecalis, Streptococcus bovis, Streptococcus (anaerobic species), Streptococcus pneumoniae, pathogenic Campylobacter species, Enterococcus species, Haemophilus influenzae, corynebacterium diphtheriae, corynebacterium species, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, Clostridium perfringers, Clostridium tetani, Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pasturella multocida , Bacteroides species, Fusobact erium nucleatum, Streptobacillus moniliformis, Treponema pertenue, Leptospira and Actinomyces israelli.

  Fungal diseases that can be treated or prevented using the poxviruses and methods described herein include, but are not limited to, Coccidioides immitis, Blastomyces dermatitis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans, Aspergillus species.

  Other fungi that can be treated or protected by the methods described herein include, but are not limited to, Histoplasma capsulatum, Coccidioides immitis, and Chlamydia trachomatis.

  Protozoan diseases or infections that can be treated or prevented using the poxviruses and methods described herein include, but are not limited to, Malaria (Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium ova, Plasmodium species, Plasmodium species, Trypanosome species (Africa and America), Cryptosporidium, Isospora species, Naegleria fowleri, Acanthamoeba species, Balamuthia mandrillaris, Toxoplasma gondii and Pneumoccystis.

  Cancers or tumors that can be treated or prevented using the poxviruses and methods described herein include, but are not limited to, melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, breast cancer, prostate adenocarcinoma, prostate epithelium. Neoplasia, lung squamous cell carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer derived from epithelium, colorectal adenocarcinoma and leiomyosarcoma, gastric adenocarcinoma and leiomyosarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, bile duct cancer, pancreatic ductal gland Cancer, pancreatic endocrine tumor, renal cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma of the kidney and bladder, squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder, papillary thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, brain cancer (astrocytoma, glioblastoma multiforme) Tumor).

