The combination of Pleurotus ferulae water extract and CpG-ODN enhances the immune responses and antitumor efficacy of HPV peptides pulsed dendritic cell-based vaccine.

Our previous study reported that the combination of Pleurotus ferulae water extract (PFWE) and CpG (PFWE+CpG) enhanced the maturation and function of dendritic cells (DCs). Here, we investigated the effects of PFWE+CpG on the immune responses and antitumor efficacy of DC-based vaccine. We observed that all of HPV E6 and E7 peptides pulsed DCs (HPV-immature DCs, HPV+PFWE-, +CpG- or +PFWE+CpG-DCs) induced antigen-specific CD8(+) T cell responses and HPV+PFWE+CpG-DCs induced highest level of CD8(+) T cell responses. The antitumor efficacy of HPV-DCs vaccines was evaluated in TC-1 tumor mouse model. The early therapeutic study showed that HPV+PFWE-, +CpG- and +PFWE+CpG-DCs greatly inhibited tumor growth. Moreover, HPV+PFWE+CpG-DCs controlled tumor growth at a faster rate compared to other groups. These three groups induced HPV-specific CD8(+) T cell responses and significantly decreased the frequencies of induced regulatory T cells (iTregs: CD4(+)CD25(-)Fopx3(+)). However, only HPV+PFWE+CpG-DCs significantly decreased the frequency of natural Tregs (nTregs: CD4(+)CD25(+)Fopx3(+)). Furthermore, HPV+PFWE+CpG-DCs also significantly inhibited tumor growth in the late therapeutic study. The results showed that PFWE+CpG enhanced the immune responses and antitumor efficacy of DC-based vaccine, suggesting that PFWE+CpG might be the potential candidate for the generation of clinical-grade mature DCs.