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Ojha A, Zhao SJ, Zhang JT, Simo KA, Liu JY. Gap-App: A sex-distinct AI-based predictor for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma survival as a web application open to patients and physicians. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.04.597246. [PMID: 38895246 PMCID: PMC11185613 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.04.597246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
In this study, using RNA-Seq gene expression data and advanced machine learning techniques, we identified distinct gene expression profiles between male and female pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. Building upon this insight, we developed sex-specific 3-year survival predictive models, which achieved accuracies of 88.47% for males and 88.94% for females, respectively. These models outperformed a single general model despite the smaller sample sizes, highlighting the value of sex-specific analysis. Based on these findings, we created Gap-App, a web application that enables the use of individual gene expression profiles combined with sex information for personalized survival predictions. Gap-App, the first online tool aiming to bridge the gap between complex genomic data and clinical application and facilitating more precise and individualized cancer care, marks a significant advancement in personalized prognosis. The study not only underscores the importance of acknowledging sex differences in personalized prognosis, but also sets the stage for the shift from traditional one-size-fits-all to more personalized and targeted medicine. The GAP-App service is freely available at www.gap-app.org .
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Han Y, Tian X, Zhai J, Zhang Z. Clinical application of immunogenic cell death inducers in cancer immunotherapy: turning cold tumors hot. Front Cell Dev Biol 2024; 12:1363121. [PMID: 38774648 PMCID: PMC11106383 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1363121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Immunotherapy has emerged as a promising cancer treatment option in recent years. In immune "hot" tumors, characterized by abundant immune cell infiltration, immunotherapy can improve patients' prognosis by activating the function of immune cells. By contrast, immune "cold" tumors are often less sensitive to immunotherapy owing to low immunogenicity of tumor cells, an immune inhibitory tumor microenvironment, and a series of immune-escape mechanisms. Immunogenic cell death (ICD) is a promising cellular process to facilitate the transformation of immune "cold" tumors to immune "hot" tumors by eliciting innate and adaptive immune responses through the release of (or exposure to) damage-related molecular patterns. Accumulating evidence suggests that various traditional therapies can induce ICD, including chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiotherapy, and photodynamic therapy. In this review, we summarize the biological mechanisms and hallmarks of ICD and introduce some newly discovered and technologically innovative inducers that activate the immune system at the molecular level. Furthermore, we also discuss the clinical applications of combing ICD inducers with cancer immunotherapy. This review will provide valuable insights into the future development of ICD-related combination therapeutics and potential management for "cold" tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Zhenyong Zhang
- Department of Oncology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
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Vijayan Y, James S, Viswanathan A, Aparna JS, Bindu A, Namitha NN, Anantharaman D, Babu Lankadasari M, Harikumar KB. Targeting acid ceramidase enhances antitumor immune response in colorectal cancer. J Adv Res 2023:S2090-1232(23)00403-4. [PMID: 38142035 DOI: 10.1016/j.jare.2023.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Acid ceramidase (hereafter referred as ASAH1) is an enzyme in sphingolipid metabolism that converts pro-survival ceramide into sphingosine. ASAH1 has been shown to be overexpressed in certain cancers. However, the role of ASAH1 in colorectal cancer still remain elusive. OBJECTIVE The present study is aimed to understand how ASAH1 regulates colorectal cancer (CRC) progression and resistance to checkpoint inhibitor therapy. METHODS Both pharmacological and genetic silencing of ASAH1 was used in the study. In vitro experiments were done on human and mouse CRC cell lines. The in vivo studies were conducted in NOD-SCID and BALB/c mice models. The combination of ASAH1 inhibitor and checkpoint inhibitor was tested using a syngeneic tumor model of CRC. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were done to understand the effect of ASAH1 silencing. RESULTS ASAH1 is overexpressed in human CRC cases, and silencing the expression resulted in the induction of immunological cell death (ICD) and mitochondrial stress. The ASAH1 inhibitor (LCL-521), either as monotherapy or in combination with an anti-PD-1 antibody, resulted in reduction of tumors and, through induction of type I and II interferon response, activation of M1 macrophages and T cells, leading to enhanced infiltration of cytotoxic T cells. Our findings supported that the combination of LCL-521 and ICIs, which enhances the antitumor responses, and ASAH1 can be a druggable target in CRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yadu Vijayan
- Cancer Research Program, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, 695014, India; Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, 576104, India
| | - Shirley James
- Cancer Research Program, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, 695014, India
| | - Arun Viswanathan
- Cancer Research Program, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, 695014, India; Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, 576104, India
| | - Jayasekharan S Aparna
- Cancer Research Program, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, 695014, India
| | - Anu Bindu
- Cancer Research Program, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, 695014, India
| | - Narayanan N Namitha
- Cancer Research Program, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, 695014, India
| | - Devasena Anantharaman
- Cancer Research Program, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, 695014, India
| | - Manendra Babu Lankadasari
- Cancer Research Program, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, 695014, India
| | - Kuzhuvelil B Harikumar
- Cancer Research Program, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, 695014, India.
