Co-transfection of dendritic cells with AFP and IL-2 genes enhances the induction of tumor antigen-specific antitumor immunity

Advancement in magnetic hyperthermia-based targeted therapy for cancer treatment

Magnetic hyperthermia utilizing magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and an alternating magnetic field (AMF) represents a promising approach in the field of cancer treatment. Active targeting has emerged as a valuable strategy to enhance the effectiveness and specificity of drug delivery. Active targeting utilizes specific biomarkers that are predominantly found in abundance on cancer cells while being minimally expressed on healthy cells. Current comprehensive review provides an overview of several cancer-specific biomarkers, including human epidermal growth factor, transferrin, folate, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone, integrin, cluster of differentiation (CD) receptors such as CD90, CD95, CD133, CD20, and CD44 also CXCR4 and vascular endothelial growth factor, these biomarkers bind to ligands present on the surface of MNPs, enabling precise targeting. Additionally, this review touches various combination therapies employed to combat cancer. Magnetic hyperthermia synergistically enhances the efficacy of conventional cancer treatments such as targeted chemotherapy, radiation therapy, gene therapy, and immunotherapy.

Decreased IL-37 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and liver cancer cell lines

The role of IL-37 in cancer is currently largely unknown. The present study aimed to investigate IL-37 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), paracancerous tissues (PT) and liver cancer cell lines, and their associations between IL-37 and NF-κB. A total of 65 HCC and 65 PT tissues were collected. The expression of IL-37 and NF-κB in tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and the data was analyzed using SPSS software. In the in vitro studies, IL-37 gene was transfected into HepG2 and MHCC97H cell lines with Lipofectamine 3000, and the protein regulation of NF-κB by IL-37 was verified by immunofluorescence (IF) and western blotting. In HCC, the positive expression rates of IL-37 and NF-kB were 21.5 and 95.4%, respectively. In PT, strong positive staining of IL-37and weak positive staining of NF-κB were observed. The normal expression levels of IL-37 and NF-κB, the increased IL-37 and decreased NF-κB induced by IL-37 gene transfection were observed through IF in cell lines. In terms of clinical significance, the difference in IL-37 expression between HCC and PT was statistically significant (χ²=55.05; P<0.001). IL-37 expression in HCC but not PT was negatively associated with serum AFP (χ²=6.522; P=0.039). IL-37 expression in PT was associated with sex (χ²=13.12; P=0.003) and tumor size (χ²=7.996; P=0.045). NF-κB expression in PT was associated with age, sex and BCLC stage. Notably, there was a negative correlation between IL-37 and NF-κB in HCC (r=-0.277; P=0.029) but not in PT (P>0.05). IL-37 overexpression downregulated the NF-κB protein by 56.50% in HepG2 cells (P<0.05) and 30.52% in MHCC97H cells (P<0.05). In conclusion, the expression of IL-37 in HCC and PT was specifically associated with serum AFP and tumor size, respectively. IL-37 expression was negatively correlated with NF-κB protein expression in HCC tissues and liver cancer cell lines.

Systematic review of the roles of interleukins in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver cancer with high morbidity and mortality that is often accompanied by immune system disorders and local lymphocyte infiltration. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, cancer cells, stromal cells, and the numerous cytokines they produce, such as chemokines, interferons, tumor necrosis factors, and interleukins, collectively constitute the tumor microenvironment. As a main type of immune effector, interleukin plays opposing roles in regulating tumor cell progression, adhesion, and migration according to its different subtypes. Many reports have concentrated on the roles that interleukins play in HCC, but understanding them systematically remains challenging. This study reviewed the current data to comprehensively summarize the relationships between HCC progression and human interleukin gene families.