Additional Agents for Administration with Viral Vectors The methods for treating or preventing a disease described herein can include administering an additional agent. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the method (s) for treating or preventing cancer described herein can be used in combination with one or more anticancer agents. Examples of anti-cancer drugs that can be used in various embodiments, including the pharmaceutical compositions and dosage forms and kits described herein include, but are not limited to, acivicin; aclarubicin; acodazol hydrochloride; Azelonine; aldesleukin; altretamine; ambomycin; amethanetron acetate; aminoglutethimide; amsacrine; anastrozole; anthramycin; asparaginase; Hydrochloride; Bisnafide dimesylate; Viselecin; Bleomycin sulfate; Brequinal sodium; Bropyrimine; Busulfan; Kactinomycin; Carsterone; Caracemide; carbetimel; carboplatin; carmustine; carubicin hydrochloride; carzeresin; cedefingol; chlorambucil; cilolemycin; Somaplatin; Dezaguanine; Deaguanine mesylate; Diaziquan; Docetaxel; Doxorubicin; Doxorubicin hydrochloride; Droloxifene; Droloxifene citrate; Elsamitrucin; enroplatin; enpromate; epipropidin; Pyrubicin hydrochloride; erbrozole; esorubicin hydrochloride; estramustine; estramustine phosphate sodium; etanidazole; etoposide; etoposide phosphate ;; etopurine; Fluorouracil; flulocitabine; foscudin; fostriecin sodium; gemcitabine; gemcitabine hydrochloride; hydroxyurea; idarubicin hydrochloride; ifosfamide; ilmofosin; interleukin II (including recombinant interleukin II or rIL2); interferon alpha 2a; Interferon Rufa 2b; interferon alpha n1; interferon alpha n3; interferon beta Ia; interferon gamma Ib; iproplatin; irinotecan hydrochloride; lanreotide acetate; letrozole; leuprolide acetate; riarosol hydrochloride; lometrexol sodium; Losoxanthrone hydrochloride; Masoprocol; Maytansine; Mechloretamine; Mechlorethamine oxide hydrochloride; Resamine hydrochloride; Megestrol acetate; Melphalandol acetate; Melphalan; Mitindomide; mitocalysin; Mitochonline; Mitoxin; Mitoxerne; Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride; Mycophenolic Acid; Nocodazole; Nogaramycin; Ormaplatin; Piprobroman; Piposulfan; Piroxantrone hydrochloride; Prikamycin; Promestan; Porfimer sodium; Porphyromycin; Prednimustine; Procarbazine hydrochloride; Puromycin; Puromycin hydrochloride; Pyrazofurin; Ribopurine; Hydrochloride; Semustine; Simuto Zen; sparfosate sodium; sparsomycin; spirogermanium hydrochloride; spiromustine; spiroplatin; streptonigrin; streptozocin; throfenur; thalisomycin; tecogalan sodium; tegafur; teloxanthrone hydrochloride; temoporfin; Test lactone; thiapurine; thioguanine; thiotepa; thiazofurin; tirapazamine; toremifene citrate; trestron acetate; triciribine phosphate; trimetrexate; trimethrexate glucuronate; triptorelin; tubulosol hydrochloride; uracil mustard; Bapleutide; verteporfin; vinblastine sulfate; vincristine Vindesine; vindesine sulfate; vinipedin sulfate; vinlicine sulfate; vinreurocin sulfate; vinorelbine sulfate; vinrosidin sulfate; vinzolidine sulfate; borosol; xeniplatin; Benzodepa, Carbocon, Triethylenemelamulin, Triethylenephosphoramide, Triethylenethiophosphoramide, Trimethylolomelinein, Chromafadin, Novembitin, Phenesterin, Trophosphamide, Estermuthine, Chlorozotocin, Gemzar, Nimustine, Ranimustine Dacarbazine, Mannomustine, Mitobronitol, A Rasinomycin, actinomycin F (1), azaserine, bleomycin, carubicin, cardinophylline, chromomycin, daunorubicin, daunomycin, 6-diazo-5-oxo-1-norleucine, doxorubicin, olivomycin, prikamyciri, porphyromycin, puro Mycin, tubercidin, zorubicin, denopterin, pteropterin, 6-mercaptopurine, ancitabine, 6-azauridine, carmofur, cytarabine, dideoxyuridine, enocitabine, plumozyme, acegraton, aldophosphamide glycoside, bestlabsyl, defofamide, demecoltin Nitin, ellipticine acetate, etoglucide, flutamide, hydroxyurea, lentinan, phenmet, pom Phyllic acid, 2-ethylhydrazide, razoxan, spirogermanium, tamoxifen, taxotere, tenuazonic acid, triazicon, 2,2 ', 2''-trichlorotriethylamine, urethane, vinblastine, vincristine, vindesine and related drugs, 20-epi- 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3; 5-ethynyluracil; abiraterone; aclarubicin; acylfulvene; adesipenol; adzelesin; aldesleukin; Andrographolide; angiogenesis inhibitor; antagonist D; antagonist G; antarelix; Anti-androgen, prostate cancer; Anti-estrogen agent; Anti-neoplaston; Antisense oligonucleotide; Aphidicolin glycinate; Apoptosis gene regulator; Apoptotic regulator; Apriic acid; Ara CDP-DL-PTBA; Arginine deaminase; Aslacrine; Atamestan; Atristine; Accinastatin 1; Accinastatin 2; Accinastatin 3; Azasetron; Azatoxin; Azatyrosine; Baccatin III derivative; Varanol; Batatimaster; BCR / ABL antagonist; Beta-lactam derivatives; beta-alletin; beta-clamycin B; betulinic acid; bFGF inhibitor; bicalutamide; bisantrene; Ruspermine; Bisnafide; Bistratene A; Viselecin; Breflate; Bropyrimine; Budotitanium; Buthionine sulfoximine; Calcipotriol; Calfostin C; Camptothecin derivative; Canalipox IL-2; Capecitabine; Carboxamide aminotriazole; Carboxamide triazole; CARN700; cartilage-derived inhibitor; calzeresin; casein kinase inhibitor (ICOS); castanospermine; cecropin B; cetrorelix; chlorin; chloroquinoxaline sulfonamide; cycaprost; cisporphyrin; cladribine; Chorismycin A; Chorismycin B; Combretastatin A4; Similar to Combretastatin Conagenin; Clambescidin 816; Crisnatol; Cryptophysin 8; Cryptophycin A derivative; Classin A; Cyclopentanethraquinone; Cycloplatam; Cypemycin; Cytarabine octophosphate; Cytolytic factor; Cytostatin; Dacliximab; Deslorelin; Dexamethasone; Dexifosfamide; Dexrazoxane; Dexivapamil; Diazicuone; Didemnin B; Didox; Diethylnorspermine; Dihydro-5-azacytidine; Dihydrotaxol, 9-; Dioxamycin; Diphenylspiromustine; Docotaxol Dolasetron, doxyfluridine, droloxifene, dronabinol, duocarmycin SA, ebselen, eco Sutin, Edelfosin; Edrecolomab; Eflornithine; Elemene; Emiteful; Epirubicin; Epristeride; Estramustine analog; Estrogen agonist; Estrogen antagonist; Pyridol; Frezelastine; Fluasterone; Fludarabine; Fluorodaunonisin hydrochloride; Forfenimex; Formestane; Hostriecin; Hotemustine; Xamethylenebisacamide; hypericin; ibandronic acid; idarubicin; idoxifene; idramanton; ilmofosin; ilomostat; imidazoacridone; imiquimod; immunostimulatory peptide; insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor inhibitor; interferon agonist; interferon; interleukin; Iododoxorubicin; ipomeanol, 4-; iropract; irsogladine; isobengalzole; isohomhalichondrin B; itasetron; jaspraquinolide; kahalalide F; lamellarin-N triacetate; lanreotide; reinamycin; lenograstim; lentin sulfate; Rustatin; letrozole; leukemia inhibitory factor; leukocyte alpha interferon; leuprolide + Estrogen + progesterone; leuprorelin; levamisole; riarosol; linear polyamine analogs; lipophilic diglycopeptides; lipophilic platinum compounds; risocrine amide 7; lovacplatin; rombricin; lometrexol; lonidamine; Lutecan; lutetium texaphyrin; lysophylline; soluble peptide; maytansine; mannostatin A; marimastat; masoplycol; maspin; matrilysin inhibitor; matrix metalloprotease inhibitor; menogalyl; melvalon; Mifepristone; Miltefosin; Nirimostim; mismatched duplex RN
A; mitoguazone; mitactol; mitomycin analog; mitonafide; mitotoxin fibroblast growth factor-saporin; mitoxantrone; mofarotene; morglamostim; monoclonal antibody; Drug-resistant gene inhibitors; Multiple tumor suppressor 1-based treatments; Mustard anticancer agents; Mycaperoxide B; Mycobacterial cell wall extract; Myriapolone; N-acetyldinarine; N-substituted benzamides; Nafarelin; + Pentazocine; napabin; naphtherpine; nartograstim; nedaplatin; nemorubicin; neridronate; neutral endopeptidase; nilutamide; Nitrogen Oxidation Antioxidant; Nitrilline; O6-Benzylguanine; Octreotide; Oxenone; Oligonucleotide; Onapristone; Ondansetron; Ondansetron; Oracin; Oral Platin Derivatives: Ormaplatin; Osaterone; Taxel; Taxel analogs; Taxel derivatives; Parauamine; Palmitoyl lysoxin; Pamidronic acid; Panaxitriol; Panomiphene; Parabactin; Pazelliptin; Pegaspargase; Perdesin; Pentosan polysulfate sodium; Pentostatin; Pentrozole; Famide, perillyl alcohol, phenazinomycin, phenyl acetate, phosphatase inhibitor, picibanil, pilocar Pyrralubicin; Pyrtrexim; Pracetin A; Pracetin B; Plasminogen activator inhibitor; Platinum complex; Platinum compound; Platinum triamine complex; Porfimer sodium; Porphyromycin; Prednisone; Propbisacridone; J2; Proteasome inhibitor; Protein A-based immunomodulator; Protein kinase C inhibitor; Protein kinase C inhibitor; Microalgae; Protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor; Purine nucleoside phosphorylase inhibitor; Perpurine; Pyrazoloacridine; Pyridoxylated hemoglobin polyoxyethylene conjugate Raf antagonist; raltitrexed; ramosetron; ras farnesyl protein; Ras-inhibitor; ras-GAP inhibitor; retelliptin demethylation; rhenium Re 186 etidronate; lysoxin; ribozyme; RII retinamide; logretimide; rohitskin; SarCNU; sarcophytol A; salgramostim; Sdi1 mimetics; semustine; senescence-derived inhibitor 1; sense oligonucleotide; signal transduction inhibitor; signal transduction regulator; single chain antigen binding protein; schizophyllan; sobuzoxane; sodium borocaptate; Solverol; Somatomedin-binding protein; Sonermin; Sparfosin Spicamycin D; Spiromustine; Splenopentine; Spongistatin 1; Squalamine; Stem cell inhibitors; Stem cell division inhibitors (ibitors); Stipamide; Stromelysin inhibitor; Sulfinosin; Superactive vasoactive intestinal peptide antagonist; Slastista; Wine Sonine; Synthetic Glycosaminoglycan; Talimustine; Tamoxifen Methiodide; Tauromustine; Tazarotene; Tecogalane Sodium; Tegafur; Tellurapylium; Thrombopoietin mimetics; simalfacin; thymopoietin receptor jaw Thyristinan; thyroid stimulating hormone; tin ethyl etiopurpurin; tirapazamine; titanocene bichloride; topcentin; toremifene; totipotent stem cell factor; translation inhibitor; tretinoin; triacetyluridine; triciribine; trimethrexate; triptorelin; tropisetron; Tyrosine kinase inhibitor; tyrophostin; UBC inhibitor; ubenimex; urogenital sinus growth inhibitor; urokinase receptor antagonist; bapreotide; variolin B; vector system, erythrocyte gene therapy; veralesole; veramine; Vinxartin; Vitaxin; Borozol; Zanoterone; Xeniplatin; Girascove and Dinostatin styramar That.

