Cationic nanogel–based nasal therapeutic HPV vaccine prevents the development of cervical cancer
Therapeutic vaccines against cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) are still an unmet medical need, despite a prophylactic HPV vaccine being available, and the now-licensed systemic vaccines may have a limited effect on the reproductive tract. To specifically inhibit cervical cancer development, the concept of mucosal immunity based on the reproductive-respiratory axis was adopted to develop a nasal HPV therapeutic vaccine. We used a cationic nanogel for the nasal vaccine delivery system and targeted HPV16 E7, an oncoprotein in HPV-driven cervical cancer to demonstrate the feasibility of a nasal therapeutic vaccine. The vaccine was combined with cyclic di-adenosine monophosphate as a cell-mediated immunity-inducing adjuvant. Intranasal immunization with the nanogel vaccine induced E7-specific CD4<sup>+</sup> and CD8<sup>+</sup> T cells in mouse cervicovaginal tissue. An antitumor effect due to the infiltration of vaccine-induced E7-specific T cells was also observed in an orthotopic tumor model in mice. Furthermore, intranasal immunization of nonhuman primates with the nanogel vaccine using a spray device that is also applicable to humans induced E7-specific T cells in the reproductive tissues. Our findings demonstrated that this nasal therapeutic vaccine effectively controlled cervical cancer and will contribute to preclinical evidence for clinical testing in the near future.
Authors
- Tomonori Machita
- Kazuya Ishige
- Hiromi Mori
- Kei Kawana (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1919-8830)
- Tomoyuki Yamanoue
- Yohei Uchida (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0374-4834)
- Yuko Katakai
- Shingo Umemoto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9819-3020)
- Shin‐ichi Sawada (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1051-696X)
- Kazunari Akiyoshi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2434-3385)
- Yasuhiro Yasutomi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8252-1448)
- Kohtaro Fujihashi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2411-0880)
- Yoshikazu Yuki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6574-9184)
- Hiroshi Kiyono (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7307-4658)
- Rika Nakahashi-Ouchida (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2657-6185)
- Takashi Miyazaki
Institutions
- Nihon University (JP)
- La Jolla Institute for Immunology (US)
- Chiba University (JP)
- Oita University (JP)
- Kyoto University (JP)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition (JP)
- Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (Japan) (JP)
- Chiba University Hospital (JP)
- Osaka Prefectural Toyonaka Support School (JP)
- Kyoto University of Education (JP)
- Saitama International Medical Center (JP)
- Corporation for Production and Research of Laboratory Primates (JP)
- Yamasa Corporation (Japan) (JP)
- Nihon University Itabashi Hospital (JP)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Translational Medicine
- Published
- 2025-11-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.ado8840
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.80