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Ngo HV, Thanh Le TT, Vu HN, Hoang H, Ikenaga H, Sato-Matsubara M, Uchida-Kobayashi S, Urushima H, Van Nguyen K, Nguyen HT, Shinkawa H, Kubo S, Ohtani N, Enomoto M, Tamori A, Kawada N. Poorly Differentiated Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells Avoid Apoptosis by Interacting with T Cells via CD40-CD40L Linkage. Am J Pathol 2024:S0002-9440(24)00117-2. [PMID: 38548267 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2024.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/15/2024]
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was associated with increased soluble CD40 levels in a previous study. This study aimed to investigate CD40's role in liver tumor progression. CD40 levels were examined in HCC patient tissues and various HCC cell lines, and their interaction with CD4+T cells was studied. RNA sequencing analysis was performed to explore the mechanisms of CD40 induction. Poorly differentiated HCC tumor tissues exhibited high membrane-bound CD40 expression, in contrast to nontumor areas. Poorly differentiated HCC cell lines showed high expression of membrane-bound CD40 with low CD40 promoter methylation, which was opposite of well-differentiated ones. Solely modulating CD40 expression in HCC cells exerted no direct consequences on cell growth or appearance. Interestingly, HLFs co-cultured with activated (CD40 ligand+) CD4+ T cells increased CD40 levels and showed a modest 3.2% dead cells, then increased to 10.9% underwent preneutralizing CD40 condition, whereas preblocking both CD40 and integrin α5β1 concomitantly caused only 1.9% cell death. RNA sequencing of co-cultured HLFs with activated CD4+ T cells revealed the up-regulation of interferon and immune-response pathways. Increased interferon-γ levels in the activated T-cell media stimulated the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 pathway, resulting in increased CD40 expression in HLF. Collectively, CD40 expression in poorly differentiated HCC cells prevents cell death by interacting with CD40 ligand in activated T cells. Targeting CD40 may represent a promising anticancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanh Vinh Ngo
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Thuy Thi Thanh Le
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan; Department of Global Education and Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Hieu Ngoc Vu
- Department of Microbiology, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Hai Hoang
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Hiroko Ikenaga
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Misako Sato-Matsubara
- Department of Veterinary Science, Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Sawako Uchida-Kobayashi
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Hayato Urushima
- Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Khanh Van Nguyen
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan; Department of Pathology, VinMec International Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Ha Thi Nguyen
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Hiroji Shinkawa
- Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Shoji Kubo
- Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Naoko Ohtani
- Department of Pathophysiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Masaru Enomoto
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Akihiro Tamori
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan; Department of Hepatology, Kashiwara Municipal Hospital, Osaka, Japan
| | - Norifumi Kawada
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan.
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Wojciechowicz K, Spodzieja M, Wardowska A. The BTLA-HVEM complex - The future of cancer immunotherapy. Eur J Med Chem 2024; 268:116231. [PMID: 38387336 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2024.116231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
The BTLA-HVEM complex plays a pivotal role in cancer and cancer immunotherapy by regulating immune responses. Dysregulation of BTLA and HVEM expression contributes to immunosuppression and tumor progression across various cancer types. Targeting the interaction between BTLA and HVEM holds promise for enhancing anti-tumor immune responses. Disruption of this complex presents a valuable avenue for advancing cancer immunotherapy strategies. Aberrant expression of BTLA and HVEM adversely affects immune cell function, particularly T cells, exacerbating tumor evasion mechanisms. Understanding and modulating the BTLA-HVEM axis represents a crucial aspect of designing effective immunotherapeutic interventions against cancer. Here, we summarize the current knowledge regarding the structure and function of BTLA and HVEM, along with their interaction with each other and various immune partners. Moreover, the expression of soluble and transmembrane forms of BTLA and HVEM in different types of cancer and their impact on the prognosis of patients is also discussed. Additionally, inhibitors of the proteins binding that might be used to block BTLA-HVEM interaction are reviewed. All the presented data highlight the plausible clinical application of BTLA-HVEM targeted therapies in cancer and autoimmune disease management. However, further studies are required to confirm the practical use of this concept. Despite the increasing number of reports on the BTLA-HVEM complex, many aspects of its biology and function still need to be elucidated. This review can be regarded as an encouragement and a guide to follow the path of BTLA-HVEM research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karolina Wojciechowicz
- Department of Physiopathology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland.
| | - Marta Spodzieja
- Department of Biomedical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Poland
| | - Anna Wardowska
- Department of Physiopathology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland.
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Park EJ, Lee CW. Soluble receptors in cancer: mechanisms, clinical significance, and therapeutic strategies. Exp Mol Med 2024; 56:100-109. [PMID: 38182653 PMCID: PMC10834419 DOI: 10.1038/s12276-023-01150-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Soluble receptors are soluble forms of receptors found in the extracellular space. They have emerged as pivotal regulators of cellular signaling and disease pathogenesis. This review emphasizes their significance in cancer as diagnostic/prognostic markers and potential therapeutic targets. We provide an overview of the mechanisms by which soluble receptors are generated along with their functions. By exploring their involvement in cancer progression, metastasis, and immune evasion, we highlight the importance of soluble receptors, particularly soluble cytokine receptors and immune checkpoints, in the tumor microenvironment. Although current research has illustrated the emerging clinical relevance of soluble receptors, their therapeutic applications remain underexplored. As the landscape of cancer treatment evolves, understanding and targeting soluble receptors might pave the way for novel strategies for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eun-Ji Park
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea
| | - Chang-Woo Lee
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
- SKKU Institute for Convergence, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
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Andrzejczak A, Karabon L. BTLA biology in cancer: from bench discoveries to clinical potentials. Biomark Res 2024; 12:8. [PMID: 38233898 PMCID: PMC10795259 DOI: 10.1186/s40364-024-00556-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/31/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Immune checkpoints play a critical role in maintaining the delicate balance of immune activation in order to prevent potential harm caused by excessive activation, autoimmunity, or tissue damage. B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) is one of crucial checkpoint, regulating stimulatory and inhibitory signals in immune responses. Its interaction with the herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM) plays an essential role in negatively regulating immune responses, thereby preserving immune homeostasis. In cancer, abnormal cells evade immune surveillance by exploiting checkpoints like BTLA. Upregulated BTLA expression is linked to impaired anti-tumor immunity and unfavorable disease outcomes. In preclinical studies, BTLA-targeted therapies have shown improved treatment outcomes and enhanced antitumor immunity. This review aims to provide an in-depth understanding of BTLA's biology, its role in various cancers, and its potential as a prognostic factor. Additionally, it explores the latest research on BTLA blockade in cancer immunotherapy, offering hope for more effective cancer treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Andrzejczak
- Laboratory of Genetics and Epigenetics of Human Diseases, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Lidia Karabon
- Laboratory of Genetics and Epigenetics of Human Diseases, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland.
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Sordo-Bahamonde C, Lorenzo-Herrero S, Granda-Díaz R, Martínez-Pérez A, Aguilar-García C, Rodrigo JP, García-Pedrero JM, Gonzalez S. Beyond the anti-PD-1/PD-L1 era: promising role of the BTLA/HVEM axis as a future target for cancer immunotherapy. Mol Cancer 2023; 22:142. [PMID: 37649037 PMCID: PMC10466776 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-023-01845-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent introduction of monoclonal antibodies targeting immune checkpoints to harness antitumor immunity has revolutionized the cancer treatment landscape. The therapeutic success of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)-based therapies mainly relies on PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 blockade. However, the limited overall responses and lack of reliable predictive biomarkers of patient´s response are major pitfalls limiting immunotherapy success. Hence, this reflects the compelling need of unveiling novel targets for immunotherapy that allow to expand the spectrum of ICB-based strategies to achieve optimal therapeutic efficacy and benefit for cancer patients. This review thoroughly dissects current molecular and functional knowledge of BTLA/HVEM axis and the future perspectives to become a target for cancer immunotherapy. BTLA/HVEM dysregulation is commonly found and linked to poor prognosis in solid and hematological malignancies. Moreover, circulating BTLA has been revealed as a blood-based predictive biomarker of immunotherapy response in various cancers. On this basis, BTLA/HVEM axis emerges as a novel promising target for cancer immunotherapy. This prompted rapid development and clinical testing of the anti-BTLA blocking antibody Tifcemalimab/icatolimab as the first BTLA-targeted therapy in various ongoing phase I clinical trials with encouraging results on preliminary efficacy and safety profile as monotherapy and combined with other anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that the intricate signaling network constituted by BTLA/HVEM/CD160/LIGHT involved in immune response regulation, tumor development and tumor microenvironment could limit therapeutic success. Therefore, in-depth functional characterization in different cancer settings is highly recommended for adequate design and implementation of BTLA-targeted therapies to guarantee the best clinical outcomes to benefit cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Sordo-Bahamonde
- Department of Functional Biology, Immunology, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias (IUOPA), Oviedo, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain
| | - Seila Lorenzo-Herrero
- Department of Functional Biology, Immunology, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias (IUOPA), Oviedo, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain
| | - Rocío Granda-Díaz
- Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias (IUOPA), Oviedo, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias (HUCA), Oviedo, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Alejandra Martínez-Pérez
- Department of Functional Biology, Immunology, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias (IUOPA), Oviedo, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain
| | - Candelaria Aguilar-García
- Department of Functional Biology, Immunology, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias (IUOPA), Oviedo, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain
| | - Juan P Rodrigo
- Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias (IUOPA), Oviedo, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias (HUCA), Oviedo, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juana M García-Pedrero
- Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias (IUOPA), Oviedo, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias (HUCA), Oviedo, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Segundo Gonzalez
- Department of Functional Biology, Immunology, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain.
- Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias (IUOPA), Oviedo, Spain.
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain.
