Differential immunomodulatory activity of tumor cell death induced by cancer therapeutic toll-like receptor ligands

Role and clinical significance of immunogenic cell death biomarkers in chemoresistance and immunoregulation of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common malignancies in the whole world, with little improvement in the 5-year survival rate due to the occurrence of chemoresistance. With the increasing interests in tumor immune microenvironment, immunogenic cell death (ICD)-induced chemotherapy has shown promising results in enhancing sensitivity to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) and improving the efficiency of tumor immunotherapy. This review summarizes the role of key ICD biomarkers and their underlying molecular mechanisms in HNSCC chemoresistance. The results showed that ICD initiation could significantly improve the survival and prognosis of patients. ICD and its biomarker could also serve as molecular markers for tumor diagnosis and prognosis. Moreover, key components of DAMPs including CALR, HGMB1, and ATP are involved in the regulation of HNSCC chemo-sensitivity, confirming that the key biomarkers of ICD can also be developed into new targets for regulating HNSCC chemoresistance. This review clearly illustrates the theoretical basis for the hypothesis that ICD biomarkers are therapeutic targets involved in HNSCC progression, chemoresistance, and even immune microenvironment regulation. The compilation and investigation may provide new insights into the molecular therapy of HNSCC.

Trial watch: chemotherapy-induced immunogenic cell death in oncology

Immunogenic cell death (ICD) refers to an immunologically distinct process of regulated cell death that activates, rather than suppresses, innate and adaptive immune responses. Such responses culminate into T cell-driven immunity against antigens derived from dying cancer cells. The potency of ICD is dependent on the immunogenicity of dying cells as defined by the antigenicity of these cells and their ability to expose immunostimulatory molecules like damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and cytokines like type I interferons (IFNs). Moreover, it is crucial that the host's immune system can adequately detect the antigenicity and adjuvanticity of these dying cells. Over the years, several well-known chemotherapies have been validated as potent ICD inducers, including (but not limited to) anthracyclines, paclitaxels, and oxaliplatin. Such ICD-inducing chemotherapeutic drugs can serve as important combinatorial partners for anti-cancer immunotherapies against highly immuno-resistant tumors. In this Trial Watch, we describe current trends in the preclinical and clinical integration of ICD-inducing chemotherapy in the existing immuno-oncological paradigms.

Lenvatinib Induces Immunogenic Cell Death and Triggers Toll-Like Receptor-3/4 Ligands in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Purpose

Immunogenic cell death (ICD) is a cell death modality that plays a vital role in anticancer therapy. In this study, we investigated whether lenvatinib induces ICD in hepatocellular carcinoma and how it affects cancer cell behavior.

Patients and Methods

Hepatoma cells were treated with 0.5 μM lenvatinib for two weeks, and damage-associated molecular patterns were assessed using the expression of calreticulin, high mobility group box 1, and ATP secretion. Transcriptome sequencing was performed to investigate the effects of lenvatinib on hepatocellular carcinoma. Additionally, CU CPT 4A and TAK-242 were used to inhibit TLR3 and TLR4 expressions, respectively. Flow cytometry was used to assess PD-L1 expression. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression models were applied for prognosis assessment.

Results

After treatment with lenvatinib, there was a significant increase in ICD-associated damage-associated molecular patterns, such as calreticulin on the cell membrane, extracellular ATP, and high mobility group box 1, in hepatoma cells. Following treatment with lenvatinib, there was a significant increase in the downstream immunogenic cell death receptors, including TLR3 and TLR4. Furthermore, lenvatinib increased the expression of PD-L1, which was later inhibited by TLR4. Interestingly, inhibiting TLR3 in MHCC-97H and Huh7 cells strengthened their proliferative capacity. Moreover, TLR3 inhibition was identified as an independent risk factor for overall survival and recurrence-free survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Conclusion

Our study revealed that lenvatinib induced ICD in hepatocellular carcinoma and upregulated PD-L1 expression through TLR4 while promoting cell apoptosis through TLR3. Antibodies against PD-1/PD-L1 can enhance the efficacy of lenvatinib in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Magnetic hyperthermia induces effective and genuine immunogenic tumor cell death with respect to exogenous heating

This study systematically verified that magnetic hyperthermia (MH) with intracellular heating can induce genuine immunogenic tumor cell death for effective antitumor therapy, while exogenous heating fails to elicit this effect.

A novel peptidoglycan recognition protein involved in the prophenoloxidase activation system and antimicrobial peptide production in Antheraea pernyi

Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) are employed in insects to defend against infectious pathogens by triggering various immune responses. Peptidoglycan recognition proteins (PGRPs), a vital family of PRRs, are widely distributed and highly conserved from vertebrates to invertebrates. To date, five PGRP genes have been identified in Antheraea pernyi, but their biochemical roles still remain unknown. In this study, we focused on the immune functions of PGRP-SA in A. pernyi (ApPGRP-SA), which was confirmed to be immune-related according to its significantly up-regulated expression level post microbial injection. In addition, the binding properties of ApPGRP-SA were investigated using a recombinant protein produced in a prokaryotic expression system, revealing that rApPGRP-SA displayed a multi-binding ability to various microbes, including the Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus, Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and fungus Candida albicans, together with their surface pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). Further studies showed that after recognition, the mixture of rApPGRP-SA/PAMP remarkably stimulated prophenoloxidase (PPO) activation in the hemolymph of A. pernyi in vitro, while the ds-PGRP-SA-treated hemolymph exhibited a lower sensitivity to PAMPs in comparison to the native sample. Moreover, the transcriptional level of the three antimicrobial peptides was also decreased in PGRP-SA knock-down larvae in response to immune-challenge. In summary, we conclude that ApPGRP-SA is a novel identified PGRP in A. pernyi that might act as a broad-spectrum pattern recognition receptor and is involved in the PPO activation system as well as antimicrobial peptide production.

