Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of 15% to 23% of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas as well as most oropharyngeal carcinomas. The viral oncoproteins E6 and E7 are expressed in HPV-positive tumor cells and therefore provide ideal targets for tumor immunotherapy. Because of its unique ability to induce a cellular immune response, the intracellular bacteria Listeria monocytogenes has been studied as a potential HPV-positive tumor vaccine. Objective: To present a new recombinant strain of L monocytogenes that is effective in treating HPV-positive tumors in a murine model. Design: A new recombinant L monocytogenes vaccine, Lm-ActA-E7, was designed by transforming an attenuated Listeria strain with an E7 expression cassette. The cassette consists of the HPV-16 E7 sequence fused to the Listeria protein ActA. The resultant strain of bacteria secretes E7 antigen as a fusion protein with ActA.

The induction of mucosal immunity is crucial in controlling viral replication during HIV infection. In this study we compare the ability of a recombinant Listeria monocytogenes that expresses and secretes the HIV Ag Gag to induce CD8+ T cells against this Ag in the spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes, and Peyer’s patches and the ability to provide effector Gag-specific CD8+ T cells to the lamina propria after i.v., oral, or rectal administration of the vaccine. The levels of Ag-specific CD8+-activated T cells were measured ex vivo using intracellular cytokine staining for IFN-γ and H-2Kd Gag peptide tetramer staining. We found that all routes of immunization induced Gag-specific CD8+ T cells in the spleen. After secondary infection, we observed substantial increases in splenic levels of CD8+ T cells, and levels of Gag-specific cells were similar to those against listeriolysin O, the immunodominant Ag of L. monocytogenes. Both primary and secondary oral immunization resulted in abundant Gag-specific CD8+-activated T cells in the lamina propria that constituted ∼35% of the CD8 compartment. However, significant levels of Gag and listeriolysin O-specific CD8+ T cells were observed in mucosal lymphoid tissue only after two immunizations, perhaps because they had already entered the lamina propria compartment after a single immunization. In the context of HIV, a mucosally administered vaccine seems best calculated to prompt an immune response that is capable of preventing infection. The data presented in this report demonstrate that mucosally administered Listeria can prompt such a response and that booster doses can maintain this response.