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Kamali AN, Bautista JM, Eisenhut M, Hamedifar H. Immune checkpoints and cancer immunotherapies: insights into newly potential receptors and ligands. Ther Adv Vaccines Immunother 2023; 11:25151355231192043. [PMID: 37662491 PMCID: PMC10469281 DOI: 10.1177/25151355231192043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Checkpoint markers and immune checkpoint inhibitors have been increasingly identified and developed as potential immunotherapeutic targets in various human cancers. Despite valuable efforts to discover novel immune checkpoints and their ligands, the precise roles of their therapeutic functions, as well as the broad identification of their counterpart receptors, remain to be addressed. In this context, it has been suggested that various putative checkpoint receptors can be induced upon activation. In the tumor microenvironment, T cells, as crucial immune response against malignant diseases as well as other immune central effector cells, such as natural killer cells, are regulated via co-stimulatory or co-inhibitory signals from immune or tumor cells. Studies have shown that exposure of T cells to tumor antigens upregulates the expression of inhibitory checkpoint receptors, leading to T-cell dysfunction or exhaustion. Although targeting immune checkpoint regulators has shown relative clinical efficacy in some tumor types, most trials in the field of cancer immunotherapies have revealed unsatisfactory results due to de novo or adaptive resistance in cancer patients. To overcome these obstacles, combinational therapies with newly discovered inhibitory molecules or combined blockage of several checkpoints provide a rationale for further research. Moreover, precise identification of their receptors counterparts at crucial checkpoints is likely to promise effective therapies. In this review, we examine the prospects for the application of newly emerging checkpoints, such as T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 3, lymphocyte activation gene-3, T-cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains (TIGIT), V-domain Ig suppressor of T-cell activation (VISTA), new B7 family proteins, and B- and T-cell lymphocyte attenuator, in association with immunotherapy of malignancies. In addition, their clinical and biological significance is discussed, including their expression in various human cancers, along with their roles in T-cell-mediated immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali N. Kamali
- CinnaGen Medical Biotechnology Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Simin Dasht Industrial Area, Karaj, Iran
- CinnaGen Research and Production Co., Alborz 3165933155, Iran
| | - José M. Bautista
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Research Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain
| | - Michael Eisenhut
- Department of Pediatrics, Luton and Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Luton, UK
| | - Haleh Hamedifar
- CinnaGen Medical Biotechnology Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
- CinnaGen Research and Production Co., Alborz, Iran
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Rapoport BL, Steel HC, Benn CA, Nayler S, Smit T, Heyman L, Theron AJ, Hlatshwayo N, Kwofie LL, Meyer PW, Anderson R. Dysregulation of systemic soluble immune checkpoints in early breast cancer is attenuated following administration of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and is associated with recovery of CD27, CD28, CD40, CD80, ICOS and GITR and substantially increased levels of PD-L1, LAG-3 and TIM-3. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1097309. [PMID: 37064132 PMCID: PMC10098332 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1097309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) may alter the immune landscape of patients with early breast cancer (BC), potentially setting the scene for more effective implementation of checkpoint-targeted immunotherapy. This issue has been investigated in the current study in which alterations in the plasma concentrations of 16 soluble co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory, immune checkpoints were measured sequentially in a cohort of newly diagnosed, early BC patients (n=72), pre-treatment, post-NAC and post-surgery using a Multiplex® bead array platform. Relative to a group of healthy control subjects (n=45), the median pre-treatment levels of five co-stimulatory (CD27, CD40, GITRL, ICOS, GITR) and three co-inhibitory (TIM-3, CTLA-4, PD-L1) soluble checkpoints were significantly lower in the BC patients vs. controls (p<0.021-p<0.0001; and p<0.008-p<0.00001, respectively). Following NAC, the plasma levels of six soluble co-stimulatory checkpoints (CD28, CD40, ICOS, CD27, CD80, GITR), all involved in activation of CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, were significantly increased (p<0.04-p<0.00001), comparable with control values and remained at these levels post-surgery. Of the soluble co-inhibitory checkpoints, three (LAG-3, PD-L1, TIM-3) increased significantly post-NAC, reaching levels significantly greater than those of the control group. PD-1 remained unchanged, while BTLA and CTLA-4 decreased significantly (p<0.03 and p<0.00001, respectively). Normalization of soluble co-stimulatory immune checkpoints is seemingly indicative of reversal of systemic immune dysregulation following administration of NAC in early BC, while recovery of immune homeostasis may explain the increased levels of several negative checkpoint proteins, albeit with the exceptions of CTLA-4 and PD-1. Although a pathological complete response (pCR) was documented in 61% of patients (mostly triple-negative BC), surprisingly, none of the soluble immune checkpoints correlated with the pCR, either pre-treatment or post-NAC. Nevertheless, in the case of the co-stimulatory ICMs, these novel findings are indicative of the immune-restorative potential of NAC in early BC, while in the case of the co-inhibitory ICMs, elevated levels of soluble PD-L1, LAG-3 and TIM-3 post-NAC underscore the augmentative immunotherapeutic promise of targeting these molecules, either individually or in combination, as a strategy, which may contribute to the improved management of early BC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernardo L. Rapoport
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
- Medical Oncology Centre of Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Netcare Breast Care Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
- *Correspondence: Bernardo L. Rapoport,
| | - Helen C. Steel
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Carol A. Benn
- Netcare Breast Care Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Simon Nayler
- Netcare Breast Care Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Drs Gritzman & Thatcher Inc. Laboratories, University of the Witwatersrand Donald Gordon Medical Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Teresa Smit
- Medical Oncology Centre of Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Liezl Heyman
- Medical Oncology Centre of Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Annette J. Theron
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Nomsa Hlatshwayo
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
- Department of Immunology, Tshwane Academic Division of the National Health Laboratory Service, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Luyanda L.I. Kwofie
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
- Department of Immunology, Tshwane Academic Division of the National Health Laboratory Service, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Pieter W.A. Meyer
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
- Department of Immunology, Tshwane Academic Division of the National Health Laboratory Service, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Ronald Anderson
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
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Kashyap S, Singh MK, Kumar N, Jha J, Lomi N, Meel R, Bakhshi S, Sen S, Singh L. Implications of LAG3 and CTLA4 immune checkpoints beyond PD-1/PD-L1 as a potential target in determining the prognosis of uveal melanoma patients. Br J Ophthalmol 2023:bjo-2022-322913. [PMID: 36918273 DOI: 10.1136/bjo-2022-322913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
BackgroundResponse rate of PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapeutic blockade agents in uveal melanoma (UM) is poor. Lymphocyte activation gene 3 (LAG3) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4) are the two promising immune checkpoint targets. Therefore, our aim was to explore at how these proteins were expressed in tumour tissue and serum, as well as their prognostic implications in UM. METHODS The expression of LAG3, CTLA-4, CD3, CD4, CD8 and FOXP3 was determined by immunohistochemistry in 54 enucleated UM tissue samples. mRNA expression level of LAG3 and CTLA-4 was determined by quantitative real-time PCR and corroborated by western blotting. Furthermore, soluble form of LAG3, CTLA-4 and CCR8 expression in serum was measured in 40 UM patients using ELISA. RESULT The expression of LAG3, CTLA-4, CD3, CD4, CD8 and FOXP3 was observed in 30%, 33%, 41%, 35%, 50% and 39% of the cases, respectively. Loss of nBAP1 expression was significantly correlated with CD8+expression (p=0.012) but not with tumour infiltrating lymphocytes. LAG3 and CTLA-4 mRNA levels were higher in UM compared with normal uveal tissues. Higher LAG3 expression with CD8+expression was associated with lower metastasis-free survival (MFS) (p=0.049), but not with CTLA-4 in UM patients. MFS rate was reduced in patients having lower levels of CCR8 protein (p=0.050) and increased level of LAG3 protein (p=0.001). CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that higher levels of LAG3 in UM with histopathologically high-risk parameters predict high metastatic potential and that it could be used as a targeted immunotherapy alone or in combination with PD-1/PD-L1 blockade agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seema Kashyap
- Ocular Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India
| | | | - Nikhil Kumar
- Ocular Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Jayanti Jha
- Ocular Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Neiwete Lomi
- Ophthalmology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
| | - Rachna Meel
- Ophthalmology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
| | - Sameer Bakhshi
- Medical Oncology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
| | - Seema Sen
- Ocular Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Lata Singh
- Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
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Landeira-Viñuela A, Alcoceba-Sanchez M, Navarro-Bailón A, Arias-Hidalgo C, Juanes-Velasco P, Sánchez-Santos JM, Lecrevisse Q, Pedreira CE, García-Vaquero ML, Hernández ÁP, Montalvillo E, Góngora R, De Las Rivas J, González-Díaz M, Orfao A, Fuentes M. Systematic Evaluation of Antigenic Stimulation in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Humoral Immunity as Biomarkers for Disease Evolution. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15. [PMID: 36765855 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15030891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in the Western world. Studies of CLL antibody reactivity have shown differential targets to autoantigens and antimicrobial molecular motifs that support the current hypothesis of CLL pathogenesis. METHODS In this study, we conducted a quantitative serum analysis of 7 immunoglobulins in CLL and monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (MBL) patients (bead-suspension protein arrays) and a serological profile (IgG and IgM) study of autoantibodies and antimicrobial antigens (protein microarrays). RESULTS Significant differences in the IgA levels were observed according to disease progression and evolution as well as significant alterations in IgG1 according to IGHV mutational status. More representative IgG autoantibodies in the cohort were against nonmutagenic proteins and IgM autoantibodies were against vesicle proteins. Antimicrobial IgG and IgM were detected against microbes associated with respiratory tract infections. CONCLUSIONS Quantitative differences in immunoglobulin serum levels could be potential biomarkers for disease progression. In the top 5 tumoral antigens, we detected autoantibodies (IgM and IgG) against proteins related to cell homeostasis and metabolism in the studied cohort. The top 5 microbial antigens were associated with respiratory and gastrointestinal infections; moreover, the subsets with better prognostics were characterized by a reactivation of Cytomegalovirus. The viral humoral response could be a potential prognosis biomarker for disease progression.