Viral Modulation of TLRs and Cytokines and the Related Immunotherapies for HPV-Associated Cancers

The modulation of the host innate immune system is a well-established carcinogenesis feature of several tumors, including human papillomavirus- (HPV-) related cancers. This virus is able to interrupt the initial events of the immune response, including the expression of Toll-like receptors (TLRs), cytokines, and inflammation. Both TLRs and cytokines play a central role in HPV recognition, cell maturation and differentiation as well as immune signalling. Therefore, the imbalance of this sensitive control of the immune response is a key factor for developing immunotherapies, which strengthen the host immune system to accomplish an efficient defence against HPV and HPV-infected cells. Based on this, the review is aimed at exposing the HPV immune evasion mechanisms involving TLRs and cytokines and at discussing existing and potential immunotherapeutic TLR- and cytokine-related tools.

Toll-like receptor 3 modulates the behavioral effects of cocaine in mice

BACKGROUND

The nucleus accumbens in the midbrain dopamine limbic system plays a key role in cocaine addiction. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important pattern-recognition receptors (PPRs) in the innate immune system that are also involved in drug dependence; however, the detailed mechanism is largely unknown.

METHODS

The present study was designed to investigate the potential role of TLR3 in cocaine addiction. Cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP), locomotor activity, and self-administration were used to determine the effects of TLR3 in the rewarding properties of cocaine. Lentivirus-mediated re-expression of Tlr3 (LV-TLR3) was applied to determine if restoration of TLR3 expression in the NAc is sufficient to restore the cocaine effect in TLR3^-/- mice. The protein levels of phospho-NF-κB p65, IKKβ, and p-IκBα both in the cytoplasm and nucleus of cocaine-induced CPP mice were detected by Western blot.

RESULTS

We showed that both TLR3 deficiency and intra-NAc injection of TLR3 inhibitors significantly attenuated cocaine-induced CPP, locomotor activity, and self-administration in mice. Importantly, the TLR3^-/- mice that received intra-NAc injection of LV-TLR3 displayed significant increases in cocaine-induced CPP and locomotor activity. Finally, we found that TLR3 inhibitor reverted cocaine-induced upregulation of phospho-NF-κB p65, IKKβ, and p-IκBα.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, our results describe that TLR3 modulates cocaine-induced behaviors and provide further evidence supporting a role for central pro-inflammatory immune signaling in drug reward. We propose that TLR3 blockade could be a novel approach to treat cocaine addiction.

RNA-Sequence Analysis Reveals Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs) in Patients Exhibiting Different Risks of Tumor Metastasis

Background

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. In a previous study, we found that for two patients who had a high risk of lymphatic metastasis, lymphatic metastasis did not occur; whereas, for two patients who had a low risk of lymphatic metastasis, lymphatic metastasis did occur.

Material/Methods

We analyzed the differential gene expressions of these four patients by RNA-sequence. The data (HRNM_T versus HRNM_N, LRYM_T versus LRYM_N, and HRNM_T versus LRYM_T) was then processed using differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analysis, functional analysis for DEGs, and PPI network construct.

Results

For HRNM_T versus HRNM_N, there were 224 DEGs. There were 504 DEGs for LRYM_T versus LRYM_N, and 88 DEGs for LRYM_T versus LRYM_N. For HRNM_T versus HRNM_N, DEGs were up-regulated mainly in the cell cycle, the IL-17 signaling pathway, and the progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation; DEGs were down-regulated mainly in the IL-17 signaling pathway. For LRYM_T versus LRYM_N, DEGs were up-regulated mainly in protein digestion and absorption, and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction; DEGs were down-regulated mainly in ECM-receptor interaction. For HRNM_T versus LRYM_T, DEGs were up-regulated mainly in the PPAR signaling pathway; DEGs were downregulated mainly in the adipocytokine signaling pathway. The DEGs were screened to construct PPI networks.

Conclusions

The GO and KEGG functional enrichments of HRNM_T versus HRNM_N, and LRYM_T versus LRYM_N were consistent with earlier studies. For HRNM_T versus LRYM_T, DEGs were up-regulated mainly in PPAR signaling; DEGs were down-regulated mainly in the adipocytokine pathway.

Combined toll-like receptor 3/7/9 deficiency on host cells results in T-cell-dependent control of tumour growth

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are located either on the cell surface or intracellularly in endosomes and their activation normally contributes to the induction of protective immune responses. However, in cancer their activation by endogenous ligands can modulate tumour progression. It is currently unknown how endosomal TLRs regulate endogenous anti-tumour immunity. Here we show that TLR3, 7 and 9 deficiencies on host cells, after initial tumour growth, result in complete tumour regression and induction of anti-tumour immunity. Tumour regression requires the combined absence of all three receptors, is dependent on both CD4 and CD8 T cells and protects the mice from subsequent tumour challenge. While tumours in control mice are infiltrated by higher numbers of regulatory T cells, tumour regression in TLR-deficient mice is paralleled by altered vascular structure and strongly induced influx of cytotoxic and cytokine-producing effector T cells. Thus, endosomal TLRs may represent a molecular link between the inflamed tumour cell phenotype, anti-tumour immunity and the regulation of T-cell activation.

Activation of Toll-like receptor (TLR) is generally associated with increased immune activity. Here, the authors show, using syngeneic mouse models, that combined deficiency of TLR 3/7/9 in the host induces an inflamed tumour phenotype and results in T cell dependent tumour regression after an initial growth.