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Causer A, Tan X, Lu X, Moseley P, Teoh SM, Molotkov N, McGrath M, Kim T, Simpson PT, Perry C, Frazer IH, Panizza B, Ladwa R, Nguyen Q, Gonzalez-Cruz JL. Deep spatial-omics analysis of Head & Neck carcinomas provides alternative therapeutic targets and rationale for treatment failure. NPJ Precis Oncol 2023; 7:89. [PMID: 37704757 PMCID: PMC10499928 DOI: 10.1038/s41698-023-00444-2] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy has had limited success (<30%) in treating metastatic recurrent Head and Neck Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinomas (OPSCCs). We postulate that spatial determinants in the tumor play a critical role in cancer therapy outcomes. Here, we describe the case of a male patient diagnosed with p16+ OPSCC and extensive lung metastatic disease who failed Nivolumab and Pembrolizumab/Lenvatinib therapies. Using advanced integrative spatial proteogenomic analysis on the patient's recurrent OPSCC tumors we demonstrate that: (i) unbiased tissue clustering based on spatial transcriptomics (ST) successfully detected tumor cells and enabled the investigation of phenotypic traits such as proliferation or drug-resistance genes in the tumor's leading-edge and core; (ii) spatial proteomic imagining used in conjunction with ST (SpiCi, Spatial Proteomics inferred Cell identification) can resolve the profiling of tumor infiltrating immune cells, (iii) ST data allows for the discovery and ranking of clinically relevant alternative medicines based on their interaction with their matching ligand-receptor. Importantly, when the spatial profiles of ICI pre- and post-failure OPSCC tumors were compared, they exhibited highly similar PD-1/PD-L1low and VEGFAhigh expression, suggesting that these new tumors were not the product of ICI resistance but rather of Lenvatinib dose reduction due to complications. Our work establishes a path for incorporating spatial-omics in clinical settings to facilitate treatment personalization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Causer
- Institute of Molecular Biology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Xiao Tan
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Xuehan Lu
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Philip Moseley
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Siok M Teoh
- Institute of Molecular Biology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Natalie Molotkov
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Margaret McGrath
- Department of Medical Oncology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Taehyun Kim
- Pathology Queensland, Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Peter T Simpson
- UQ Centre for Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Christopher Perry
- Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck surgery, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Ian H Frazer
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Benedict Panizza
- Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck surgery, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Rahul Ladwa
- Department of Medical Oncology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Quan Nguyen
- Institute of Molecular Biology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
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Zeng B, Moi D, Tolley L, Molotkov N, Frazer IH, Perry C, Dolcetti R, Mazzieri R, Cruz JLG. Skin-Grafting and Dendritic Cell "Boosted" Humanized Mouse Models Allow the Pre-Clinical Evaluation of Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines. Cells 2023; 12:2094. [PMID: 37626903 PMCID: PMC10453599 DOI: 10.3390/cells12162094] [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: 06/21/2023] [Revised: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Vaccines have been hailed as one of the most remarkable medical advancements in human history, and their potential for treating cancer by generating or expanding anti-tumor T cells has garnered significant interest in recent years. However, the limited efficacy of therapeutic cancer vaccines in clinical trials can be partially attributed to the inadequacy of current preclinical mouse models in recapitulating the complexities of the human immune system. In this study, we developed two innovative humanized mouse models to assess the immunogenicity and therapeutic effectiveness of vaccines targeting human papillomavirus (HPV16) antigens and delivering tumor antigens to human CD141+ dendritic cells (DCs). Both models were based on the transference of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) into immunocompromised HLA-A*02-NSG mice (NSG-A2), where the use of fresh PBMCs boosted the engraftment of human cells up to 80%. The dynamics of immune cells in the PBMC-hu-NSG-A2 mice demonstrated that T cells constituted the vast majority of engrafted cells, which progressively expanded over time and retained their responsiveness to ex vivo stimulation. Using the PBMC-hu-NSG-A2 system, we generated a hyperplastic skin graft model expressing the HPV16-E7 oncogene. Remarkably, human cells populated the skin grafts, and upon vaccination with a DNA vaccine encoding an HPV16-E6/E7 protein, rapid rejection targeted to the E7-expressing skin was detected, underscoring the capacity of the model to mount a vaccine-specific