Combination of apigenin treatment with therapeutic HPV DNA vaccination generates enhanced therapeutic antitumor effects

• Main Authors: Monie Archana, Chuang Chi-Mu, Wu Annie, Hung Chien-Fu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2009-05-01
• Series: Journal of Biomedical Science
• Online Access: http://www.jbiomedsci.com/content/16/1/49
• ISSN: 1021-7770; 1423-0127

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is important to develop innovative therapies for advanced stage cancers in addition to the conventional therapies including chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Antigen-specific immunotherapy has emerged as a novel alternate therapy for advanced stage cancers, which may be employed in conjunction with conventional therapies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the current study, we tested the effect of treatment with the chemotherapeutic agent, apigenin in combination with DNA vaccines encoding the HPV-16 E7 antigen linked to heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in the control of the E7-expressing tumor, TC-1.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed that treatment with apigenin rendered the TC-1 tumor cells more susceptible to lysis by E7-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, treatment of TC-1 tumor cells with apigenin was found to enhance apoptotic tumor cell death in vitro in a dose-dependant manner. We showed that TC-1 tumor-bearing mice treated with apigenin combined with E7-HSP70 DNA generate highest frequency of primary and memory E7-specific CD8+ T cells, leading to potent therapeutic anti-tumor effects against E7-expressing tumors.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Thus, apigenin represents a promising chemotherapeutic agent, which may be used in combination with immunotherapy for the treatment of advanced stage cancers. The clinical implications of the current strategy are discussed.</p>