PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITION FOR PREVENTING OR TREATING CHRONIC HEPATITIS AND LIVER CANCER COMPRISING INTERLEUKIN-15 AND HCV-SPECIFIC PEPTIDE

摘要

A composition comprising an interleukin-15(IL-15) protein and peptides specific to HCV(hepatitis C virus) is provided to activate cell mediated immunity by activating cytotoxic T lymphocytes and natural killer cells from an HCV infected patient, recruit memory T cells as effective T cells and decrease regulatory T cells significantly by overcoming immunosuppression caused by TGF-beta, thereby effectively preventing and treating chronic hepatitis and liver cancer caused by HCV virus. A pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating chronic hepatitis or liver cancer caused by HCV comprises an IL-15 protein or a gene encoding the same and peptides having amino acid sequences described as SEQ ID : NOs. 1 to 10 and is characterized in that the IL-15 activates cytotoxic T lymphocytes(CTL) specific to the HCV. The composition further comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of cytokines such as GM-SCF, IL-12, IL-7 an IL-2, costimulatory molecules such as CD40 ligand, 4-1BB ligand, Flt-3 ligand, hsp(heat shock protein), B7-1, B7-2 and MICA/B, anti-viral agents and antibodies.