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Andrzejczak A, Partyka A, Wiśniewski A, Porębska I, Pawełczyk K, Ptaszkowski K, Kuśnierczyk P, Jasek M, Karabon L. The association of BTLA gene polymorphisms with non-small lung cancer risk in smokers and never-smokers. Front Immunol 2023; 13:1006639. [PMID: 36741370 PMCID: PMC9893504 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1006639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Lung cancer is the predominant cause of death among cancer patients and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type. Cigarette smoking is the prevailing risk factor for NSCLC, nevertheless, this cancer is also diagnosed in never-smokers. B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) belongs to immunological checkpoints which are key regulatory molecules of the immune response. A growing body of evidence highlights the important role of BTLA in cancer. In our previous studies, we showed a significant association between BTLA gene variants and susceptibility to chronic lymphoblastic leukemia and renal cell carcinoma in the Polish population. The present study aimed to analyze the impact of BTLA polymorphic variants on the susceptibility to NSCLC and NSCLC patients' overall survival (OS). Methods Using TaqMan probes we genotyped seven BTLA single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): rs2705511, rs1982809, rs9288952, rs9288953, rs1844089, rs11921669 and rs2633582 with the use of ViiA 7 Real-Time PCR System. Results We found that rs1982809 within BTLA is associated with NSCLC risk, where carriers of rs1982809G allele (AG+GG genotypes) were more frequent in patients compared to controls. In subgroup analyses, we also noticed that rs1982809G carriers are significantly overrepresented in never-smokers, but not in smokers compared to controls. Additionally, the global distribution of the haplotypes differed between the never-smokers and smokers, where haplotypes A G G C A, C G A C G, and C G A T G were more frequent in never-smoking patients. Furthermore, the presence rs1982809G (AG+GG genotypes) allele as well as the presence of rs9288953T allele (CT+TT genotypes) increased NSCLC risk in females' patients. After stratification by histological type, we noticed that rs1982809G and rs2705511C carriers were more frequent among adenocarcinoma patients. Moreover, rs1982809G and rs2705511C correlated with the more advanced stages of NSCLC (stage II and III), but not with stage IV. Furthermore, we showed that rs2705511 and rs1982809 significantly modified OS, while rs9288952 tend to be associated with patients' survival. Conclusion Our results indicate that BTLA polymorphic variants may be considered low penetrating risk factors for NSCLC especially in never-smokers, and in females, and are associated with OS of NSCLC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Andrzejczak
- Laboratory of Genetics and Epigenetics of Human Diseases, Department of Experimental Therapy, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland,*Correspondence: Anna Andrzejczak, ; Lidia Karabon,
| | - Anna Partyka
- Laboratory of Immunopathology, Department of Experimental Therapy, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Andrzej Wiśniewski
- Laboratory of Immunogenetics and Tissue Immunology, Department of Clinical Immunology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Irena Porębska
- Department of Pulmonology and Lung Oncology, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Konrad Pawełczyk
- Departament of Thoracic Surgery, Lower Silesian Centre of Oncology, Pulmonology and Haematology, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Kuba Ptaszkowski
- Department of Clinical Biomechanics and Physiotherapy in Motor System Disorders, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Piotr Kuśnierczyk
- Laboratory of Immunogenetics and Tissue Immunology, Department of Clinical Immunology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Monika Jasek
- Laboratory of Genetics and Epigenetics of Human Diseases, Department of Experimental Therapy, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Lidia Karabon
- Laboratory of Genetics and Epigenetics of Human Diseases, Department of Experimental Therapy, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland,*Correspondence: Anna Andrzejczak, ; Lidia Karabon,
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11
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Joseph J, Rahmani B, Cole Y, Puttagunta N, Lin E, Khan ZK, Jain P. Can Soluble Immune Checkpoint Molecules on Exosomes Mediate Inflammation? J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 2022; 17:381-397. [PMID: 34697721 PMCID: PMC10128092 DOI: 10.1007/s11481-021-10018-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Immune checkpoints (ICPs) are major co-signaling pathways that trigger effector functions in immune cells, with isoforms that are either membrane bound, engaging in direct cell to cell activation locally, or soluble, acting at distant sites by circulating freely or potentially via extracellular vesicles (EVs). Exosomes are small EVs secreted by a variety of cells carrying various proteins and nucleic acids. They are distributed extensively through biological fluids and have major impacts on infectious diseases, cancer, and neuroinflammation. Similarly, ICPs play key roles in a variety of disease conditions and have been extensively utilized as a prognostic tool for various cancers. Herein, we explored if the association between exosomes and ICPs could be a significant contributor of inflammation, particularly in the setting of cancer, neuroinflammation and viral infections, wherein the up regulation in both exosomal proteins and ICPs correlate with immunosuppressive effects. The detailed literature review of existing data highlights the significance and complexity of these two important pathways in mediating cancer and potentiating neuroinflammation via modulating overall immune response. Cells increasingly secret exosomes in response to intracellular signals from invading pathogens or cancerous transformations. These exosomes can carry a variety of cargo including proteins, nucleic acids, cytokines, and receptors/ligands that have functional consequences on recipient cells. Illustration generated using BioRender software.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Joseph
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, 2900 West Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA
| | - Benjamin Rahmani
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, 2900 West Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA
| | - Yonesha Cole
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, 2900 West Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA
| | - Neha Puttagunta
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, 2900 West Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA
| | - Edward Lin
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, 2900 West Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA
| | - Zafar K Khan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, 2900 West Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA
| | - Pooja Jain
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, 2900 West Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA. .,Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, 2900 West Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA.
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12
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Botticelli A, Pomati G, Cirillo A, Scagnoli S, Pisegna S, Chiavassa A, Rossi E, Schinzari G, Tortora G, Di Pietro FR, Cerbelli B, Di Filippo A, Amirhassankhani S, Scala A, Zizzari IG, Cortesi E, Tomao S, Nuti M, Mezi S, Marchetti P. The role of immune profile in predicting outcomes in cancer patients treated with immunotherapy. Front Immunol 2022; 13:974087. [PMID: 36405727 PMCID: PMC9671166 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.974087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Despite the efficacy of immunotherapy, only a small percentage of patients achieves a long-term benefit in terms of overall survival. The aim of this study was to define an immune profile predicting the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Methods Patients with advanced solid tumors, who underwent ICI treatment were enrolled in this prospective study. Blood samples were collected at the baseline. Thirteen soluble immune checkpoints, 3 soluble adhesion molecules, 5 chemokines and 11 cytokines were analyzed. The results were associated with oncological outcomes. Results Regardless of tumor type, patients with values of sTIM3, IFNα, IFNγ, IL1β, IL1α, IL12p70, MIP1β, IL13, sCD28, sGITR, sPDL1, IL10 and TNFα below the median had longer overall survival (p<0.05). By using cluster analysis and grouping the patients according to the trend of the molecules, two clusters were found. Cluster A had a significantly higher mean progression free survival (Cluster A=11.9 months vs Cluster B=3.5 months, p<0.01), a higher percentage of disease stability (Cluster A=34.5% vs. Cluster B=0%, p<0.05) and a lower percentage of disease progression (Cluster A=55.2% vs. Cluster B = 94.4%, p=0.04). Conclusion The combined evaluation of soluble molecules, rather than a single circulating factor, may be more suitable to represent the fitness of the immune system status in each patient and could allow to identify two different prognostic and predictive outcome profiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Botticelli
- Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Giulia Pomati
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessio Cirillo
- Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- *Correspondence: Alessio Cirillo,
| | - Simone Scagnoli
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
| | - Simona Pisegna
- Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Antonella Chiavassa
- Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Ernesto Rossi
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCSS), Rome, Italy
| | - Giovanni Schinzari
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCSS), Rome, Italy
- Medical Oncology, Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Giampaolo Tortora
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCSS), Rome, Italy
- Medical Oncology, Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Bruna Cerbelli
- Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnology, Polo Pontino, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandra Di Filippo
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
| | - Sasan Amirhassankhani
- Department of Urology, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital University of Bologna, Via Palagi, Bologna, Italy
| | - Alessandro Scala
- Medical Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCSS), Rome, Italy
| | - Ilaria Grazia Zizzari
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
| | - Enrico Cortesi
- Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Silverio Tomao
- Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Marianna Nuti
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
| | - Silvia Mezi
- Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
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Dong MP, Thuy LTT, Hoang DV, Hai H, Hoang TH, Sato-Matsubara M, Hieu VN, Daikoku A, Hanh NV, Urushima H, Dat NQ, Uchida-Kobayashi S, Enomoto M, Ohtani N, Tamori A, Kawada N. Soluble Immune Checkpoint Protein CD27 Is a Novel Prognostic Biomarker of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development in Hepatitis C Virus-Sustained Virological Response Patients. Am J Pathol 2022; 192:1379-1396. [PMID: 35963463 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2022.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Factors affecting the probability of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development even after sustained virological response (SVR) following anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy remain unelucidated. This study characterized the role of 16 soluble (s) immune checkpoint proteins in 168 HCV-SVR patients, with 47 developing HCC at the study end point. At baseline, high concentrations of 10 immune checkpoint proteins were found in the sera of the HCC group. At the study end point, levels of sCD27, sCD28, sCD40, and sCD86 in the HCC group, which were depleted following SVR, returned to higher levels than those in the non-HCC group. More importantly, patients with baseline levels of sCD27 ≥ 4104 pg/mL, sCD28 ≥ 1530 pg/mL, and sCD40 ≥ 688 pg/mL predicted a significantly greater HCC cumulative rate. Although sCD27 was elevated in patient sera, its membrane-bound form, mCD27, accumulated in the tumor and peritumor area, mainly localized in T cells. Interestingly, T-cell activation time dependently induced sCD27. Furthermore, CD70, the ligand of CD27, was robustly expressed in HCC area in which CD70 promoter methylation analysis indicated the hypomethylation compared with the nontumor pairs. Recombinant human CD27 treatment induced the proliferation of CD70-bearing HepG2 cells via the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK)-extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway, but not NF-κB or p38 pathway. In conclusion, these data indicate that baseline sCD27, sCD28, and sCD40 levels could be used as HCC prognostic markers in HCV-SVR patients. sCD27 likely promotes HepG2 cell growth via the CD27-CD70 axis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minh Phuong Dong
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Le Thi Thanh Thuy
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Dinh Viet Hoang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Hoang Hai
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Truong Huu Hoang
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan; Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care, Cancer Institute, 108 Military Central Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Misako Sato-Matsubara
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Vu Ngoc Hieu
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Atsuko Daikoku
- Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Ngo Vinh Hanh
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Hayato Urushima
- Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Ninh Quoc Dat
- Department of Pediatrics, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Sawako Uchida-Kobayashi
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Masaru Enomoto
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Naoko Ohtani
- Department of Pathophysiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Akihiro Tamori
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Norifumi Kawada
- Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan.
