Intratumoral injection of dendritic cells derived in vitro in patients with metastatic cancer

P-glycoprotein, also known as ABCB1 in the ABC transporter family, confers the simultaneous resistance of metastatic cancer cells towards various anticancer drugs with different targets and diverse chemical structures. The exploration of safe and specific inhibitors of this pump has always been the pursuit of scientists for the past four decades. Naturally occurring flavonoids as benzopyrone derivatives were recognized as a class of nontoxic inhibitors of P-gp. The recent advent of synthetic flavonoid dimer FD18, as a potent P-gp modulator in reversing multidrug resistance both in vitro and in vivo, specifically targeted the pseudodimeric structure of the drug transporter and represented a new generation of inhibitors with high transporter binding affinity and low toxicity. This review concerned the recent updates on the structure-activity relationships of flavonoids as P-gp inhibitors, the molecular mechanisms of their action and their ability to overcome P-gp-mediated MDR in preclinical studies. It had crucial implications on the discovery of new drug candidates that modulated the efflux of ABC transporters and also provided some clues for the future development in this promising area.

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Correction: In vivo Priming of T Cells with in vitro Pulsed Dendritic Cells: Popliteal Lymph Node Assay

BIO-PROTOCOL ◽

10.21769/bioprotoc.3340 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (15) ◽

Author(s):

Songjie Cai ◽

Masayuki Fujino ◽

Lina Lu ◽

Xiao-Kang Li

Keyword(s):

T Cells ◽

Dendritic Cells ◽

Lymph Node ◽

Popliteal Lymph Node ◽

Popliteal Lymph Node Assay

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An ARF GTPase module promoting invasion and metastasis through regulating phosphoinositide metabolism

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-21847-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Marisa Nacke ◽

Emma Sandilands ◽

Konstantina Nikolatou ◽

Álvaro Román-Fernández ◽

Susan Mason ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Metastatic Cancer ◽

Cellular Responses ◽

Signalling Pathways ◽

External Signal ◽

Phosphoinositide Metabolism ◽

Invasion And Metastasis ◽

3 Dimensional

AbstractThe signalling pathways underpinning cell growth and invasion use overlapping components, yet how mutually exclusive cellular responses occur is unclear. Here, we report development of 3-Dimensional culture analyses to separately quantify growth and invasion. We identify that alternate variants of IQSEC1, an ARF GTPase Exchange Factor, act as switches to promote invasion over growth by controlling phosphoinositide metabolism. All IQSEC1 variants activate ARF5- and ARF6-dependent PIP5-kinase to promote PI(3,4,5)P3-AKT signalling and growth. In contrast, select pro-invasive IQSEC1 variants promote PI(3,4,5)P3 production to form invasion-driving protrusions. Inhibition of IQSEC1 attenuates invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo. Induction of pro-invasive IQSEC1 variants and elevated IQSEC1 expression occurs in a number of tumour types and is associated with higher-grade metastatic cancer, activation of PI(3,4,5)P3 signalling, and predicts long-term poor outcome across multiple cancers. IQSEC1-regulated phosphoinositide metabolism therefore is a switch to induce invasion over growth in response to the same external signal. Targeting IQSEC1 as the central regulator of this switch may represent a therapeutic vulnerability to stop metastasis.

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CD14 Expressing Precursors Give Rise to Highly Functional Conventional Dendritic Cells for Use as Dendritic Cell Vaccine

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers13153818 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 3818

Author(s):

Maud Plantinga ◽

Denise A. M. H. van den Beemt ◽

Ester Dünnebach ◽

Stefan Nierkens

Keyword(s):

Dendritic Cells ◽

T Cell ◽

Cord Blood ◽

T Cell Activation ◽

Cell Activation ◽

Ex Vivo ◽

Dendritic Cell Vaccine ◽

Cell Vaccine ◽

Activated T Cells

Induction of long-lasting immunity by dendritic cells (DCs) makes them attractive candidates for anti-tumor vaccination. Although DC vaccinations are generally considered safe, clinical responses remain inconsistent in clinical trials. This initiated studies to identify subsets of DCs with superior capabilities to induce effective and memory anti-tumor responses. The use of primary DCs has been suggested to overcome the functional limitations of ex vivo monocyte-derived DCs (moDC). The ontogeny of primary DCs has recently been revised by the introduction of DC3, which phenotypically resembles conventional (c)DC2 as well as moDC. Previously, we developed a protocol to generate cDC2s from cord blood (CB)-derived stem cells via a CD115-expressing precursor. Here, we performed index sorting and single-cell RNA-sequencing to define the heterogeneity of in vitro developed DC precursors and identified CD14+CD115+ expressing cells that develop into CD1c++DCs and the remainder cells brought about CD123+DCs, as well as assessed their potency. The maturation status and T-cell activation potential were assessed using flow cytometry. CD123+DCs were specifically prone to take up antigens but only modestly activated T-cells. In contrast, CD1c++ are highly mature and specialized in both naïve as well as antigen-experienced T-cell activation. These findings show in vitro functional diversity between cord blood stem cell-derived CD123+DC and CD1c++DCs and may advance the efficiency of DC-based vaccines.

