Research Article
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) represents an immune quiescent tumor that is resistant to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Previously, our group has shown that a GM-CSF–secreting allogenic pancreatic tumor cell vaccine (GVAX) may prime the tumor microenvironment by inducing intratumoral T cell infiltration. Here, we show that untreated PDACs express minimal indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO1); however, GVAX therapy induced IDO1 expression on tumor epithelia as well as vaccine-induced tertiary lymphoid aggregates. IDO1 expression plays a role in regulating the polarization of Th1, Th17, and possibly T regulatory cells in PDAC tumors. IDO1 inhibitor enhanced antitumor efficacy of GVAX in a murine model of PDACs. The combination of vaccine and IDO1 inhibitor enhanced intratumoral T cell infiltration and function, but adding anti–PD-L1 antibody to the combination did not offer further synergy and in fact may have had a negative interaction, decreasing the number of intratumoral effector T cells. Additionally, IDO1 inhibitor in the presence of vaccine therapy did not significantly modulate intratumoral myeloid-derived suppressor cells quantitatively, but diminished their suppressive effect on CD8+ proliferation. Our study supports the combination of IDO1 inhibitor and vaccine therapy; however, it does not support the combination of IDO1 inhibitor and anti–PD-1/PD-L1 antibody for T cell–inflamed tumors such as PDACs treated with vaccine therapy.
Authors
Alex B. Blair, Jennifer Kleponis, Dwayne L. Thomas II, Stephen T. Muth, Adrian G. Murphy, Victoria Kim, Lei Zheng
Abstract
Accumulating evidence demonstrates that CD8+ T cells contribute to protection from severe dengue virus (DENV) disease and vaccine efficacy. Nevertheless, molecular programs associated with DENV-specific CD8+ T cell subsets have not been defined. Here, we studied the transcriptomic profiles of human DENV-specific CD8+ T cells isolated after stimulation with DENV epitopes from donors who had been infected with DENV multiple times and would therefore be expected to have significant levels of adaptive immunity. We found that DENV-specific CD8+ T cells mainly consisted of effector memory subsets, namely CD45RA−CCR7− effector memory (Tem) and CD45RA+CCR7− effector memory re-expressing CD45RA (Temra) cells, which enacted specific gene expression profiles upon stimulation with cognate antigens. DENV-specific CD8+ T cell subsets in general, and Temra cells in particular, were fully activated and polyfunctional, yet associated with relatively narrow transcriptional responses. Furthermore, we found that DENV-specific CD8+ Tem and Temra cells showed some unique T cell receptor features in terms of overlap and variable (V) gene usage. This study provides a transcriptomic definition of DENV-specific activated human CD8+ T cell subsets and defines a benchmark profile that vaccine-specific responses could aim to reproduce.
Authors
Yuan Tian, Mariana Babor, Jerome Lane, Grégory Seumois, Shu Liang, N.D. Suraj Goonawardhana, Aruna D. De Silva, Elizabeth J. Phillips, Simon A. Mallal, Ricardo da Silva Antunes, Alba Grifoni, Pandurangan Vijayanand, Daniela Weiskopf, Bjoern Peters, Alessandro Sette
Abstract
Mitofusin-2 (MFN2) is a mitochondrial outer-membrane protein that plays a pivotal role in mitochondrial dynamics in most tissues, yet mutations in MFN2, which cause Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2A (CMT2A), primarily affect the nervous system. We generated a transgenic mouse model of CMT2A that developed severe early onset vision loss and neurological deficits, axonal degeneration without cell body loss, and cytoplasmic and axonal accumulations of fragmented mitochondria. While mitochondrial aggregates were labeled for mitophagy, mutant MFN2 did not inhibit Parkin-mediated degradation, but instead had a dominant negative effect on mitochondrial fusion only when MFN1 was at low levels, as occurs in neurons. Finally, using a transgenic approach, we found that augmenting the level of MFN1 in the nervous system in vivo rescued all phenotypes in mutant MFN2R94Q-expressing mice. These data demonstrate that the MFN1/MFN2 ratio is a key determinant of tissue specificity in CMT2A and indicate that augmentation of MFN1 in the nervous system is a viable therapeutic strategy for the disease.
