Non-clinical evaluation of pmIL12 gene therapy for approval of the phase I clinical study
Immunotherapeutic drugs are promising medicines for cancer treatment. A potential candidate for immunotherapy is interleukin-12 (IL-12), a cytokine well known for its ability to mediate antitumor activity. We developed a plasmid encoding human IL-12 devoid of an antibiotic resistance gene (phIL12). For the approval of phase I clinical trials in basal cell carcinoma (BCC), the regulatory agency requires non-clinical in vivo testing of the pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties of the plasmid. As human IL-12 is not biologically active in mice, a mouse ortholog of the plasmid phIL12 (pmIL12) was evaluated. The evaluation demonstrated the antitumor effectiveness of the protein accompanied by immune cell infiltration. The plasmid was distributed throughout the body, and the amount of plasmid diminished over time in all organs except the skin around the tumor. The therapy did not cause any detectable systemic toxicity. The results of the non-clinical evaluation demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the pmIL12/phIL12 GET, and on the basis of these results, approval was obtained for the initiation of a phase I clinical study in BCC.
Authors
- Aneja Tuljak
- Urša Kešar
- Urška Matkovič
- Urša Lampreht Tratar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2905-4574)
- Andrej Renčelj (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5775-8689)
- Kristina Levpuscek
- Andrej Cör (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9562-5465)
- Urška Kamenšek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0481-4226)
- Tim Božič (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6468-8287)
- Boštjan Markelc (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8674-702X)
- Nataša Tozon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9831-992X)
- Alenka Nemec Svete (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1199-4501)
- Tanja Jesenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5883-1673)
- Simona Kranjc (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0538-7841)
- Tilen Komel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4989-9059)
- Maja Čemažar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1418-1928)
- Katarina Žnidar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4291-687X)
- Špela Kos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4244-7885)
- Gorana Gašljević (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8332-3627)
- Gregor Serša (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7641-5670)
- Rosana Hudej
- Maša Omerzel
- Ziva Pisljar
- Matjaž Peterka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2798-1772)
Institutions
- University of Primorska (SI)
- University of Ljubljana (SI)
- Orthopaedic Hospital Valdoltra (SI)
- Institute of Oncology Ljubljana (SI)
- University of Maribor (SI)
- Centre of Excellence for Biosensors, Instrumentation and Process Control (SI)
- University Clinical Centre Maribor (SI)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2024-09-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-73314-x
- Citations
- 8
- Primary Topic
- Virus-based gene therapy research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.40
Funders
- Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost RS
- Ministrstvo za Izobraževanje, Znanost in Šport
- European Regional Development Fund