Use of dentritic cells pulsed with HLA-A2-restricted MAGE-A1 peptide to generate cytotoxic T lymphocytes against malignant glioma

Advancements in dendritic cell vaccination: enhancing efficacy and optimizing combinatorial strategies for the treatment of glioblastoma

Glioblastomas (GBM) are highly invasive, malignant primary brain tumors. The overall prognosis is poor, and management of GBMs remains a formidable challenge, necessitating novel therapeutic strategies such as dendritic cell vaccinations (DCVs). While many early clinical trials demonstrate an induction of an antitumoral immune response, outcomes are mixed and dependent on numerous factors that vary between trials. Optimization of DCVs is essential; the selection of GBM-specific antigens and the utilization of 18F-fludeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography (FDG-PET) may add significant value and ultimately improve outcomes for patients undergoing treatment for glioblastoma. This review provides an overview of the mechanism of DCV, assesses previous clinical trials, and discusses future strategies for the integration of DCV into glioblastoma treatment protocols. To conclude, the review discusses challenges associated with the use of DCVs and highlights the potential of integrating DCV with standard therapies.

Design, synthesis and immunological evaluation of self-assembled antigenic peptides from dual-antigen targets: a broad-spectrum candidate for an effective antibreast cancer therapy

Background

Considering the narrow immune response spectrum of a single epitope, and the nanoparticles (NPs) as a novel adjuvant can achieve efficient delivery of antigenic peptides safely, a nano-system (denoted as DSPE-PEG-Man@EM-NPs) based on cathepsin B-responsive antigenic peptides was designed and synthesized.

Methods

Highly affinitive antigenic peptides were delivered by self-assembled NPs, and targeted erythrocyte membranes acted as a peptide carrier to improve antigenic peptides presentation and to strengthen cytotoxic T-cells reaction. Cathepsin B coupling could release antigenic peptides rapidly in dendritic cells.

Results

Evaluations showed that DSPE-PEG-Man@EM-NPs had obvious inhibitory effects towards both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell lines.

Conclusion

Overall, this strategy provides a novel strategy for boosting cytotoxic T lymphocytes response, thereby expanding the adaptation range of tumor antigenic peptides and improving the therapeutic effect of tumor immunotherapy with nanomedicine.

A constructed HLA-A2-restricted pMAGE-A1(278-286) tetramer detects specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in tumour tissues in situ

OBJECTIVE

To construct a human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-A2-restricted peptide 278-286 of melanoma-associated antigen family A, 1 (pMAGE-A1(278-286)) tetramer to analyse the distribution of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in tumour tissue and tumour-adjacent normal tissue.

METHODS

A HLA-A2-pMAGE-A1(278-286) tetramer was constructed. The distribution of pMAGE-A1(278-286)-specific CTLs was investigated in tumour tissues and tumour-adjacent normal tissues from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma using in situ HLA-A2-pMAGE-A1(278-286) tetramer staining.

RESULTS

Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis indicated that HLA-A2 heavy and light chain proteins were successfully obtained. The successful construction of the HLA-A2-pMAGE-A1(278-286) monomer was confirmed with Western blot analysis using W6/32 antibody. Flow cytometry confirmed the specific binding of HLA-A2-pMAGE-A1(278-286) tetramer to pMAGE-A1(278-286)-specific CTLs. In situ HLA-A2-pMAGE-A1(278-286) tetramer staining demonstrated that the number of pMAGE-A1(278-286)-specific CTLs in tumour tissues was significantly higher than in tumour-adjacent normal tissues.

CONCLUSIONS

The HLA-A2-pMAGE-A1(278-286) tetramer was useful for the detection of pMAGE-A1(278-286)-specific CTLs in both tumour tissues and tumour-adjacent normal tissues. In situ tetramer staining is a powerful tool for investigating the distribution of pMAGE-A1278-286-specific CTLs in the tumour microenvironment.