MUC1 Vaccines
Creative Biolabs is a world leader in the field of cancer vaccine development. With our extensive experience and advanced platform, we are therefore confident in offering the best vaccine development services for MUC1-expressing solid tumors. We guarantee the finest results for our customers all over the world.
Biology of MUC1
MUC1 is a long, rigid protein which towers above the glycocalyx at the cell surface. It is comprised of an intracellular, C-terminal segment, rich in conserved tyrosines; a single-pass transmembrane region and a large extracellular region comprised mainly of a tandemly repeated 20 amino acid segment, the variable number tandem repeats (VNTR), which can be repeated from 20 to 120 times. In healthy epithelial tissues, MUC1 expression is restricted to the luminal side of epithelial cells lining secretory ducts. It acts as a lubricant for material passing though the duct, but also protects the epithelial cells from the same contents and from bacteria. In contrast, on tumour cells, MUC1 expression is over-expressed, is hypo-glycosylated and is not restricted to any particular cell surface.
Studies have shown that MUC1 contributes to the transcriptional regulation of genes associated with not only immune regulation and inflammation, but also drug resistance, apoptosis, proliferation, angiogenesis, metastases and tumor cell invasion. Thus, MUC1 is not only an important target antigen for cancer immunotherapy due to its over-expression and cancer-associated modifications, but MUC1 is a very important target antigen since the reduction of MUC1 expression by immune selection of MUC1-negative variants would have a serious negative impact of the ability of the tumor cells to replicate, invade and metastasize. MUC1 is over-expressed in a tumor-associated form that it has been estimated to be a potential target of immune therapy for about 80 % of all cancer cases. It has also been shown to be expressed on several normal tissues albeit in a different glycoform. MUC1-specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are able to distinguish healthy MUC1 from cancer-associated MUC1. Cancer associated MUC1 is non- or at least under-glycosylated with respect to the normal MUC1 glycoprotein.
Fig.1 Structure of the MUC1 glycoprotein in normal and tumor cells. (Roulois, 2013)
MUC1 Therapeutic Vaccines
Breast Cancer - Breast cancer vaccines that target carbohydrate antigens and mucin-1 (MUC-1) have been tested extensively in metastatic breast cancer. PANVAC is based on two poxviruses, vaccinia and fowlpox that delivers MUC-1, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and three co-stimulatory molecules (B7.1, ICAM-1, and LFA-3); it has been recently tested in 48 patients with metastatic breast cancer. Early trials of PANVAC demonstrated safety, immune responses, and possible clinical activity.
Lung Cancer - Studies suggest that MUC-1 plays a role in the growth and survival of tumors, and is associated with disease progression and worse prognosis in lung cancer. The MUC-1 peptide is highly immunogenic and has been shown to elicit a strong T cell response in animal models and patients.
TG4010 uses only one poxvirus: the nonpropagative modified virus of Ankara (MVA), which incorporates MUC1 and the immune stimulatory cytokine IL2. TG4010 has been tested in Phase II studies in breast, kidney, prostate and lung cancers. Now, two controlled Phase IIb studies in late-stage NSCLS have been completed.
Our MUC1 Therapeutic Vaccine Platforms
Creative Biolabs provides development services for MUC1 therapeutic vaccines including:
- Monoclonal antibodies specific for MUC1
- Synthetic and recombinant polypeptides from the protein sequence of MUC1
- Dendritic cells carrying MUC1
- RNA and DNA vaccinations
- Recombinant viruses carrying the MUC1 DNA sequence
Creative Biolabs is a leader in the field of vaccine development and has focused on the cancer vaccines for years. We have experienced experts and advanced platforms that are able to provide excellent services. If you are interested in our services, please contact us for more details.
Reference
- 1. Roulois, D.; et al. MUC1-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in cancer therapy: induction and challenge. BioMed research international. 2013.
All of our products can only be used for research purposes. These vaccine ingredients CANNOT be used directly on humans or animals.
