scholarly journals Richard Boyd and Ann Chidgey: Protecting cells from immune attack

Author(s):  
Monya Baker
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Ullsten ◽  
Daniel Espes ◽  
My Quach ◽  
Malin Fex ◽  
Monica Sandberg ◽  
...  


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (42) ◽  
pp. eaax8189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Jo Halaby ◽  
Kebria Hezaveh ◽  
Sara Lamorte ◽  
M. Teresa Ciudad ◽  
Andreas Kloetgen ◽  
...  

General control nonderepressible 2 (GCN2) is an environmental sensor controlling transcription and translation in response to nutrient availability. Although GCN2 is a putative therapeutic target for immuno-oncology, its role in shaping the immune response to tumors is poorly understood. Here, we used mass cytometry, transcriptomics, and transcription factor–binding analysis to determine the functional impact of GCN2 on the myeloid phenotype and immune responses in melanoma. We found that myeloid-lineage deletion of GCN2 drives a shift in the phenotype of tumor-associated macrophages and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) that promotes antitumor immunity. Time-of-flight mass cytometry (CyTOF) and single-cell RNA sequencing showed that this was due to changes in the immune microenvironment with increased proinflammatory activation of macrophages and MDSCs and interferon-γ expression in intratumoral CD8+ T cells. Mechanistically, GCN2 altered myeloid function by promoting increased translation of the transcription factor CREB-2/ATF4, which was required for maturation and polarization of macrophages and MDSCs in both mice and humans, whereas targeting Atf4 by small interfering RNA knockdown reduced tumor growth. Last, analysis of patients with cutaneous melanoma showed that GCN2-dependent transcriptional signatures correlated with macrophage polarization, T cell infiltrates, and overall survival. Thus, these data reveal a previously unknown dependence of tumors on myeloid GCN2 signals for protection from immune attack.



1987 ◽  
Vol 84 (13) ◽  
pp. 4601-4605 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. K. Lyerly ◽  
T. J. Matthews ◽  
A. J. Langlois ◽  
D. P. Bolognesi ◽  
K. J. Weinhold


2000 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Armstrong ◽  
J. C. Mathers

At its most fundamental, cancer is a genetic disease resulting from inherited or acquired mutations in tumour suppressor genes and proto-oncogenes. Environmental factors, including ingested food components, interact with genetic inheritance to determine individual cancer risk. There is growing evidence that the immune system exerts selective pressure during neoplastic development. Tumour cells that evade this immunosurveillance because they are non-antigenic or because they defend themselves successfully against immune attack have a survival advantage. Effective chemopreventative agents will include dietary components that enhance the immune system’s ability to identify transformed cells and to target them for apoptosis.



Cell ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 184 (9) ◽  
pp. 2278-2281
Author(s):  
Ilon Liu ◽  
Olivia A. Hack ◽  
Mariella G. Filbin
Keyword(s):  


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ii (15) ◽  
pp. 36-55
Author(s):  
Bent Sørensen ◽  
Torkild Thellefsen ◽  
Amalia Dewi

In his seminal article “Metaphor and Theory Change: What is `Metaphor ́ a metaphor for?” (1993, [1979]), Richard Boyd describes a certain class of metaphors within science, namely, the theory-constitutive metaphors (henceforth the TCMs); this class of metaphors, Boyd explains, plays an important role in the formulation and development of theories because they express explanatory claims which, at least for the time being, cannot be conceived in any other known (literal) way. Hence, TCMs become a part of scientific thought and the development of concepts. TCMs can fix reference to casual relations in the physical world, even though they have an open-endedness (vagueness and are not fully explicated); the TCMs, therefore, have a programmatic character or they invite further research. In the following we try to add more characteristics to the TCMs from a Peircean perspective, namely, that the TCMs depend on abduction – this 1) makes them both creative and explanatory, 2) relates them to guessing and anchors them in instinct, whereby 3) their plausibility concerns an affinity between mind and nature.



2018 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 117822341877480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Issam Makhoul ◽  
Mohammad Atiq ◽  
Ahmed Alwbari ◽  
Thomas Kieber-Emmons

The immune system plays a major role in cancer surveillance. Harnessing its power to treat many cancers is now a reality that has led to cures in hopeless situations where no other solutions were available from traditional anticancer drugs. These spectacular achievements rekindled the oncology community’s interest in extending the benefits to all cancers including breast cancer. The first section of this article reviews the biological foundations of the immune response to different subtypes of breast cancer and the ways cancer may overcome the immune attack leading to cancer disease. The second section is dedicated to the actual immune treatments including breast cancer vaccines, checkpoint inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, and the “unconventional” immune role of chemotherapy.



Antibiotics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 732
Author(s):  
Nikolay V. Volozhantsev ◽  
Anna M. Shpirt ◽  
Alexander I. Borzilov ◽  
Ekaterina V. Komisarova ◽  
Valentina M. Krasilnikova ◽  
...  

Bacteriophages and phage enzymes are considered as possible alternatives to antibiotics in the treatment of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Due to the ability to cleave the capsular polysaccharides (CPS), one of the main virulence factors of Klebsiella pneumoniae, phage depolymerases, has potential in the treatment of K. pneumoniae infections. Here, we characterized in vivo two novel phage-encoded polysaccharide depolymerases as therapeutics against clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae. The depolymerases Dep_kpv79 and Dep_kpv767 encoded by Klebsiella phages KpV79 (Myoviridae; Jedunavirus) and KpV767 (Autographiviridae, Studiervirinae, Przondovirus), respectively, were identified as specific β-galactosidases that cleave the K. pneumoniae K57 type CPS by the hydrolytic mechanism. They were found to be highly effective at combating sepsis and hip infection caused by K. pneumoniae in lethal mouse models. Here, 80–100% of animals were protected against death by a single dose (e.g., 50 μg/mouse) of the enzyme injected 0.5 h after infection by K. pneumoniae strains of the K57 capsular type. The therapeutic effect of the depolymerases is because they strip the capsule and expose the underlying bacterium to the immune attack such as complement-mediated killing. These data provide one more confirmation that phage polysaccharide depolymerases represent a promising tool for antimicrobial therapy.



Blood ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 1487-1492 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Hertenstein ◽  
B Wagner ◽  
D Bunjes ◽  
C Duncker ◽  
A Raghavachar ◽  
...  

CD52 is a phosphatidylinositolglycan (PIG)-anchored glycoprotein (PIG- AP) expressed on normal T and B lymphocytes, monocytes, and the majority of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas. We observed the emergence of CD52- T cells in 3 patients after intravenous treatment with the humanized anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody Campath-1H for refractory B- cell lymphoma and could identify the underlaying mechanism. In addition to the absence of CD52, the PIG-AP CD48 and CD59 were not detectable on the CD52- T cells in 2 patients. PIG-AP-deficient T-cell clones from both patients were established. Analysis of the mRNA of the PIG-A gene showed an abnormal size in the T-cell clones from 1 of these patients, suggesting that a mutation in the PIG-A gene was the cause of the expression defect of PIG-AP. An escape from an immune attack directed against PIG-AP+ hematopoiesis has been hypothesized as the cause of the occurrence of PIG-AP-deficient cells in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and aplastic anemia. Our results support the hypothesis that an attack against the PIG-AP CD52 might lead to the expansion of a PIG-anchor-deficient cell population with the phenotypic and molecular characteristics of PNH cells.



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