Projekte

Abstract: Treatment of cervical cancer patients by surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy results in a significant loss of quality of life. A promising possibility to make a therapeutic treatment more effective could be the development of a multivalent DNA vaccine.

We will pursue the development of an HPV E7-based DNA vaccine. Besides the artificial HPV-16 E7 "shuffled" gene (E7SH) that is ready for a clinical trial we will generate HPV-16 E6SH, HPV-18 E6SH and HPV-18 E7SH. Since approximately 70 % of all cervical cancer cases are caused by either HPV-16 or HPV-18, this multivalent combination should provide a reasonable coverage for cancer patients.

To increase the efficacy we will include the genes of immunomodulatory proteins such as IL-2, IL-12, IFN-γ, GM-CSF. The optimal combination of shuffled papillomavirus genes plus adjuvant genes will first be identified in a preclinical mouse model. Due to the close connection to the Charite Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, the most promising combination(s) will be transferred to the clinic as soon as possible.

• Öhlschläger, Peter - Projektleiter

• FB Biologie
• Zukunftskolleg1