scholarly journals TIGIT/CD226 Axis Regulates Anti-Tumor Immunity

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 200
Author(s):  
Jinah Yeo ◽  
Minkyung Ko ◽  
Dong-Hee Lee ◽  
Yoon Park ◽  
Hyung-seung Jin

Tumors escape immune surveillance by inducing various immunosuppressive pathways, including the activation of inhibitory receptors on tumor-infiltrating T cells. While monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) blocking programmed cell death 1 (PD-1), programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) have been approved for multiple cancer indications, only a subset of patients benefit from immune checkpoint blockade therapies, highlighting the need for additional approaches. Therefore, the identification of new target molecules acting in distinct or complementary pathways in monotherapy or combination therapy with PD-1/PD-L1 blockade is gaining immense interest. T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM) domains (TIGIT) has received considerable attention in cancer immunotherapy. Recently, anti-TIGIT mAb (tiragolumab) has demonstrated promising clinical efficacy in non-small cell lung cancer treatment when combined with an anti-PD-L1 drug (Tecentriq), leading to phase III trial initiation. TIGIT is expressed mainly on T and natural killer cells; it functions as an inhibitory checkpoint receptor, thereby limiting adaptive and innate immunity. CD226 competes for binding with the same ligands with TIGIT but delivers a positive stimulatory signal to the immune cells. This review discusses the recent discoveries regarding the roles of TIGIT and CD226 in immune cell function and their potential application in cancer immunotherapy.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. e002627
Author(s):  
Nicholas L Bayless ◽  
Jeffrey A Bluestone ◽  
Samantha Bucktrout ◽  
Lisa H Butterfield ◽  
Elizabeth M Jaffee ◽  
...  

Recent advances in cancer immunotherapy have completely revolutionized cancer treatment strategies. Nonetheless, the increasing incidence of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) is now limiting the overall benefits of these treatments. irAEs are well-recognized side effects of some of the most effective cancer immunotherapy agents, including antibody blockade of the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 and programmed death protein 1/programmed-death ligand 1 pathways. To develop an action plan on the key elements needed to unravel and understand the key mechanisms driving irAEs, the Society for Immunotherapy for Cancer and the American Association for Cancer Research partnered to bring together research and clinical experts in cancer immunotherapy, autoimmunity, immune regulation, genetics and informatics who are investigating irAEs using animal models, clinical data and patient specimens to discuss current strategies and identify the critical next steps needed to create breakthroughs in our understanding of these toxicities. The genetic and environmental risk factors, immune cell subsets and other key immunological mediators and the unique clinical presentations of irAEs across the different organ systems were the foundation for identifying key opportunities and future directions described in this report. These include the pressing need for significantly improved preclinical model systems, broader collection of biospecimens with standardized collection and clinical annotation made available for research and integration of electronic health record and multiomic data with harmonized and standardized methods, definitions and terminologies to further our understanding of irAE pathogenesis. Based on these needs, this report makes a set of recommendations to advance our understanding of irAE mechanisms, which will be crucial to prevent their occurrence and improve their treatment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Meiliana ◽  
Nurrani Mustika Dewi ◽  
Andi Wijaya

BACKGROUND: The goals of treating patients with cancer are to cure the disease, prolong survival, and improve quality of life. Immune cells in the tumor microenvironment have an important role in regulating tumor progression. Therefore, stimulating immune reactions to tumors can be an attractive therapeutic and prevention strategy.CONTENT: During immune surveillance, the host provides defense against foreign antigens, while ensuring it limits activation against self antigens. By targeting surface antigens expressed on tumor cells, monoclonal antibodies have demonstrated efficacy as cancer therapeutics. Recent successful antibody-based strategies have focused on enhancing antitumor immune responses by targeting immune cells, irrespective of tumor antigens. The use of antibodies to block pathways inhibiting the endogenous immune response to cancer, known as checkpoint blockade therapy, has stirred up a great deal of excitement among scientists, physicians, and patients alike. Clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of antibodies that block the T cell inhibitory molecules cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) have reported success in treating subsets of patients. Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) is a highly personalized cancer therapy that involve administration to the cancer-bearing host of immune cells with direct anticancer activity. In addition, the ability to genetically engineer lymphocytes to express conventional T cell receptors or chimeric antigen receptors has further extended the successful application of ACT for cancer treatment.SUMMARY: For cancer treatment, 2011 marked the beginning of a new era. The underlying basis of cancer immunotherapy is to activate a patient’s own T cells so that they can kill their tumors. Reports of amazing recoveries abound, where patients remain cancer-free many years after receiving the therapy. The idea of harnessing immune cells to fight cancer is not new, but only recently have scientists amassed enough clinical data to demonstrate what a game-changer cancer immunotherapy can be. This field is no stranger to obstacles, so the future looks very promising indeed.KEYWORDS: immune checkpoint, adoptive cell transfer, neoantigen, monoclonal antibody


Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kloten ◽  
Lampignano ◽  
Krahn ◽  
Schlange

Over the last decade, the immune checkpoint blockade targeting the programmed death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) axis has improved progression-free and overall survival of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. PD-L1 tumor expression, along with tumor mutational burden, is currently being explored as a predictive biomarker for responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). However, lung cancer patients may have insufficient tumor tissue samples and the high bleeding risk often prevents additional biopsies and, as a consequence, immunohistological evaluation of PD-L1 expression. In addition, PD-L1 shows a dynamic expression profile and can be influenced by intratumoral heterogeneity as well as the immune cell infiltrate in the tumor and its microenvironment, influencing the response rate to PD-1/PD-L1 axis ICIs. Therefore, to identify subgroups of patients with advanced NSCLC that will most likely benefit from ICI therapies, molecular characterization of PD-L1 expression in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) might be supportive. In this review, we highlight the use of CTCs as a complementary diagnostic tool for PD-L1 expression analysis in advanced NSCLC patients. In addition, we examine technical issues of PD-L1 measurement in tissue as well as in CTCs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hang Yin Chu ◽  
Zihao Chen ◽  
Luyao Wang ◽  
Zong-Kang Zhang ◽  
Xinhuan Tan ◽  
...  

Clinical studies in a range of cancers have detected elevated levels of the Wnt antagonist Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) in the serum or tumors of patients, and this was frequently associated with a poor prognosis. Our analysis of DKK1 gene profile using data from TCGA also proves the high expression of DKK1 in 14 types of cancers. Numerous preclinical studies have demonstrated the cancer-promoting effects of DKK1 in both in vitro cell models and in vivo animal models. Furthermore, DKK1 showed the ability to modulate immune cell activities as well as the immunosuppressive cancer microenvironment. Expression level of DKK1 is positively correlated with infiltrating levels of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in 20 types of cancers, while negatively associated with CD8+ T cells in 4 of these 20 cancer types. Emerging experimental evidence indicates that DKK1 has been involved in T cell differentiation and induction of cancer evasion of immune surveillance by accumulating MDSCs. Consequently, DKK1 has become a promising target for cancer immunotherapy, and the mechanisms of DKK1 affecting cancers and immune cells have received great attention. This review introduces the rapidly growing body of literature revealing the cancer-promoting and immune regulatory activities of DKK1. In addition, this review also predicts that by understanding the interaction between different domains of DKK1 through computational modeling and functional studies, the underlying functional mechanism of DKK1 could be further elucidated, thus facilitating the development of anti-DKK1 drugs with more promising efficacy in cancer immunotherapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenwen Yang ◽  
Caining Lei ◽  
Shaoming Song ◽  
Wutang Jing ◽  
Chuanwei Jin ◽  
...  

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hye-Youn Son ◽  
Hwan-Kyu Jeong

Extensive interest in cancer immunotherapy is reported according to the clinical importance of CTLA-4 and (PD-1/PD-L1) [programmed death (PD) and programmed death-ligand (PD-L1)] in immune checkpoint therapies. AXL is a receptor tyrosine kinase expressed in different types of cancer and in relation to resistance against various anticancer therapeutics due to poor clinical prognosis. AXL and its ligand, i.e., growth arrest-specific 6 (GAS6) proteins, are expressed on many cancer cells, and the GAS6/AXL pathway is reported to promote cancer cell proliferation, survival, migration, invasion, angiogenesis, and immune evasion. AXL is an attractive and novel therapeutic target for impairing tumor progression from immune cell contracts in the tumor microenvironment. The GAS6/AXL pathway is also of interest immunologically because it targets fewer antitumor immune responses. In effect, several targeted therapies are selective and nonselective for AXL, which are in preclinical and clinical development in multiple cancer types. Therefore, this review focuses on the role of the GAS6/AXL signaling pathway in triggering the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment as immune evasion. This includes regulating its composition and activating T-cell exclusion with the immune-suppressive activity of regulatory T cells, which is related to one of the hallmarks of cancer survival. Finally, this article discusses the GAS6/AXL signaling pathway in the context of several immune responses such as NK cell activation, apoptosis, and tumor-specific immunity, especially PD-1/PDL-1 signaling.


Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Porcu ◽  
Pushpamali De Silva ◽  
Cinzia Solinas ◽  
Angelo Battaglia ◽  
Marina Schena ◽  
...  

The broader use of immune checkpoint blockade in clinical routine challenges clinicians in the diagnosis and management of side effects which are caused by inflammation generated by the activation of the immune response. Nearly all organs can be affected by immune-related toxicities. However, the most frequently reported are: fatigue, rash, pruritus, diarrhea, nausea/vomiting, arthralgia, decreased appetite and abdominal pain. Although these adverse events are usually mild, reversible and not frequent, an early diagnosis is crucial. Immune-related pulmonary toxicity was most frequently observed in trials of lung cancer and of melanoma patients treated with the combination of the anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen (CTLA)-4 and the anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) antibodies. The most frequent immune-related adverse event in the lung is represented by pneumonitis due to the development of infiltrates in the interstitium and in the alveoli. Clinical symptoms and radiological patterns are the key elements to be considered for an early diagnosis, rendering the differential diagnosis crucial. Diagnosis of immune-related pneumonitis may imply the temporary or definitive suspension of immunotherapy, along with the start of immuno-suppressive treatments. The aim of this work is to summarize the biological bases, clinical and radiological findings of lung toxicity under immune checkpoint blockade, underlining the importance of multidisciplinary teams for an optimal early diagnosis of this side effect, with the aim to reach an improved patient care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianyu Tang ◽  
Xing Huang ◽  
Gang Zhang ◽  
Zhengtao Hong ◽  
Xueli Bai ◽  
...  

AbstractDespite great success in cancer immunotherapy, immune checkpoint-targeting drugs are not the most popular weapon in the armory of cancer therapy. Accumulating evidence suggests that the tumor immune microenvironment plays a critical role in anti-cancer immunity, which may result in immune checkpoint blockade therapy being ineffective, in addition to other novel immunotherapies in cancer patients. In the present review, we discuss the deficiencies of current cancer immunotherapies. More importantly, we highlight the critical role of tumor immune microenvironment regulators in tumor immune surveillance, immunological evasion, and the potential for their further translation into clinical practice. Based on their general targetability in clinical therapy, we believe that tumor immune microenvironment regulators are promising cancer immunotherapeutic targets. Targeting the tumor immune microenvironment, alone or in combination with immune checkpoint-targeting drugs, might benefit cancer patients in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Yi ◽  
Mengke Niu ◽  
Linping Xu ◽  
Suxia Luo ◽  
Kongming Wu

AbstractProgrammed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) on cancer cells engages with programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) on immune cells, contributing to cancer immune escape. For multiple cancer types, the PD-1/PD-L1 axis is the major speed-limiting step of the anti-cancer immune response. In this context, blocking PD-1/PD-L1 could restore T cells from exhausted status and eradicate cancer cells. However, only a subset of PD-L1 positive patients benefits from α-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies. Actually, PD-L1 expression is regulated by various factors, leading to the diverse significances of PD-L1 positivity. Understanding the mechanisms of PD-L1 regulation is helpful to select patients and enhance the treatment effect. In this review, we focused on PD-L1 regulators at the levels of transcription, post-transcription, post-translation. Besides, we discussed the potential applications of these laboratory findings in the clinic.


Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1398
Author(s):  
Yanyu Huang ◽  
Hsiao-Chi Wang ◽  
Junwei Zhao ◽  
Ming-Heng Wu ◽  
Tsung-Chieh Shih

Evasion of immune surveillance is an accepted hallmark of tumor progression. The production of immune suppressive mediators by tumor cells is one of the major mechanisms of tumor immune escape. Galectin-1 (Gal-1), a pivotal immunosuppressive molecule, is expressed by many types of cancer. Tumor-secreted Gal-1 can bind to glycosylated receptors on immune cells and trigger the suppression of immune cell function in the tumor microenvironment, contributing to the immune evasion of tumors. The aim of this review is to summarize the current literature on the expression and function of Gal-1 in the human tumor microenvironment, as well as therapeutics targeting Gal-1.


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