Authors
Yueqin Zhou, Sharon Carmona, A.K.M.G. Muhammad, Shaughn Bell, Jesse Landeros, Michael Vazquez, Ritchie Ho, Antonietta Franco, Bin Lu, Gerald W. Dorn II, Shaomei Wang, Cathleen M. Lutz, Robert H. Baloh
Abstract
Mucus-invasive bacterial biofilms are identified on the colon mucosa of approximately 50% of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and approximately 13% of healthy subjects. Here, we test the hypothesis that human colon biofilms comprise microbial communities that are carcinogenic in CRC mouse models. Homogenates of human biofilm-positive colon mucosa were prepared from tumor patients (tumor and paired normal tissues from surgical resections) or biofilm-positive biopsies from healthy individuals undergoing screening colonoscopy; homogenates of biofilm-negative colon biopsies from healthy individuals undergoing screening colonoscopy served as controls. After 12 weeks, biofilm-positive, but not biofilm-negative, human colon mucosal homogenates induced colon tumor formation in 3 mouse colon tumor models (germ-free ApcMinΔ850/+;Il10–/– or ApcMinΔ850/+ and specific pathogen–free ApcMinΔ716/+ mice). Remarkably, biofilm-positive communities from healthy colonoscopy biopsies induced colon inflammation and tumors similarly to biofilm-positive tumor tissues. By 1 week, biofilm-positive human tumor homogenates, but not healthy biopsies, displayed consistent bacterial mucus invasion and biofilm formation in mouse colons. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and RNA-Seq analyses identified compositional and functional microbiota differences between mice colonized with biofilm-positive and biofilm-negative communities. These results suggest human colon mucosal biofilms, whether from tumor hosts or healthy individuals undergoing screening colonoscopy, are carcinogenic in murine models of CRC.
Authors
Sarah Tomkovich, Christine M. Dejea, Kathryn Winglee, Julia L. Drewes, Liam Chung, Franck Housseau, Jillian L. Pope, Josee Gauthier, Xiaolun Sun, Marcus Mühlbauer, Xiuli Liu, Payam Fathi, Robert A. Anders, Sepideh Besharati, Ernesto Perez-Chanona, Ye Yang, Hua Ding, Xinqun Wu, Shaoguang Wu, James R. White, Raad Z. Gharaibeh, Anthony A. Fodor, Hao Wang, Drew M. Pardoll, Christian Jobin, Cynthia L. Sears
Abstract
Retinoic acid–related orphan receptor α (RORα) is considered a key regulator of polarization in liver macrophages that is closely related to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) pathogenesis. However, hepatic microenvironments that support the function of RORα as a polarity regulator were largely unknown. Here, we identified maresin 1 (MaR1), a docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) metabolite with a function of specialized proresolving mediator, as an endogenous ligand of RORα. MaR1 enhanced the expression and transcriptional activity of RORα and thereby increased the M2 polarity of liver macrophages. Administration of MaR1 protected mice from high-fat diet–induced NASH in a RORα-dependent manner. Surprisingly, RORα increased the level of MaR1 through transcriptional induction of 12-lipoxygenase (12-LOX), a key enzyme in MaR1 biosynthesis. Furthermore, we demonstrated that modulation of 12-LOX activity enhanced the protective function of DHA against NASH. Together, these results suggest that the MaR1/RORα/12-LOX autoregulatory circuit could offer potential therapeutic strategies for curing NASH.
