Dendritic Cells Loaded with Heat Shock-Conditioned Ovarian Epithelial Carcinoma Cell Lysates Elicit T Cell-Dependent Antitumor Immune Responses In Vitro

Whole tumour cell-based vaccines: tuning the instruments to orchestrate an optimal antitumour immune response

Immunotherapy, particularly those based on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), has become a useful approach for many neoplastic diseases. Despite the improvements of ICIs in supporting tumour regression and prolonging survival, many patients do not respond or develop resistance to treatment. Thus, therapies that enhance antitumour immunity, such as anticancer vaccines, constitute a feasible and promising therapeutic strategy. Whole tumour cell (WTC) vaccines have been extensively tested in clinical studies as intact or genetically modified cells or tumour lysates, injected directly or loaded on DCs with distinct adjuvants. The essential requirements of WTC vaccines include the optimal delivery of a broad battery of tumour-associated antigens, the presence of tumour cell-derived molecular danger signals, and adequate adjuvants. These factors trigger an early and robust local innate inflammatory response that orchestrates an antigen-specific and proinflammatory adaptive antitumour response capable of controlling tumour growth by several mechanisms. In this review, the strengths and weaknesses of our own and others' experiences in studying WTC vaccines are revised to discuss the essential elements required to increase anticancer vaccine effectiveness.

A Comprehensive Review on Cancer Vaccines and Vaccine Strategies in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

HCC, the most prevalent form of primary liver cancer, presents a substantial global health challenge due to its high mortality and limited therapeutic options. This review delves into the potential of cancer vaccines as a novel therapeutic avenue for HCC. We examine the various categories of cancer vaccines, including peptide-based, dendritic cell-based, viral vector-based, DNA, and mRNA vaccines, and their potential application in HCC management. This review also addresses the inherent challenges in vaccine development, such as tumor heterogeneity and the need for identifying tumor-specific antigens. We underscore the role of cancer vaccines in reshaping the immune environment within HCC, fostering durable immune memory, and their potential in combination therapies. The review also evaluates clinical trials and emphasizes the necessity for more extensive research to optimize vaccine design and patient selection criteria. We conclude with future perspectives, highlighting the significance of personalized therapies, innovative antigen delivery platforms, immune modulatory agents, and predictive biomarkers in revolutionizing HCC treatment. Simple Summary: This review explores the potential of cancer vaccines as a promising therapeutic strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a prevalent and deadly liver cancer. The authors discuss various types of cancer vaccines, their challenges, and their role in modulating the immune response within HCC. They also highlight clinical trials and future perspectives, emphasizing the importance of personalized therapies, novel antigen delivery platforms, and predictive biomarkers. The findings from this research could significantly impact the research community by providing a comprehensive understanding of the current state of cancer vaccines for HCC, thereby guiding future research and potentially transforming HCC treatment strategies.

Computational and Experimental Evaluation of the Immune Response of Neoantigens for Personalized Vaccine Design

In the last few years, the importance of neoantigens in the development of personalized antitumor vaccines has increased remarkably. In order to study whether bioinformatic tools are effective in detecting neoantigens that generate an immune response, DNA samples from patients with cutaneous melanoma in different stages were obtained, resulting in a total of 6048 potential neoantigens gathered. Thereafter, the immunological responses generated by some of those neoantigens ex vivo were tested, using a vaccine designed by a new optimization approach and encapsulated in nanoparticles. Our bioinformatic analysis indicated that no differences were found between the number of neoantigens and that of non-mutated sequences detected as potential binders by IEDB tools. However, those tools were able to highlight neoantigens over non-mutated peptides in HLA-II recognition (p-value 0.03). However, neither HLA-I binding affinity (p-value 0.08) nor Class I immunogenicity values (p-value 0.96) indicated significant differences for the latter parameters. Subsequently, the new vaccine, using aggregative functions and combinatorial optimization, was designed. The six best neoantigens were selected and formulated into two nanoparticles, with which the immune response ex vivo was evaluated, demonstrating a specific activation of the immune response. This study reinforces the use of bioinformatic tools in vaccine development, as their usefulness is proven both in silico and ex vivo.

Haptoglobin Induces a Specific Proteomic Profile and a Mature-Associated Phenotype on Primary Human Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells

Damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) play a critical role in dendritic cells (DCs) ability to trigger a specific and efficient adaptive immune response for different physiological and pathological scenarios. We have previously identified constitutive DAMPs (HMGB1 and Calreticulin) as well as new putative inducible DAMPs such as Haptoglobin (HP), from a therapeutically used heat shock-conditioned melanoma cell lysate (called TRIMEL). Remarkably, HP was shown to be the most abundant protein in the proteomic profile of heat shock-conditioned TRIMEL samples. However, its relative contribution to the observed DCs phenotype has not been fully elucidated. Human DCs were generated from monocytes isolated from PBMC of melanoma patients and healthy donors. DC lineage was induced with rhIL-4 and rhGM-CSF. After additional stimulation with HP, the proteome of these HP-stimulated cells was characterized. In addition, DCs were phenotypically characterized by flow cytometry for canonical maturation markers and cytokine production. Finally, in vitro transmigration capacity was assessed using Transwell plates. Our results showed that the stimulation with HP was associated with the presence of exclusive and higher relative abundance of specific immune-; energy production-; lipid biosynthesis-; and DAMPs-related proteins. Importantly, HP stimulation enhanced the expression of specific DC maturation markers and pro-inflammatory and Th1-associated cytokines, and an in vitro transmigration of primary human DCs. Taken together, these data suggest that HP can be considered as a new inducible DAMP with an important role in in vitro DC activation for cancer immunotherapy.

