DNA cytokine vaccines and use of same for protective immunity against multiple sclerosis

Abstract

A method for treating a mammal for inducing protective immunity against an autoimmune disease including the step of administering to the mammal a therapeutic composition including a recombinant construct including an isolated nucleic acid sequence encoding a cytokine, the nucleic acid sequence being operatively linked to one or more transcription control sequences. A method for treating a mammal for inducing protective immunity against an autoimmune disease including the steps of (a) removing cells of the mammal; (b) transducing the cells in vitro with a recombinant construct including an isolated nucleic acid sequence encoding a cytokine, the nucleic acid sequence being operatively linked to one or more transcription control sequences; and (c) reintroducing the transduced cells to the mammal. A pharmaceutical composition including (a) a recombinant construct including an isolated nucleic acid sequence encoding a cytokine, the nucleic acid sequence being operatively linked to one or more transcription control sequences; and (b) a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. And an antibody raised against a cytokine expressed by cells transduced with a recombinant construct including an isolated nucleic acid sequence encoding the cytokine, the nucleic acid sequence being operatively linked to one or more transcription control sequences.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A pharmaceutical composition for inducing protective immunity against multiple sclerosis, the pharmaceutical composition comprising: 
 (a) as an active ingredient, a therapeutically effective amount of a naked DNA nucleic acid construct encoding a cytokine selected from the group consisting of macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), operably linked to a viral transcription control sequence, to thereby, upon administration of the pharmaceutical composition, induce protective immunity against multiple sclerosis; and    (b) a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier suitable for intramuscular administration to a human.    
     
     
         2 . The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 1 , wherein said transcription control sequences are selected from the group consisting of RSV control sequences, CMV control sequences, retroviral LTR sequences and SV-40 control sequences.  
     
     
         3 . The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 1 , wherein said naked DNA nucleic acid construct is selected from the group consisting of pcDNA3, pcDNA3.1 (+/−), pZeoSV2(+/−), pSecTag2, pDisplay, pEF/myc/cyto, pCMV/myc/cyto, pCR3.1, pCI, pBK-RSV, pBK-CMV, pTRES and their derivatives.