Interleukin 2-Based Fusion Proteins for the Treatment of Cancer

Interleukin 2 (IL-2) plays a fundamental role in both immune activation and tolerance and has revolutionized the field of cancer immunotherapy since its discovery. The ability of IL-2 to mediate tumor regression in preclinical and clinical settings led to FDA approval for its use in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma and metastatic melanoma in the 1990s. Although modest success is observed in the clinic, cancer patients receiving IL-2 therapy experience a wide array of side effects ranging from flu-like symptoms to life-threatening conditions such as vascular leak syndrome. Over the past three decades, efforts have focused on circumventing IL-2-related toxicities by engineering methods to localize IL-2 to the tumor or secondary lymphoid tissue, preferentially activate CD8+ T cells and NK cells, and alter pharmacokinetic properties to increase bioavailability. This review summarizes the various IL-2-based strategies that have emerged, with a focus on chimeric fusion methods.

Delivery strategies of cancer immunotherapy: recent advances and future perspectives

Immunotherapy has become an emerging strategy for the treatment of cancer. Immunotherapeutic drugs have been increasing for clinical treatment. Despite significant advances in immunotherapy, the clinical application of immunotherapy for cancer patients has some challenges associated with safety and efficacy, including autoimmune reactions, cytokine release syndrome, and vascular leak syndrome. Novel strategies, particularly improved delivery strategies, including nanoparticles, scaffolds, and hydrogels, are able to effectively target tumors and/or immune cells of interest, increase the accumulation of immunotherapies within the lesion, and reduce off-target effects. Here, we briefly describe five major types of cancer immunotherapy, including their clinical status, strengths, and weaknesses. Then, we introduce novel delivery strategies, such as nanoparticle-based delivery of immunotherapy, implantable scaffolds, injectable biomaterials for immunotherapy, and matrix-binding molecular conjugates, which can improve the efficacy and safety of immunotherapies. Also, the limitations of novel delivery strategies and challenges of clinical translation are discussed.

Abstract 546: L-NAME Attenuates the Cardiotonic Steroids-induced Monolayer Permeability in Lymphatic Endothelial Cells

Objective: Preeclampsia (preE) is a hypertensive disorder unique to pregnancy. Cardiotonic steroids (CTS) such as marinobufagenin (MBG), cinobufotalin (CINO), and ouabain (OUB) are Na + /K + ATPase inhibitors. MBG is elevated in a rat model and patients with preE. MBG causes a vascular leak syndrome in vivo and increases endothelial cell monolayer permeability. Edema is a common syndrome of preE. To assess whether CTS are involved in the leakage of lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) lining during preE, we evaluated the effect of these CTS on monolayer permeability of LECs in culture. Methods: LECs were isolated from a rat mesenteric collecting lymphatic vessel. The cells were treated with DMSO (vehicle), MBG, CINO, or OUB (1, 10 or 100 nM). Some LECs were pretreated with L-NAME (N-Nitro-L-Arginine Methyl Ester) at a concentration of 1μM before treatment with 100 nM MBG or CINO. Monolayer permeability of CTS-induced LECs was measured by using a fluorescent dye that was quantified on a fluorescence plate reader. The expression of β-catenin and VE-cadherin in the CTS-treated LECs was measured by immunofluorescence. Western blot was performed to measure β-catenin, VE-cadherin, and LYVE-1 protein levels. Statistical comparisons were performed using analysis of variance with Dunnett's post hoc tests. Results: MBG (≥ 1 nM, p<0.05) and CINO (≥ 10 nM, p<0.05) significantly increased the monolayer permeability of LECs compared to DMSO while OUB had no effect. Pretreatment of LECs with 1μM L-NAME attenuated the monolayer permeability of LECs treated with either 100 nM of MBG (p<0.05) or 100 nM of CINO (p<0.05). The β-catenin protein expression in LECs was downregulated by both MBG (p<0.05) and CINO (p<0.05) treatment. However, CTS did not cause any disruption of the LECs tight junctions. CINO (p<0.05) downregulated the VE-cadherin and LYVE-1 protein expression, but MBG did not. Conclusions: We have demonstrated that bufadienolides, MBG and CINO, caused an increase in the monolayer permeability of LECs which was attenuated by L-NAME pretreatment. Moreover, the β-catenin protein expression was downregulated by MBG and CINO treatment with no significant effect on tight junctions. These data suggest that CTS may be involved in the vascular leak syndrome in the LEC lining in preE.