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14
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Landeira-Viñuela A, Arias-Hidalgo C, Juanes-Velasco P, Alcoceba M, Navarro-Bailón A, Pedreira CE, Lecrevisse Q, Díaz-Muñoz L, Sánchez-Santos JM, Hernández ÁP, García-Vaquero ML, Góngora R, De Las Rivas J, González M, Orfao A, Fuentes M. Unravelling soluble immune checkpoints in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: Physiological immunomodulators or immune dysfunction. Front Immunol 2022; 13:965905. [PMID: 36248816 PMCID: PMC9554405 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.965905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a lymphoid neoplasm characterized by the accumulation of mature B cells. The diagnosis is established by the detection of monoclonal B lymphocytes in peripheral blood, even in early stages [monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (MBLhi)], and its clinical course is highly heterogeneous. In fact, there are well-characterized multiple prognostic factors that are also related to the observed genetic heterogenicity, such as immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region (IGHV) mutational status, del17p, and TP53 mutations, among others. Moreover, a dysregulation of the immune system (innate and adaptive immunity) has been observed in CLL patients, with strong impact on immune surveillance and consequently on the onset, evolution, and therapy response. In addition, the tumor microenvironment is highly complex and heterogeneous (i.e., matrix, fibroblast, endothelial cells, and immune cells), playing a critical role in the evolution of CLL. In this study, a quantitative profile of 103 proteins (cytokines, chemokines, growth/regulatory factors, immune checkpoints, and soluble receptors) in 67 serum samples (57 CLL and 10 MBLhi) has been systematically evaluated. Also, differential profiles of soluble immune factors that discriminate between MBLhi and CLL (sCD47, sCD27, sTIMD-4, sIL-2R, and sULBP-1), disease progression (sCD48, sCD27, sArginase-1, sLAG-3, IL-4, and sIL-2R), or among profiles correlated with other prognostic factors, such as IGHV mutational status (CXCL11/I-TAC, CXCL10/IP-10, sHEVM, and sLAG-3), were deciphered. These results pave the way to explore the role of soluble immune checkpoints as a promising source of biomarkers in CLL, to provide novel insights into the immune suppression process and/or dysfunction, mostly on T cells, in combination with cellular balance disruption and microenvironment polarization leading to tumor escape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alicia Landeira-Viñuela
- Department of Medicine and General Service of Cytometry, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00400, Cancer Research Centre-Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL), Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Carlota Arias-Hidalgo
- Department of Medicine and General Service of Cytometry, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00400, Cancer Research Centre-Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL), Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Pablo Juanes-Velasco
- Department of Medicine and General Service of Cytometry, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00400, Cancer Research Centre-Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL), Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Miguel Alcoceba
- Department of Hematology, University Hospital of Salamanca, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00233, Center Research-Centre Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC) Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL, IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Almudena Navarro-Bailón
- Department of Hematology, University Hospital of Salamanca, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00233, Center Research-Centre Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC) Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL, IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Carlos Eduardo Pedreira
- Systems and Computing Department Instituto Alberto Luiz Coimbra de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa de Engenharia-Programa de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computação (COPPE-PESC), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Quentin Lecrevisse
- Department of Medicine and General Service of Cytometry, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00400, Cancer Research Centre-Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL), Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Laura Díaz-Muñoz
- Department of Medicine and General Service of Cytometry, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00400, Cancer Research Centre-Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL), Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | | | - Ángela-Patricia Hernández
- Department of Medicine and General Service of Cytometry, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00400, Cancer Research Centre-Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL), Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Organic Chemistry Section, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Marina L. García-Vaquero
- Department of Medicine and General Service of Cytometry, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00400, Cancer Research Centre-Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL), Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Rafael Góngora
- Department of Medicine and General Service of Cytometry, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00400, Cancer Research Centre-Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL), Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Javier De Las Rivas
- Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics Group, Cancer Research Center Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad de Salamanca (CIC-IBMCC, CSIC/USAL), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and University of Salamanca (USAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Marcos González
- Department of Hematology, University Hospital of Salamanca, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00233, Center Research-Centre Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC) Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL, IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Alberto Orfao
- Department of Medicine and General Service of Cytometry, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00400, Cancer Research Centre-Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL), Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Manuel Fuentes
- Department of Medicine and General Service of Cytometry, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC)- CB16/12/00400, Cancer Research Centre-Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer (IBMCC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad de Salamanca (CSIC-USAL), Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Proteomics Unit, Cancer Research Centre-IBMCC, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Salamanca, Spain
- *Correspondence: Manuel Fuentes,
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Cerrito L, Ainora ME, Mosoni C, Borriello R, Gasbarrini A, Zocco MA. Prognostic Role of Molecular and Imaging Biomarkers for Predicting Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment Efficacy. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:4647. [PMID: 36230569 PMCID: PMC9564154 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14194647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Molecular biomarkers play a marginal role in clinical practice for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) diagnosis, surveillance and treatment monitoring. Radiological biomarker: alpha-fetoprotein is still a lone protagonist in this field. The potential role of molecular biomarkers in the assessment of prognosis and treatment results could reduce the health costs faced by standard radiology. The majority of efforts are oriented towards early HCC detection, but the field faces an important challenge to find adequate biomarkers for advanced HCC management. Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common malignancy worldwide and the fourth cause of tumor-related death. Imaging biomarkers are based on computed tomography, magnetic resonance, and contrast-enhanced ultrasound, and are widely applied in HCC diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Unfortunately, in the field of molecular biomarkers, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is still the only recognized tool for HCC surveillance in both diagnostic and follow-up purposes. Other molecular biomarkers have little roles in clinical practice regarding HCC, mainly for the detection of early-stage HCC, monitoring the response to treatments and analyzing tumor prognosis. In the last decades no important improvements have been achieved in this field and imaging biomarkers maintain the primacy in HCC diagnosis and follow-up. Despite the still inconsistent role of molecular biomarkers in surveillance and early HCC detection, they could play an outstanding role in prognosis estimation and treatment monitoring with a potential reduction in health costs faced by standard radiology. An important challenge resides in identifying sufficiently sensitive and specific biomarkers for advanced HCC for prognostic evaluation and detection of tumor progression, overcoming imaging biomarker sensitivity. The aim of this review is to analyze the current molecular and imaging biomarkers in advanced HCC.
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Dank M, Mühl D, Herold M, Hornyák L, Szasz AM, Herold Z. Does Elevated Pre-Treatment Plasma PD-L1 Level Indicate an Increased Tumor Burden and Worse Prognosis in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer? J Clin Med 2022; 11:4815. [PMID: 36013050 PMCID: PMC9410536 DOI: 10.3390/jcm11164815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Revised: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) have been reported as possibly favorable prognostic factors in colorectal cancer (CRC). However, their longitudinal effect is unknown. Methods: A pilot study was performed to investigate whether baseline PD-1/PD-L1 levels are associated with further laboratory changes and/or shorter survival. Results: A total of 506 laboratory measurements from 37 metastatic CRC patients were analyzed. The baseline plasma PD-1 and PD-L1 levels were 27.73 ± 1.20 pg/mL and 16.01 ± 1.09 pg/mL, respectively. Disease progression (p = 0.0443) and baseline high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (p = 0.0011), aspartate transaminase (p = 0.0253), alanine transaminase (p = 0.0386), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (p = 0.0103) were associated with higher PD-L1 levels. Based on the baseline PD-1/PD-L1 levels, low and high PD-1/PD-L1 groups were created. Constant, pathological levels of complete blood count values, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, serum albumin, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and lactate dehydrogenase were characteristic for patients with high baseline PD-L1. High PD-L1 levels were significantly associated with increased tumor burden. Disease-specific survival and progression-free survival were significantly shorter in patients with high PD-L1. Conclusions: Abnormal levels of laboratory parameters and intensified tumor burden can be expected if elevated baseline plasma PD-1/PD-L1 levels are found.
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Razaghi A, Mansouri L, Brodin O, Björnstedt M, Lundahl J. Soluble PD-L1 Expression After Intravenous Treatment of Cancer Patients With Selenite in Phase I Clinical Trial. Front Oncol 2022; 12:906134. [PMID: 35720000 PMCID: PMC9203154 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.906134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
A high expression level of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is observed in different types of cancers (particularly lung cancer). Soluble (s)PD-L1 may be used as a prognostic marker and a target for anti-cancer immunity, as well as, predicting gene therapy or systemic immunotherapy in blocking the PD-1 and PD-L1 checkpoint. Studies that evaluate the effects of the immune regulator selenium on PD-L1 expression show ambiguous results. Thus, we aimed to analyze sPD-L1 levels in samples from patients who underwent different dosages of selenite treatment in phase I clinical trial. We hypothesized that selenite modulates the sPD-L1 levels in the plasma as a consequence of the suggested mode of action of selenotherapy in cancer patients. In conclusion, our results support the view that selenotherapy does not substantially affect the PD-1/PD-L1 axis judged by sPD-L1 analysis. Furthermore, no significant correlation was observed between the survival and sPD-L1 expression nor sPD-L1 changes. However, due to a dynamic individual sPD-L1 profile and a high variation in survival, we suggest that further studies are needed to identify whether individual patients can be benefited from combinational seleno- and anti-PD-L1 therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Razaghi
- Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ladan Mansouri
- Karolinska Institutet, Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ola Brodin
- Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden.,Theme Cancer, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden
| | - Mikael Björnstedt
- Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Joachim Lundahl
- Karolinska Institutet, Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
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Lange A, Cajander S, Magnuson A, Strålin K, Hultgren O. Sustained elevation of soluble B- and T- lymphocyte attenuator predicts long-term mortality in patients with bacteremia and sepsis. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0265818. [PMID: 35312715 PMCID: PMC8936450 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Soluble B and T lymphocyte attenuator (sBTLA) has been shown to be associated with severity and outcome, in critically ill septic patients. We aimed to assess the dynamic expression of sBTLA, as a prognostic biomarker of long-term mortality in patients with bloodstream infection (BSI) and sepsis, and to evaluate its association with biomarkers indicative of inflammation and immune dysregulation. Secondarily, sBTLA was evaluated in association with severity and bacterial etiology. Patients with BSI (n = 108) were prospectively included, and serially sampled from admission to day 28. Blood and plasma donors (n = 31), sampled twice 28 days apart, served as controls. sBTLA concentration in plasma was determined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Associations between sBTLA on day 1-2 and 7, and mortality at 90 days and 1 year, were determined with unadjusted, and adjusted Cox regression. Differences related to severity was assessed with linear regression. Mixed model was used to assess sBTLA dynamics over time, and sBTLA associations with bacterial etiology and other biomarkers. sBTLA on day 1-2 and 7 was associated with mortality, in particular failure to normalize sBTLA by day 7 was associated with an increased risk of death before day 90, adjusted HR 17 (95% CI 1.8-160), and one year, adjusted HR 15 (95% CI 2.8-76). sBTLA was positively associated with CRP, and negatively with lymphocyte count. sBTLA on day 1-2 was not linearly associated with baseline SOFA score increase. High SOFA (≥4) was however associated with higher mean sBTLA than SOFA ≤3. sBTLA was not associated with bacterial etiology. We show that sustained elevation of sBTLA one week after hospital admission is associated with late mortality in patients with BSI and sepsis, and that sBTLA concentration is associated with CRP and decreased lymphocyte count. This suggests that sBTLA might be an indicator of sustained immune-dysregulation, and a prognostic tool in sepsis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Lange