  In some embodiments, the method (s) for treating or preventing a bacterial infection (or disease) described herein can be used in combination with one or more antibacterial agents. Antibacterial agents include, but are not limited to, aminoglycosides, β-lactam agents, cephalosporins, macrolides, penicillins, quinolones, sulfonamides, and tetracyclines. Examples of antibacterial agents include, but are not limited to, acedapson, sodium acetosulfone, alamesin, alexidine, amidinocillin, clavulanate potassium, amidinocillin, amidinocillin pivoxil, amiccycline, amifloxacin, amifloxacin mesylate, amikacin , Amikacin sulfate, aminosalicylic acid, sodium aminosalicylate, amoxicillin, amphomycin, ampicillin, ampicillin sodium, apalcillin sodium, apramycin, asparatocin, astromycin sulfate, aviramycin, avoparcin, azithromycin, azurocillin, azulocillin sodium, Bacampicillin hydrochloride, bacitracin, bacitracin methylene disalicylate, bacitracin Lead, bumbermycin, benzoyl pass calcium, berithromycin, betamicin sulfate, biapenem, vinylamicin, biphenamine hydrochloride, bispyrithione magsulfex, buticacin, butyrosine sulfate, capreomycin sulfate, carbadoxine, carbenicillin disodium , Carbenicillin indanyl sodium, carbenicillin phenyl sodium, carbenicillin potassium, carmonam sodium, cefaclor, cefadroxyl, cefamandole, cefamandole fate, cefamandole sodium, cefaparalol, cefatrigine, cefazafrule sodium, cefazolin, cefazolin sodium, Cefbuperazone, cefdinir, cefditoren pivoxil Cefepime, cefepime hydrochloride, cephetecol, cefixime, cefmenoxime hydrochloride, cefmetazole, cefmetazole sodium, cefoniside monosodium, cefoniside sodium, cefoperazone sodium, cefolanid, cefotaxime, cefotaxime sodium, cefotetan, cefotetan hydrocefium, cefotetan hydrocefium Chloride, cefoxitin, cefoxitin sodium, cefpimizole, cefpimizole sodium, cefpiramide, cefpiramide sodium, cefpirome sulfate, cefpodoxime proxetyl, cefprozil, cefloxazine, cefsrodin sodium, ceftazidime, ceftazidime sodium, Ceftbutene, ceftizoxime sodium, ceftori Axon sodium, cefuroxime, cefuroxime axetil, cefuroxime pivoxetil, cefuroxime sodium, cefacetril sodium, cephalexin, cephalexin hydrochloride, cephaloglicin, cephaloridine, cephalothin sodium, cefapirin sodium, cefradine, cetocycline Hydrochloride, cetophenicol, chloramphenicol, chloramphenicol palmitate, chloramphenicol pantothenic acid complex, chloramphenicol sodium succinate, chlorhexidine phosphanylate, chloroxylenol, chlortetracycline bissulfate, chlor Tetracycline hydrochloride, cilastatin, sinoxacin, ciprofloxacin, ciprofloxaci Hydrochloride, silolemycin, clarithromycin, potassium clavulanate, clinafloxacin hydrochloride, clindamycin, clindamycin glucose, clindamycin hydrochloride, clindamycin palmitate hydrochloride, clindamycin phosphate, clofazimine , Cloxacillin benzathine, cloxacillin sodium, cloxyquine, colistimate, colistimetate sodium, colistin sulfate, coumamycin, coumamycin sodium, cyclacillin, cycloserine, dalfopristin, dapsone, daptomycin, demeclocycline, deme Clocycline hydrochloride, demescycline, denofungin, diaveridine, dicloxacillin Dicloxacillin sodium, dihydrostreptomycin sulfate, dipyrithione, dirithromycin, doxycycline, doxycycline calcium, doxycycline phosphatex, doxycycline hydrate, doxycycline monohydrate, droxacin sodium, enoxacin, epicillin, epitetracycline hydrochloride, ertapenem , Erythromycin, erythromycin assist rate, erythromycin estrate, erythromycin ethyl succinate, erythromycin single sceptate, erythromycin lactobionate, erythromycin propionate, erythromycin stearate, ethambutol hydrochloride, ethionamide, fleroxacin, floxacillin, full Dalanin, flumequin, fosfomycin, fosfomycin tromethamine, fumoxycillin, furazolium chloride, furazolium tartrate, fusidate sodium, fusidic acid, gatifloxacin, genifloxacin, gentamicin sulfate, gloximonam, gramicidin, haloprozin, hetacillin, heta Syrin potassium, hexedin, ivafloxacin, imipenem, isconazole, isepamicin, isoniazid, josamycin, kanamycin sulfate, kitasamycin, levofloxacin, levofuraltadone, levopropyl cillin potassium, lexithromycin, lincomycin, lincomycin hydrochloride, linezolid, lomefloxad Oxacin hydrochloride, lomefloxacin Sylate, Loracarbef, mafenide, meclocycline, meclocycline sulfosalicylate, megaromycin potassium phosphate, mexidox, meropenem, metacycline, metacycline hydrochloride, methenamine, methenamine hyplate, methenamine mandelate, methicillin sodium, metioprimol, metronidazole Hydrochloride, metronidazole phosphate, mezlocillin, mezlocillin sodium, minocycline, minocycline hydrochloride, mirincamycin hydrochloride, monensin, monensin sodium, moxifloxacin hydrochloride, nafcillin sodium, nalidixate sodium, nalidixic acid, natamycin , Nebramycin, neomycin Mitate, Neomycin Sulfate, Neomycin Andycylenate, Netilmycin Sulfate, Neutramycin, Nifuraden, Nifuraldezone, Nifarter, Niphratron, Nifludazyl, Niflimide, Niflupyrinol, Nifluquinazole, Niflutazole, Nitrocycline, Nitrofurantoin, Nitromid, Norfloxacin, novobiocin sodium, ofloxacin, olmetoprim, oxacillin sodium, oximonam, oximonam sodium, oxophosphate, oxytetracycline, oxytetracycline calcium, oxytetracycline hydrochloride, pardimycin, parachlorophenol, paulomycin, pefloxacin, pefloxacin mesylate, Penamecillin, Penicill Phosphorus G benzathine, penicillin G potassium, penicillin G procaine, penicillin G sodium, penicillin V, penicillin V benzathine, penicillin V hydrabamine, penicillin V potassium, pentididone sodium, phenylaminosalicylate, piperacillin, piperacillin sodium, pyrbenicillin Sodium, pyridicillin sodium, pyrrimycin hydrochloride, pivampicillin hydrochloride, pivampicillin molybdate, pivampicillin probenate, polymyxin B sulfate, porphyromycin, propicacin, pyrazinamide, pyrithione zinc, quindeca Minacetate, quinupristin, racefenicol, ramoplanin, ranimycin, relomycin, lepromycin, rifabutin, rifa Tan, rifamexil, rifamid, rifampin, rifapentine, rifaximin, loritetracycline, loritetracycline nitrate, rosalamycin, rosalamicin butyrate, rosalamicin propionate, rosalamicin sodium phosphate, rosalamicin stearate, rosoxacin, roxalson , Roxithromycin, sancycline, sanfetrinem sodium, salmoxycillin, salpicillin, scopafungin, sisomycin, sisomycin sulfate, sparfloxacin, spectinomycin hydrochloride, spiramycin, stalimycin hydrochloride, steffimycin, aseptic Ticarcillin disodium, streptomycin sulfate, streptnicozide, Bactam sodium, sulfabenz, sulfabenzamide, sulfacetamide, sulfacetamide sodium, sulfacytin, sulfadiazine, sulfadiazine sodium, sulfadoxine, sulfalene, sulfamelazine, sulfamethel, sulfamethazine, sulfamethizole, sulfamethoxazole, sulfa Famonomethoxine, sulfamoxol, sulfanilate zinc, sulfanitran, sulfasalazine, sulfasomizole, sulfathiazole, sulfazamet, sulfisoxazole, sulfisoxazole acetyl, sulfisoxazole Dioramine, Sulfomixin, Slopenem, Sultamicillin, Sancillin sodium, Talampicillin hydrochloride, Tazobactam, Teicoplani , Temafloxacin hydrochloride, Temocillin, Tetracycline, Tetracycline hydrochloride, Tetracycline phosphate complex, Tetroxoprim, Thiamphenicol, Thiphencillin potassium, Ticarcillin sodium, Ticarcillin disodium, Ticarcillin monosodium, Ticraton, Thio Donium chloride, tobramycin, tobramycin sulfate, tosufloxacin, trimethoprim, trimethoprim sulfate, trisulfapyrimidine, tololeandomycin, trospectomycin sulfate, trovafloxacin, tyrosricin, vancomycin, vancomycin hydrochloride, virginiamycin, solvamycin Is mentioned.

