scholarly journals Down-regulation of A20 promotes immune escape of lung adenocarcinomas

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (601) ◽  
pp. eabc3911
Author(s):  
Kristina Breitenecker ◽  
Monika Homolya ◽  
Andreea C. Luca ◽  
Veronika Lang ◽  
Christoph Trenk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Escape ◽  
Cytotoxic T Cells ◽  
Immune Surveillance ◽  
Gene Expression Signature ◽  
Lung Tumors ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Lung Tumorigenesis ◽  
Necrosis Factor Alpha

Inflammation is a well-known driver of lung tumorigenesis. One strategy by which tumor cells escape tight homeostatic control is by decreasing the expression of the potent anti-inflammatory protein tumor necrosis factor alpha–induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3), also known as A20. We observed that tumor cell intrinsic loss of A20 markedly enhanced lung tumorigenesis and was associated with reduced CD8+ T cell–mediated immune surveillance in patients with lung cancer and in mouse models. In mice, we observed that this effect was completely dependent on increased cellular sensitivity to interferon-γ (IFN-γ) signaling by aberrant activation of TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) and increased downstream expression and activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1). Interrupting this autocrine feed forward loop by knocking out IFN-α/β receptor completely restored infiltration of cytotoxic T cells and rescued loss of A20 depending tumorigenesis. Downstream of STAT1, programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) was highly expressed in A20 knockout lung tumors. Accordingly, immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) treatment was highly efficient in mice harboring A20-deficient lung tumors. Furthermore, an A20 loss-of-function gene expression signature positively correlated with survival of melanoma patients treated with anti–programmed cell death protein 1. Together, we have identified A20 as a master immune checkpoint regulating the TBK1–STAT1–PD-L1 axis that may be exploited to improve ICB therapy in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

scholarly journals Targeting MDSC for Immune-Checkpoint Blockade in Cancer Immunotherapy: Current Progress and New Prospects

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 117955492110355
Author(s):  
Tianhang Li ◽  
Tianyao Liu ◽  
Wenjie Zhu ◽  
Shangxun Xie ◽  
Zihan Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Escape ◽  
Suppressor Cell ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Therapy Process ◽  
Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cell ◽  
Anti Cancer ◽  
Immune Suppressor

Immune-checkpoint blockade (ICB) demonstrated inspiring effect and great promise in anti-cancer therapy. However, many obstacles, such as drug resistance and difficulty in patient selection, limited the efficacy of ICB therapy and awaited to be overcome. By timely identification and intervention of the key immune-suppressive promotors in the tumor microenvironment (TME), we may better understand the mechanisms of cancer immune-escape and use novel strategies to enhance the therapeutic effect of ICB. Myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) is recognized as a major immune suppressor in the TME. In this review, we summarized the roles MDSC played in the cancer context, focusing on its negative biologic functions in ICB therapy, discussed the strategies targeted on MDSC to optimize the diagnosis and therapy process of ICB and improve the efficacy of ICB therapy against malignancies.

scholarly journals Combination of epigenetic regulation with gene therapy-mediated immune checkpoint blockade induces anti-tumour effects and immune response in vivo

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huapan Fang ◽  
Zhaopei Guo ◽  
Jie Chen ◽  
Lin Lin ◽  
Yingying Hu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Therapy ◽  
Immune Response ◽  
Epigenetic Regulation ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Escape ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Immune Memory ◽  
Escape Mechanism ◽  
Immune Escape Mechanism

AbstractImmunotherapy has become a powerful cancer treatment, but only a small fraction of patients have achieved durable benefits due to the immune escape mechanism. In this study, epigenetic regulation is combined with gene therapy-mediated immune checkpoint blockade to relieve this immune escape mechanism. PPD (i.e., mPEG-b-PLG/PEI-RT3/DNA) is developed to mediate plasmid-encoding shPD-L1 delivery by introducing multiple interactions (i.e., electrostatic, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions) and polyproline II (PPII)-helix conformation, which downregulates PD-L1 expression on tumour cells to relieve the immunosuppression of T cells. Zebularine (abbreviated as Zeb), a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor (DNMTi), is used for the epigenetic regulation of the tumour immune microenvironment, thus inducing DC maturation and MHC I molecule expression to enhance antigen presentation. PPD plus Zeb combination therapy initiates a systemic anti-tumour immune response and effectively prevents tumour relapse and metastasis by generating durable immune memory. This strategy provides a scheme for tumour treatment and the inhibition of relapse and metastasis.

