Prophylaxis of tumor through oral administration of IL-12 GM-CSF gene carried by live attenuated salmonella

A live attenuated AraA^- autotrophic mutant ofSalmonella typhimurium (SL3261) was used as carrier for eukaryotic expression vectors EGFPN1, pCMVmIL-12, pCMVhIL-12, pCMVmGM-CSF and pCMVhGM-CSF and was administered orally to BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. After 6 weeks, these mice were challenged with 4T1 and Lewis tumor cells respectively. GFP expression and gene integration could be detected in mice’s livers, spleens, intestines, kidneys and tumors. The serum level of cytokines increased significantly in treated mice, so did the ratio of CD ₈ ⁺ /CD ₄ ⁺ , which resulted in the tumor regression and prolongation of the survival time of those mice. These researches laid an experimental foundation for the tumor gene therapy using live attenuated salmonella.