  In some embodiments, the method (s) for treating or preventing a viral infection (or disease) described herein can be used in combination with one or more antiviral agents. Antiviral agents can be isolated from natural sources or synthesized and serve to kill the virus or inhibit the growth or function of the virus. Examples of antiviral agents include, but are not limited to, immunoglobulins, amantadine, interferons, nucleotide analogs and protease inhibitors. Specific examples of antiviral properties include, but are not limited to, acemannan; acyclovir; acyclovir sodium; adefovir; alobudine; albudine septosdotox; amantadine hydrochloride; alanothine; allyldon; atevirdin mesylate; Cypalmphyline; cytarabine hydrochloride; delavirdine mesylate; descyclovir; didanosine; disoxalyl; edoxzine; enviraden; enviroxime; famciclovir; famotin hydrochloride; fiacitabine; fialuridine; fosalylate; foscarnet sodium; Ganciclovir; Ganciclovir sodium; Indoxuridine; Ketoxal; Lamivudine; Lobukavir; Tin hydrochloride; methisazone; nevirapine; penciclovir; pyrodavir; ribavirin; rimantadine hydrochloride; saquinavir mesylate; somantazine hydrochloride; sorivudine; Vidarabine sodium phosphate; viloxime; sarcitabine; zidovudine; and zimbioxime.

