scholarly journals Lymphatic Control of the Tumor Immune Microenvironment

Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. SCI-46-SCI-46
Author(s):  
Melody A. Swartz

Tumor engagement or activation of surrounding lymphatic vessels is well-known to correlate with tumor progression and metastasis in melanoma and many other cancers. We and others have identified several mechanisms by which the lymphatic growth factor VEGF-C and lymphangiogenesis can promote metastasis, including (i) increasing immune suppressive cell types and factors in the tumor microenvironment both directly and indirectly, (ii) inhibiting maturation of antigen-presenting cells and T cell activation, and (iii) driving changes in the stromal microenvironment that promote both cancer invasion and immune suppression. However, lymphatic activation also enhances communication with cells in the draining lymph node by antigen and cell transport, which may trigger the initiation of adaptive immune responses against the tumor. Under normal conditions, the potential anti-tumor effects are rendered 'dormant' by the pro-tumor immune suppression, and the tumor progresses. However, we are now observing that lymphangiogenic tumors are exceptionally responsive to immunotherapy, implying that the anti-tumor aspects can be unleashed when the overall balance of pro- and anti-tumor immune aspects is tipped enough towards the latter (e.g., upon tumor cell killing). On the mechanistic side, we are finding that 'lymphangiogenic potentiation' depends on tumor cell infiltration of both CD103+ dendritic cells and naïve T cells, driving local T cell education post-immunotherapy and antigen spreading. On the translational side, we are developing novel strategies to exploit lymphangiogenesis for cancer immunotherapy. Understanding the yin and yang of lymphatic activation in the tumor microenvironment and how it affects immunity may lead to exciting new translational strategies for cancer immunotherapy. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

2013 ◽  
Vol 191 (5) ◽  
pp. 2829-2836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel T. Haile ◽  
Sonia P. Dalal ◽  
Virginia Clements ◽  
Koji Tamada ◽  
Suzanne Ostrand-Rosenberg

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A744-A744
Author(s):  
Tingting Zhong ◽  
Zhaoliang Huang ◽  
Xinghua Pang ◽  
Na Chen ◽  
Xiaoping Jin ◽  
...  

BackgroundCD73 (ecto-5’-nucleotidase) is an ecto-nucleotidase that dephosphorylate AMP to form adenosine. Activation of adenosine signaling pathway in immune cells leads to the suppression of effector functions, down-regulate macrophage phagocytosis, inhibit pro-inflammatory cytokine release, as well as yield aberrantly differentiated dendritic cells producing pro-tumorigenic molecules.1 In the tumor microenvironment, adenosinergic negative feedback signaling facilitated immune suppression is considered an important mechanism for immune evasion of cancer cells.2 3 Combination of CD73 and anti-PD-1 antibody has shown promising activity in suppressing tumor growth. Hence, we developed AK119, an anti- human CD73 monoclonal antibody, and AK123,a bi-specific antibody targeting both PD-1 and CD73 for immune therapy of cancer.MethodsAK119 is a humanized antibody against CD73 and AK123 is a tetrameric bi-specific antibody targeting PD-1 and CD73. Binding assays of AK119 and AK123 to antigens, and antigen expressing cells were performed by using ELISA, Fortebio, and FACS assays. In-vitro assays to investigate the activity of AK119 and AK123 to inhibit CD73 enzymatic activity in modified CellTiter-Glo assay, to induce endocytosis of CD73, and to activate B cells were performed. Assay to evaluate AK123 activity on T cell activation were additionally performed. Moreover, the activities of AK119 and AK123 to mediate ADCC, CDC in CD73 expressing cells were also evaluated.ResultsAK119 and AK123 could bind to its respective soluble or membrane antigens expressing on PBMCs, MDA-MB-231, and U87-MG cells with high affinity. Results from cell-based assays indicated that AK119 and AK123 effectively inhibited nucleotidase enzyme activity of CD73, mediated endocytosis of CD73, and induced B cell activation by upregulating CD69 and CD83 expression on B cells, and showed more robust CD73 blocking and B cell activation activities compared to leading clinical candidate targeting CD73. AK123 could also block PD-1/PD-L1 interaction and enhance T cell activation.ConclusionsIn summary, AK119 and AK123 represent good preclinical biological properties, which support its further development as an anti-cancer immunotherapy or treating other diseases.ReferencesDeaglio S, Dwyer KM, Gao W, Friedman D, Usheva A, Erat A, Chen JF, Enjyoji K, Linden J, Oukka M, et al. Adenosine generation catalyzed by CD39 and CD73 expressed on regulatory T cells mediates immune suppression. J Exp Med 2007; 204:1257–65.Huang S, Apasov S, Koshiba M, Sitkovsky M. Role of A2a extracellular adenosine receptor-mediated signaling in adenosine-mediated inhibition of T-cell activation and expansion. Blood. 1997; 90:1600–10.Novitskiy SV, Ryzhov S, Zaynagetdinov R, Goldstein AE, Huang Y, Tikhomirov OY, Blackburn MR, Biaggioni I,Carbone DP, Feoktistov I, et al. Adenosine receptors in regulation of dendritic cell differentiation and function. Blood 2008; 112:1822–31.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e14565-e14565
Author(s):  
Amit Adhikari ◽  
Juliete Macauley ◽  
Yoshimi Johnson ◽  
Mike Connolly ◽  
Tim Coleman ◽  
...  

