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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.05.29.493930

A human adenovirus encoding IFN-γ can transduce Tasmanian devil facial tumour cells and upregulate MHC-I

Kayigwe, A. N.·Darby, J. M.·Lyons, A. B.·Patchett, A. L.·Lisowski, L.·Liu, G.-S.·Flies, A. S.
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Abstract

The devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) has led to a massive decline in the wild Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) population. The disease is caused by two independent devil facial tumours (DFT1 and DFT2). These transmissible cancers have a mortality rate of nearly 100%. An adenoviral vector-based vaccine has been proposed as a conservation strategy for the Tasmanian devil. This study aimed to determine if a human adenovirus serotype 5 could express functional transgenes in devil cells. As DFT1 cells do not constitutively express major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I), we developed a replication-deficient adenoviral vector that encodes devil interferon gamma (IFN-{gamma}) fused to a fluorescent protein reporter. Our results show that adenoviral-expressed IFN-{gamma} was able to stimulate upregulation of beta-2 microglobulin, a component of MHC-I, on DFT1, DFT2, and devil fibroblast cell lines. This work suggests that human adenoviruses can serve as vaccine platform for devils and potentially other marsupials.

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Kayigwe, A. N., Darby, J. M., Lyons, A. B., Patchett, A. L., Lisowski, L., Liu, G.-S., Flies, A. S.. 2022-05-30. A human adenovirus encoding IFN-γ can transduce Tasmanian devil facial tumour cells and upregulate MHC-I. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.29.493930

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