Authors
Yong-Hyun Han, Kyong-Oh Shin, Ju-Yeon Kim, Daulat B. Khadka, Hyeon-Ji Kim, Yong-Moon Lee, Won-Jea Cho, Ji-Young Cha, Bong-Jin Lee, Mi-Ock Lee
Abstract
In tumors, extravascular fibrin forms provisional scaffolds for endothelial cell (EC) growth and motility during angiogenesis. We report that fibrin-mediated angiogenesis was inhibited and tumor growth delayed following postnatal deletion of Tgfbr2 in the endothelium of Cdh5-CreERT2 Tgfbr2fl/fl mice (Tgfbr2iECKO mice). ECs from Tgfbr2iECKO mice failed to upregulate the fibrinolysis inhibitor plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (Serpine1, also known as PAI-1), due in part to uncoupled TGF-β–mediated suppression of miR-30c. Bypassing TGF-β signaling with vascular tropic nanoparticles that deliver miR-30c antagomiRs promoted PAI-1–dependent tumor growth and increased fibrin abundance, whereas miR-30c mimics inhibited tumor growth and promoted vascular-directed fibrinolysis in vivo. Using single-cell RNA-Seq and a NanoString miRNA array, we also found that subtypes of ECs in tumors showed spectrums of Serpine1 and miR-30c expression levels, suggesting functional diversity in ECs at the level of individual cells; indeed, fresh EC isolates from lung and mammary tumor models had differential abilities to degrade fibrin and launch new vessel sprouts, a finding that was linked to their inverse expression patterns of miR-30c and Serpine1 (i.e., miR-30chi Serpine1lo ECs were poorly angiogenic and miR-30clo Serpine1hi ECs were highly angiogenic). Thus, by balancing Serpine1 expression in ECs downstream of TGF-β, miR-30c functions as a tumor suppressor in the tumor microenvironment through its ability to promote fibrin degradation and inhibit blood vessel formation.
Authors
James V. McCann, Lin Xiao, Dae Joong Kim, Omar F. Khan, Piotr S. Kowalski, Daniel G. Anderson, Chad V. Pecot, Salma H. Azam, Joel S. Parker, Yihsuan S. Tsai, Alisa S. Wolberg, Stephen D. Turner, Kohei Tatsumi, Nigel Mackman, Andrew C. Dudley
Abstract
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been implicated in glioblastoma (GBM); however, a mechanistic connection in vivo has not been established. The purpose of this study is to characterize the effects of murine CMV (MCMV) on GBM growth in murine models. Syngeneic GBM models were established in mice perinatally infected with MCMV. We found that tumor growth was markedly enhanced in MCMV+ mice, with a significant reduction in overall survival compared with that of controls (P < 0.001). We observed increased angiogenesis and tumor blood flow in MCMV+ mice. MCMV reactivation was observed in intratumoral perivascular pericytes and tumor cells in mouse and human GBM specimens, and pericyte coverage of tumor vasculature was strikingly augmented in MCMV+ mice. We identified PDGF-D as a CMV-induced factor essential for pericyte recruitment, angiogenesis, and tumor growth. The antiviral drug cidofovir improved survival in MCMV+ mice, inhibiting MCMV reactivation, PDGF-D expression, pericyte recruitment, and tumor angiogenesis. These data show that MCMV potentiates GBM growth in vivo by increased pericyte recruitment and angiogenesis due to alterations in the secretome of CMV-infected cells. Our model provides evidence for a role of CMV in GBM growth and supports the application of antiviral approaches for GBM therapy.
Authors
Harald Krenzlin, Prajna Behera, Viola Lorenz, Carmela Passaro, Mykola Zdioruk, Michal O. Nowicki, Korneel Grauwet, Hong Zhang, Magdalena Skubal, Hirotaka Ito, Rachel Zane, Michael Gutknecht, Marion B. Griessl, Franz Ricklefs, Lai Ding, Sharon Peled, Arun Rooj, C. David James, Charles S. Cobbs, Charles H. Cook, E. Antonio Chiocca, Sean E. Lawler
Abstract
Constitutive JAK2 signaling is central to myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) pathogenesis and results in activation of STAT, PI3K/AKT, and MEK/ERK signaling. However, the therapeutic efficacy of current JAK2 inhibitors is limited. We investigated the role of MEK/ERK signaling in MPN cell survival in the setting of JAK inhibition. Type I and II JAK2 inhibition suppressed MEK/ERK activation in MPN cell lines in vitro, but not in Jak2V617F and MPLW515L mouse models in vivo. JAK2 inhibition ex vivo inhibited MEK/ERK signaling, suggesting that cell-extrinsic factors maintain ERK activation in vivo. We identified PDGFRα as an activated kinase that remains activated upon JAK2 inhibition in vivo, and PDGF-AA/PDGF-BB production persisted in the setting of JAK inhibition. PDGF-BB maintained ERK activation in the presence of ruxolitinib, consistent with its function as a ligand-induced bypass for ERK activation. Combined JAK/MEK inhibition suppressed MEK/ERK activation in Jak2V617F and MPLW515L mice with increased efficacy and reversal of fibrosis to an extent not seen with JAK inhibitors. This demonstrates that compensatory ERK activation limits the efficacy of JAK2 inhibition and dual JAK/MEK inhibition provides an opportunity for improved therapeutic efficacy in MPNs and in other malignancies driven by aberrant JAK-STAT signaling.
