scholarly journals Eight-Color Multiplex Immunohistochemistry for Simultaneous Detection of Multiple Immune Checkpoint Molecules within the Tumor Microenvironment

2017 ◽  
Vol 200 (1) ◽  
pp. 347-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. J. Gorris ◽  
Altuna Halilovic ◽  
Katrin Rabold ◽  
Anne van Duffelen ◽  
Iresha N. Wickramasinghe ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Nádia Ghinelli Amôr ◽  
Paulo Sérgio da Silva Santos ◽  
Ana Paula Campanelli

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common skin cancer worldwide and, despite the relatively easy visualization of the tumor in the clinic, a sizeable number of SCC patients are diagnosed at advanced stages with local invasion and distant metastatic lesions. In the last decade, immunotherapy has emerged as the fourth pillar in cancer therapy via the targeting of immune checkpoint molecules such as programmed cell-death protein-1 (PD-1), programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1), and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4). FDA-approved monoclonal antibodies directed against these immune targets have provide survival benefit in a growing list of cancer types. Currently, there are two immunotherapy drugs available for cutaneous SCC: cemiplimab and pembrolizumab; both monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that block PD-1 thereby promoting T-cell activation and/or function. However, the success rate of these checkpoint inhibitors currently remains around 50%, which means that half of the patients with advanced SCC experience no benefit from this treatment. This review will highlight the mechanisms by which the immune checkpoint molecules regulate the tumor microenvironment (TME), as well as the ongoing clinical trials that are employing single or combinatory therapeutic approaches for SCC immunotherapy. We also discuss the regulation of additional pathways that might promote superior therapeutic efficacy, and consequently provide increased survival for those patients that do not benefit from the current checkpoint inhibitor therapies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (17) ◽  
pp. 3441-3452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziqiang Wang ◽  
Kun Li ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Xiaoxia Wang ◽  
Yikun Huang ◽  
...  

AbstractThe elevated expression of immune checkpoints by the tumor microenvironment is associated with poor prognosis in several cancers due to the exhaustion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), and the effective suppression of the expression of these genes is key to reversing the exhaustion of TILs. Herein, we determined that serine/arginine-rich splicing factor 2 (SRSF2) is a target for blocking the tumor microenvironment-associated immunosuppressive effects. We found that the expression of SRSF2 was increased in exhausted T cells and that SRSF2 was involved in multiple immune checkpoint molecules mediating TILs’ exhaustion. Furthermore, SRSF2 was revealed to regulate the transcription of these immune checkpoint genes by associating with an acyl-transferases P300/CBP complex and altering the H3K27Ac level near these genes, thereafter influencing the recruitment of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) to these gene promoters. Collectively, our data indicated that SRSF2 functions as a modulator of the anti-tumor response of T cells and may be a therapeutic target for reversing the exhaustion of TILs.


Author(s):  
Yueming Zhang ◽  
Anqi Lin ◽  
Yonghe Li ◽  
Weimin Ding ◽  
Hui Meng ◽  
...  

The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment plays an essential role in the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC). Compared to traditional chemoradiotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become increasingly important in HNSC therapy. Prior studies linked the efficacy of ICIs to PD-L1, microsatellite instability (MSI), HPV infection, tumor mutation burden (TMB), and tumor lymphocyte infiltration in patients with HNSC, but further verification is needed. Additional predictors are needed to recognize HNSC patients with a good response to ICIs. We collected the clinical information and mutation data of HNSC patients from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases to generate two clinical cohorts. The MSKCC cohort was used to recognize predictors related to the efficacy of ICIs, and the TCGA cohort was used to further examine the immune microenvironment features and signaling pathways that are significantly enriched in the subgroups of predictors. Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that age (HR = 0.50, p = 0.014) and ARID1A (HR = 0.13, p = 0.048), PIK3CA (HR = 0.45, p = 0.021), and TP53 (HR = 1.82, p = 0.035) mutations were potential predictors for ICI efficacy in HNSC patients. Age > 65 years and ARID1A or PIK3CA mutations correlated with good overall survival (OS). TP53 mutant-type (MT) patients experienced a worse prognosis than TP53 wild-type (WT) patients. The subgroups associated with a good prognosis (age > 65 years, ARID1A-MT, and PIK3CA-MT) universally had a high TMB and increased expression of immune checkpoint molecules. Although TP53-MT was associated with a high TMB, the expression of most immune checkpoint molecules and immune-related genes was lower in TP53-MT patients than TP53-WT patients, which may reflect low immunogenicity. Pathways related to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment were mostly enriched in the subgroups associated with a poor prognosis (age ≤ 65 years, low TMB, ARID1A-WT, PIK3CA-WT, and TP53-MT). In conclusion, the factors age > 65 years, PIK3CA-MT, and ARID1A-MT predicted favorable efficacy for ICI treatment in HNSC patients, and TP53 mutation was a negative predictor.