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Gabizon A, Shmeeda H, Draper B, Parente-Pereira A, Maher J, Carrascal-Miniño A, de Rosales RTM, La-Beck NM. Harnessing Nanomedicine to Potentiate the Chemo-Immunotherapeutic Effects of Doxorubicin and Alendronate Co-Encapsulated in Pegylated Liposomes. Pharmaceutics 2023; 15:2606. [PMID: 38004584 PMCID: PMC10675201 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15112606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Encapsulation of Doxorubicin (Dox), a potent cytotoxic agent and immunogenic cell death inducer, in pegylated (Stealth) liposomes, is well known to have major pharmacologic advantages over treatment with free Dox. Reformulation of alendronate (Ald), a potent amino-bisphosphonate, by encapsulation in pegylated liposomes, results in significant immune modulatory effects through interaction with tumor-associated macrophages and activation of a subset of gamma-delta T lymphocytes. We present here recent findings of our research work with a formulation of Dox and Ald co-encapsulated in pegylated liposomes (PLAD) and discuss its pharmacological properties vis-à-vis free Dox and the current clinical formulation of pegylated liposomal Dox. PLAD is a robust formulation with high and reproducible remote loading of Dox and high stability in plasma. Results of biodistribution studies, imaging with radionuclide-labeled liposomes, and therapeutic studies as a single agent and in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors or gamma-delta T lymphocytes suggest that PLAD is a unique product with distinct tumor microenvironmental interactions and distinct pharmacologic properties when compared with free Dox and the clinical formulation of pegylated liposomal Dox. These results underscore the potential added value of PLAD for chemo-immunotherapy of cancer and the relevance of the co-encapsulation approach in nanomedicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Gabizon
- Nano-Oncology Research Center, Oncology Institute, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem 9103102, Israel;
- Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel
| | - Hilary Shmeeda
- Nano-Oncology Research Center, Oncology Institute, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem 9103102, Israel;
| | - Benjamin Draper
- King’s College London, School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guy’s Cancer Centre, Great Maze Pond, London SE1 9RT, UK; (B.D.); (A.P.-P.); (J.M.)
| | - Ana Parente-Pereira
- King’s College London, School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guy’s Cancer Centre, Great Maze Pond, London SE1 9RT, UK; (B.D.); (A.P.-P.); (J.M.)
| | - John Maher
- King’s College London, School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guy’s Cancer Centre, Great Maze Pond, London SE1 9RT, UK; (B.D.); (A.P.-P.); (J.M.)
| | - Amaia Carrascal-Miniño
- King’s College London, School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, St. Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK; (A.C.-M.); (R.T.M.d.R.)
| | - Rafael T. M. de Rosales
- King’s College London, School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, St. Thomas’ Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK; (A.C.-M.); (R.T.M.d.R.)