scholarly journals ATIM-20. A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY EVALUATING THE SAFETY AND SURVIVAL OF THE COMBINATION OF PD-1 IMMUNE CHECKPOINT BLOCKADE AND BEVACIZUMAB IN RECURRENT GLIOBLASTOMA

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (Supplement_6) ◽  
pp. vi5-vi5
Author(s):  
Joshua Friedman ◽  
Adilia Hormigo
Keyword(s):  
Retrospective Study ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Recurrent Disease ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Immune Surveillance ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Recurrent Glioblastoma ◽  
Grade 3 ◽  
Recurrent Gbm

Abstract INTRODUCTION Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have demonstrated clinical efficacy in a variety of cancers. It is known that cancer including glioblastoma (GBM) induces an immunosuppression. Bevacizumab by normalizing blood vessels in the tumor can facilitate immune surveillance and potentially improve the efficacy of ICI in GBM patients. We analyze GBM patients with recurrent disease treated with ICI and bevacizumab. METHODS We retrospectively review records of patients diagnosed with recurrent GBM treated at our institution with Pembrolizumab or Nivolumab and bevacizumab and evaluate for tolerance and outcomes. RESULTS Twenty-one patients, 12 men and 9 women with median age 62 (range 36–78) and KPS 70 (range 60–90) were treated with a median of 10 ICI cycles (range 4–29) and 5 of bevacizumab (range 0–21). A total of 8 patients (38%) had immune-related adverse events (IRAE): 3 grade 1, 3 grade 2 and 2 grade 3. A patient with pneumonitis required cessation of ICI. Median OS for the 21 patients was 22 months (range 6–41). The 7 patients that had MGMT detected in their tumors had a median OS of 27 months (range 23–41) compared to a survival of 21 months (range 6–24) for the 13 patients that had MGMT undetected. One had undetermined MGMT and her OS was 21 months. The median survival for all the patients from onset of ICI was 10 months (range 1–25) and 10 of them (47.6%) survived > 12 months. DISCUSSION The development of IRAE was common but self-limiting, allowing continuation of the treatment in all but one patient. The combination of ICI and bevacizumab increased survival. Our data needs to be interpreted with caution, as it is a retrospective analysis of a small group of patients. However, these results warrant prospective studies using the combination of ICI and bevacizumab to treat recurrent GBM.

scholarly journals Sensitization to immune checkpoint blockade through activation of a STAT1/NK axis in the tumor microenvironment

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (501) ◽  
pp. eaav7816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael M. Zemek ◽  
Emma De Jong ◽  
Wee Loong Chin ◽  
Iona S. Schuster ◽  
Vanessa S. Fear ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Tumor Microenvironment ◽  
Nk Cells ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Gene Expression Signature ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Poly I:C ◽  
Mouse Strains

Cancer immunotherapy using antibodies that target immune checkpoints has delivered outstanding results. However, responses only occur in a subset of patients, and it is not fully understood what biological processes determine an effective outcome. This lack of understanding hinders the development of rational combination treatments. We set out to define the pretreatment microenvironment associated with an effective outcome by using the fact that inbred mouse strains bearing monoclonal cancer cell line–derived tumors respond in a dichotomous manner to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). We compared the cellular composition and gene expression profiles of responsive and nonresponsive tumors from mice before ICB and validated the findings in cohorts of patients with cancer treated with ICB antibodies. We found that responsive tumors were characterized by an inflammatory gene expression signature consistent with up-regulation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) and Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) signaling and down-regulation of interleukin-10 (IL-10) signaling. In addition, responsive tumors had more infiltrating-activated natural killer (NK) cells, which were necessary for response. Pretreatment of mice with large established tumors using the STAT1-activating cytokine interferon-γ (IFNγ), the TLR3 ligand poly(I:C), and an anti–IL-10 antibody sensitized tumors to ICB by attracting IFNγ-producing NK cells into the tumor, resulting in increased cure rates. Our results identify a pretreatment tumor microenvironment that predicts response to ICB, which can be therapeutically attained. These data suggest a biomarker-driven approach to patient management to establish whether a patient would benefit from treatment with sensitizing therapeutics before ICB.

