Peptide-based vaccines are attractive approaches for cancer immunotherapy; but the success of these vaccines in clinical trials have been limited. Our goal is to improve immune responses and anti-tumor effects against a synthetic, multi-epitope, long peptide from rat Her2/neu (rHer2/neu) using the help of CD4+ T cells and appropriate adjuvant in a mouse tumor model. Female BALB/c mice were vacc...

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) derived from tumor-bearing patients recognize tumor-associated Ags presented by MHC class I molecules. The infusion of TIL586 along with IL-2 into the autologous patient with metastatic melanoma resulted in the objective regression of tumor. Two T cell epitopes derived from tumor Ags, tyrosinase-related protein (TRP)-1 and TRP-2, were shown to be recognized...

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common cancer among Chinese living in southern China, Taiwan, and Singapore. The 5-year survival rate in the early stage of NPC has been reported as high as 90 to 95% with the use of radiotherapy, but in the advanced cases, even with the use of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the survival rate is still <50%. To improve the survival rate, we identify a 12-...

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common cancer among Chinese living in southern China, Taiwan, and Singapore. The 5-year survival rate in the early stage of NPC has been reported as high as 90 to 95% with the use of radiotherapy, but in the advanced cases, even with the use of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the survival rate is still <50%. To improve the survival rate, we identify a 12-...

Molecular-targeted therapy has gained attention because of its high efficacy and weak side effects. Previously, we confirmed that transmembrane 4 superfamily member 5 protein (TM4SF5) can serve as a molecular target to prevent or treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We recently extended the application of the peptide vaccine, composed of CpG-DNA, liposome complex, and TM4SF5 peptide, to preven...

Immunization of mice with in vitro reconstituted alpha2-macroglobulin-peptide complexes primes peptide-specific CTL responses. We show here using the H-Y antigenic system that naturally produced, immunogenic alpha2macroglobulin-peptide complexes can be isolated from the sera of normal male mice. As an application of these ideas to cancer immunity, we show that the immunity evoked by alpha2-macr...

A 12-mer amino acid peptide SATTHYRLQAAN, denominated TK4, was isolated from a phage-display library with fibrosarcoma tumor-binding activity. In vivo biodistribution analysis of TK4-displaying phage showed a significant increased phage titer in implanted tumor up to 10-fold in comparison with normal tissues after systemic administration in mouse. Competition assay confirmed that the binding of...

We developed a screening procedure to identify ligands from a phage display random peptide library that are selective for circulating bone marrow derived cells homing to angiogenic tumors. Panning the library on blood outgrowth endothelial cell suspension in vitro followed by in vivo selection based on homing of bone marrow-bound phage to angiogenic tumors, yielded the peptide QFPPKLTNNSML. Upo...

DNA therapy for cancer requires efficient, selective and safe DNA delivery systems. Compared with other non-viral methods such as lipid or polymer-based DNA delivery vectors, peptide-based DNA delivery systems are biocompatible and biodegradable, which leads to lower immunogenicity and lower toxicity. Moreover, peptide vectors are easier to produce and their compositions easier to control becau...