Emergence of immunotherapy as a novel way to treat hepatocellular carcinoma

Tumor immunity proceeds through multiple processes, which consist of antigen presentation by antigen presenting cells (APCs) to educate effector cells and destruction by the effector cytotoxic cells. However, tumor immunity is frequently repressed at tumor sites. Malignantly transformed cells rarely survive the attack by the immune system, but cells that do survive change their phenotypes to reduce their immunogenicity. The resultant cells evade the attack by the immune system and form clinically discernible tumors. Tumor microenvironments simultaneously contain a wide variety of immune suppressive molecules and cells to dampen tumor immunity. Moreover, the liver microenvironment exhibits immune tolerance to reduce aberrant immune responses to massively-exposed antigens via the portal vein, and immune dysfunction is frequently associated with liver cirrhosis, which is widespread in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Immune therapy aims to reduce tumor burden, but it is also expected to prevent non-cancerous liver lesions from progressing to HCC, because HCC develops or recurs from non-cancerous liver lesions with chronic inflammatory states and/or cirrhosis and these lesions cannot be cured and/or eradicated by local and/or systemic therapies. Nevertheless, cancer immune therapy should augment specific tumor immunity by using two distinct measures: enhancing the effector cell functions such as antigen presentation capacity of APCs and tumor cell killing capacity of cytotoxic cells, and reactivating the immune system in immune-suppressive tumor microenvironments. Here, we will summarize the current status and discuss the future perspective on immune therapy for HCC.

Alpha-Fetoprotein and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Immunity

Hepatocarcinoma is one of the most prevalent gastroenterological cancers in the world with less effective therapy. As an oncofetal antigen and diagnostic marker for liver cancer, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) possesses a variety of biological functions. Except for its diagnosis in liver cancer, AFP has become a target for liver cancer immunotherapy. Although the immunogenicity of AFP is weak and it could induce the immune escapes through inhibiting the function of dendritic cells, natural killer cells, and T lymphocytes, AFP has attracted more attention in liver cancer immunotherapy. By in vitro modification, the immunogenicity and immune response of AFP could be enhanced. AFP-modified immune cell vaccine or peptide vaccine has displayed the specific antitumor immunity against AFP-positive tumor cells and laid a better foundation for the immunotherapy of liver cancer.

Promising new strategies for hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common causes of cancer death worldwide. It usually arises based on a background of chronic liver diseases, defined as the hypercarcinogenic state. The current treatment options for HCC ranging from locoregional treatments to chemotherapies, including sorafenib, effectively regulate the limited sizes and numbers of the nodules. However, these treatments remain unsatisfactory because they have insufficient antitumor effects on the large and numerous nodules associated with HCC and because of a high recurrence rate in the surrounding inflamed liver. To develop novel and promising therapies with higher antitumor effects, recent progress in identifying molecular targets and developing immunological procedures for HCC are reviewed. The molecular targets discussed include the intracellular signaling pathways of protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin and RAS/RAF/mitogen-activated protein kinase, Wnt/β-catenin and glutamine synthetase, insulin-like growth factor, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, nuclear factor-κB and telomerase reverse transcriptase, and c-MET. Immunological studies have focused mainly on target identification, T cells, natural killer cells, dendritic cells, natural killer T cells, and vaccine development.

The anti-cancerous activity of recombinant trichosanthin on prostate cancer cell PC3

CONTEXT

Trichosanthin produced in the root tube of Trichosanthes kirilowii shows anti-tumor activity on a series of cancer cells including Hela, MCF-7, HL-60. But there is little information about its effect on the carcinogenesis of prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVE

This work was designed to study the role of trichosanthin on prostate cancer cells PC3.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Trichosanthin was expressed in BL21 strain and purified by affinity chromatography. MTT assay was designed to determine the effect of trichosanthin on growth of PC3 cells at doses of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 120 μg/ml. Then the effect of 50 μg/ml rTCS alone or combined with 2 μM IL-2 on PC3 cell proliferation was analyzed. And the mechanism of rTCS was studied by western blot. After that the in vivo effect of rTCS combined with IL-2 was explored in mice bearing PC3 xenograft tumor.