  Antiviral agents can also include nucleotide analogs. Examples of nucleotide analogs include, but are not limited to, acyclovir (used for the treatment of herpes simplex virus and varicella-zoster virus), ganciclovir (useful for the treatment of cytomegalovirus), idoxuridine, ribavirin (Useful for the treatment of RS virus), dideoxyinosine, dideoxycytidine, zidovudine (azidothymidine), imiquimod and resiquiquimod.

  Interferons are cytokines secreted by virus-infected cells as well as immune cells. Interferons function by binding to specific receptors on cells adjacent to infected cells, causing changes in the cells that protect it from infection by viruses. Alpha and beta interferons also induce the expression of class I and class II MHC molecules on the surface of infected cells, causing an increase in antigen presentation for host immune cell recognition. α and β interferons are available as recombinant forms and are used to treat chronic B and C hepatitis infections. At doses that are effective for antiviral therapy, interferon has severe side effects such as fever, malaise and weight loss.

  In some embodiments, the method (s) for treating or preventing a fungal infection (or disease) described herein can be used in combination with one or more antifungal agents. Examples of antifungal agents include, but are not limited to, imidazoles such as clotrimazole, sertaconzole, fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole, miconazole and voriconacol, and FK463, amphotericin B, BAY 38-9502, MK991, Pradi Mycin, UK292, butenafine and terbinafine. Other antifungal agents function by destroying chitin (eg, chitinase) or immunosuppression (501 cream).

  In some embodiments, the method (s) for treating or preventing a protozoal infection (or disease) described herein can be used in combination with one or more antiprotozoal agents. Examples of antiprotozoal agents include, but are not limited to, albendazole, amphotericin B, benznidazole, bithionol, chloroquine HCl, chloroquine phosphate, clindamycin, dehydroemetine, diethylcarbamazine, diloxanide furoate, EF Rolnitine, furazolidone, glucocorticoid, halofantrine, iodoquinol, ivermectin, mebendazole, mefloquine, meglumine antimoniate, melarsoprol, metriphonate, metronidazole, niclosamide, niflutimox, oxamniquine, paromomycin, pentamidine isethionate , Praziquantel, primaquine phosphate, proguanil, pyrantelpamoate, pyrimethamine-sulfonamide, pyrimethane Sulfadoxine, quinacrine HCl, quininesulfate, quinidine gluconate, spiramycin, sodium stibogluconate (sodium antimonigluconate), suramin, tetracycline, doxycycline, thiabendazole, tinidazole, trimesloprim-sulfamethoxazole And tripalsamide, some of which are used alone or in combination with others.

  The invention is further illustrated by the following examples, which should not be construed as further limiting. The entire contents of all documents cited throughout this application (including papers, issued patents, published patent applications and co-pending patent applications) are expressly incorporated herein by reference. .

(Example 1: VV immunization of the epidermis by skin disruption results in significantly stronger cellular and humoral immunity than conventional injection routes)
A mouse model of VV skin disruption was developed. The acute epidermal pox response developed in severely cut mice is very similar to that of the human acne vaccine. Using this model, vaccinia virus (VV) immunization by cutaneous cuts (ss), subcutaneous (sc), intradermal (id) and intramuscular (im) injections Followed by a rigorous comparison of primary and memory adaptive immune responses. The highly immunogenic intraperitoneal (ip) injection route was not used for clinical immunization, but was included as a positive control for VV-specific immune responses. VV skin ablation produces significantly stronger primary and memory T cell responses and higher serum VV-specific IgG levels compared to conventional injection routes (sc, id and im). Induced (Figure 1). Long-term T cell memory and serum IgG levels were observed in VV disrupted mice and i. p. It was comparable in immunized mice. Thus, localized epidermal VV immunization by skin disruption establishes systemic viral infection according to IFN-γ response and serum IgG levels i. p. Achieve comparable immunogenicity compared to infection.