Authors
Simona Stivala, Tamara Codilupi, Sime Brkic, Anne Baerenwaldt, Nilabh Ghosh, Hui Hao-Shen, Stephan Dirnhofer, Matthias S. Dettmer, Cedric Simillion, Beat A. Kaufmann, Sophia Chiu, Matthew Keller, Maria Kleppe, Morgane Hilpert, Andreas S. Buser, Jakob R. Passweg, Thomas Radimerski, Radek C. Skoda, Ross L. Levine, Sara C. Meyer
Abstract
Although clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) has been shown to result in widespread aberrant cytosine methylation and loss of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), the prognostic impact and therapeutic targeting of this epigenetic aberrancy has not been fully explored. Analysis of 576 primary ccRCC samples demonstrated that loss of 5hmC was strongly associated with aggressive clinicopathologic features and was an independent adverse prognostic factor. Loss of 5hmC also predicted reduced progression-free survival after resection of nonmetastatic disease. The loss of 5hmC in ccRCC was not due to mutational or transcriptional inactivation of ten eleven translocation (TET) enzymes, but to their functional inactivation by l-2-hydroxyglutarate (L2HG), which was overexpressed due to the deletion and underexpression of L2HG dehydrogenase (L2HGDH). Ascorbic acid (AA) reduced methylation and restored genome-wide 5hmC levels via TET activation. Fluorescence quenching of the recombinant TET-2 protein was unaffected by L2HG in the presence of AA. Pharmacologic AA treatment led to reduced growth of ccRCC in vitro and reduced tumor growth in vivo, with increased intratumoral 5hmC. These data demonstrate that reduced 5hmC is associated with reduced survival in ccRCC and provide a preclinical rationale for exploring the therapeutic potential of high-dose AA in ccRCC.
Authors
Niraj Shenoy, Tushar D. Bhagat, John Cheville, Christine Lohse, Sanchari Bhattacharyya, Alexander Tischer, Venkata Machha, Shanisha Gordon-Mitchell, Gaurav Choudhary, Li-Fan Wong, LouAnn Gross, Emily Ressigue, Bradley Leibovich, Stephen A. Boorjian, Ulrich Steidl, Xiaosheng Wu, Kith Pradhan, Benjamin Gartrell, Beamon Agarwal, Lance Pagliaro, Masako Suzuki, John M. Greally, Dinesh Rakheja, R. Houston Thompson, Katalin Susztak, Thomas Witzig, Yiyu Zou, Amit Verma
Abstract
The discovery of recurrent mutations in subunits of the vacuolar-type H+-translocating ATPase (v-ATPase) in follicular lymphoma (FL) highlights a role for the amino acid– and energy-sensing pathway to mTOR in the pathogenesis of this disease. Here, through the use of complementary experimental approaches involving mammalian cells and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we have demonstrated that mutations in the human v-ATPase subunit ATP6V1B2 (also known as Vma2 in yeast) activate autophagic flux and maintain mTOR/TOR in an active state. Engineered lymphoma cell lines and primary FL B cells carrying mutated ATP6V1B2 demonstrated a remarkable ability to survive low leucine concentrations. The treatment of primary FL B cells with inhibitors of autophagy uncovered an addiction for survival for FL B cells harboring ATP6V1B2 mutations. These data support the idea of mutational activation of autophagic flux by recurrent hotspot mutations in ATP6V1B2 as an adaptive mechanism in FL pathogenesis and as a possible new therapeutically targetable pathway.
Authors
Fangyang Wang, Damián Gatica, Zhang Xiao Ying, Luke F. Peterson, Peter Kim, Denzil Bernard, Kamlai Saiya-Cork, Shaomeng Wang, Mark S. Kaminski, Alfred E. Chang, Tycel Phillips, Daniel J. Klionsky, Sami N. Malek
No posts were found with this tag.
Copyright © 2019 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)