Patent ID: 7084256
Filing Date: 2006-08-01
Classification: A61K,C07K,C12N,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method of producing a polypeptide self-antigen useful as a tumor-specific vaccine in a subject with a B-cell lymphoma or at risk of developing a B-cell lymphoma, wherein a first domain and a second domain of the polypeptide self-antigen are encoded by at least in part by a nucleic acid in the cells of said B-cell lymphoma, which polypetride comprises two peptide domains connected to each other by a peptide linker, and said polypeptide includes an epitope or epitopes unique to, or overexpressed by, cells of said B-cell lymphoma, thereby distinguishing said B-cell lymphoma from normal cells and/or all other tumors (i) of the same or different histological type, (ii) in said subject or in another member of said subject's species, comprising the steps of: (a) joining a nucleic acid encoding the first domain of the polypeptide to a nucleic acid encoding a first part of a linker to produce a first nucleic acid construct; (b) joining the first nucleic acid construct encoding a second part of the linker to a nucleic acid encoding the second domain of the polypeptide to produce a second nucleic acid construct; (c) incorporating said second nucleic acid construct into a plant expression vector in frame so that, when expressed, the polypeptide bears the first and second domain separated by the linker; (d) transfecting a plant with the vector so that the plant is capable of producing the polypeptide; (e) producing the polypeptide; and (f) recovering the polypeptide as a soluble, correctly-folded protein, wherein the polypeptide recovered from said plant or plant cell is in correctly folded form, without a need for denaturation and renaturation and mimics said epitope or epitopes in their native form and is capable of inducing an immune response in a mammal, including said subject, without a need for adjuvant or other immunostimulatory materials, so that administration of said polypeptide results in an antibody or cell-mediated immune response to said epitope or epitopes, and wherein the polypetide is a single chain the first domain is the Ig V