Microsphere priming facilitates induction of potent therapeutic T-cell immune responses against autochthonous liver cancers

Ferritin Nanocaged Doxorubicin Potentiates Chemo-Immunotherapy against Hepatocellular Carcinoma via Immunogenic Cell Death

Although immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma using immune checkpoint inhibitors has achieved certain success, only a subset of patients benefits from this therapeutic strategy. The combination of immunostimulatory chemotherapeutics represents a promising strategy to enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapy. However, it is hampered by the poor delivery of conventional chemotherapeutics. Here, it is shown that H-ferritin nanocages loaded with doxorubicin (DOX@HFn) show potent chemo-immunotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma tumor models. DOX@HFn is constructed with uniform size, high stability, favorable drug loading, and intracellular acidity-driven drug release. The receptor-mediated targeting of DOX@HFn to liver cancer cells promote cellular uptake and tumor penetration in vitro and in vivo. DOX@HFn triggers immunogenic cell death to tumor cells and promotes the subsequent activation and maturation of dendritic cells. In vivo studies in H22 subcutaneous hepatoma demonstrate that DOX@HFn significantly inhibits the tumor growth with >30% tumors completely eliminated, while alleviating the systemic toxicity of free DOX. DOX@HFn also exhibits robust antitumor immune response and tumoricidal effect in a more aggressive Hepa1-6 orthotopic liver tumor model, which is confirmed by the in situ magnetic resonance imaging and transcriptome sequencing. This study provides a facile and robust strategy to improve therapeutic efficacy of liver cancer.

Transcriptome Profiling Identifies TIGIT as a Marker of T-Cell Exhaustion in Liver Cancer

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Programmed death 1 (PD-1) checkpoint inhibition has shown promising results in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, inducing objective responses in approximately 20% of treated patients. The roles of other coinhibitory molecules and their individual contributions to T-cell dysfunction in liver cancer, however, remain largely elusive.

APPROACH AND RESULTS

We performed a comprehensive mRNA profiling of cluster of differentiation 8 (CD8) T cells in a murine model of autochthonous liver cancer by comparing the transcriptome of naive, functional effector, and exhausted, tumor-specific CD8 T cells. Subsequently, we functionally validated the role of identified genes in T-cell exhaustion. Our results reveal a unique transcriptome signature of exhausted T cells and demonstrate that up-regulation of the inhibitory immune receptor T-cell immunoreceptor with immunoglobulin and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitor motif domains (TIGIT) represents a hallmark in the process of T-cell exhaustion in liver cancer. Compared to PD-1, expression of TIGIT more reliably identified exhausted CD8 T cells at different stages of their differentiation. In combination with PD-1 inhibition, targeting of TIGIT with antagonistic antibodies resulted in synergistic inhibition of liver cancer growth in immunocompetent mice. Finally, we demonstrate expression of TIGIT on tumor-infiltrating CD8 T cells in tissue samples of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and identify two subsets of patients based on differential expression of TIGIT on tumor-specific T cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Our transcriptome analysis provides a valuable resource for the identification of key pathways involved in T-cell exhaustion in patients with liver cancer and identifies TIGIT as a potential target in checkpoint combination therapies.

Immune cell engineering: opportunities in lung cancer therapeutics

Engineered immune cells offer a prime therapeutic alternate for some aggressive and frequently occurring malignancies like lung cancer. These therapies were reported to result in tumor regression and overall improvement in patient survival. However, studies also suggest that the presence of cancer cell-induced immune-suppressive microenvironment, off-target toxicity, and difficulty in concurrent imaging are some prime impendent in the success of these approaches. The present article reviews the need and significance of the currently available immune cell-based strategies for lung cancer therapeutics. It also showcases the utility of incorporating nanoengineered strategies and details the available formulations of nanocarriers. In last, it briefly discussed the existing methods for nanoparticle fuctionalization and challenges in translating basic research to the clinics. Graphical Abstract.

The immunobiology of hepatocellular carcinoma in humans and mice: Basic concepts and therapeutic implications

Basic and clinical studies have demonstrated the efficacy of immunotherapy, a technical and conceptual breakthrough that has revolutionised cancer treatment. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a deadly malignancy with aetiologic diversity and a chronic course, is strongly influenced by the immune system, and was recently found to partially benefit from immune-checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Notably, HCC onco-immunology depends on diverse genetic and environmental factors that together shape cancer-promoting inflammation and immune dysfunction - critical processes that control HCC malignant progression and response to therapy. Herein, we summarise the current understanding of liver and HCC onco-immunology obtained through basic studies with mouse models and clinical practice in humans. In particular, we discuss preclinical and clinical findings that implicate immunomodulation as a major factor in HCC development and explain the basis for HCC-targeting immunotherapy.

