Polynucleotides encoding
telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) fusion proteins are provided, the TERT fusion proteins comprising a TERT
protein, or functional variant thereof, fused to a substantialportion of the B
subunit of
heat labile enterotoxin (LTB). TERT variants useful in TERT-LTB fusion proteins of the invention comprise mutations that function to eliminate
telomerase catalytic activity. The polynucleotides of the present invention can elicit an immune response in a
mammal, which, in preferred embodiments, is stronger than the immune response elicited by a wild-type TERT. TERT expression is commonly associated with the development of human carcinomas. The present invention provides compositions and methods to elicit or enhance
immunity to the
protein product expressed by the TERT tumor-associated
antigen, wherein aberrant TERT expression is associated with a
carcinoma or its development. This invention specifically provides adenoviral vector and
plasmid constructs carryingpolynucleotides encoding TERT fusion proteins and TERT variants and discloses their use in vaccines and pharmaceutical compositions for preventing and treating
cancer.