Administration of embryonic stem cells generates effective antitumor immunity in mice with minor and heavy tumor load

• Published in: Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy Vol. 59; no. 11; pp. 1697 - 1705
• Main Authors: Dong, Wei, Du, Jiajun, Shen, Hongchang, Gao, Dongwei, Li, Zhenxiang, Wang, Guanghui, Mu, Xueru, Liu, Qi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.11.2010; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies; Antineoplastic agents; Apoptosis; Biological and medical sciences; Blotting, Western; Cancer; Cancer Research; Cell Proliferation; Cytokines; Cytokines - metabolism; Embryonic Stem Cells - transplantation; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Flow Cytometry; Immunity; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Immunology; Immunotherapy; In Situ Nick-End Labeling; Laboratory animals; Lymphocyte Activation - immunology; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Neoplasms - immunology; Neoplasms - pathology; Oncology; Original; Original Article; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Reagents; Signal transduction; Stem cells; Thoracic surgery; Tumors; Vaccination; Vaccines; Beijing China; China; Antitumor immunity; Cancer vaccine; Embryonic stem cells; Cancer stem cells; Immunotherapy; Antineoplastic agent; Load; Stem cell; Rodentia; Vaccine; Malignant tumor; Immunity; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Treatment; Mouse; Embryonic cell; Efficiency; Animal; Tumor cell; Cancer
• ISSN: 0340-7004; 1432-0851
• DOI: 10.1007/s00262-010-0899-9

The history of immunizing animals with fetal tissues to generate an antitumor response dates back a century ago. Subsequent reports supported the idea that vaccination with embryonic materials could generate cancer-specific immunity and protect animals from transplantable and chemically induced tumors. In our study, we found C57 BL/6 mice vaccinated with embryonic stem cells (ESCs) received obvious antitumor immunity, which protected them from the formation and development of lung cancer. Furthermore, we investigated the antitumor effects of administration of ESCs in mice with minor and/or heavy tumor load. The tumor growth was monitored, the proliferation of lymphocytes and secretion of cytokines were examined, and finally the tissue sections were approached by immunohistochemical and apoptosis staining. The results suggested that mice injected with ESCs received obvious tumor inhibition and retardation due to significant lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine secretion, which help to rebuild the host’s immunity against cancer to some extent and comprise the main part of antitumor immunity. Moreover, mice with minor tumor load received stronger antitumor effect compared with mice with heavy tumor load, may be due to relatively intact immune system. Thus, besides their function as prophylactic vaccines, administration of ESCs could be a potential treatment for cancer, which obviously prevent and control the proliferation and development of malignant tumors.