DCK is an Unfavorable Prognostic Biomarker and Correlated With Immune Infiltrates in Liver Cancer

BACKGROUND

The biological function of deoxycytidine kinase in tumor is not yet clear, and there are a few studies relating to the correlation of deoxycytidine kinase gene with the occurrence and development of liver cancer.

METHODS

The messenger RNA expression of deoxycytidine kinase was analyzed with the use of the UALCAN and GEPIA database. Moreover, we assessed the function of deoxycytidine kinase on clinical prognosis with Kaplan-Meier plotter database. The relationship between deoxycytidine kinase and cancer immune infiltrates was investigated via Tumor Immune Estimation Resource site. Furthermore, Tumor Immune Estimation Resource was also used to evaluate the correlations between the expression of deoxycytidine kinase and gene marker sets of immune infiltrates.

RESULTS

The deoxycytidine kinase messenger RNA level significantly upregulated in patients with liver cancer compared to normal liver samples. Moreover, the increased expression of deoxycytidine kinase messenger RNA was closely associated with reduced overall survival and disease-free survival in all liver cancers. In addition, deoxycytidine kinase expression displayed a strong correlation with infiltrating levels of macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells in liver cancer, and deoxycytidine kinase expression was positively correlated with diverse immune marker sets in liver cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

All the above findings suggested that increased expression of deoxycytidine kinase was significantly related to unfavorable prognosis in patients with liver cancer. And deoxycytidine kinase is correlated with immune infiltrating levels, including those of B cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells in patients with liver cancer. These findings suggest that deoxycytidine kinase can be used as a prognostic biomarker for determining prognosis and immune infiltration in liver cancer. And deoxycytidine kinase is a potential target for liver cancer therapy, and these preliminary findings require further study to determine whether deoxycytidine kinase-targeting reagents might be developed for clinical application in liver cancer.

Recent development in biodegradable nanovehicle delivery system-assisted immunotherapy

A schematic illustration of BNDS biodegradation and release antigen delivery for assisting immunotherapy.

Tailored Tumor Immunogenicity Reveals Regulation of CD4 and CD8 T Cell Responses against Cancer

CD4 and CD8 T cells play a pivotal role in controlling tumor growth. However, the interplay of both cell types and their role in tumor suppression still remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the regulation of CD4 and CD8 T cell responses to different classes of tumor-specific antigens in liver cancer mouse models. Tumors were induced in p19Arf-deficient mice by hydrodynamic injection of transposon plasmids encoding NrasG12V and pre-defined tumor antigens. This allowed for assessing the regulation of tumor-specific CD4 and CD8 T cell responses. We showed that MHC class I tumor immunogenicity was essential to trigger tumor-directed CD4 T cells. Tumor-specific CD8 T cell responses arose independently of CD4 T cells, but they required Th1-polarized CD4 T cells for efficient tumor suppression. Our results further indicate that the immune system is incapable of eliciting sufficient numbers of T cells directed against antigens derived from immunoedited tumors, which consequently leads to a lack of T-cell-mediated tumor suppression in untreated hosts.

CD40 Signaling Drives Potent Cellular Immune Responses in Heterologous Cancer Vaccinations

Antagonistic antibodies targeting coinhibitory receptors have revolutionized the treatment of cancer by inducing durable immune responses and clinical remissions in patients. In contrast, success of agonistic costimulatory antibodies has thus far been limited because of the insufficient induction of adaptive immune responses. Here, we describe a novel vaccination method consisting of a primary dendritic cell (DC) immunization followed by a composite vaccination, including an agonistic CD40 antibody, soluble antigen, and a TLR3 agonist, referred to as CoAT. In mice, DC/CoAT prime-boost vaccinations targeting either MHC class I or II neoantigens or tumor-associated antigens rendered up to 60% of the total T-cell population specific for a single tumor epitope. DC/CoAT induced durable and complete remissions of large subcutaneous tumors without detectable side effects. Thus, booster vaccinations with agonistic costimulatory antibodies represent an ideal means to amplify DC vaccinations and induce robust T-cell immune responses while providing maximum flexibility regarding the choice of antigen. Cancer Res; 77(8); 1918-26. ©2017 AACR.

Host-microbe cross talk in cancer therapy

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Microbiota secrete a multitude of factors that either confer virulence or promote colonization because they are continuously challenged by host immune responses. The dynamic interplay between the host's immune response and microbiota eventually determines the outcome for the host: health or disease. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a key role in this interplay as they can recognize both microbial and host-derived ligands on the basis of the context in which recognition occurs.

RECENT FINDINGS

Evidence is accumulating that conventional cancer therapies alter interactions and cross talks between the host and microbiota. This has been shown for intestinal mucositis, a common side-effect of various cancer therapies. Advances have been made in the development of new and less toxic cancer strategies. One promising field is immunotherapy on the basis of TLR activation through recognition of microbial-associated molecular patterns.

