A novel chimpanzee serotype-based adenoviral vector as delivery tool for cancer vaccines

The use of adenovirus (Ad) as vaccine vectors is hindered by pre-existing immunity to human Ads in most of the human population. In order to overcome this limitation, uncommon alternative Ad serotypes need to be utilized. In this study, an E1-E3 deleted recombinant Ad based on the chimpanzee serotype 3 (ChAd3) was engineered to express human carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) protein or rat neu extracellular/transmembrane domains (ECD.TM). ChAd3 vectors were tested in CEA transgenic (CEA.Tg) and BALB/NeuT mice, which show immunologic tolerance to these antigens. ChAd3 is capable of inducing an immune response comparable to that of hAd5 serotype-based vectors, thus breaking tolerance to tumor associated antigens (TAAs) and achieving anti-tumor effects. Of importance is that ChAd3 can overcome hAd5 pre-existing immunity and work in conjunction with DNA electroporation (DNA-EP) and other Ad vaccines based on common human serotypes.