US-12624075-B2 - Immune inducer

US12624075B2US 12624075 B2US12624075 B2US 12624075B2US-12624075-B2

Abstract

Provided is a novel peptide useful as an active ingredient in an agent for treating or preventing cancer, and to provide the use of the polypeptide as an immune inducer. The polypeptide binds to a MHC class I or class II molecule. The immune inducer contains as an active ingredient at least one polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence represented by one of SEQ ID NOs: 5-7, 9, 10, 12-15 and 17-34 or at least one polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence represented by one of SEQ ID NOs: 35-67. The immune inducer further comprises an effective amount of an adjuvant.

Inventors

Akira Kurihara
Fumiyoshi Okano

Assignees

TORAY INDUSTRIES, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20221024
Priority Date: 20150810

Claims (5)

1 . An immune inducer composition comprising the following (i) and (ii): (i) at least one polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence represented by one of SEQ ID NOs: 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12-15, and 17-34; and (ii) an effective amount of an adjuvant.
2 . The immune inducer composition according to claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide (i) binds to a MHC class I molecule.
3 . The immune inducer composition according to claim 2 , wherein the polypeptide (i) is SEQ ID NO: 6.
4 . An immune inducer composition comprising the following (i) and (ii): (i) at least one polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence represented by one of SEQ ID NOs: 35-67; and (ii) an effective amount of an adjuvant.
5 . The immune inducer composition according to claim 1 , further comprising an immunopotentiator.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/743,869 filed Jan. 11, 2018, which is the National Phase of PCT International Application No. PCT/JP2016/073077, filed on Aug. 5, 2016, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Patent Application No. 2015-158539, filed in Japan on Aug. 10, 2015, all of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application. REFERENCE TO ELECTRONIC SEQUENCE LISTING This application contains a Sequence Listing which has been submitted electronically in .XML format and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Said .XML copy, created on Oct. 14, 2022, is named “PH-6650-PCT-US-DIVI Sequence Listing.xml” and is 86,123 bytes in size. The sequence listing contained in this .XML file is part of the specification and is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a novel immune inducer useful as an active ingredient in an agent for treating or preventing cancer. BACKGROUND ART PDS5A (PDS5, regulator of cohesion maintenance, homolog A) protein, also known as SSC-112, is a protein identified as a cell cycle regulator involved in the distribution of chromosomes. PDS5A protein has been suggested to be associated with the development of cancer. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses that the expression of PDS5A protein is higher in nasopharyngeal cancer, renal cancer, liver cancer and one type of breast cancer cells as compared to normal tissue. Further, Patent Literature 1 also discloses that the proliferation of cancer cells can be inhibited by suppressing the expression of PDS5A protein in the cancer cells using an antisense nucleic acid, ribozyme or siRNA against PDS5A gene, or an anti-PDS5A protein antibody, and that it can induce apoptosis in cancer cells by administering the full-length PDS5A protein or a partial peptide of the protein. Patent Literature 2 discloses that the PDS5A protein that bind to HLA-A0201, which is a subtype of MHC class I molecules, and partial peptides thereof have an immune-inducing activity against cancer cells, and thus are useful for treatment and/or prevention of cancer. However, Patent Literature 2 does not disclose all the peptides that bind to HLA-A0201, nor information on peptides that bind to subtypes other than HLA-A0201. CITATION LIST Patent Literature Patent Literature 1: WO 2002/081641Patent Literature 2: WO 2011/027807 SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem An object of the present invention is to find a novel polypeptide useful as an active ingredient in an agent for treating or preventing cancer, and to provide the use of the polypeptide as an immune inducer. Another object of the present invention is to provide an isolated antigen-presenting cell including a complex of the polypeptide and an HLA molecule, and an isolated T cell which selectively binds to a complex of the polypeptide and an HLA molecule, as well as an agent for treating or preventing cancer including the same. Solution to Problem As a result of intensive research, the present inventors have found that the human PDS5A protein consisting of the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 2 is specifically expressed in tissues or cells of leukemia, malignant lymphoma, breast cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, renal cancer, colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, malignant brain tumor, esophageal cancer, and lung cancer. Further, the inventors have found out that a partial peptide present in a specific region of the PDS5A protein has an ability (immune-inducing activity) to activate and propagate T cells specific to the polypeptide via the presentation by the antigen-presenting cells, and that the immune-inducing activity is useful for the treating or preventing cancer. Based on these findings, the inventors have found out that the polypeptide can be used as an active ingredient in an immune inducer for treating and/or preventing cancer, and that antigen-presenting cells which have been in contact with the peptide, and T cells which have been in contact with the antigen-presenting cells are also useful in the treatment or prevention of cancer, thereby completing the present invention. Specifically, the present invention has the following characteristics (1) to (14). (1) An immune inducer comprising, as an active ingredient, the following (i) or (ii):(i) at least one polypeptide having an immune-inducing activity and selected from the group of polypeptides (a) or (b) below: (a) polypeptides consisting of seven or more consecutive amino acids within the region of positions 24 to 97, positions 113 to 132, positions 134 to 197, positions 204 to 225, positions 265 to 332, positions 378 to 463, positions 472 to 498, positions 533 to 567, positions 613 to 643, positions 671 to 735, positions 737 to 780, positions 792 to 830, positions 832 to 899, positions 920 to 943, position