Veristrat based stratification of responses to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB).

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e20512-e20512
Author(s):  
Paul R. Walker ◽  
Nitika Sharma ◽  
Chipman Robert Geoffrey Stroud ◽  
Mahvish Muzaffar ◽  
Cynthia R. Cherry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Microenvironment ◽  
Median Survival ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Surveillance ◽  
Predictive Biomarkers ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Clinicopathologic Characteristics ◽  
Metastatic Nsclc ◽  
Platinum Based Chemotherapy

e20512 Background: Veristrat (Biodesix, Boulder, CO) is a blood based proteomic assay that is dominated by inflammatory proteins and is prognostic and predictive in metastatic NSCLC after treatment with platinum based chemotherapy (Gregorc et al, Lancet 2014). Smoldering inflammation in the tumor microenvironment regulates and escalates cancer invasion, angiogenesis and immune surveillance escape (Balkwill and Mantovani, Lancet 2001). There is preclinical evidence to suggest that the tumor microenvironment can be altered with immunomodulatory interventions (Martino et al, 2016). While immune checkpoint blockade has shown durable benefit in metastatic NSCLC, the response rates still hover around 20%. As a result, identification of predictive biomarkers are of critical importance. The predictive value of the Veristrat assay with respect to ICB is poorly defined. Methods: At our institution, 83 pts with metastatic lung cancer pts were treated with nivolumab between 6/2015 to 12/2016. The following clinicopathologic characteristics were abstracted from medical records: tumor histology, Veristrat status, no. of doses of nivolumab, irAEs and overall survival. Results: Of the 83 pts, 65 pts were found to have NSCLC. Veristrat status was available for 17/65 of these pts. Nine pts were identified to have “Veristrat good” and seven pts were “Veristrat poor”. Median number of nivolumab doses was 4. Median survival for all patients was 30 weeks. Median survival was 20 weeks for “Veristrat poor” and 26 weeks for “Veristrat good”(p = 0.68). Grade 3-4 irAEs were noted in 5/9 patients with “Veristrat good” and 5/7 patients with “Veristrat poor”. Conclusions: “Veristrat poor” pts treated with ICB have a lower median survival as compared to “Veristrat good” pts. Our study did not meet statistically significant end point due to limited sample size. Further studies are needed to identify poorly immunogenic tumors and develop novel treatment approaches to optimize outcomes. [Table: see text]

Prevalence of human leukocyte antigen-B27 supertype in the context of positively charged neoepitopes and association with PD-L1 as an immune escape mechanism.

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 3083-3083
Author(s):  
Charlene Marie Fares ◽  
Amy Lauren Cummings ◽  
Matthew Karl Theisen ◽  
Jaklin Gukasyan ◽  
Jackson P Lind-Lebuffe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Human Leukocyte Antigen ◽  
Squamous Cell ◽  
Immune Escape ◽  
Immune Surveillance ◽  
Human Leukocyte ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Leukocyte Antigen ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Positively Charged

