Immune Epigenetic Crosstalk Between Malignant B Cells and the Tumor Microenvironment in B Cell Lymphoma

Targeting Epigenetic Mechanisms: A Boon for Cancer Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is rapidly emerging as a promising approach against cancer. In the last decade, various immunological mechanisms have been targeted to induce an increase in the immune response against cancer cells. However, despite promising results, many patients show partial response, resistance, or serious toxicities. A promising way to overcome this is the use of immunotherapeutic approaches, in combination with other potential therapeutic approaches. Aberrant epigenetic modifications play an important role in carcinogenesis and its progression, as well as in the functioning of immune cells. Thus, therapeutic approaches targeting aberrant epigenetic mechanisms and the immune response might provide an effective antitumor effect. Further, the recent development of potent epigenetic drugs and immunomodulators gives hope to this combinatorial approach. In this review, we summarize the synergy mechanism between epigenetic therapies and immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer, and discuss recent advancements in the translation of this approach.

Insights into the tumor microenvironment of B cell lymphoma

The standard therapies in lymphoma have predominantly focused on targeting tumor cells with less of a focus on the tumor microenvironment (TME), which plays a critical role in favoring tumor growth and survival. Such an approach may result in increasingly refractory disease with progressively reduced responses to subsequent treatments. To overcome this hurdle, targeting the TME has emerged as a new therapeutic strategy. The TME consists of T and B lymphocytes, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), and other components. Understanding the TME can lead to a comprehensive approach to managing lymphoma, resulting in therapeutic strategies that target not only cancer cells, but also the supportive environment and thereby ultimately improve survival of lymphoma patients. Here, we review the normal function of different components of the TME, the impact of their aberrant behavior in B cell lymphoma and the current TME-direct therapeutic avenues.

LncRNA CARMN Affects Hepatocellular Carcinoma Prognosis by Regulating the miR-192-5p/LOXL2 Axis

Background. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is aggressive cancer with a poor prognosis. It has been suggested that the aberrant expression of LOXL2 is associated with the development of HCC, but the exact mechanism remains unclear. This research is aimed at examining the expression level and prognostic value of LOXL2 in hepatocellular carcinoma and its relationship with immune infiltration and at predicting its upstream noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). Method. The transcriptome data of HCC was first downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to investigate the expression and prognosis of LOXL2. Then, the starBase database was used to find the upstream ncRNAs of LOXL2, and correlation analysis and expression analysis were performed. Finally, the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) was used to explore the association between LOXL2 and immune cell infiltration. Result. CARMN was considered to be the potential upstream lncRNA for the hsa-miR-192-5p/LOXL2 axis in HCC. Furthermore, the level LOXL2 was markedly positively associated with tumor immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint expression in HCC. Conclusion. Higher expression of LOXL2 mediated by microRNA (miRNA) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) is associated with poor overall survival (OS), immune infiltration, and immune checkpoint expression in HCC.

The metabolic plasticity of B cells

The humoral response requires rapid growth, biosynthetic capacity, proliferation and differentiation of B cells. These processes involve profound B-cell phenotypic transitions that are coupled to drastic changes in metabolism so as to meet the extremely different energetic requirements as B cells switch from resting to an activated, highly proliferative state and to plasma or memory cell fates. Thus, B cells execute a multi-step, energetically dynamic process of profound metabolic rewiring from low ATP production to transient and large increments of energy expenditure that depend on high uptake and consumption of glucose and fatty acids. Such metabolic plasticity is under tight transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation. Alterations in B-cell metabolism driven by genetic mutations or by extrinsic insults impair B-cell functions and differentiation and may underlie the anomalous behavior of pathological B cells. Herein, we review molecular switches that control B-cell metabolism and fuel utilization, as well as the emerging awareness of the impact of dynamic metabolic adaptations of B cells throughout the different phases of the humoral response.