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Pounraj S, Chen S, Ma L, Mazzieri R, Dolcetti R, Rehm BHA. Targeting Tumor Heterogeneity with Neoantigen-Based Cancer Vaccines. Cancer Res 2024; 84:353-363. [PMID: 38055891 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-23-2042] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Revised: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Neoantigen-based cancer vaccines have emerged as a promising immunotherapeutic approach to treat cancer. Nevertheless, the high degree of heterogeneity in tumors poses a significant hurdle for developing a vaccine that targets the therapeutically relevant neoantigens capable of effectively stimulating an immune response as each tumor contains numerous unique putative neoantigens. Understanding the complexities of tumor heterogeneity is crucial for the development of personalized neoantigen-based vaccines, which hold the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment and improve patient outcomes. In this review, we discuss recent advancements in the design of neoantigen-based cancer vaccines emphasizing the identification, validation, formulation, and targeting of neoantigens while addressing the challenges posed by tumor heterogeneity. The review highlights the application of cutting-edge approaches, such as single-cell sequencing and artificial intelligence to identify immunogenic neoantigens, while outlining current limitations and proposing future research directions to develop effective neoantigen-based vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saranya Pounraj
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers (CCFB), Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University (Nathan Campus), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Shuxiong Chen
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers (CCFB), Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University (Nathan Campus), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Linlin Ma
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers (CCFB), Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University (Nathan Campus), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- School of Environment and Science, Griffith University (Nathan Campus), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Roberta Mazzieri
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Riccardo Dolcetti
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Bernd H A Rehm
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers (CCFB), Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University (Nathan Campus), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Menzies Health Institute Queensland (MHIQ), Griffith University (Gold Coast Campus), Queensland, Australia
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Jenika D, Pounraj S, Wibowo D, Flaxl LM, Rehm BHA, Mintern JD. In vivo assembly of epitope-coated biopolymer particles that induce anti-tumor responses. NPJ Vaccines 2024; 9:18. [PMID: 38263169 PMCID: PMC10805745 DOI: 10.1038/s41541-023-00787-8] [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: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2024] Open
Abstract
There is an unmet need for antigen delivery systems that elicit efficient T cell priming to prevent infectious diseases or for treatment of cancers. Here, we explored the immunogenic potential of biologically assembled biopolymer particles (BPs) that have been bioengineered to display the antigenic MHC I and MHC II epitopes of model antigen ovalbumin (OVA). Purified dendritic cells (DCs) captured BP-OVA and presented the associated antigenic epitopes to CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells. Vaccination with BP-OVA in the absence of adjuvant elicited antigen presentation to OVA-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells and cross-primed effective cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) killers. BP-OVA induction of CTL killing did not require CD4+ T cell help, with active CTLs generated in BP-OVA vaccinated I-Ab-/- and CD40-/- mice. In contrast, IL-15 and type I IFN were required, with abrogated CTL activity in vaccinated IL-15-/- and IFNAR1-/- mice. cDC1 and/or CD103+ DCs were not essential for BP-OVA specific CTL with immunization eliciting responses in Batf3-/- mice. Poly I:C, but not LPS or CpG, co-administered as an adjuvant with BP-OVA boosted CTL responses. Finally, vaccination with BP-OVA protected against B16-OVA melanoma and Eμ-myc-GFP-OVA lymphoma inoculation. In summary, we have demonstrated that epitope-displaying BPs represent an antigen delivery platform exhibiting a unique mechanism to effectively engage T cell immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devi Jenika
- Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, The University of Melbourne, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Saranya Pounraj
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers, Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, 4111, Australia
| | - David Wibowo
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers, Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, 4111, Australia
| | - Leonhard M Flaxl
- Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, The University of Melbourne, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Bernd H A Rehm
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers, Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, 4111, Australia.
- Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4215, Australia.