3083 Background: Recent evidence suggests efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade may be influenced by human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B. HLA-B27 supertype has an electronegative binding pocket which favorably binds and displays neoepitopes harboring positively charged amino acids (AAs). Based on immune surveillance, we postulate that B27 tumors that have favorable neoepitopes should face negative selective pressure, and B27 tumors with favorable neoepitopes that develop could be more likely to upregulate immune escape mechanisms. Here we evaluate the relationship between prevalence of B27 and positively charged neoepitopes and assess association between positively charged neoepitopes and expression of PD-L1. Methods: TCGA datasets from head and neck squamous cell (HNSC), lung squamous cell (LUSC), and melanoma (SKCM) patients were evaluated. HLA alleles were determined with OptiType and supertype was based on 2008 criteria. Nonsynonymous mutations were annotated with Ensembl VEP and VAtools. pVAC-Seq using NetMHCpan algorithm predicted neoepitopes 9 AAs in length. Favorable B27 neoepitopes were defined as those having new positively charged AA substitutions (H/K/R) from negative or uncharged wildtype AAs. RNA-seq data for the PD-L1 gene were normalized on transcripts per million and log2 transformed. Linear regression tests were performed between PD-L1 gene expression values and fraction of nonsynonymous mutations resulting in neoepitopes with new positively charged AAs in patients with B27. Results: Data from 497 HNSC, 494 LUSC, and 468 SKCM patients were analyzed. B27 was observed in 20.1%, 23.2%, and 26.5% of HNSC, LUSC, and SKCM patients, respectively, with a significant difference seen between HNSC and SKCM by chi-square test (χ² = 5.14, p = .023). Of new charged AAs resulting from nonsynonymous mutations, 76.3% in HNSC, 74.0% in LUSC, and 72.0% in SKCM were positively charged (p < .05 between all histologies, paired t-tests). In B27 patients, association between PD-L1 gene expression and fraction of neoepitopes with new positively charged AAs was seen in HNSC (r = 0.25 p = .036) and SKCM (r = 0.30 p = .007), but not LUSC (r = -0.12 p = .296). Conclusions: With increasing fraction of positively charged neoepitopes, a decrease in prevalence of B27 was observed, suggesting improved binding and immune elimination of tumors with favorable neoepitopes. In B27 tumors that develop despite having favorable neoepitopes, upregulation of PD-L1 could be a putative mechanism to evade immune detection.

scholarly journals Systems toxicology approaches enable mechanistic comparison of spontaneous and cigarette smoke-related lung tumor development in the A/J mouse model

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karsta Luettich ◽  
Yang Xiang ◽  
Anita Iskandar ◽  
Alain Sewer ◽  
Florian Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Mouse Model ◽  
Cigarette Smoke ◽  
Lung Tumor ◽  
Immune Surveillance ◽  
Gene Expression Signature ◽  
Chemical Carcinogenesis ◽  
Lung Tumors ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Significant Differential Expression

ABSTRACT The A/J mouse is highly susceptible to lung tumor induction and has been widely used as a screening model in carcinogenicity testing and chemoprevention studies. However, the A/J mouse model has several disadvantages. Most notably, it develops lung tumors spontaneously. Moreover, there is a considerable gap in our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of pulmonary chemical carcinogenesis in the A/J mouse. Therefore, we examined the differences between spontaneous and cigarette smokerelated lung tumors in the A/J mouse model using mRNA and microRNA (miRNA) profiling. Male A/J mice were exposed whole-body to mainstream cigarette smoke (MS) for 18 months. Gene expression interaction term analysis of lung tumors and surrounding nontumorous parenchyma samples from animals that were exposed to either 300 mg/m3 MS or sham-exposed to fresh air indicated significant differential expression of 296 genes. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis® (IPA®) indicated an overall suppression of the humoral immune response, which was accompanied by a disruption of sphingolipid and glycosaminoglycan metabolism and a deregulation of potentially oncogenic miRNA in tumors of MS-exposed A/J mice. Thus, we propose that MS exposure leads to severe perturbations in pathways essential for tumor recognition by the immune system, thereby potentiating the ability of tumor cells to escape from immune surveillance. Further, exposure to MS appeared to affect expression of miRNA, which have previously been implicated in carcinogenesis and are thought to contribute to tumor progression. Finally, we identified a 50-gene expression signature and show its utility in distinguishing between cigarette smoke-related and spontaneous lung tumors

scholarly journals Immunogenomic profile of colorectal cancer response to immune checkpoint blockade

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Bortolomeazzi ◽  
Mohamed Reda Keddar ◽  
Lucia Montorsi ◽  
Amelia Acha-Sagredo ◽  
Lorena Benedetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
T Cells ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Escape ◽  
Cell Receptor ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Critical Threshold ◽  
Mutational Burden ◽  
Antigen Presenting