response. To overcome the decline in DC numbers observed over time in PBMC-hu-NSG-A2 animals, we augmented the abundance of CD141+ DCs, the specific targets of our tailored nanoemulsions (TNEs), by transferring additional autologous PBMCs pre-treated in vitro with the growth factor Flt3-L. The Flt3-L treatment bolstered CD141+ DC numbers, leading to potent antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses in vivo, which caused the regression of pre-established triple-negative breast cancer and melanoma tumors following CD141+ DC-targeting TNE vaccination. Notably, using HLA-A*02-matching PBMCs for humanizing NSG-A2 mice resulted in a delayed onset of graft-versus-host disease and enhanced the efficacy of the TNE vaccination compared with the parental NSG strain. In conclusion, we successfully established two humanized mouse models that exhibited strong antigen-specific responses and demonstrated tumor regression following vaccination. These models serve as valuable platforms for assessing the efficacy of therapeutic cancer vaccines targeting HPV16-dysplastic skin and diverse tumor antigens specifically delivered to CD141+ DCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bijun Zeng
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Davide Moi
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Lynn Tolley
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Natalie Molotkov
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Ian Hector Frazer
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Christopher Perry
- Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
- Department of Otolaryngology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Riccardo Dolcetti
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia
- Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Roberta Mazzieri
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia
- Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Jazmina L. G. Cruz
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia
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Speichert S, Molotkov N, El Bagdadi K, Meurer A, Zaucke F, Jenei-Lanzl Z. Role of Norepinephrine in IL-1β-Induced Chondrocyte Dedifferentiation under Physioxia. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20051212. [PMID: 30861996 PMCID: PMC6429278 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20051212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2018] [Revised: 02/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
As part of the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA), chondrocytes lose their phenotype and become hypertrophic, or dedifferentiate, mainly driven by interleukin-1β (IL-1β). The contribution of other factors to the dedifferentiation process is not completely understood. Recent studies suggested a dose-dependent role for the sympathetic neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE) in OA chondrocyte metabolism. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the contribution of NE (10-8 M, 10-6 M) to human articular OA chondrocyte dedifferentiation in the absence or presence of IL-1β (0.5 ng/mL). Here, we demonstrate that OA chondrocytes express α2A-, α2C- and β2-adrenoceptors (AR) and show the characteristic shift towards a fibroblast-like shape at day 7 in physioxic monolayer culture. NE alone did not affect morphology but, in combination with IL-1β, markedly accelerated this shift. Moderate glycosaminoglycan (GAG) staining was observed in untreated and NE-treated cells, while IL-1β strongly decreased GAG deposition. IL-1β alone or in combination with NE decreased SOX9, type II collagen, COMP, and aggrecan, and induced MMP13 and ADAMTS4 gene expression, indicating an accelerated dedifferentiation. NE alone did not influence gene expression and did not modulate IL-1β-mediated effects. In conclusion, these results indicate that low-grade inflammation exerts a dominant effect on chondrocyte dedifferentiation and should be targeted early in OA therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saskia Speichert
- Dr. Rolf M. Schwiete Research Unit for Osteoarthritis, Orthopaedic University Hospital Friedrichsheim gGmbH, Marienburgstr. 2, 60528 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
| | - Natalie Molotkov
- Dr. Rolf M. Schwiete Research Unit for Osteoarthritis, Orthopaedic University Hospital Friedrichsheim gGmbH, Marienburgstr. 2, 60528 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
| | - Karima El Bagdadi
- Dr. Rolf M. Schwiete Research Unit for Osteoarthritis, Orthopaedic University Hospital Friedrichsheim gGmbH, Marienburgstr. 2, 60528 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
| | - Andrea Meurer
- Dr. Rolf M. Schwiete Research Unit for Osteoarthritis, Orthopaedic University Hospital Friedrichsheim gGmbH, Marienburgstr. 2, 60528 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
| | - Frank Zaucke
- Dr. Rolf M. Schwiete Research Unit for Osteoarthritis, Orthopaedic University Hospital Friedrichsheim gGmbH, Marienburgstr. 2, 60528 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
| | - Zsuzsa Jenei-Lanzl
- Dr. Rolf M. Schwiete Research Unit for Osteoarthritis, Orthopaedic University Hospital Friedrichsheim gGmbH, Marienburgstr. 2, 60528 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
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