| | - Justine D Mintern
- Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, The University of Melbourne, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
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Chen S, Pounraj S, Sivakumaran N, Kakkanat A, Sam G, Kabir MT, Rehm BHA. Precision-engineering of subunit vaccine particles for prevention of infectious diseases. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1131057. [PMID: 36817419 PMCID: PMC9935699 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1131057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [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: 12/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Vaccines remain the best approach for the prevention of infectious diseases. Protein subunit vaccines are safe compared to live-attenuated whole cell vaccines but often show reduced immunogenicity. Subunit vaccines in particulate format show improved vaccine efficacy by inducing strong immune responses leading to protective immunity against the respective pathogens. Antigens with proper conformation and function are often required to induce functional immune responses. Production of such antigens requiring post-translational modifications and/or composed of multiple complex domains in bacterial hosts remains challenging. Here, we discuss strategies to overcome these limitations toward the development of particulate vaccines eliciting desired humoral and cellular immune responses. We also describe innovative concepts of assembling particulate vaccine candidates with complex antigens bearing multiple post-translational modifications. The approaches include non-covalent attachments (e.g. biotin-avidin affinity) and covalent attachments (e.g. SpyCatcher-SpyTag) to attach post-translationally modified antigens to particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuxiong Chen
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers (CCFB), Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia,*Correspondence: Bernd H. A. Rehm, ; Shuxiong Chen,
| | - Saranya Pounraj
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers (CCFB), Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia
| | - Nivethika Sivakumaran
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers (CCFB), Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia
| | - Anjali Kakkanat
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers (CCFB), Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia
| | - Gayathri Sam
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers (CCFB), Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia
| | - Md. Tanvir Kabir
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers (CCFB), Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia
| | - Bernd H. A. Rehm
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers (CCFB), Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia,Menzies Health Institute Queensland (MHIQ), Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia,*Correspondence: Bernd H. A. Rehm, ; Shuxiong Chen,
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Pounraj S, Bhilwadikar T, Manivannan S, Rastogi NK, Negi PS. Effect of ozone, lactic acid and combination treatments on the control of microbial and pesticide contaminants of fresh vegetables. J Sci Food Agric 2021; 101:3422-3428. [PMID: 33289115 DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.10972] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Revised: 10/31/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fruit and vegetable consumption has increased due to their tremendous health benefits. However, recent studies have shown that contaminated products may serve as vehicles for foodborne pathogens and harmful chemicals. Therefore, fresh vegetables must be decontaminated before consumption to ensure food safety. RESULTS In this study, the combined decontamination treatment of lactic acid (2.5 mL L-1 ) and ozone (9 mg L-1 ) for 10 min showed better efficacy in the removal of contaminants from fresh vegetables as compared to individual treatments. The combined treatment resulted in a reduction of 1.5-3.5 log CFU of native mesophilic bacteria per gram and 1.6-2.9 log CFU of artificially inoculated Escherichia coli per gram from tomato, cucumber, carrot and lettuce. The combined treatment also removed spiked pesticides, which represent artificial chemical contamination (28-97% chlorpyrifos and 62-100% λ-cyhalothrin residues), from fresh vegetables. No significant difference (P > 0.05) in various sensory attributes of vegetables was observed between untreated and treated (lactic acid and ozone) vegetables. CONCLUSIONS The combination treatment provides a novel approach to target two groups of contaminants using a single procedure. The combination treatment can be used as an alternative to currently used decontamination techniques for the supply of safe vegetables to consumers. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saranya Pounraj
- Department of Fruit and Vegetable Technology, CSIR - Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, India
| | - Tanmayee Bhilwadikar
- Department of Fruit and Vegetable Technology, CSIR - Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, India
| | - Selladurai Manivannan
- Department of Food Protectant and Infestation Control, CSIR - Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, India
| | - Navin K Rastogi
- Department of Food Engineering, CSIR - Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, India
| | - Pradeep S Negi
- Department of Fruit and Vegetable Technology, CSIR - Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, India
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Bhilwadikar T, Pounraj S, Manivannan S, Rastogi NK, Negi PS. Decontamination of Microorganisms and Pesticides from Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: A Comprehensive Review from Common Household Processes to Modern Techniques. Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf 2019; 18:1003-1038. [DOI: 10.1111/1541-4337.12453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Revised: 03/26/2019] [Accepted: 04/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Tanmayee Bhilwadikar
- Dept. of Fruit and Vegetable TechnologyCSIR ‐ Central Food Technological Research Inst. Mysuru 570020 India
| | - Saranya Pounraj
- Dept. of Fruit and Vegetable TechnologyCSIR ‐ Central Food Technological Research Inst. Mysuru 570020 India
| | - S. Manivannan
- Dept. of Food Protectant and Infestation ControlCSIR ‐ Central Food Technological Research Inst. Mysuru 570020 India
| | - N. K. Rastogi
- Dept. of Food EngineeringCSIR ‐ Central Food Technological Research Inst. Mysuru 570020 India
| | - P. S. Negi
- Dept. of Fruit and Vegetable TechnologyCSIR ‐ Central Food Technological Research Inst. Mysuru 570020 India
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