| 초록 |
Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) have attracted much attention in developing cancer immunotherapeutic strategies because of their innate ability to distinguish and destroy non-self. Most tumors, however, express self-antigens and avoid being recognized as foreigners. In our study, we assumed that delivering foreign antigens to the tumor cells would increase their expression levels on the cell surface, resulting in CTL-mediated immunological rejection of tumors. To prove this hypothesis, we prepared polymeric conjugates consisting of biocompatible carboxymethyl dextran (CMD) as a backbone and ovalbumin (OVA) as a model antigen. Then, we demonstrated in vitro cellular uptake by cancer cells and in vivo tumor targetability of CMD-OVA conjugates. When we systemically injected the conjugates into the tumor-bearing mice, the level of presented antigen was 11-fold higher than that of the OVA-injected group. Therefore, CMD-OVA conjugates were proven to be a promising antigen carrier. |