SUMMARY

Evidence is emerging, indicating that existing cancer therapies have implications on the composition and functionality of the host-microbiota environment. This may favor the colonization of pathogens and build up the overall toxicity of the drug. Exploitation of the host-microbiota cross talks mediated by TLRs is an emerging and promising field in the search for new, less toxic anticancer strategies.

Nanoengineered strategies to optimize dendritic cells for gastrointestinal tumor immunotherapy: from biology to translational medicine

Nanomedicine may play an important role in improving the clinical efficacy of dendritic cell-based immunotherapy against GI tract malignancies. Dendritic cell-based vaccines have proven their effectiveness against different established GI tract tumors, yet their success is mainly hindered by the strong tumor-induced suppressive microenvironment. The sustained and targeted release of tumor antigens to dendritic cells using different nanoengineered approaches would be an efficient strategy to overcome established immune tolerance. Encapsulation would result in low diffusivity, restricted movement, effective crosspresentation and enhanced T-cell responses. These nanotherapy-based approaches will certainly help with the designing of clinically translatable dendritic cell-based therapeutic vaccines and facilitate the selective removal of residual disease in gastrointestinal cancer patients following standard treatments.

Current concepts of immune based treatments for patients with HCC: from basic science to novel treatment approaches

The recent approval of two immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of malignant melanoma has sparked great interest by physicians and basic scientists searching for novel therapeutics for GI cancer. Chronic inflammation is recognised as a major risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and makes this type of cancer a potentially ideal target for an immune based treatment approach. Further evidence for a critical role of immune responses in patients with HCC is derived from the fact that immune signatures and profiles predict patients' outcome as well as the fact that tumour-induced spontaneous antitumour immunity can be detected. In addition ablative therapies can lead to changes in the number, phenotype and function of different immune cell subsets, which correlate with patients' survival. Various HCC-specific mouse models have been developed, which improve our understanding of hepatocarcinogenesis and tumour-immune cell interactions, and lead to the development of novel immune based treatment approaches, which are currently being evaluated in preclinical and in early clinical settings. Immune checkpoint blockade along with adoptive immune cell therapy and vaccine approaches are currently being evaluated either alone or in combination with other treatments. Here, we provide an overview for the rationale of immunotherapy in HCC, summarise ongoing studies and provide a perspective for immune based approaches in patients with HCC.

Registered report: senescence surveillance of pre-malignant hepatocytes limits liver cancer development

The Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology seeks to address growing concerns about reproducibility in scientific research by conducting replications of 50 papers in the field of cancer biology published between 2010 and 2012. This Registered report describes the proposed replication plan of key experiments from ‘Senescence surveillance of pre-malignant hepatocytes limits liver cancer development’ by Kang et al. (2011), published in Nature in 2011. The experiments that will be replicated are those reported in Figures 3B, 3C, 3E, and 4A. In these experiments, Kang et al. (2011) demonstrate the phenomenon of oncogene-induced cellular senescence and immune-mediated clearance of senescent cells after intrahepatic injection of NRAS (Figures 2I, 3B, 3C, and 3E). Additionally, Kang et al. (2011) show the specific necessity of CD4+ T cells for immunoclearance of senescent cells (Figure 4A). The Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology is a collaboration between the Center for Open Science and Science Exchange, and the results of the replications will be published by eLife.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04105.001

Of microspheres and microbes: A double-hit strategy for cancer immunotherapy

Efficient immunotherapy relies on the rapid generation of elevated amounts of cancer-specific T lymphocytes. We have recently demonstrated that both rapid and potent tumor-targeting immune responses can be induced with a heterologous prime-boost regimen consisting of poly-lactic co-glycolic acid (PLGA) microsphere-based immunization followed by Listeria monocytogenes infection.

Oncolytic viruses as anticancer vaccines

Oncolytic virotherapy has shown impressive results in preclinical studies and first promising therapeutic outcomes in clinical trials as well. Since viruses are known for a long time as excellent vaccination agents, oncolytic viruses are now designed as novel anticancer agents combining the aspect of lysis-dependent cytoreductive activity with concomitant induction of antitumoral immune responses. Antitumoral immune activation by oncolytic virus infection of tumor tissue comprises both, immediate effects of innate immunity and also adaptive responses for long lasting antitumoral activity, which is regarded as the most prominent challenge in clinical oncology. To date, the complex effects of a viral tumor infection on the tumor microenvironment and the consequences for the tumor-infiltrating immune cell compartment are poorly understood. However, there is more and more evidence that a tumor infection by an oncolytic virus opens up a number of options for further immunomodulating interventions such as systemic chemotherapy, generic immunostimulating strategies, dendritic cell-based vaccines, and antigenic libraries to further support clinical efficacy of oncolytic virotherapy.