e14565 Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive form of brain cancer with a median survival of 15 months which has remained unchanged despite technological advances in the standard of care. GBM cells specifically express human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) proteins providing a unique opportunity for targeted therapy. Methods: We utilized our UNITE (UNiversal Intracellular Targeted Expression) platform to develop a multi-antigen DNA vaccine (ITI-1001) that codes for the HCMV proteins- pp65, gB and IE-1. The UNITE platform involves lysosomal targeting technology, fusing lysosome-associated protein 1 (LAMP1) with target antigens resulting in increased antigen presentation by MHC-I and II. ELISpot, flow cytometry and ELISA techniques were used to evaluate the vaccine immunogenicity and a syngeneic, orthotopic GBM mouse model that expresses HCMV proteins was used for efficacy studies. The tumor microenvironment studies were done using flow cytometry and MSD assay. Results: ITI-1001 vaccination showed a robust antigen-specific CD4 and CD8 T cell response in addition to a strong humoral response. Using GBM mouse model, therapeutic treatment of ITI-1001 vaccine resulted in ̃56% survival with subsequent long-term immunity. Investigating the tumor microenvironment showed significant CD4 T cell infiltration as well as enhanced Th1 and CD8 T cell activation. Regulatory T cells were also upregulated upon ITI-1001 vaccination and would be an attractive target to further improve this therapy. In addition, tumor burden negatively correlated with number of activated CD4 T cells (CD4 IFNγ+) reiterating the importance of CD4 activation in ITI-1001 efficacy and potentially identifying treatment responders and non-responders. Further characterization of these two groups showed high infiltration of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in responders compared with non- responders along with higher CD8 T cell activation. Conclusions: Thus, we show that vaccination with HCMV antigens using the ITI-1001-UNITE platform generates strong cellular and humoral immune responses, triggering significant anti-tumor activity that leads to enhanced survival in mice with GBM.


2018 ◽  
Vol 215 (4) ◽  
pp. 1101-1113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc-Werner Dobenecker ◽  
Joon Seok Park ◽  
Jonas Marcello ◽  
Michael T. McCabe ◽  
Richard Gregory ◽  
...  

Differentiation and activation of T cells require the activity of numerous histone lysine methyltransferases (HMT) that control the transcriptional T cell output. One of the most potent regulators of T cell differentiation is the HMT Ezh2. Ezh2 is a key enzymatic component of polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), which silences gene expression by histone H3 di/tri-methylation at lysine 27. Surprisingly, in many cell types, including T cells, Ezh2 is localized in both the nucleus and the cytosol. Here we show the presence of a nuclear-like PRC2 complex in T cell cytosol and demonstrate a role of cytosolic PRC2 in T cell antigen receptor (TCR)–mediated signaling. We show that short-term suppression of PRC2 precludes TCR-driven T cell activation in vitro. We also demonstrate that pharmacological inhibition of PRC2 in vivo greatly attenuates the severe T cell–driven autoimmunity caused by regulatory T cell depletion. Our data reveal cytoplasmic PRC2 is one of the most potent regulators of T cell activation and point toward the therapeutic potential of PRC2 inhibitors for the treatment of T cell–driven autoimmune diseases.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (25) ◽  
pp. 1706098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Mi ◽  
Christof C. Smith ◽  
Feifei Yang ◽  
Yanfei Qi ◽  
Kyle C. Roche ◽  
...  

1994 ◽  
Vol 180 (2) ◽  
pp. 631-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
K S Hathcock ◽  
G Laszlo ◽  
C Pucillo ◽  
P Linsley ◽  
R J Hodes

Antigen-specific T cell activation requires the engagement of the T cell receptor (TCR) with antigen as well as the engagement of appropriate costimulatory molecules. The most extensively characterized pathway of costimulation has been that involving the interaction of CD28 and CTLA4 on the T cell with B7 (now termed B7-1) on antigen presenting cells. Recently, B7-2 a second costimulatory ligand for CTLA4, was described, demonstrating the potential complexity of costimulatory interactions. This report examines and compares the expression and function of B7-1 and B7-2. Overall these results indicate that (a) B7-1 and B7-2 can be expressed by multiple cell types, including B cells, T cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells, all of which are therefore candidate populations for delivering costimulatory signals mediated by these molecules; (b) stimulating B cells with either LPS or anti-IgD-dextran induced expression of both B7-1 and B7-2, and peak expression of both costimulatory molecules occurred after 18-42 h of culture. Expression of B7-2 on these B cell populations was significantly higher than expression of B7-1 at all times assayed after stimulation; (c) blocking of B7-2 costimulatory activity inhibited TCR-dependent T cell proliferation and cytokine production, without affecting early consequences of TCR signaling such as induction of CD69 or interleukin 2 receptor alpha (IL-2R alpha); and (d) expression of B7-1 and of B7-2 can be regulated by a variety of stimuli. Moreover, expression of B7-1 and B7-2 can be independently regulated by the same stimulus, providing an additional complexity in the mechanisms available for regulating costimulation and hence immune response.


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