Abstract

Acinetobacter baumannii outer membrane protein A (AbOmpA) is a major surface protein that is an important pathogen-associated molecular pattern. Based on our previous findings that AbOmpA induced the phenotypic maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) and drove the Th1 immune response in vitro, we investigated the therapeutic efficacy of AbOmpA-pulsed DC vaccines in a murine melanoma model. The surface expression of co-stimulatory molecules (CD80 and CD86) and major histocompatibility complex class I and II molecules was higher in DCs pulsed with AbOmpA alone or with a combination of B16F10 cell lysates than that of DCs pulsed with B16F10 cell lysates. AbOmpA stimulated the maturation of murine splenic DCs in vivo. In a therapeutic model of murine melanoma, AbOmpA-pulsed DCs significantly retarded tumor growth and improved the survival of tumor-bearing mice. AbOmpA-pulsed DCs significantly enhanced CD8+, interleukin-2+ T cells and CD4+, interferon-γ+ T cells in tumor-bearing mice. These results provide evidence that AbOmpA may be therapeutically useful in adjuvant DC immunotherapy against poorly immunogenic melanoma without tumor-specific antigens.

• Keywords: dendritic cells; outer membrane protein; melanoma; vaccine; cytokine