Immunization of protein HPV16 E7 in fusion with mouse HSP70 inhibits the growth of TC-1 cells in tumor bearing mice

Human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 is the primary etiologic agent of cervical cancer. Most HPV16 therapeutic vaccines target E7 protein which is consistently expressed in tumor cells. In this study, we cloned mouse autologous heat shock protein 70 (mHSP70) gene from mouse liver cells and then expressed mHSP70 and fused HPV16 E7-mHSP70 (E7 at the N-terminus and mHSP70 at the C-terminus) proteins in E. coli. Then we investigated the inhibition of TC-1 cell growth by using the E7-expressing murine tumor cell line, TC-1, as a model of cervical cancer. In this model, mice were immunized with the fusion protein of E7-mHSP70 without any adjuvant. The results showed that prophylactic immunization of E7-mHSP70 protected mice against challenge with TC-1 cells. In addition, therapeutic immunization with E7-mHSP70 could inhibit TC-1 tumor growth on lungs. Our study demonstrated that immunization with E7-mHSP70 protein without any adjuvant could generate anti-tumor effect in mice challenged with TC-1 cells.