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
- * E-mail:
| | - Sara Cajander
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Anders Magnuson
- Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Kristoffer Strålin
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Medicine Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Olof Hultgren
- Department of Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
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Li W, Syed F, Yu R, Yang J, Xia Y, Relich RF, Russell PM, Zhang S, Khalili M, Huang L, Kacena MA, Zheng X, Yu Q. Soluble Immune Checkpoints Are Dysregulated in COVID-19 and Heavy Alcohol Users With HIV Infection. Front Immunol 2022; 13:833310. [PMID: 35281051 PMCID: PMC8904355 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.833310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Immune checkpoints (ICPs) consist of paired receptor-ligand molecules that exert inhibitory or stimulatory effects on immune defense, surveillance, regulation, and self-tolerance. ICPs exist in both membrane and soluble forms in vivo and in vitro. Imbalances between inhibitory and stimulatory membrane-bound ICPs (mICPs) in malignant cells and immune cells in the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) have been well documented. Blockades of inhibitory mICPs have emerged as an immense breakthrough in cancer therapeutics. However, the origin, structure, production regulation, and biological significance of soluble ICPs (sICPs) in health and disease largely remains elusive. Soluble ICPs can be generated through either alternative mRNA splicing and secretion or protease-mediated shedding from mICPs. Since sICPs are found in the bloodstream, they likely form a circulating immune regulatory system. In fact, there is increasing evidence that sICPs exhibit biological functions including (1) regulation of antibacterial immunity, (2) interaction with their mICP compartments to positively or negatively regulate immune responses, and (3) competition with their mICP compartments for binding to the ICP blocking antibodies, thereby reducing the efficacy of ICP blockade therapies. Here, we summarize current data of sICPs in cancer and infectious diseases. We particularly focus on sICPs in COVID-19 and HIV infection as they are the two ongoing global pandemics and have created the world's most serious public health challenges. A "storm" of sICPs occurs in the peripheral circulation of COVID-19 patients and is associated with the severity of COVID-19. Similarly, sICPs are highly dysregulated in people living with HIV (PLHIV) and some sICPs remain dysregulated in PLHIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART), indicating these sICPs may serve as biomarkers of incomplete immune reconstitution in PLHIV on ART. We reveal that HIV infection in the setting of alcohol misuse exacerbates sICP dysregulation as PLHIV with heavy alcohol consumption have significantly elevated plasma levels of many sICPs. Thus, both stimulatory and inhibitory sICPs are present in the bloodstream of healthy people and their balance can be disrupted under pathophysiological conditions such as cancer, COVID-19, HIV infection, and alcohol misuse. There is an urgent need to study the role of sICPs in immune regulation in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Li
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Fahim Syed
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Richard Yu
- Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, United States
| | - Jing Yang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Ying Xia
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
- School of Laboratory Medicine, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Ryan F. Relich
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Patrick M. Russell
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Shanxiang Zhang
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Mandana Khalili
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Laurence Huang
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Melissa A. Kacena
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Xiaoqun Zheng
- School of Laboratory Medicine, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Qigui Yu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
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20
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Peng Y, Zhang C, Rui Z, Tang W, Xu Y, Tao X, Zhao Q, Tong X. A comprehensive profiling of soluble immune checkpoints from the sera of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. J Clin Lab Anal 2022; 36:e24224. [PMID: 35019173 PMCID: PMC8841185 DOI: 10.1002/jcla.24224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Revised: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Immunotherapy was widely used for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, whether inhibition of immune checkpoints individually or simultaneously could improve the therapeutic efficacy of NSCLC remains to be investigated. Here, we explored the aberrant levels of several checkpoints and evaluated their potential diagnostic values for NSCLC. METHODS Serum samples of 89 NSCLC patients and 57 healthy donors were collected from Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital between November 2019 and July 2020. Fourteen human immune checkpoints were quantified by Procarta-Plex Human Immuno-Oncology Checkpoint Panel. RESULTS The expression levels of sTIM-3, sCD137, sCD27, sLAG-3, sIDO, sPD-L2, sCD152, sCD80, and sPD-1 were all significantly increased in serum of NSCLC patients. Especially, sLAG-3 was significantly elevated in serum of NSCLC patients at early-stage (stages I and II), TIM-3, CD137, and CD27 were significantly higher in the advanced NSCLC patients (stages III and IV) than in the early-stage groups. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) results showed that except for PD-1, all the other immune checkpoint proteins had potential diagnostic values for NSCLC. sTIM-3 had the highest diagnostic accuracy, followed by sLAG-3. Combining sTIM-3, sLAG-3, and sCD137 could increase the accuracy to a higher level. Moreover, sCD27 was correlated with NSCLC cancer type, age, sex, and disease stage, while sCD137 was correlated with age and disease stage. sTIM-3 and sIDO were correlated with stage and age, respectively. CONCLUSIONS TIM-3 and LAG-3 were independent biomarkers for the early diagnosis of NSCLC. The combination of TIM-3, LAG-3, and CD137 could increase the diagnostic accuracy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Peng
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Liyang People's Hospital, Liyang, China
| | - Chen Zhang
- Center of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Zhilian Rui
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Liyang People's Hospital, Liyang, China
| | - Weiming Tang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Liyang People's Hospital, Liyang, China
| | - Yan Xu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Liyang People's Hospital, Liyang, China
| | - Xiaoxin Tao
- Department of Oncology, Liyang People's Hospital, Liyang, China
| | - Qi Zhao
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China
| | - Xin Tong
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China
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21
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Kozuka R, Enomoto M, Dong MP, Hai H, Thuy LTT, Odagiri N, Yoshida K, Kotani K, Motoyama H, Kawamura E, Hagihara A, Fujii H, Uchida-Kobayashi S, Tamori A, Kawada N. Soluble programmed cell death-1 predicts hepatocellular carcinoma development during nucleoside analogue treatment. Sci Rep 2022; 12:105. [PMID: 34996935 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03706-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Soluble immune checkpoint molecules are emerging novel mediators of immune regulation. However, it is unclear whether soluble immune checkpoint proteins affect the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection. This study included 122 NA-naïve patients who received NA therapy. We assessed the associations of clinical factors, including soluble immune checkpoint proteins, with HCC development during NA treatment. The baseline serum concentrations of 16 soluble immune checkpoint proteins were measured using multiplexed fluorescent bead-based immunoassay. In total, 13 patients developed HCC during the follow-up period (median duration, 4.3 years). Of the 16 proteins, soluble inducible T-cell co-stimulator (≥ 164.71 pg/mL; p = 0.014), soluble programmed cell death-1 (sPD-1) (≤ 447.27 pg/mL; p = 0.031), soluble CD40 (≤ 493.68 pg/mL; p = 0.032), and soluble herpes virus entry mediator (≤ 2470.83 pg/mL; p = 0.038) were significantly associated with HCC development (log-rank test). In multivariate analysis, an sPD-1 level ≤ 447.27 pg/mL (p = 0.014; hazard ratio [HR], 4.537) and α-fetoprotein level ≥ 6.4 ng/mL (p = 0.040; HR, 5.524) were independently and significantly associated with HCC development. Pre-treatment sPD-1 is a novel predictive biomarker for HCC development during NA treatment.
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22
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Xuan Hoan N, Thi Minh Huyen P, Dinh Tung B, Phuong Giang D, Tat Trung N, Tien Sy B, Thi Tuan N, Thi Ngoc Dung D, Reddy Pallerla S, Velavan TP, Hong Bang M, Huu Song L. Association of PD-L1 gene polymorphisms and circulating sPD-L1 levels with HBV infection susceptibility and related liver disease progression. Gene 2022; 806:145935. [PMID: 34478821 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2021.145935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Soluble molecules of programmed death ligand 1 (sPD-L1) are known to modulate T-cell depletion, an important mechanism of hepatitis B virus (HBV) persistence and liver disease progression. In addition, PD-L1 polymorphisms in the 3'-UTR can influence PD-L1 expression and have been associated with cancer risk, although not definitively. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of PD-L1 polymorphisms and circulating levels of sPD-L1 in HBV infection and live disease progression. In this study, five hundred fifty-one HBV infected patients of the three clinically well-defined subgroups chronic hepatitis B (CHB, n = 186), liver cirrhosis (LC, n = 142) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, n = 223) and 240 healthy individuals (HC) were enrolled. PD-L1 polymorphisms (rs2297136 and rs4143815) were genotyped by in-house validated ARMS assays. Logistic regression models were applied in order to determine the association of PD-L1 polymorphisms with HBV infection as well as with progression of related liver diseases. Plasma sPD-L1 levels were quantified by ELISA assays. The PD-L1 rs2297136 AA genotype was associated with HBV infection susceptibility (HBV vs. HC: OR = 1.6; 95%CI = 1.1-2.3; p = 0.0087) and disease progression (LC vs. CHB: OR = 1.8; 95%CI = 1.1-2.9; p = 0.018). Whereas, the rs2297136 GG genotype was a protective factor for HCC development. Plasma sPD-L1 levels were significantly high in HBV patients (p < 0.0001) and higher in the LC followed by CHB and HCC groups. High sPD-L1 levels correlated with increased liver enzymes and with advanced liver disease progression (Child-pugh C > B > A, p < 0.0001) and BCLC classification (BCLC D > C > B > A, p = 0.031). We could, for the first time, conclude that PD-L1 rs2297136 polymorphism and plasma sPD-L1 protein levels associate with HBV infection and HBV-related liver disease progression.
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23
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Doornebal EJ, Harris N, Riva A, Jagatia R, Pizanias M, Prachalias A, Menon K, Preziosi M, Zamalloa A, Miquel R, Zen Y, Orford MR, Eaton S, Heaton N, Ramage J, Palma E, Srirajaskanthan R, Chokshi S. Human Immunocompetent Model of Neuroendocrine Liver Metastases Recapitulates Patient-Specific Tumour Microenvironment. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2022; 13:909180. [PMID: 35909511 PMCID: PMC9326114 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.909180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroendocrine liver metastases (LM-NEN) develop in a considerable proportion of patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms. There is a paucity of experimental models that accurately recapitulate this complex metastatic human liver microenvironment precluding scientific and clinical advancements. Here, we describe the development of a novel personalised immunocompetent precision cut tumour slice (PCTS) model for LM-NEN using resected human liver tissue. The histological assessment throughout the culture demonstrated that slices maintain viability for at least 7 days and retain the cellular heterogeneity of the original tumour. Essential clinical features, such as patient-specific histoarchitecture, tumour grade, neuroendocrine differentiation and metabolic capacity, are preserved in the slices. The PCTS also replicate the tumor-specific immunological profile as shown by the innate and adaptive immunity markers analysis. Furthermore, the study of soluble immune checkpoint receptors in the culture supernatants proves that these immunomodulators are actively produced by LM-NEN and suggests that this process is epithelium-dependent. This model can be employed to investigate these pathways and provides a powerful platform for mechanistic, immunological and pre-clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ewald Jan Doornebal
- Foundation for Liver Research, The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, London, United Kingdom
- King’s College London, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nicola Harris
- Foundation for Liver Research, The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, London, United Kingdom
- King’s College London, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Antonio Riva
- Foundation for Liver Research, The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, London, United Kingdom
- King’s College London, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ravi Jagatia
- Foundation for Liver Research, The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, London, United Kingdom
- King’s College London, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Michail Pizanias
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College Hospital and King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Andreas Prachalias
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College Hospital and King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Krishna Menon
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College Hospital and King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Melissa Preziosi
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College Hospital and King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ane Zamalloa
