The goal of Oncovax, LLC is to translate a novel vaccine strategy that we have developed into a precise and cost-effective methodology that is marketable for vaccination against a broad array of human tumors. Our vaccine strategy targets oncogenes that are overexpressed in tumor cells. The goal of work proposed here is to investigate a new vaccine paradigm, one that is based on the targeting of the MDM2 onco-protein. This protein is likely to be induced up by an ARF-p53-dependent pathway at some point in every oncogene-transformed cell. This mechanism of regulation implies the generality of MDM2 overexpression in cells that contain an activated oncogene, independent of the identity of the particular oncogene. This generality of MDM2 overexpression provides the basis for the development of a single vaccine that, by targeting the MDM2 protein, would protect against a wide range of different tumors.
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