To dissect the determinants of the heterogeneous response of colorectal cancer (CRC) to immune checkpoint blockade, we profile tumour and immune infiltrates of 721 cancer regions from 29 patients treated with Pembrolizumab or Nivolumab. Combining multi-regional whole exome, RNA and T-cell receptor sequencing we show that anti-PD1 agents are most effective in CRCs with high mutational burden and low activation of the WNT pathway. However, above a critical threshold defining the hypermutated phenotype, response is no longer associated with mutational burden but rather with high clonality of immunogenic mutations, expanded T cells and active immune escape mechanisms. Using high-dimensional imaging mass cytometry and multiplexed immunofluorescence, we observe that responsive hypermutated CRCs are rich in cytotoxic and proliferating PD1-expressing CD8 infiltrates interacting with high-density clusters of PDL1-expressing antigen presenting macrophages. We propose that anti-PD1 agents release the PD1-PDL1 interaction between CD8 T cells and macrophages thus promoting their expansion in intra-tumour niches.

scholarly journals Immune checkpoint blockade in the treatment of malignant tumor: current statue and future strategies

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenwen Yang ◽  
Caining Lei ◽  
Shaoming Song ◽  
Wutang Jing ◽  
Chuanwei Jin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Malignant Tumor ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte ◽  
Malignant Tumors ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Immune Surveillance ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Checkpoint Response ◽  
Inhibitory Molecule

AbstractAfter being stagnant for decades, there has finally been a paradigm shift in the treatment of cancer with the emergence and application of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The most extensively utilized ICIs are targeting the pathways involving programmed death-1 (PD-1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA-4). PD-1, as an crucial immune inhibitory molecule, by and large reasons the immune checkpoint response of T cells, making tumor cells get away from immune surveillance. Programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is exceptionally expressed in most cancers cells and approves non-stop activation of the PD-1 pathway in the tumor microenvironment. PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors can block the combination of PD-1 and PD-L1, inhibit hostile to regulatory signals, and restore the activity of T cells, thereby bettering immune response. The current researchers assume that the efficacy of these drugs is related to PD-L1 expression in tumor tissue, tumor mutation burden (TMB), and other emerging biomarkers. Although malignant tumors can benefit from the immunotherapy of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, formulating a customized medication model and discovering biomarkers that can predict efficacy are the new trend in the new era of malignant tumor immunotherapy. This review summarizes the mechanism of action of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, their clinical outcomes on various malignant tumors, their efficacy biomarkers, as well as predictive markers of irAEs.

scholarly journals B7-H5 blockade enhances CD8+ T-cell-mediated antitumor immunity in colorectal cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiayu Wang ◽  
Hongya Wu ◽  
Yanjun Chen ◽  
Jinghan Zhu ◽  
Linqing Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Escape ◽  
Inverse Correlation ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Cell Infiltration ◽  
Tumor Immune Escape ◽  
T Cell Infiltration

AbstractNegative immune checkpoint blockade immunotherapy has shown potential for multiple malignancies including colorectal cancer (CRC). B7-H5, a novel negative immune checkpoint regulator, is highly expressed in tumor tissues and promotes tumor immune escape. However, the clinical significance of B7-H5 expression in CRC and the role of B7-H5 in the tumor microenvironment (TME) has not been fully clarified. In this study, we observed that high B7-H5 expression in CRC tissues was significantly correlated with the lymph node involvement, AJCC stage, and survival of CRC patients. A significant inverse correlation was also observed between B7-H5 expression and CD8+ T-cell infiltration in CRC tissues. Kaplan−Meier analysis showed that patients with high B7-H5 expression and low CD8+ T-cell infiltration had the worst prognosis in our cohort of CRC patients. Remarkably, both high B7-H5 expression and low CD8+ T infiltration were risk factors for overall survival. Additionally, B7-H5 blockade using a B7-H5 monoclonal antibody (B7-H5 mAb) effectively suppressed the growth of MC38 colon cancer tumors by enhancing the infiltration and Granzyme B production of CD8+ T cells. Importantly, the depletion of CD8+ T cells obviously abolished the antitumor effect of B7-H5 blockade in the MC38 tumors. In sum, our findings suggest that B7-H5 may be a valuably prognostic marker for CRC and a potential target for CRC immunotherapy.

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