(Example 2: VV skin disruption provides excellent protection against secondary antigen challenge)
Three different models were used to determine if VV skin disruption could provide better protection against secondary challenges. The primary challenge model was cutaneous poxvirus infection (due to skin infection). This model was chosen for two reasons. First, clinically, the protective efficacy of pressure ulcer vaccine candidates is assessed by challenging individuals vaccinated with Dryvax skin ablation. Second, natural poxvirus infections can be acquired by dermal exposure to the virus, particularly in the damaged skin area. Following skin challenge, the viral load on the skin was determined by VV-specific real-time PCR (Figure 2). Compared to non-immunized control mice, s. c. I. d. And i. m. All mice immunized by injection actually showed partial protection with a reduction of 15, 9.5 and 1/3 in viral load, respectively. A 3-log decrease in viral load is indicated by i. p. Achieved in immunized mice. Significantly, all mice previously immunized by skin disruption had completely eliminated the virus by this point. Therefore, skin disruption is a highly immunogenic i. p. Superior protection against secondary cutaneous poxvirus challenge was achieved compared to injection routes including routes.

Natural poxvirus infection is transmitted primarily by respiratory aerosols. Therefore, the protective efficacy of various immunization pathways against lethal intranasal infection by pathogenic Western Reserve vaccinia virus (WR-VV) was evaluated. As shown in FIGS. c. I. d. And i. m. Mice immunized by the route of injection (at a 2 × 10 ⁶ pfu dose) developed overt clinical illness (manifested by a significant decrease in body weight BW) and was only partially protected from lethality. In contrast, s. s. And i. p. Mice immunized by the route were fully protected with 100% survival and minimal BW changes. In fact, the cutaneous route of cutaneous s. c. I. d. And i. m. A better protection efficiency than the path was achieved (FIGS. 3c, d). Therefore, VV immunization with cutaneous cuts protected the respiratory mucosa more effectively than conventional immunization routes.

It was then investigated whether the excellent protection associated with VV skin ablation could extend to a non-viral challenge model. C57B1 / 6 mice are immunized by various routes with recombinant vaccinia virus (rVV) expressing ovalbumin (OVA) ^Kb epitope Ova _257-264 , and OVA is expressed 5 weeks after immunization The skin was challenged with B16 melanoma cells. By day 18 after tumor implantation, all mice immunized by the injection route (sc, id, im and ip) developed large cutaneous melanoma masses. (FIGS. 4a-d). Significantly, no visible or palpable tumor was detected in any of the mice with cutaneous cuts (FIG. 4e). Although tumors eventually develop in all mice that were challenged with B16-OVA, tumor growth was significantly delayed in the disrupted group compared to the other groups (FIG. 4f) and survival was greatly improved. (Data not shown). Considering that vaccines and tumor cells simply share a single CD8 T cell epitope and that mice have only undergone a single dose of VV skin ablation, these results are Remarkably promising and has broad clinical implications. Over time, OVA expression is likely to be lost from B16 tumor cells under immune selection, which provides an Ova _257-264 specific CD8 ⁺ T cell memory response that is ineffective in suppressing tumor growth.

(Example 3: Memory T cells but not Abs are required for VV skin ablation-related protection against secondary challenge)
In order to investigate the mechanism underlying the superior protection efficiency after poxvirus skin disruption, the related contributions of humoral and cellular responses were studied in skin disruption-related immune protection. Wild-type (wt) and B cell-deficient μMT mice were cut through skin or i. p. VV was immunized by injection, the two most immunogenic routes in this study. Memory mice were then challenged by secondary cutaneous or nasal poxvirus infection. When challenged with VV on the skin as shown in FIG. p. Immunized μMT mice had a 4-log higher viral load than immunized wt mice. Interestingly, s. s. Even μMT mice immunized by the route actually demonstrated strong protection against dermal challenge with a viral load comparable to wt mice immunized by cutaneous cuts. However, when T cells are depleted from wt memory mice (by high dose treatment with anti-CD4 and anti-CD8 mAbs) before and during challenge, immune protection is achieved by s. s. And i. p. There was complete suppression in both immunization groups. This data shows that both T cells and Abs are i. p. Although required for protection against dermal challenge after immunization, the T cell memory response after VV skin disruption alone is suggested to be strong enough to effectively control the dermal challenge. Indeed, secondary T cell responses in both spleen and lymph nodes (LN) that eliminate challenged skin are i. p. Disrupted immunized mice were significantly stronger than immunized mice (FIGS. 5b and 5c). The difference between immunized groups was even more pronounced in μMT mice. Challenged skin tissue from different groups of mice was further examined microscopically for the presence of T cells. Significantly, infiltration of large amounts of CD3 ⁺ T cells is associated with s. s. While observed in the basal epidermis and dermis of mice immunized by route, only a few T cells were interspersed in the skin collected from all other immunization groups (FIG. 5d). Taken together, these data suggest that VV skin disruption is unmatchedly powerful in the development of multiple skin homing _Tem that is highly protective against secondary skin antigen challenge.

Similarly, T cell memory appeared to be more important than Ab responses for complete protection against intranasal challenge. wt and μMT mice were immunized with VV by cutaneous cuts and lethal challenge with WR-VV by intranasal infection. Both strains of mice were fully protected against lethality with minimal BW changes. However, although all T cell depleted immunized mice survived the challenge, depleting T cells from wt memory mice caused a more pronounced reduction in BW (FIG. 6). This data suggests that protective T _em that resides in the epithelial layer of the respiratory tract or can be rapidly transferred is generated by VV immunization on the skin by skin _disruption along with skin homing T _em To do. These cells play an important role in immune surveillance against aerosol-borne pathogens.

