Redirecting cytomegalovirus immunity against pancreas cancer for immunotherapy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Immunotherapy has had limited success in pancreatic cancer, largely due to a low mutational burden and immunosuppressive microenvironment. Here we hypothesized that systemic delivery of viral antigens can redirect pre-existing antiviral immunity against pancreatic tumors.

Methods

Cytomegalovirus (CMV, a β-herpesvirus) was chosen, as the majority of the population is infected and it induces an extremely large/broad memory T-cell response. Mice latently infected with murine CMV (MCMV) were orthotopically implanted with pancreatic cancer cells and treated with systemic injections of MCMV T-cell epitopes. Tumor growth was monitored by ultrasound two times a week, and immune cell infiltration was analyzed by histology, flow cytometry and single-cell RNA sequencing (scR

SUBMITTER: Marrocco R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12927352 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature