The long range goal of our research program is the development of delivery systems that will be effective for a variety of cancers. The major focus of these studies is to examine the use of non-viral gene transfer approach that can be used for immunotherapy protocols and its potential as a treatment of solid tumors. In vivo electroporation has shown a great deal of promise as a means of enhancing the expression of plasmid DNA in a variety of tissues including muscle, tumor, skin and liver. Previously, in vivo electroporation has been shown to be an effective way to enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic agents in both pre-clinical and clinical studies. More recently, several studies have shown that delivering a plasmid coding for a cytokine in combination with electroporation can elicit an anti-tumor response. The specific research proposed in this application is intended to determine if the using in vivo electroporation to deliver a plasmid DNA coding for the cytokine IL-15 can be effective in treating metastatic melanoma. The study will be designed to accomplish the following specific aims: i. to evaluate B16.F10 melanoma growth or regression in response to electrically mediated IL-15 plasmid delivery. ii. To determine tumor and serum immune responses elicited after electrically mediated IL-15 plasmid delivery. iii. To evaluate the effect of intratumoral and intramuscular electrically mediated IL-15 plasmid delivery on the growth of metastatic melanomas, including both subcutaneous and lung lesions. iv. To evaluate the potential toxicity of electrically mediated IL-15 plasmid delivery for the treatment of melanoma. Successful completion of this project will demonstrate the potential role of IL-15 gene therapy delivered as a plasmid by electroporation as a therapy for melanoma. Public Health Relevance: The stimulation of the immune system through the administration of immunomodulatory agents such as cytokines to fight melanoma has been the focus of a number of studies. Unfortunately, these treatments usually have toxic side effects because of the high doses required and in most cases have not been completely effective. A method to decrease the toxicity of this type of treatment is to replace the high dose recombinant protein injections with plasmids expressing genes for one or more of these molecules and injecting either directly into the tumor or to the skin around the tumor or into the muscle. This study will examine if this strategy will work by utilizing a plasmid coding for IL-15 delivered directly into tumor cells.

Public Health Relevance

The stimulation of the immune system through the administration of immunomodulatory agents such as cytokines to fight melanoma has been the focus of a number of studies. Unfortunately, these treatments usually have toxic side effects because of the high doses required and in most cases have not been completely effective. A method to decrease the toxicity of this type of treatment is to replace the high dose recombinant protein injections with plasmids expressing genes for one or more of these molecules and injecting either directly into the tumor or to the skin around the tumor or into the muscle. This study will examine if this strategy will work by utilizing a plasmid coding for IL-15 delivered directly into tumor cells.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA122518-06
Application #
8444689
Study Section
Gene and Drug Delivery Systems Study Section (GDD)
Program Officer
Welch, Anthony R
Project Start
2008-05-01
Project End
2015-02-28
Budget Start
2013-03-01
Budget End
2015-02-28
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$245,531
Indirect Cost
$81,844
Name
Old Dominion University
Department
Type
Organized Research Units
DUNS #
041448465
City
Norfolk
State
VA
Country
United States
Zip Code
23508
Shirley, Shawna A; Lundberg, Cathryn G; Li, Fanying et al. (2015) Controlled gene delivery can enhance therapeutic outcome for cancer immune therapy for melanoma. Curr Gene Ther 15:32-43
Marrero, Bernadette; Shirley, Shawna; Heller, Richard (2014) Delivery of interleukin-15 to B16 melanoma by electroporation leads to tumor regression and long-term survival. Technol Cancer Res Treat 13:551-60
Marrero, Bernadette; Heller, Richard (2012) The use of an in vitro 3D melanoma model to predict in vivo plasmid transfection using electroporation. Biomaterials 33:3036-46
Heller, Richard; Shirley, Shawna; Guo, Siqi et al. (2011) Electroporation based gene therapy--from the bench to the bedside. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2011:736-8
Chang, Sung-Hee; Kanasaki, Keizo; Gocheva, Vasilena et al. (2009) VEGF-A induces angiogenesis by perturbing the cathepsin-cysteine protease inhibitor balance in venules, causing basement membrane degradation and mother vessel formation. Cancer Res 69:4537-44
Marrero, Bernadette; Messina, Jane L; Heller, Richard (2009) Generation of a tumor spheroid in a microgravity environment as a 3D model of melanoma. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim 45:523-34