Example 4: VV skin disruption produces a large number of skin homing T _eff / T _em as well as highly versatile homing T cells in primary LN by primary and secondary tissue homing imprinting programs )
How do antigen-specific T cells develop a highly versatile homing ability and provide systemic immune protection after topical VV infection restricted to the skin?

This question was _addressed by adoptive transfer of naive CFSE-labeled Thy1.1 ⁺ Ova _257-264 specific OT-IT cells into Thy1.2 ⁺ wt mice, followed by skin _ablation using rVV-Ova _257-264. Or i. p. Following infection, they were investigated by following their in vivo activation, proliferation and migration. OT-I cells proliferated extensively in the skin exclusion groin LN (ILN) as early as 60 hours after skin disruption, while similar proliferation occurred i. p. After infection, it was found in intestinal exclusion mesenteric LN (MLN) (FIG. 7a). As expected, these OT-I cells markedly downregulated the LN homing molecule CD62L, which is highly expressed in naive and T _cm T cells circulating in secondary lymphoid tissues (FIG. 7b). At the same time, skin homing molecules E-Lig and P-Lig (P-selectin ligand) on OT-I cells activated in ILN, and intestinal homing molecule α4β7 on OT-I cells activated in MLN There was a solid up-regulation of Expression of tissue homing molecules was upregulated after 3 cell divisions and continued to increase with cell division function (FIG. 7c). Thus, in early activation, antigen-specific T cells are imprinted with a cell-specific homing phenotype (primary homing imprinting) within the local LN where prestimulation occurs. This allows activated T cells to migrate specifically to infected tissues as early as 3 days after VV skin disruption (data not shown). This surprising and rapid recruitment of T cells into the skin after primary VV skin disruption has never been understood.

  Made some additional unexpected discoveries. In contrast to highly specific tissue transport 60 hours after infection, activated OT-I cells were dispersed in non-excluded LN by 5 days after rVV-ova skin disruption. (Figure 8a). Vaccinia gene expression is not detected outside the skin or skin exclusion LN by hypersensitive real-time RT-PCR (FIG. 8b), and APC isolated from MLN and spleen cannot activate OT-I cells in vitro Therefore (FIG. 8c), this was not accompanied by systemic dispersion of antigen presenting cells (APC) with VV or VV antigen. Thus, a subset of ILN-activated OT-I cells were dispersed in lymphoid tissue and continued to divide under conditions without continued antigen stimulation. Unexpectedly, they also expressed additional tissue specific homing molecules. As seen in FIG. 9a, intestinal homing α4β7 was upregulated in proliferating OT-I cells. When the release of OT-I cells from ILN after their activation was blocked with FTY720, a functional antagonist of sphingosine 1-phosphate that controls lymphocyte release from lymphoid tissues (FIG. 9b), OT The expression of E-Lig in -1 cells was not affected (Fig. 9c), but α4β7 in OT-I cells was suppressed (Fig. 9d). This data strongly suggests that up-regulation of intestinal homing molecules occurred after OT-I translocation into MLN (secondary tissue homing imprinting). The inventors believe that a similar process may occur in other non-exclusion LNs where hypothetical lung and mucosal transport molecules are expressed. When T cells were tested 30 days after infection, both primary (skin-specific E-Lig) and secondary (intestine-specific α4β7) homing molecules persisted on memory OT-I cells (FIG. 10). . These data collectively indicate that localized VV immunization by cutaneous skin cuts, immediate skin-specific immune control at the site of virus entry, and remote anatomy such as potential virus spread or respiratory epidermis It suggests a mechanism for generating a protective T cell response against both a more flexible systemic protection against secondary challenges in position.

(Example 5: MVA skin disruption represents a novel immunization strategy that is superior, safe and effective)
Due to its impressive safety and immunogenicity profile in both preclinical and clinical trials, the highly attenuated replication-defective VV strain MVA was actively explored as a promising live viral vaccine vector . The MVA vaccine was administered exclusively by the injection route and never cut through the skin. This may be due to the intuitive assumption that viral replication in the epidermis is necessary for the development of pox lesions and subsequent strong protection against challenge.

Nonetheless, mice were immunized with MVA by skin disruption. Surprisingly, MVA skin disruption induced characteristic pox lesions in a dose-dependent manner (FIG. 11a) and produced a dose-dependent cellular and humoral immune response against VV antigen (FIG. 11b). C). Importantly, when challenged lethally by intranasal WR-VV infection, repetitive VV immunization at 1.8 × 10 ⁶ pfu (FIG. 11d) by MVA skin disruption, ie, conventional injection route Now, doses that failed to protect mice from lethal challenge provided complete protection against lethality and disease (FIGS. 3a, b). Not surprisingly, at comparable doses of MVA immunization (2 × 10 ⁶ pfu), the conventional injection route was able to detect detectable T cells even after secondary virus challenge (FIG. 12c, d). And Ab responses were slightly weakly elicited (FIGS. 12a, b) and WR-VVi. n. While resulting in poor protection against the challenge (Fig. 12e, f), strong immune protection was made possible by skin ablation with either MVA or VV.

  Thus, the superior immunogenicity and protective efficiency associated with skin disruption extends to highly attenuated MVA vaccines.

  The safety of MVA skin disruption for immunocompromised hosts was confirmed in Rag − / − mice lacking both T cells and B cells. MVA disrupted Rag − / − mice develop small pox lesions restricted to the site of inoculation (FIG. 13a), with a slight decrease in BW (FIG. 13b, c) or detectable viremia (FIG. 13d). ) Without surviving for a long time. In sharp contrast, VV disrupted Rag − / − mice developed exacerbated skin erosion and necrosis and died about 4 weeks after infection (FIGS. 13a-c).