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College Hospital and King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Rosa Miquel
- Liver Histopathology Laboratory, Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Yoh Zen
- Liver Histopathology Laboratory, Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Robert Orford
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Simon Eaton
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel Heaton
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College Hospital and King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - John Ramage
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College Hospital and King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- Neuroendocrine Tumour Unit, ENETS Centre of Excellence, King’s College Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Elena Palma
- Foundation for Liver Research, The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, London, United Kingdom
- King’s College London, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Shilpa Chokshi, ; Elena Palma,
| | - Rajaventhan Srirajaskanthan
- Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College Hospital and King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- Neuroendocrine Tumour Unit, ENETS Centre of Excellence, King’s College Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Shilpa Chokshi
- Foundation for Liver Research, The Roger Williams Institute of Hepatology, London, United Kingdom
- King’s College London, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Shilpa Chokshi, ; Elena Palma,
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Lushnikova A, Bohr J, Wickbom A, Münch A, Sjöberg K, Hultgren O, Wirén A, Hultgren Hörnquist E. Patients With Microscopic Colitis Have Altered Levels of Inhibitory and Stimulatory Biomarkers in Colon Biopsies and Sera Compared to Non-inflamed Controls. Front Med (Lausanne) 2021; 8:727412. [PMID: 34722568 PMCID: PMC8555710 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2021.727412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2021] [Accepted: 09/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Microscopic colitis (MC) is an inflammatory bowel condition with two subtypes, lymphocytic colitis (LC) and collagenous colitis (CC). Unlike patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and non-inflamed individuals, MC patients have reduced risk of developing colorectal cancer, possibly due to increased immune surveillance in MC patients. Aim: To examine differences in levels of immunomodulatory molecules, including those involved in immune checkpoint mechanisms, in sera from patients with MC and in colonic biopsies from patients with MC and UC compared with controls. Methods: Using Luminex, 23 analytes (4-1BB, 4-1BBL, APRIL, BAFF, BTLA, CD27, CD28, CD80, CTLA-4, E-cadherin, Galectin-3, GITR, HVEM, IDO, IL-2Rα, LAG-3, MICA, MICB, PD-1, PD-L1, PD-L2, sCD40L and TIM-3) were studied in serum from patients with active MC (n = 35) and controls (n = 23), and in colonic biopsies from patients with active LC (n = 9), active CC (n = 16) and MC in histological remission (LC n = 6, CC n = 6), active UC (n = 15) and UC in remission (n = 12) and controls (n = 58). Results: In serum, IDO, PD-1, TIM-3, 4-1BB, CD27, and CD80 were decreased whereas 4-1BBL and IL-2Rα were increased in MC patients compared with controls. In contrast, in biopsies, levels of PD-L2 and 4-1BB were increased in MC and UC patients with active disease. Furthermore, in biopsies from CC and UC but not LC patients with active disease, CTLA-4, PD-1, APRIL, BAFF, and IL-2Rα were increased compared with controls. PD-L1 was increased in CC but not UC or LC patients. CD27 and TIM-3 were decreased in biopsies from MC patients in comparison to controls whereas levels of MICB were decreased in patients with active UC compared with controls. Conclusions: Compared with non-inflamed controls, levels of soluble and membrane-bound immunomodulatory molecules were systemically and locally altered in MC and UC patients, with most analytes being decreased in serum but enhanced in colonic biopsies. These findings contribute to knowledge about checkpoint molecules and their role as biomarkers in MC and may also contribute to knowledge about possible mechanisms behind the seemingly protective effects of MC against colorectal cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Johan Bohr
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Örebro University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Anna Wickbom
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Örebro University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Andreas Münch
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in Linköping, and Department of Health, Medicine, and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Klas Sjöberg
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Department of Gastroenterology, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Olof Hultgren
- Department of Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Anders Wirén
- School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
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25
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Abstract
Co-inhibitory B7-CD28 family member proteins negatively regulate T cell responses and are extensively involved in tumor immune evasion. Blockade of classical CTLA-4 (cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4) and PD-1 (programmed cell death protein-1) checkpoint pathways have become the cornerstone of anti-cancer immunotherapy. New inhibitory checkpoint proteins such as B7-H3, B7-H4, and BTLA (B and T lymphocyte attenuator) are being discovered and investigated for their potential in anti-cancer immunotherapy. In addition, soluble forms of these molecules also exist in sera of healthy individuals and elevated levels are found in chronic infections, autoimmune diseases, and cancers. Soluble forms are generated by proteolytic shedding or alternative splicing. Elevated circulating levels of these inhibitory soluble checkpoint molecules in cancer have been correlated with advance stage, metastatic status, and prognosis which underscore their broader involvement in immune regulation. In addition to their potential as biomarker, understanding their mechanism of production, biological activity, and pathological interactions may also pave the way for their clinical use as a therapeutic target. Here we review these aspects of soluble checkpoint molecules and elucidate on their potential for anti-cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Khan
- Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
- Inflammation and Immune Mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Sumbal Arooj
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Sialkot, Sialkot, Pakistan
| | - Hua Wang
- Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
- Inflammation and Immune Mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
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26
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Jubel JM, Randau TM, Becker-Gotot J, Scheidt S, Wimmer MD, Kohlhof H, Burger C, Wirtz DC, Schildberg FA. sCD28, sCD80, sCTLA-4, and sBTLA Are Promising Markers in Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches for Aseptic Loosening and Periprosthetic Joint Infection. Front Immunol 2021; 12:687065. [PMID: 34421900 PMCID: PMC8377391 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.687065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Aseptic prosthetic loosening and periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) are among the most frequent complications after total knee/hip joint arthroplasty (TJA). Current research efforts focus on understanding the involvement of the immune system in these frequent complications. Different immune cell types have already been implicated in aseptic prosthetic loosening and PJI. The aim of this study was to systematically analyze aspirates from knee and hip joints, evaluating the qualitative and quantitative composition of soluble immunoregulatory markers, with a focus on co-inhibitory and co-stimulatory markers. It has been shown that these molecules play important roles in immune regulation in cancer and chronic infectious diseases, but they have not been investigated in the context of joint replacement. For this purpose, aspirates from control joints (i.e., native joints without implanted prostheses), joints with TJA (no signs of infection or aseptic loosening), joints with aseptic implant failure (AIF; i.e., aseptic loosening), and joints with PJI were collected. Fourteen soluble immunoregulatory markers were assessed using bead-based multiplex assays. In this study, it could be shown that the concentrations of the analyzed immunoregulatory molecules vary between control, TJA, AIF, and PJI joints. Comparing TJA patients to CO patients, sCD80 was significantly elevated. The marker sBTLA was significantly elevated in AIF joints compared to TJA joints. In addition, a significant difference for eight markers could be shown when comparing the AIF and CO groups (sCD27, sCTLA-4, sCD137, sCD80, sCD28, sTIM-3, sPD-1, sBTLA). A significant difference was also reached for nine soluble markers when the PJI and CO groups were compared (sLAG-3, sCTLA-4, sCD27, sCD80, sCD28, sTIM-3, sPD-1, IDO, sBTLA). In summary, the analyzed immunoregulatory markers could be useful for diagnostic purposes as well as to develop new therapeutic approaches for AIF and PJI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jil M Jubel
- Clinic for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Thomas M Randau
- Clinic for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Janine Becker-Gotot
- Institute of Experimental Immunology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Sebastian Scheidt
- Clinic for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Matthias D Wimmer
- Clinic for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Hendrik Kohlhof
- Clinic for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Christof Burger
- Clinic for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Dieter C Wirtz
- Clinic for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Frank A Schildberg
- Clinic for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
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Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most widespread typical therapy-resistant, unresectable type of malignant solid tumour with a high death rate constituting huge medical concern. Sorafenib is a small molecule oral multi-target kinase potent inhibitor that acts by suppressing/blocking the multiplication of the tumour cells, angiogenesis, and encouraging apoptosis of the tumour cells. Though, the precise mechanism of tumour cell death induction by sorafenib is yet under exploration. Furthermore, genetic heterogeneity plays a critical role in developing sorafenib resistance, which leads the way to identify the need for predictive biomarkers responsible for drug resistance. Therefore, it is essential to find out the fundamental resistance mechanisms to expand therapeutic plans. The authors summarize the molecular concepts of resistance, progression, potential molecular targets, HCC management therapies, and discussion on the advancements expected in the coming future, inclusive of biomarker-driven treatment strategies, which may provide the prospects to design innovative therapeutically targeted strategies for the HCC treatment and the clinical implementation of emerging targeted agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mandeep Dahiya
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, India
| | - Harish Dureja
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, India
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28
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Botticelli A, Zizzari IG, Scagnoli S, Pomati G, Strigari L, Cirillo A, Cerbelli B, Di Filippo A, Napoletano C, Scirocchi F, Rughetti A, Nuti M, Mezi S, Marchetti P. The Role of Soluble LAG3 and Soluble Immune Checkpoints Profile in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer: A Pilot Study. J Pers Med 2021; 11:jpm11070651. [PMID: 34357118 PMCID: PMC8304359 DOI: 10.3390/jpm11070651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Unresectable recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC) has a very poor prognosis. Soluble immune checkpoints (sICs) are circulating proteins that result from the alternative splicing of membrane proteins and can modulate the immune response to cancer cells. The aim of our pilot study was to determine the possible role of a comprehensive evaluation of sICs in the classification of prognosis and response to treatment in patients with advanced disease. We evaluated several sICs (CD137, CTLA-4, PD-1, PD-L1, PD-L2, TIM3, LAG3, GITR, HVEM, BTLA, IDO, CD80, CD27, and CD28) from peripheral blood at baseline and investigated the association with clinical characteristics and outcomes. A high baseline soluble LAG3 (sLAG3 > 377 pg/mL) resulted in an association with poor PFS and OS (p = 0.047 and p = 0.003, respectively). Moreover, sLAG3 emerged as an independent prognostic factor using an MVA (p = 0.005). The evaluation of sICs, in particular sLAG3, may be relevant for identifying patients with worse prognoses, or resistance to treatments, and may lead to the development of novel targeted strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Botticelli
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Oncology, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00185 Rome, Italy; (A.B.); (P.M.)
| | - Ilaria Grazia Zizzari
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00161 Rome, Italy; (I.G.Z.); (A.D.F.); (C.N.); (F.S.); (A.R.); (M.N.)
| | - Simone Scagnoli
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00185 Rome, Italy
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-328-030-6525
| | - Giulia Pomati
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00161 Rome, Italy;
| | - Lidia Strigari
- Medical Physics Unit, “S. Orsola-Malpighi” Hospital, 40138 Bologna, Italy;
| | - Alessio Cirillo
- Department of Radiological, Oncological and Anatomo-Pathological Science, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00185 Rome, Italy; (A.C.); (B.C.); (S.M.)
| | - Bruna Cerbelli
- Department of Radiological, Oncological and Anatomo-Pathological Science, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00185 Rome, Italy; (A.C.); (B.C.); (S.M.)
| | - Alessandra Di Filippo
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00161 Rome, Italy; (I.G.Z.); (A.D.F.); (C.N.); (F.S.); (A.R.); (M.N.)
| | - Chiara Napoletano
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00161 Rome, Italy; (I.G.Z.); (A.D.F.); (C.N.); (F.S.); (A.R.); (M.N.)
| | - Fabio Scirocchi
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00161 Rome, Italy; (I.G.Z.); (A.D.F.); (C.N.); (F.S.); (A.R.); (M.N.)
| | - Aurelia Rughetti
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00161 Rome, Italy; (I.G.Z.); (A.D.F.); (C.N.); (F.S.); (A.R.); (M.N.)
| | - Marianna Nuti
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00161 Rome, Italy; (I.G.Z.); (A.D.F.); (C.N.); (F.S.); (A.R.); (M.N.)
| | - Silvia Mezi
- Department of Radiological, Oncological and Anatomo-Pathological Science, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00185 Rome, Italy; (A.C.); (B.C.); (S.M.)
| | - Paolo Marchetti
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Oncology, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00185 Rome, Italy; (A.B.); (P.M.)
