DNA-based vaccination against tumors expressing the P1A antigen

Based on experience acquired in the last few years, we describe some technical steps and provide suggestions on how to induce an immune response against tumors expressing the weakly immunogenic antigen P1A by means of a DNA-based vaccination approach. P1A is the product of a normal mouse gene, which shares many characteristics with already identified human tumor-associated antigens, and therefore represents a useful experimental model to evaluate the efficacy of new vaccination strategies potentially applicable to the field of human tumors. Information gained with this model has been applied with success in other experimental settings, and thus we think that the procedure described herein may constitute a valid platform that can be implemented and further refined.