Chemically Engineered Immune Cell-Derived Microrobots and Biomimetic Nanoparticles: Emerging Biodiagnostic and Therapeutic Tools

Over the past decades, considerable attention has been dedicated to the exploitation of diverse immune cells as therapeutic and/or diagnostic cell-based microrobots for hard-to-treat disorders. To date, a plethora of therapeutics based on alive immune cells, surface-engineered immune cells, immunocytes' cell membranes, leukocyte-derived extracellular vesicles or exosomes, and artificial immune cells have been investigated and a few have been introduced into the market. These systems take advantage of the unique characteristics and functions of immune cells, including their presence in circulating blood and various tissues, complex crosstalk properties, high affinity to different self and foreign markers, unique potential of their on-demand navigation and activity, production of a variety of chemokines/cytokines, as well as being cytotoxic in particular conditions. Here, the latest progress in the development of engineered therapeutics and diagnostics inspired by immune cells to ameliorate cancer, inflammatory conditions, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular complications, and infectious diseases is reviewed, and finally, the perspective for their clinical application is delineated.

MicroRNA-377-3p targeting MMP-16 inhibits ovarian cancer cell growth, invasion, and interstitial transition

Background

To evaluate role of microRNA (miRNA)-377-3p on the remission of ovarian cancer (OC) cell proliferation, invasion, and interstitial transition in vivo and vitro.

Methods

SKOV3 cells were used as the object of in vitro research and four-week-old immunodeficient BABL/c female nude mice were used to form the xenograft model. Cell models were constructed by transfecting NC mimics, miR-377 mimic, plasmid cloning DNA (pcDNA), pc-matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-16, or co-transfecting miR-377 mimic and pc-MMP-16. TargetScan software was used to predict the targeting relationship between miRNA-377-3p and MMP-16 in OC cells. The combination of miRNA-377-3p and MMP-16 was detected by dual luciferase report experiment. miRNA expression levels of miRNA-377-3p and MMP-16 in each transfection group cells were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The proliferation of SKOV3 cells were assessed by 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) staining and microtubule formation, while the invasion ability of SKOV3 cells was detected by Transwell assay. Protein expression levels of MMP-16, survivin, Ki67, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), E-cadherin, and N-cadherin were detected by Western blot (WB), and the positive cells of Ki67 and VEGF were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Results

MMP-16 overexpression markedly increased the EDU-positive cell percentage, upregulated survivin and Ki67 levels, increased the number of invasive cells per field, and enhanced VEGF and N-cadherin expression. Importantly, co-transfection of miRNA-377-3p and MMP-16 reversed these abnormal phenomena. Xenotransplantation mouse models were formed by injecting SKOV-3 cells subcutaneously. Tumor size, tumor volume, and tumor weight were all reduced in the miR-377-3p mimic–transfected group. The results of IHC indicated that Ki67 and VEGF expression were decreased in the miR-377-3p mimic–transfected group.

Conclusions

These findings indicate that miR-377-3p could be a promising therapeutic agent for OC cell growth, invasion, and interstitial transition with MMP-16 being its likely target.

Vitexin attenuates epithelial ovarian cancer cell viability and motility in vitro and carcinogenesis in vivo via p38 and ERK1/2 pathways related VEGFA

Background

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most common type of ovarian tumor, however, effective treatment does not currently exist for this condition. This study evaluated the role of vitexin in mitigating EOC both in vitro and in vivo.

Method

SKOV-3 cells were used for in vitro experimentation. Xenotransplantation mouse models were set up by subcutaneously injecting mice with SKOV-3 cells. CCK8 was used to screen the optimal dose in vitro. Cell proliferation, invasion, number of microtubule nodules and apoptosis were respectively detected by colony formation assay, transwell assay, microtubule formation assay and flow cytometry. TUNEL and immunohistochemistry were used to detect tissues apoptosis and VEGF content. Western blot assay was used to detect the expression of Ki67, caspase-3, VEGFA, VEGFR2, ERK1/2 and p38.

Results

In vitro experiment, compared with the control group, 10 µL of vitexin significantly reduced Ki67 levels and enhanced tumor cell apoptosis rate. Additionally, the colony forming rate, invasive cells per field, and number of nodes/HPF in vitexin treated group decreased dramatically. The result of western blot showed that levels of p-p38/p38 and p-ERK1/2/ERK1/2 also noticeably decreased. In vivo experiment, 40 mg/kg of vitexin significantly inhibited tumor growth. In addition, vitexin significantly enhanced the percentage of tissues apoptosis, which was accompanied by a decrease in the percentage of VEGF-positive cells.

Conclusions

Vitexin decreased the proliferation and invasion of SKOV-3 cells and noticeably reduced tumor growth. These findings suggest that vitexin could be a promising therapy for EOC.

Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC): Should we look closer at the microenvironment?

The age of cancer as an isolated single-cell concept is now behind us. It is now established that epithelial ovarian cancer, like other cancers, interacts with the healthy bystander cells to influence them and takes advantage of their nutritional, immunological, disseminating and other capacities. This interaction has become a therapeutic target, as shown by the numerous studies on this subject. Intraperitoneal chemo-hyperthermia has been part of the therapeutic armamentarium for some time yet its efficiency in ovarian cancer has only been recently proven in a randomized controlled trial. However, its therapeutic performance is not revolutionary and epithelial ovarian cancer maintains a high mortality. In this review, we studied the impact of HIPEC on the microenvironment and vice versa to determine whether it could be the key to this lukewarm efficacy. We began by exploring the modalities of HIPEC and establishing the reasons that make this treatment topical. Then, we examined its impact on each element of the tumor environment to obtain a global view of the resistance mechanisms at work in HIPEC.