Significant advances in biotechnology and biochemistry have led to the discovery of a large number of cancer vaccines based on peptides and proteins. However, the development of suitable and efficient carrier systems remains a major challenge since the vaccine bioavailability is limited by enzymatic degradation. We developed recently several promising new vaccines for prostate cancer based on natural and modified survivin-derived peptides. We propose to encapsulate the survivin-derived peptide vaccines into our newly developed nanoparticles targeted to the mannose receptors on the dendritic cells. The inclusion of mannose or some of its derivatives in the nanoparticle formulation is expected to enhance delivery of active antigen and is the major conceptual advance of this pilot project. We suggest that this novel vaccine will induce potent and specific immune responses against prostate cancer. Because survivin is highly expressed in all prostate cancer, this new nanoparticle-vaccine strategy may have important clinical applications. This approach may provide a potential avenue for immunotherapy of prostate cancer, as many other prostate cancer-associated antigens have been described to date.
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