Targeted Tumor Vaccines

Our research is aimed at understanding adaptive and innate immune responses to HPV-associated malignancies and developing vaccine and tumor-targeting strategies useful to treat cancer. To this end, we have focused on the design of vaccines based on chimeric fusion proteins, such as those carrying the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg-S) and parts of the HPV16 E6 and E7 proteins. We also have designed and constructed chimeric proteins carrying tumor neoantigens derived from mutated Ras and p53 linked to cytokines, which are proving useful for the identification of T cells that recognize HLA-A2-restricted neo-epitopes. The isolated cells are used for single-cell sequencing of their TCRs. The identified TCRs are then tested for functionality in vitro and in vivo.

In addition, we are interested in understanding the pathophysiological significance of changes in circulating levels of cytokines during progression from cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) to cervical cancer (CC). A cohort of patients diagnosed with different grades of CIN and CC patients, as well as a healthy control group are currently being recruited and analyzed. With this study we hope to find diagnostic and prognostic markers for CC. Furthermore, we develop targeted drug delivery systems to facilitate the administration of chemotherapy drugs primarily to tumor cells, thereby minimizing side effects. Currently, we are approaching the targeting of nanoparticles to tumor cells and antigen presenting cells using various types of binding molecules.