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Oncolytic peptides DTT-205 and DTT-304 induce complete regression and protective immune response in experimental murine colorectal cancer

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-86239-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Karianne Giller Fleten ◽

J. Johannes Eksteen ◽

Brynjar Mauseth ◽

Ketil André Camilio ◽

Terje Vasskog ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Liver Metastases ◽

Cell Lines ◽

Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Inhibitory Effect ◽

Systemic Effect ◽

Intratumoral Injection ◽

Complete Regression ◽

Future Drug

AbstractOncolytic peptides represent a novel, promising cancer treatment strategy with activity in a broad spectrum of cancer entities, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Cancer cells are killed by immunogenic cell death, causing long-lasting anticancer immune responses, a feature of particular interest in non-immunogenic CRC. Oncolytic peptides DTT-205 and DTT-304 were administered by intratumoral injection in subcutaneous tumors established from murine CRC cell lines CT26 and MC38, and complete regression was obtained in the majority of animals. When cured animals were rechallenged by splenic injection of tumor cells, 1/23 animals developed liver metastases, compared to 19/22 naïve animals. Treatment with both peptides was well tolerated, but monitoring post-injection hemodynamic parameters in rats, less extensive changes were observed with DTT-205 than DTT-304, favoring DTT-205 for future drug development. DTT-205 was subsequently shown to have strong in vitro activity in a panel of 33 cancer cell lines. In conclusion, both peptides exerted a strong inhibitory effect in two immunocompetent CRC models and induced a systemic effect preventing development of liver metastases upon splenic rechallenge. If a similar effect could be obtained in humans, these drugs would be of particular interest for combinatory treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors in metastatic CRC.

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Tumor cytotoxicity and immunogenicity of a novel V-jet neon plasma source compared to the kINPen

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-80512-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Lea Miebach ◽

Eric Freund ◽

Stefan Horn ◽

Felix Niessner ◽

Sanjeev Kumar Sagwal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Death ◽

Dendritic Cells ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Treatment Time ◽

Plasma Source ◽

In Vivo Model ◽

Antitumor Effects ◽

Plasma Device

AbstractRecent research indicated the potential of cold physical plasma in cancer therapy. The plethora of plasma-derived reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) mediate diverse antitumor effects after eliciting oxidative stress in cancer cells. We aimed at exploiting this principle using a newly designed dual-jet neon plasma source (Vjet) to treat colorectal cancer cells. A treatment time-dependent ROS/RNS generation induced oxidation, growth retardation, and cell death within 3D tumor spheroids were found. In TUM-CAM, a semi in vivo model, the Vjet markedly reduced vascularized tumors' growth, but an increase of tumor cell immunogenicity or uptake by dendritic cells was not observed. By comparison, the argon-driven single jet kINPen, known to mediate anticancer effects in vitro, in vivo, and in patients, generated less ROS/RNS and terminal cell death in spheroids. In the TUM-CAM model, however, the kINPen was equivalently effective and induced a stronger expression of immunogenic cancer cell death (ICD) markers, leading to increased phagocytosis of kINPen but not Vjet plasma-treated tumor cells by dendritic cells. Moreover, the Vjet was characterized according to the requirements of the DIN-SPEC 91315. Our results highlight the plasma device-specific action on cancer cells for evaluating optimal discharges for plasma cancer treatment.

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Reduced Lamin A/C does Not Facilitate Cancer Cell Transendothelial Migration but Compromises Lung Metastasis

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers13102383 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 2383

Author(s):

Francesco Roncato ◽

Ofer Regev ◽

Sara W. Feigelson ◽

Sandeep Kumar Yadav ◽

Lukasz Kaczmarczyk ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cancer Cells ◽

Lung Metastasis ◽

Metastatic Cancer ◽

Nuclear Lamina ◽

Transendothelial Migration ◽

Soft Agar ◽

Lamin A ◽

And Migration

The mechanisms by which the nuclear lamina of tumor cells influences tumor growth and migration are highly disputed. Lamin A and its variant lamin C are key lamina proteins that control nucleus stiffness and chromatin conformation. Downregulation of lamin A/C in two prototypic metastatic lines, B16F10 melanoma and E0771 breast carcinoma, facilitated cell squeezing through rigid pores, and reduced heterochromatin content. Surprisingly, both lamin A/C knockdown cells grew poorly in 3D spheroids within soft agar, and lamin A/C deficient cells derived from spheroids transcribed lower levels of the growth regulator Yap1. Unexpectedly, the transendothelial migration of both cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, through lung capillaries, was not elevated by lamin A/C knockdown and their metastasis in lungs was even dramatically reduced. Our results are the first indication that reduced lamin A/C content in distinct types of highly metastatic cancer cells does not elevate their transendothelial migration (TEM) capacity and diapedesis through lung vessels but can compromise lung metastasis at a post extravasation level.

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