Induction in a murine tumor of immunogenic tumor variants by transfection with a foreign gene
Fearon, E.R.; Itaya, T.; Hunt, B.; Vogelstein, B.; Frost, P.
Cancer Research 48(11): 2975-2980
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0008-5472 PMID: 3259156 Document Number: 321622
Transfection of the undifferentiated murine colon carcinoma line CT-26 with the gene coding for the hemagglutination antigen (HA) of influenza virus resulted in the generation of highly immunogenic tumor cells. CT-26 cells transfected with HA not only failed to grow in syngeneic mice but also protected normal animals against a challenge with otherwise lethal doses of parental nontransfected cells. The immunogenicity of HA-transfected cells appeared to correlate with surface HA expression in that tumorigenic clones of HA-transfected CT-26 cells expressed little HA, while immunogenic clones were high expressers of HA. Irradiation of immunogenic HA clones did not abrogate their immunogenicity. These observations demonstrate that immune recognition of a poorly immunogenic tumor can be produced by immunization with tumor cells expressing a defined, foreign cell surface antigen.