Experimental vaccine induces protection against some glioblastoma cells.

2002 DEC 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Wistar Institute researchers have shown that "[i]noculation of mice with a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing the full-length mouse wild-type p53 protein (Vp53-wt) ...[induces] partial protection against peripheral challenge with a mouse glioblastoma cell line, termed GL261, expressing high levels of nuclear, endogenous wild-type p53."

"In vivo experiments with knockout (KO) mice and mice treated with depleting doses of antibodies specific to lymphocyte subsets revealed that vaccine efficacy depended on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells as well as on natural killer (NK) cells," wrote M. Blaszczykthurin and colleagues.

"Vp53-wt virus-vaccinated mice that failed to develop tumors upon challenge with a minimal tumorigenic dose of GL261 cells remained completely resistant to further challenge with increased doses to GL261 cells," the researchers reported.

"The efficacy of the Vp53-wt vaccine was improved by adding recombinant mouse interleukin-12 (rIL-12) as an adjuvant at the time of tumor challenge. The induction of T cells to p53 in Vp53-wt virus-immune mice was also ...