  The observation that MVA skin disruption is highly effective in generating protective immunity indicates that a productive viral infection in the epidermis is not necessary to achieve strong protective efficiency. However, infection of the epidermis with metabolically active live virus appears to be necessary for a strict immune response to the onset. This is because, firstly, heat-inactivated VV cannot induce a strong immune response even when administered at high doses by skin ablation, and secondly, the immune response in mice infected with VV by injection. Suggested by the inability to simultaneously "cut" the skin with saline to enhance (data not shown). The unique aspect of the innate skin response to VV infection in the epidermis can serve as a natural adjuvant to optimize subsequent adaptive responses. In support of this idea, primary human keratinocytes, but not dermal fibroblasts or skin capillary endothelial cells, can limit VV replication in vitro under conditions in which there is no host adaptive immune response. Moreover, transgenic overexpression of the innate cytokine IL-1α in keratinocytes causes further enhancement of the in vivo adaptive immune response after VV skin disruption.

  In summary, these observations actually show that the route of immunization is an important consideration for the design of vaccination strategies. Epidermal immunization with live viral vaccines containing non-replicating viruses usually produces a much better immune response and stronger protection, especially with respect to MVA, compared to injection routes used clinically.

  Accordingly, it should be understood that various changes, modifications and improvements can be readily made by those skilled in the art by obtaining certain aspects of at least one embodiment of the described invention. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and illustrations are by way of example only.

Claims (17)

Skin, lung, oral mucosa, the epidermal tissue selected from the group consisting of gastrointestinal and reproductive mucous membranes, viruses to induce or stimulate T cell memory immune response to exogenous peptide or polypeptide antigen to poxviruses a composition, wherein the virus composition is made non-replicating pop box viruses raw modified to express the antigen in an amount sufficient to stimulate the immune response, the virus composition is whole epidermis a shall be administered in epidermal tissue of mechanically disrupted subjects without penetrating into the poxvirus is infect normal mammalian cells, Ru non-replicating der, virus composition . The composition of claim 1, wherein the poxvirus is selected from the group consisting of orthopox, suipox, capripox, repolipox, parapox virus, infectious molluscum virus, and yatapox virus. The composition of claim 2, wherein the orthopoxvirus is a vaccinia virus. 4. The composition of claim 3, wherein the vaccinia virus is a modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA). The composition of claim 1, wherein the live modified poxvirus expressing the antigen is delivered using a device that can penetrate the stratum corneum and break the skin without penetrating the entire epidermis. . The composition of claim 1, wherein the subject has cancer or is at risk of developing cancer. The cancer is skin cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, thyroid cancer, or colorectal cancer. The composition of claim 6 which is cancer. The cancer is melanoma, skin squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, adnexal cancer, skin T or B cell lymphoma, sarcoma, adenocarcinoma, prostate adenocarcinoma, prostate epithelial neoplasia, lung squamous cell carcinoma, Lung adenocarcinoma, small cell lung cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer, colorectal adenocarcinoma and smooth muscle species, gastric adenocarcinoma and leiomyosarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, pancreatic endocrine region 7. The composition of claim 6, wherein the composition is selected from the group consisting of tumor, renal cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma of the kidney and bladder, and bladder squamous cell carcinoma. 2. The composition of claim 1, wherein the subject has or is at risk of developing a viral, bacterial, fungal, or protozoal infection. The virus infection is HIV, influenza, dengue fever, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human papilloma virus, Ebola, Marburg, rabies, hantavirus infection, West Nile virus, SARS-like coronavirus, herpes simplex Selected from the group consisting of a virus, varicella-zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus type 8, alphavirus, and St. Louis encephalitis,
The bacterial infection is selected from the group consisting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella typhi, Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia perstis, Francisella tularensis, Legionella, Chlamydia, Ricketts
The fungal infection is selected from the group consisting of Coccidioides immitis, Blastomyces dermatitis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus species; and
The parasite infection, Malaria (Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malariae), Leishmania species, Trypanosome species (Africa and the United States), Cryptosporidium, Isospora species, Naegleria fowleri, Acanthamoeba species, Balamuthia mandrillaris, Toxoplasma gondii, and 10. The composition of claim 9, wherein the composition is selected from the group consisting of Pneumocystis carinii. 2. The composition of claim 1, wherein the antigen is a tumor associated antigen (TAA), a tumor specific antigen (TSA), or a tissue specific antigen. The composition of claim 1, wherein the antigen is a viral antigen, a bacterial antigen, a fungal antigen, or a protozoan antigen. Administered in combination with or co-expressed with costimulatory molecules, growth factors, adjuvants and / or cytokines at the same site or at different sites before, simultaneously with or after administration of said composition The composition according to claim 1, wherein 14. The composition of claim 13, wherein the costimulatory molecule or cytokine is co-expressed with the antigen by the poxvirus. The co-expressed costimulatory molecules are IL-I, IL-2, IL-7, IL-I2, IL-15, IL-I8, IL-23, IL-27, B7-2, B7-H3, 15. The composition according to claim 13 or 14, selected from the group consisting of CD40, CD40L, ICOS-ligand, OX-40L, 4-1BBL, GM-CSF, SCF, FGF, Flt3-ligand, CCR4. The poxvirus is TRICOM ^TM The composition according to claim 13 or 14, wherein A kit comprising a device for delivering a poxvirus to a specific location within the epidermal tissue of a human subject and the composition according to any one of claims 1-16.