Expression of a Soluble TGF-β Receptor by Tumor Cells Enhances Dendritic Cell/Tumor Fusion Vaccine Efficacy

Dendritic cell (DC)-based antitumor immunotherapy is a promising cancer therapy. We have previously shown that tumor-derived TGF-β limits the efficacy of the DC/tumor fusion vaccine in mice. In the current study we investigated the effect of neutralizing tumor-derived TGF-β on the efficacy of the DC/tumor fusion vaccine. An adenovirus encoding human TGF-β receptor type II fused to the Fc region of human IgM (Adv-TGF-β-R) or a control adenovirus encoding LacZ (Adv-LacZ) was used to express a soluble form of the neutralizing TGF-β receptor (TGF-β-R). Murine breast carcinoma cells, 4T1, but not bone marrow-derived DCs, were successfully transfected with Adv-TGF-β-R (4T1+Adv-TGF-β-R) using a multiplicity of infection of 300. Immunization with irradiated 4T1+Adv-TGF-β-R tumor cells conferred enhanced antitumor immunity compared with immunization with irradiated 4T1+Adv-LacZ tumor cells. The DC/4T1+Adv-TGF-β-R fusion vaccine offered enhanced protective and therapeutic efficacy compared with the DC/4T1-Adv-LacZ fusion vaccine. Because TGF-β is known to induce regulatory T cells (Tregs), we further showed that the DC/4T1+Adv-TGF-β-R fusion vaccine induced fewer CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs than the DC/4T1+Adv-LacZ fusion vaccine in vitro and in vivo. The suppressive role of splenic CD4+CD25+ Tregs isolated from mice immunized with DC/4T1+Adv-LacZ was demonstrated using a CTL killing assay. Similar enhanced therapeutic efficacy was observed in murine renal cell carcinoma, RenCa, which expresses a high level of TGF-β. We conclude that the blockade of tumor-derived TGF-β reduces Treg induction by the DC/tumor fusion vaccine and enhances antitumor immunity. This may be an effective strategy to enhance human DC-based antitumor vaccines.