News

Cell research aims at cancer vaccine

Media Release, Thursday 22 September 2005

The development of a cancer vaccine is the ultimate goal of an ambitious new research project at the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute at the University of Melbourne.

Dr Anthony Purcell, a Russell Grimwade Fellow at the Bio21 Institute and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, will investigate the biomolecular structure of cells crucial to the functioning of the immune system. Information gathered from this investigation will guide the selection of components for vaccines against chronic viral illnesses (such as HIV and Hepatitis) and cancers.

Dr Purcell’s Bio21 research team is the major collaborating partner in a larger project, co-ordinated by Dr Joyce Solheim from the University of Nebraska, which has received a grant worth US $175,000 per annum over four years from the US National Institute of Health.

According to Dr Purcell, the best way to understand the cell research is by considering how the immune system functions in the body over the genesis of disease, where it plays a vital role in surveying cells in tissues for signs of infection or malignancy.

Special white blood cells, known as T lymphocytes or T-Cells, detect malignancy by recognizing reporter molecules on the surface of cells. The reporter molecules carry small fragments of tumour antigens (the proteins expressed by viruses, bacteria and cancers) to the cell surface and display them to the vigilant T-Cells, alerting them that the cell has been infected.

If the immune system is functioning normally, the infected or cancerous cells are then destroyed by the T-Cells. This results in the eradication of tumours and prevents the further spread of viruses and other intracellular pathogens.

However, many viruses and tumours are able to bypass the normal process of the immune system by stopping the reporter molecules from carrying the antigen fragments to the cell surface.

Dr Purcell and his colleagues will investigate whether all antigen fragments are equally affected by these immune evasion strategies and hope to find antigens that could be used to develop new vaccines.

According to Dr Purcell the state-of-the-art mass spectrometry facilities at Bio21 will allow the University to play an important role in future projects to develop vaccines.

“We have developed an international reputation for our ability to use mass spectrometry to identify the peptide antigens targeted by T lymphocytes. This started the collaboration with Joyce Solheim about 2 years ago and has come to fruition recently with the NIH grant”.

Dr Purcell and his team will receive US$43,750 a year from the larger NIH grant towards their research project.