Investigator
Konkuk University
Improvement of DC-based vaccines using adjuvant TLR4-binding 60S acidic ribosomal protein P2 and immune checkpoint inhibitors
Cancer immunotherapy has fewer side effects and higher efficiency than conventional methods. Dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccine, a cancer immunotherapeutic, is prepared by processing mature DCs and pulsing with tumor antigen peptide ex vivo, to induce the activation of tumor-specific T lymphocytes followed by tumor clearance in vivo. Unfortunately, clinical trials of this method mostly failed due to low patient response, possibly due to the absence of novel adjuvants that induce DC maturation through Toll-like receptor (TLR) signals. Interestingly, immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy has shown remarkable anti-tumor efficacy when combined with cancer vaccines. In this study, we identified 60S acidic ribosomal protein P2 (RPLP2) through pull-down assay using human cancer cells derived proteins that binds to Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). Recombinant RPLP2 induced maturation and activation of DCs in vitro. This DC-based vaccine, followed by pulsing with tumor-specific antigen, has shown to significantly increase tumor-specific CD8
