Training in Pediatric Cancer Vaccine Research: Leveraging Biomaterials and Id2 Knockouts

Background:
Therapeutic vaccines for cancer would benefit from approaches that direct immune cell populations toward specific functions. Toward this goal, the ALSF "A" Award is supporting our lab to develop degradable polymer depots loaded with neuroblastoma antigens. These depots can be deposited in lymph nodes to slowly release antigen, molecular adjuvants, and small molecular immune cues to promote and direct the differentiation CD8+ T cells. Additionally, our collaborator has recently discovered that immunization with knock-out Neuro2a tumor cells lacking a key development gene provide immunity to challenge with naïve N2a cells.

Project Goal:

During the POST project, Mr. Gammon will leverage our technologies and this finding to test if polymer depots loaded with lysates prepared from the knock-out cells and deposited in lymph nodes provide protection against tumor challenge. The first aim of the summer project will focus on developing the depots, characterizing the loading of antigen and adjuvant components, and testing if depots activate primary dendritic cells. In the second aim, depots will be used to immunize mice on Day 0 (prophylactic) or Day 10 (therapeutic) with respect to N2a tumor challenge. Tumor burden will then be monitored over time, along with the specificity of T cells in spleens and lymph nodes (tested by restimulation at the end of the study). POST support will provide Mr. Gammon with his first exposure to pediatric cancer research, with new experimental skills, and with ideas that help him nucleate his doctoral career in this research area.