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29
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Kamal AM, Wasfey EF, Elghamry WR, Sabry OM, Elghobary HA, Radwan SM. Genetic signature of CTLA-4, BTLA, TIM-3 and LAG-3 molecular expression in colorectal cancer patients: Implications in diagnosis and survival outcomes. Clin Biochem 2021; 96:13-18. [PMID: 34217699 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2021.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Accumulating evidences suggest that immune checkpoints (ICs) inhibit immune response against cancerous cells and promote tumor cell survival. Up-regulation of ICs in tumor microenvironment is reported in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Thus, evaluating the peripheral blood expression of ICs may be used as non-invasive biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of CRC. METHODS This study included 60 primary and treatment naïve CRC patients along with 15 age and sex matched healthy volunteers as a control group. Total RNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples and gene expression of cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4), B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA), T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3 (TIM-3), and Lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3) was measured by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). All patients were followed for 12 months to correlate the measured ICs to patients' survival. RESULTS The gene expression of CTLA-4, BTLA, TIM-3 and LAG-3 was significantly up-regulated in CRC patients compared to the control group (p < 0.001). Individually, CTLA-4 and BTLA showed 85% sensitivity in discriminating CRC patients from control group (p < 0.001). On the other hand, TIM-3 and LAG-3 expression showed higher sensitivity (93%) for diagnosis of CRC (p < 0.001). Conversely, CTLA-4 or BTLA strongly predicted CRC patients' survival (p < 0.001) compared to TIM-3 (p = 0.018) or LAG-3 (p = 0.035). CTLA-4, BTLA, TIM-3 and LAG-3 were independent prognostic factors of survival after adjustment for age and gender. CONCLUSION The current study provided evidence that blood gene expression of ICs was up-regulated in CRC patients and associated with cancer stage and patients' survival, which highlights the diagnostic and prognostic values of ICs expression in CRC. Further investigations and validations in larger cohorts are required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amany M Kamal
- Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
| | - Eman F Wasfey
- Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
| | - Wesam R Elghamry
- Clinical Oncology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
| | - Omar M Sabry
- Hematology Laboratory, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Giza, Egypt.
| | - Hany A Elghobary
- Clinical and Chemical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt
| | - Sara M Radwan
- Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
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30
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Gorgulho J, Roderburg C, Heymann F, Schulze-Hagen M, Beier F, Vucur M, Kather JN, Laleh NG, Tacke F, Brümmendorf TH, Luedde T, Loosen SH. Serum levels of soluble B and T lymphocyte attenuator predict overall survival in patients undergoing immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for solid malignancies. Int J Cancer 2021; 149:1189-1198. [PMID: 33890289 DOI: 10.1002/ijc.33610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2020] [Revised: 03/27/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can lead to durable tumor control in patients with various advanced stage malignancies. However, this is not the case for all patients, leading to an ongoing search for biomarkers predicting response and outcome to ICI. The B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) is an immune checkpoint expressed on immune cells that was shown to modulate therapeutic responses. Here, we evaluate circulating levels of its soluble form, soluble B and T lymphocyte attenuator (sBTLA), as a biomarker for the prediction of treatment response and outcome to ICI therapy. Serum levels of sBTLA were analyzed by multiplex immunoassay in n = 84 patients receiving ICI therapy for solid malignancies and 32 healthy controls. BTLA expression was evaluated on peripheral blood mononuclear cells in a subset of patients (n = 6) using multicolor flow cytometry. Baseline sBTLA serum levels were significantly higher in cancer patients compared to healthy controls. Importantly, circulating sBTLA levels were an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (OS). As such, patients with initial sBTLA levels above the calculated prognostic cutoff value (311.64 pg/mL) had a median OS of only 138 days compared to 526 for patients with sBTLA levels below this value (P = .001). Uni- and multivariate Cox regression analyses confirmed the prognostic role of sBTLA in the context of ICI therapy. Finally, we observed a significant correlation between sBTLA levels and the frequency of CD3 + CD8 + BTLA+ T cells in peripheral blood. Thus, our data suggest that circulating sBTLA could represent a noninvasive biomarker to predict outcome to ICI therapy, helping to select eligible therapy candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joao Gorgulho
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Hepatobiliary Oncology, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany.,Department of Oncology, Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation with Section of Pneumology, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christoph Roderburg
- Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Felix Heymann
- Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Maximilian Schulze-Hagen
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | - Fabian Beier
- Department of Medicine IV, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | - Mihael Vucur
- Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Jakob N Kather
- Department of Medicine III, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | | | - Frank Tacke
- Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Tim H Brümmendorf
- Department of Medicine IV, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | - Tom Luedde
- Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Sven H Loosen
- Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
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31
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Shrestha R, Prithviraj P, Bridle KR, Crawford DHG, Jayachandran A. Combined Inhibition of TGF-β1-Induced EMT and PD-L1 Silencing Re-Sensitizes Hepatocellular Carcinoma to Sorafenib Treatment. J Clin Med 2021; 10:1889. [PMID: 33925488 DOI: 10.3390/jcm10091889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2021] [Revised: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary hepatic malignancy. HCC is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide. The oral multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor Sorafenib is the standard first-line therapy in patients with advanced unresectable HCC. Despite the significant survival benefit in HCC patients post treatment with Sorafenib, many patients had progressive disease as a result of acquiring drug resistance. Circumventing resistance to Sorafenib by exploring and targeting possible molecular mechanisms and pathways is an area of active investigation worldwide. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular process allowing epithelial cells to assume mesenchymal traits. HCC tumour cells undergo EMT to become immune evasive and develop resistance to Sorafenib treatment. Immune checkpoint molecules control immune escape in many tumours, including HCC. The aim of this study is to investigate whether combined inhibition of EMT and immune checkpoints can re-sensitise HCC to Sorafenib treatment. Post treatment with Sorafenib, HCC cells PLC/PRF/5 and Hep3B were monitored for induction of EMT and immune checkpoint molecules using quantitative reverse transcriptase (qRT)- PCR, western blot, immunofluorescence, and motility assays. The effect of combination treatment with SB431542, a specific inhibitor of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β receptor kinase, and siRNA mediated knockdown of programmed cell death protein ligand-1 (PD-L1) on Sorafenib resistance was examined using a cell viability assay. We found that three days of Sorafenib treatment activated EMT with overexpression of TGF-β1 in both HCC cell lines. Following Sorafenib exposure, increase in the expression of PD-L1 and other immune checkpoints was observed. SB431542 blocked the TGF-β1-mediated EMT in HCC cells and also repressed PD-L1 expression. Likewise, knockdown of PD-L1 inhibited EMT. Moreover, the sensitivity of HCC cells to Sorafenib was enhanced by combining a blockade of EMT with SB431542 and knockdown of PD-L1 expression. Sorafenib-induced motility was attenuated with the combined treatment of SB431542 and PD-L1 knockdown. Our findings indicate that treatment with Sorafenib induces EMT and expression of immune checkpoint molecules, which contributes to Sorafenib resistance in HCC cells. Thus, the combination treatment strategy of inhibiting EMT and immune checkpoint molecules can re-sensitise HCC cells to Sorafenib.
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Billon E, Chanez B, Rochigneux P, Albiges L, Vicier C, Pignot G, Walz J, Chretien AS, Gravis G, Olive D. Soluble BTN2A1 Is a Potential Prognosis Biomarker in Pre-Treated Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma. Front Immunol 2021; 12:670827. [PMID: 33959132 PMCID: PMC8096349 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.670827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) has dramatically changed the landscape of therapies for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. However, many patients do not benefit from such therapy and prognostic or predictive validated biomarker validated for ICI are still needed to better select and treat patient. Plasmatic soluble immune checkpoints have been described as potential immune biomarkers in hematological malignancies and solids tumors, then, we would like to explore the prognostic value of different soluble immune checkpoints in patients with mRCC treated with nivolumab after TKI. We prospectively collected plasma samples before nivolumab infusion from 38 patients previously treated for mRCC with TKI at Paoli-Calmettes Institute, from the NIVOREN GETUG-AFU 26 study (NCT03013335). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were performed for soluble forms of PD-1, PD-L1, global BTN3, BTLA, BTN3A1 and BTN2A1. Among the different soluble checkpoints analyzed, only high baseline plasmatic level of BTN2A1 was significantly associated with shorter PFS: median PFS was 3.95 months for sBTN2A1high vs 14.30 months for sBTN2A1low (sBTN2A1 cut-off: 6.7ng/mL; HR = 2.26, 95%CI [0.68 - 4.60], p = 0.0307). There was no statistical difference in OS between sBTN2A1high and sBTN2A1low. Our results suggest that the baseline level of plasmatic BTN2A1 could be an independent prognosis factor of PFS after nivolumab for pre-treated patient with mRCC. However, these results need to be validated in a larger prospective cohort and the biological role of BTN subfamily and γδ T cell immunity in mRCC must be elucidated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilien Billon
- Team Immunity and Cancer, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille (CRCM), Inserm, U1068, CNRS, UMR7258, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Aix-Marseille University, UM105, Marseille, France.,Immunomonitoring Department, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France.,Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France
| | - Brice Chanez
- Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France
| | - Philippe Rochigneux
- Team Immunity and Cancer, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille (CRCM), Inserm, U1068, CNRS, UMR7258, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Aix-Marseille University, UM105, Marseille, France.,Immunomonitoring Department, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France.,Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France
| | - Laurence Albiges
- Department of Cancer Medicine, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France
| | - Cécile Vicier
- Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France
| | - Géraldine Pignot
- Department of Urology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France
| | - Jochen Walz
- Department of Urology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France
| | - Anne-Sophie Chretien
- Team Immunity and Cancer, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille (CRCM), Inserm, U1068, CNRS, UMR7258, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Aix-Marseille University, UM105, Marseille, France.,Immunomonitoring Department, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France
| | - Gwenaelle Gravis
- Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France
| | - Daniel Olive
- Team Immunity and Cancer, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille (CRCM), Inserm, U1068, CNRS, UMR7258, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Aix-Marseille University, UM105, Marseille, France.,Immunomonitoring Department, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France
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Sordo-Bahamonde C, Lorenzo-Herrero S, Gonzalez-Rodriguez AP, R Payer Á, González-García E, López-Soto A, Gonzalez S. BTLA/HVEM Axis Induces NK Cell Immunosuppression and Poor Outcome in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:1766. [PMID: 33917094 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13081766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2021] [Revised: 04/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/04/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) represents the most frequent B cell malignancy in Western countries and still remains as an incurable disease. Despite recent advances in targeted therapies including ibrutinib, idelalisib or venetoclax, resistance mechanisms have been described and patients develop a progressive immunosuppression. Since immune checkpoint blockade has demonstrated to reinvigorate T and NK cell-mediated anti-tumor responses, the aim of this work was to elucidate whether this immunosuppression relies, at least in part, in BTLA/HVEM axis in patients with CLL. Our results demonstrate that BTLA and HVEM expression is deeply dysregulated on leukemic and NK cells and correlates with poor outcome. Moreover, soluble BTLA levels correlated with adverse cytogenetics and shorter time to treatment. BTLA blockade restored, at least in part, NK cell-mediated responses in patients with CLL. Altogether, our results provide the rationale to further investigate the role of BTLA/HVEM axis in the pathogenesis of CLL. Abstract Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by progressive immunosuppression and diminished cancer immunosurveillance. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)-based therapies, a major breakthrough against cancer, have emerged as a powerful tool to reinvigorate antitumor responses. Herein, we analyzed the role of the novel inhibitory checkpoint BTLA and its ligand, HVEM, in the regulation of leukemic and natural killer (NK) cells in CLL. Flow cytometry analyses showed that BTLA expression is upregulated on leukemic cells and NK cells from patients with CLL, whereas HVEM is downregulated only in leukemic cells, especially in patients with advanced Rai-Binet stage. In silico analysis revealed that increased HVEM, but not BTLA, mRNA expression in leukemic cells correlated with diminished overall survival. Further, soluble BTLA (sBTLA) was found to be increased in the sera of patients with CLL and highly correlated with poor prognostic markers and shorter time to treatment. BTLA blockade with an anti-BTLA monoclonal antibody depleted leukemic cells and boosted NK cell-mediated responses ex vivo by increasing their IFN-γ production, cytotoxic capability, and antibody-dependent cytotoxicity (ADCC). In agreement with an inhibitory role of BTLA in NK cells, surface BTLA expression on NK cells was associated with poor outcome in patients with CLL. Overall, this study is the first to bring to light a role of BTLA/HVEM in the suppression of NK cell-mediated immune responses in CLL and its impact on patient’s prognosis, suggesting that BTLA/HVEM axis may be a potential therapeutic target in this disease.