RESULTS

Trichosanthin was successfully expressed in BL21 and purified by 100 mM imidazole. It was shown to inhibit proliferation of PC3 cells in a dose-dependent manner with IC50 50.6 μg/ml. When combined with cytokine IL-2, a significant synergic effect was obtained. The inhibition rate on PC3 was around 50 % in combination group while only 35.5 % in single rTCS group at 50 μg/ml. Further, the expression of full length caspase-8 and Bcl-2 decreased significantly while cleaved caspase-8 and Bax were up-regulated, which suggest that caspase-8-mediated apoptosis pathway may be activated by rTCS in PC3 cells. Moreover, our data demonstrated that tumor volume and tumor weight were significantly reduced in rTCS-treated or rTCS/IL-2-treated nude mice bearing PC3 xenograft tumor compared with control. And significant difference was also found between rTCS and rTCS/IL-2 group.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates that rTCS is a potential agent with high in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor activity on PC3 cells. And rTCS combined with IL-2 is a promising strategy in treating patients with prostate cancer in future.

Effect of interleukin-2 treatment combined with magnetic fluid hyperthermia on Lewis lung cancer-bearing mice

The present study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of interleukin-2 (IL-2) treatment combined with magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) on Lewis lung cancer-bearing mice. Magnetic fluids were prepared in vitro and directly injected into the tumors in the mice, which were subjected to an alternating magnetic field. The temperature in the tumor reached 43°C and was maintained by controlling the strength of magnetic field for 30 min. Twenty-four hours later, IL-2 was injected directly into the tumors. Mice were divided into four groups: Group I (control), II (MFH), III (IL-2) and IV (IL-2+MFH). The tumor grew gradually in groups II and IV (both P<0.05) compared to the control group. Histological analysis showed that the tumor cells underwent apoptosis and necrosis. Immunohistochemistry results demonstrated that heat-shock protein 70 and cluster of differentiation (CD) 8-positive and CD4-positive T cells were strongly expressed following hypothermia. Therefore, the present study provided evidence that IL-2 treatment combined with MFH improves the therapeutic effect on lung cancer-bearing mice.

Adenovirus-Based Vectors for the Development of Prophylactic and Therapeutic Vaccines

Emerging and reemerging infectious diseases as well as cancer pose great global health impacts on the society. Vaccines have emerged as effective treatments to prevent or reduce the burdens of already developed diseases. This is achieved by means of activating various components of the immune system to generate systemic inflammatory reactions targeting infectious agents or diseased cells for control/elimination. DNA virus-based genetic vaccines gained significant attention in the past decades owing to the development of DNA manipulation technologies, which allowed engineering of recombinant viral vectors encoding sequences for foreign antigens or their immunogenic epitopes as well as various immunomodulatory molecules. Despite tremendous progress in the past 50 years, many hurdles still remain for achieving the full clinical potential of viral-vectored vaccines. This chapter will present the evolution of vaccines from “live” or “attenuated” first-generation agents to recombinant DNA and viral-vectored vaccines. Particular emphasis will be given to human adenovirus (Ad) for the development of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines. Ad biological properties related to vaccine development will be highlighted along with their advantages and potential hurdles to be overcome. In particular, we will discuss (1) genetic modifications in the Ad capsid protein to reduce the intrinsic viral immunogenicity, (2) antigen capsid incorporation for effective presentation of foreign antigens to the immune system, (3) modification of the hexon and fiber capsid proteins for Ad liver de-targeting and selective retargeting to cancer cells, (4) Ad-based vaccines carrying “arming” transgenes with immunostimulatory functions as immune adjuvants, and (5) oncolytic Ad vectors as a new therapeutic approach against cancer. Finally, the combination of adenoviral vectors with other non-adenoviral vector systems, the prime/boost strategy of immunization, clinical trials involving Ad-based vaccines, and the perspectives for the field development will be discussed.