COMPOSITIONS EMPLOYING ALTERNATIVE READING FRAME POLYPEPTIDES FOR THE TREATMENT OF CANCER AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE

1 - 18 . (canceled)

19 . A fusion protein comprising,

two or more alternative reading frame (ARF) polypeptides wherein each of said ARF polypeptides comprises at least 9 amino acids of an ARF polypeptide derived from a polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of human tyrosine kinase receptor (hHER-2, SEQ ID NO: 2); human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT, SEQ ID NO: 4); mouse telomerase reverse transcriptase (mTERT, SEQ ID NO: 6); human transient receptor potential cation channel 8 (hTrpP8, SEQ ID NO: 8); human prostatic acid phosphatase (hPAP, SEQ ID NOs: 10); human prostatic acid phosphatase (hPAP, SEQ ID NOs: 12); human carbonic anhydrase IX (hCA9, SEQ ID NO: 295); human carcinoembryonic antigen (hCEA, SEQ ID NO: 302); human prostate-specific membrane antigen (hPSMA; SEQ ID NO: 345), human prostate-specific antigen (hPSA, SEQ ID NO: 369); human p53 cellular tumor antigen (hp53; SEQ ID NO: 381); human P-glycoprotein (hPGY1; SEQ ID NO: 392); human alpha-fetoprotein (hAFP; SEQ ID NO: 424); human mucin precursor (hMUC1; SEQ ID NO: 441); human preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma (hPRAME; SEQ ID NO: 452); human ephrin receptor (hEPHA3; SEQ ID NO: 468); human peptidyl-prolyl isomerase and essential mitotic regulator (hPIN1; SEQ ID NO: 496); human BASE (hBASE; SEQ ID NO: 504); human prostate stem cell antigen (hPSCA; SEQ ID NO: 515); human SURVIVIN (hSURVIVIN; SEQ ID NO: 549); human WTI (hWTI; SEQ ID NO: 557); human SGA-M1 (hSGA-M1; SEQ ID NO: 566); human RCAS1 (hRCAS1; SEQ ID NO: 579); and human CYP1B1 (hCYP1B1; SEQ ID NO: 592) or a complement of any of the foregoing polynucleotides,

wherein the ARF polypeptide corresponds to a polypeptide generated by an in vivo translational error resulting in frame-shifting of the initiation complex at a normal rf0 AUG codon one base (rf1) or two bases (rf2) forward or one base (rf2) or two bases (rf1) backward.

20 . The fusion protein of claim 19 , wherein each of said ARF polypeptides comprises at least 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or 15 amino acids.

21 . The fusion protein of claim 19 , wherein each of said ARF polypeptides comprises at least 16, 17, 18, 19, or 20 amino acids.

22 . The fusion protein of claim 19 , wherein each of said ARF polypeptides comprises at least 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, or 50 amino acids.

23 . The fusion protein of claim 19 , wherein each of said ARF polypeptides comprises at least 75, 100, 150, or 200 amino acids.

24 . The fusion protein of claim 19 , wherein the fusion protein is capable of priming antigen presenting cells (APCs) or dendritic cells (DCs) to elicit an immune response.

25 . The fusion protein of claim 24 , wherein said immune response is a cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) response.

26 . The fusion protein of claim 19 , wherein translation of said ARF polypeptides initiates at nucleotide 2 of the normal rf0 initiation codon.

27 . The fusion protein of claim 19 , wherein translation of said ARF polypeptides initiates at nucleotide 3 of the normal rf0 initiation codon.

28 . The fusion protein of claim 19 , wherein translation of said ARF polypeptides initiates at an AUG at an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) located 3′ to a site of normal ribosomal entry.

29 . The fusion protein of claim 19 , further comprising a polypeptide moiety that facilitates the binding of the ARF polypeptide or fusion protein to an antigen presenting cell (APC) or to a dendritic cell (DC).

30 . The fusion protein of claim 19 , wherein the fusion protein comprises a C- or N-terminal moiety having at least a portion of an APC/DC binding protein.

31 . The fusion protein of claim 19 , further comprising a polypeptide moiety selected from the group consisting of GM-CSF, IL-1, TNF, IL-4, CD40L, CTLA4, CD28, FLT-3 ligand, a functional fragment, derivative or variant thereof.

32 . The fusion protein of claim 19 wherein the fusion protein comprises a peptide linker sequence.

33 . The fusion protein of claim 32 wherein the peptide linker is from 1 to 50 amino acids in length.

34 . A method for eliciting an immune response in a patient, the methods comprising the steps of: (1) obtaining a sample containing antigen presenting cells (APCs); (2) isolating from the sample the APCs; (3) priming the APCs ex vivo with an ARF polypeptide fusion protein of claim 19 wherein the stimulated APCs are capable of stimulating an immune response in vivo; and (4) administering the primed APCs to the patient.

35 . The method of claim 34 wherein, the immune response is a cytotoxic T-cell response.

36 . A method for inhibiting proliferation of a tumor cell in a cancer patient the methods comprising the steps of: (1) obtaining from the cancer patient a sample containing antigen presenting cells (APCs); (2) isolating the APCs from the sample; (3) priming the APCs ex vivo with one or more ARF polypeptide fusion protein of claim 19 wherein the primed APCs are capable of stimulating an immune response in vivo; and (4) administering the primed APCs to the cancer patient.

37 . The method of claim 36 wherein the tumor cell is selected from a soft tissue sarcoma, a lymphoma, and/or a cancer of the brain, esophagus, uterus, cervix, bone, lung, endometrium, bladder, breast, larynx, colon/rectum, stomach, ovary, pancreas, adrenal gland or prostate.