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34
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Affiliation(s)
- I-Cheng Lee
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
- Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
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Khan M, Zhao Z, Arooj S, Fu Y, Liao G. Soluble PD-1: Predictive, Prognostic, and Therapeutic Value for Cancer Immunotherapy. Front Immunol 2020; 11:587460. [PMID: 33329567 PMCID: PMC7710690 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.587460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2020] [Accepted: 10/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Programmed death protein 1 (PD-1) interaction with PD-L1 deliver immunosuppressive environment for tumor growth, and its blockade with directed monoclonal antibodies (anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1) has shown remarkable clinical outcome. Lately, their soluble counterparts, sPD-1 and sPD-L1, have been detected in plasma, and elevated levels have been associated with advanced disease, clinical stages, and worst prognosis for cancer patients. Elevated plasma levels of sPD-L1 have been correlated with worst prognosis in several studies and has displayed a persistent outlook. On the other hand, sPD-1 levels have been inconsistent in their predictive and prognostic ability. Pretherapeutic higher sPD-1 plasma levels have shown to predict advanced disease state and to a lesser extent worst prognosis. Any increase in sPD-1 plasma level post therapeutically have been correlated with improved survival for various cancers. In vitro and in vivo studies have shown sPD-1 ability to bind PD-L1 and PD-L2 and block PD-1/PD-L1 interaction. Local delivery of sPD-1 in cancer tumor microenvironment through local gene therapy have demonstrated an increase in tumor specific CD8+ T cell immunity and tumor growth reduction. It had also exhibited enhancement of T cell immunity induced by vaccination and other gene therapeutic agents. Furthermore, it may also lessen the inhibitory effect of circulating sPD-L1 and enhance the effects of mAb-based immunotherapy. In this review, we highlight various aspects of sPD-1 role in cancer prediction, prognosis, and anti-cancer immunity, as well as, its therapeutic value for local gene therapy or systemic immunotherapy in blocking the PD-1 and PD-L1 checkpoint interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Khan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.,Department of Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Zhihong Zhao
- Department of Nephrology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Second Clinical Medicine Centre, Jinan University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Sumbal Arooj
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.,Department of Biochemistry, University of Sialkot, Sialkot, Pakistan
| | - Yuxiang Fu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Guixiang Liao
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
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Zhang Q, Chen Y, Bai X, Liang T. Immune Checkpoint Blockade Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Clinical Challenges and Considerations. Front Oncol 2020; 10:590058. [PMID: 33178615 PMCID: PMC7593704 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.590058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Although many approaches have been developed for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that has both high incidence and high mortality especially in Asian countries, the prognosis of HCC patients is still dismal. Immunotherapy, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors show encouraging efficacy and have already been widely applied in clinic. However, in contrast to traditional therapies, immunotherapy brings many challenges when using in a real world, including biomarker discovery, response evaluation, adverse event treatment, etc. In this review, we proposed some important and intractable issues in current clinical practice regarding the strategy of immune checkpoint blockade, collected current evidence, and discuss the critical challenges and possible approaches to a bright future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Zhang
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Innovation Center for the Study of Pancreatic Diseases of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Clinical Research Center of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yiwen Chen
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Innovation Center for the Study of Pancreatic Diseases of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Clinical Research Center of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xueli Bai
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Innovation Center for the Study of Pancreatic Diseases of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Clinical Research Center of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China
| | - Tingbo Liang
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Innovation Center for the Study of Pancreatic Diseases of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Clinical Research Center of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China
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Zizzari IG, Napoletano C, Di Filippo A, Botticelli A, Gelibter A, Calabrò F, Rossi E, Schinzari G, Urbano F, Pomati G, Scagnoli S, Rughetti A, Caponnetto S, Marchetti P, Nuti M. Exploratory Pilot Study of Circulating Biomarkers in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma. Cancers (Basel) 2020; 12:cancers12092620. [PMID: 32937860 PMCID: PMC7563741 DOI: 10.3390/cancers12092620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Revised: 09/07/2020] [Accepted: 09/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary The identification of biomarkers in response to therapeutic treatment is one of the main objectives of personalized oncology. Predictive biomarkers are particularly relevant for oncologists challenged by the busy scenario of possible therapeutic options in mRCC patients, including immunotherapy and TKIs. In fact the activation of the immune system can determine the outcome and success of the different therapeutic strategies. In this study we evaluated changes in the immune system of TKI mRCC-treated patients defining immunological profiles related to response characterized by specific biomarkers. The validation of the proposed immune portrait to an extended number of patients could allow characterization and selection of responsive and non-responsive patients from the beginning of the therapeutic process. Abstract With the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and next-generation vascular endothelial growth factor receptor–tyrosine kinase inhibitors (VEGFR–TKIs), the survival of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has improved remarkably. However, not all patients have benefited from treatments, and to date, there are still no validated biomarkers that can be included in the therapeutic algorithm. Thus, the identification of predictive biomarkers is necessary to increase the number of responsive patients and to understand the underlying immunity. The clinical outcome of RCC patients is, in fact, associated with immune response. In this exploratory pilot study, we assessed the immune effect of TKI therapy in order to evaluate the immune status of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients so that we could define a combination of immunological biomarkers relevant to improving patient outcomes. We profiled the circulating levels in 20 mRCC patients of exhausted/activated/regulatory T cell subsets through flow cytometry and of 14 immune checkpoint-related proteins and 20 inflammation cytokines/chemokines using multiplex Luminex assay, both at baseline and during TKI therapy. We identified the CD3+CD8+CD137+ and CD3+CD137+PD1+ T cell populations, as well as seven soluble immune molecules (i.e., IFNγ, sPDL2, sHVEM, sPD1, sGITR, sPDL1, and sCTLA4) associated with the clinical responses of mRCC patients, either modulated by TKI therapy or not. These results suggest an immunological profile of mRCC patients, which will help to improve clinical decision-making for RCC patients in terms of the best combination of strategies, as well as the optimal timing and therapeutic sequence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilaria Grazia Zizzari
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; (I.G.Z.); (A.D.F.); (A.R.); (M.N.)
| | - Chiara Napoletano
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; (I.G.Z.); (A.D.F.); (A.R.); (M.N.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-064-997-3025
| | - Alessandra Di Filippo
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; (I.G.Z.); (A.D.F.); (A.R.); (M.N.)
| | - Andrea Botticelli
- Division of Oncology, Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Policlinico Umberto I, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; (A.B.); (A.G.); (F.U.); (G.P.); (S.S.); (S.C.); (P.M.)
| | - Alain Gelibter
- Division of Oncology, Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Policlinico Umberto I, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; (A.B.); (A.G.); (F.U.); (G.P.); (S.S.); (S.C.); (P.M.)
| | - Fabio Calabrò
- Division of Medical Oncology B, San Camillo Forlanini Hospital Rome, 00149 Rome, Italy;
| | - Ernesto Rossi
- Department of Medical Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico A.Gemelli Rome, 00168 Rome, Italy; (E.R.); (G.S.)
| | - Giovanni Schinzari
- Department of Medical Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico A.Gemelli Rome, 00168 Rome, Italy; (E.R.); (G.S.)
| | - Federica Urbano
- Division of Oncology, Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Policlinico Umberto I, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; (A.B.); (A.G.); (F.U.); (G.P.); (S.S.); (S.C.); (P.M.)
| | - Giulia Pomati
- Division of Oncology, Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Policlinico Umberto I, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; (A.B.); (A.G.); (F.U.); (G.P.); (S.S.); (S.C.); (P.M.)
| | - Simone Scagnoli
- Division of Oncology, Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Policlinico Umberto I, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; (A.B.); (A.G.); (F.U.); (G.P.); (S.S.); (S.C.); (P.M.)
| | - Aurelia Rughetti
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; (I.G.Z.); (A.D.F.); (A.R.); (M.N.)
| | - Salvatore Caponnetto
- Division of Oncology, Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Policlinico Umberto I, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; (A.B.); (A.G.); (F.U.); (G.P.); (S.S.); (S.C.); (P.M.)
| | - Paolo Marchetti
- Division of Oncology, Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Policlinico Umberto I, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; (A.B.); (A.G.); (F.U.); (G.P.); (S.S.); (S.C.); (P.M.)
- Division of Oncology, Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Ospedale Sant’Andrea, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00189 Rome, Italy
| | - Marianna Nuti
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Cell Therapy, Department of Experimental Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; (I.G.Z.); (A.D.F.); (A.R.); (M.N.)
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Odagiri N, Hai H, Thuy LTT, Dong MP, Suoh M, Kotani K, Hagihara A, Uchida-Kobayashi S, Tamori A, Enomoto M, Kawada N. Early Change in the Plasma Levels of Circulating Soluble Immune Checkpoint Proteins in Patients with Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated by Lenvatinib or Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization. Cancers (Basel) 2020; 12:cancers12082045. [PMID: 32722224 PMCID: PMC7464181 DOI: 10.3390/cancers12082045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2020] [Revised: 07/12/2020] [Accepted: 07/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors, combined with anti-angiogenic agents or locoregional treatments (e.g., transarterial chemoembolization (TACE)), are expected to become standard-of-care for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We measured the plasma levels of 16 soluble checkpoint proteins using multiplexed fluorescent bead-based immunoassays in patients with HCC who underwent lenvatinib (n = 24) or TACE (n = 22) treatment. In lenvatinib-treated patients, plasma levels of sCD27 (soluble cluster of differentiation 27) decreased (p = 0.040) and levels of sCD40 (p = 0.014) and sTIM-3 (p < 0.001) were increased at Week 1, while levels of sCD27 (p < 0.001) were increased significantly at Weeks 2 through 4. At Week 1 of TACE, in addition to sCD27 (p = 0.028), sCD40 (p < 0.001), and sTIM-3 (soluble T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-3) (p < 0.001), levels of sHVEM (soluble herpesvirus entry mediator) (p = 0.003), sTLR-2 (soluble Toll-like receptor 2) (p = 0.009), sCD80 (p = 0.036), sCTLA-4 (soluble cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4) (p = 0.005), sGITR (soluble glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor) (p = 0.030), sGITRL (soluble glucocorticoid-induced TNFR-related ligand) (p = 0.090), and sPD-L1 (soluble programmed death-ligand 1) (p = 0.070) also increased. The fold-changes in soluble checkpoint receptors and their ligands, including sCTLA-4 with sCD80/sCD86 and sPD-1 (soluble programmed cell death domain-1) with sPD-L1 were positively correlated in both the lenvatinib and TACE treatment groups. Our results suggest that there are some limited differences in immunomodulatory effects between anti-angiogenic agents and TACE. Further studies from multicenters may help to identify an effective combination therapy.
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