Inhibition of melanoma by survivin-specific lymphocytes combined with CCL17 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in a mouse syngeneic model

As a new generation of treatment, tumor immunotherapy targeting tumor-associated antigens (TAA) has attracted widespread attention. The survivin antigen belongs to TAA. It is a key inhibitor of apoptosis and a key regulator of cell cycle progression; furthermore, it may be a candidate target for tumor therapy. In addition, studies have confirmed that granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and CCL17 significantly affect local anti-tumor immunity in the tumor microenvironment. The mouse survivin gene was screened by BIMAS and SYFPEITHI to obtain the highest scored mouse survivin epitope peptide, which was synthesized into a peptide vaccine to immunize normal mice. Subsequently, spleen lymphocytes were isolated to induce survivin-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Next, genetic engineering was used to construct the B16F10 cell line that stably expressed CCL17 and GM-CSF genes. A mouse melanoma model was used to observe the effects of the combination of the three on tumor volume and tumor weight. In-vitro survivin-specific CTL combined with CCL17 gene had a stronger inhibitory effect on B16F10 cells, while combined GM-CSF gene did not enhance the inhibitory effect of CTL on B16F10 cells. In-vivo experiments demonstrated that survivin-specific CTL combined with GM-CSF and CCL17 genes can inhibit the growth of mouse melanoma. HE staining and immunohistochemistry showed that the tumor had more necrotic cells and more infiltrating lymphocytes. The results showed that survivin-specific CTL combined with CCL17 and GM-CSF genes could inhibit tumor growth better.