2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 753-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guoying Zhou ◽  
Dave Sprengers ◽  
Shanta Mancham ◽  
Remco Erkens ◽  
Patrick P.C. Boor ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Farias ◽  
A. Soto ◽  
F. Puttur ◽  
C. J. Goldin ◽  
S. Sosa ◽  
...  

AbstractBrucella lumazine synthase (BLS) is a homodecameric protein that activates dendritic cells via toll like receptor 4, inducing the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. We have previously shown that BLS has a therapeutic effect in B16 melanoma-bearing mice only when administered at early stages of tumor growth. In this work, we study the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of BLS, by analyzing the tumor microenvironment. Administration of BLS at early stages of tumor growth induces high levels of serum IFN-γ, as well as an increment of hematopoietic immune cells within the tumor. Moreover, BLS-treatment increases the ratio of effector to regulatory cells. However, all treated mice eventually succumb to the tumors. Therefore, we combined BLS administration with anti-PD-1 treatment. Combined treatment increases the outcome of both monotherapies. In conclusion, we show that the absence of the therapeutic effect at late stages of tumor growth correlates with low levels of serum IFN-γ and lower infiltration of immune cells in the tumor, both of which are essential to delay tumor growth. Furthermore, the combined treatment of BLS and PD-1 blockade shows that BLS could be exploited as an essential immunomodulator in combination therapy with an immune checkpoint blockade to treat skin cancer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqing Luo ◽  
Shunli Peng ◽  
Sijie Ding ◽  
Qin Zeng ◽  
Rong Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Serum Deprivation Protein Response (SDPR) plays an important role in formation of pulmonary alveoli. However, the functions and values of SDPR in lung cancer remain unknown. We explored prognostic value, expression pattern, and biological function of SDPR in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and KRAS-mutant lung cancers. Methods SDPR expression was evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR), immunohistochemistry (IHC), and Western blot on human NSCLC cells, lung adenocarcinoma tissue array, KRAS-mutant transgenic mice, TCGA and GEO datasets. Prognostic values of SDPR were evaluated by Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression analysis. Bioinformatics implications of SDPR including SDPR-combined transcription factors (TFs) and microRNAs were predicted. In addition, correlations between SDPR, immune checkpoint molecules, and tumor infiltration models were illustrated. Results SDPR expression was downregulated in tumor cells and tissues. Low SDPR expression was an independent factor that correlated with shorter overall survival of patients both in lung cancer and KRAS-mutant subgroups. Meanwhile, ceRNA network was constructed to clarify the regulatory and biological functions of SDPR. Negative correlations were found between SDPR and immune checkpoint molecules (PD-L1, TNFRSF18, TNFRSF9, and TDO2). Moreover, diversity immune infiltration models were observed in NSCLC with different SDPR expression and copy number variation (CNV) patterns. Conclusions This study elucidated regulation network of SDPR in KRAS-mutant NSCLC, and it illustrated correlations between low SDPR expression and suppressed immune system, unfolding a prognostic factor and potential target for the treatment of lung cancer, especially for KRAS-mutant NSCLC.


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