| | - Ninh M. La-Beck
- Department of Immunotherapeutics and Biotechnology, Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Abilene, TX 79601, USA;
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Luo W, Wang J, Chen H, Qiu J, Wang R, Liu Y, Su D, Tao J, Weng G, Ma H, Zhang T. Novel strategies optimize immunotherapy by improving the cytotoxic function of T cells for pancreatic cancer treatment. Cancer Lett 2023; 576:216423. [PMID: 37778682 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2023.216423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Revised: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer (PC) is considered highly malignant due to its unsatisfying prognosis and limited response to therapies. Immunotherapy has therefore been developed to harness the antigen-specific properties and cytotoxicity of the immune system, aiming to induce a robust anti-tumor immune response that specifically demolishes PC cells while minimizing lethality in healthy tissue. The activation and augmentation of cytotoxic T cells play a critical role in the initiation and final success of immunotherapy. PC, however, is often immunotherapy resistant due to its intrinsic immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment that consequently hampers effective T cell priming. Emerging therapeutic approaches are orientated to modulate the tumor microenvironment in PC to enhance immune system involvement and heighten T cell efficacy. These novel strategies have shown promising therapeutic effects in the treatment of PC either as standalone approaches or combinatorial with other therapeutic schemes. The objective of this article is to explore innovative approaches to optimize immunotherapy for PC patients through T cell cytotoxic function augmentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenhao Luo
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China.
| | - Jun Wang
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China
| | - Hao Chen
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China
| | - Jiangdong Qiu
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China
| | - Ruobing Wang
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China
| | - Yueze Liu
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China
| | - Dan Su
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China
| | - Jinxin Tao
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China
| | - Guihu Weng
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China
| | - Haowei Ma
- Clinical Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Taiping Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China; Clinical Immunology Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China.
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Liu Y, Zhang L, Lei X, Yin X, Liu S. Development of an immunogenic cell death prognostic signature for predicting clinical outcome and immune infiltration characterization in stomach adenocarcinoma. Aging (Albany NY) 2023; 15:11389-11411. [PMID: 37862109 PMCID: PMC10637829 DOI: 10.18632/aging.205132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/22/2023]
Abstract
Stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) is a common gastric histological cancer type with a high mortality rate. Immunogenic cell death (ICD) plays a key factor during carcinogenesis progress, whereas the prognostic value and role of ICD-related genes (ICDRGs) in STAD remain unclear. The MSigDB database collecting ICDRGs were selected by univariate Cox regression analysis and LASSO algorithm to establish a novel risk model. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated a significant difference of OS rate of patients by risk score stratification. ESTIMATE, CIBERSORT, and single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) algorithms were conducted to estimate the immune infiltration landscape by risk stratification. Subgroup analysis and tumor mutation burden analysis were also analyzed to identify characteristics between groups. Differences in therapeutic responsiveness to chemotherapeutic drugs and targeted drugs were also analyzed between high-risk group and low-risk group. The impact of one ICDRG, GPX1, on the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of was confirmed by in vitro experiments in GC cells to test the reliability of bioinformatics results. This study gives evidence of the involvement of ICD process in STAD and provides a new perspective for further accurate assessment of prognosis and therapeutic efficacy in STAD patients. Stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) is a common gastric histological cancer type with a high mortality rate. Immunogenic cell death (ICD) plays a key factor during carcinogenesis progress, whereas the prognostic value and role of ICD-related genes (ICDRGs) in STAD remains unclear. The MSigDB database collected ICDRGs were selected by univariate Cox regression analysis and LASSO algorithm to establish a novel risk model. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated a significant difference of OS rate of patients by risk score stratification. ESTIMATE, CIBERSORT, and single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) algorithms were conducted to estimate the immune infiltration landscape by risk stratification. Subgroup analysis and tumor mutation burden analysis were also analyzed to identify characteristics between groups. Differences in therapeutic responsiveness to chemotherapeutic drugs and targeted drugs were also analyzed between high-risk group and low-risk group. The impact of one ICDRG, GPX1, on the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of was confirmed by in vitro experiments in GC cells to test the reliability of bioinformatics results. This study gives evidence of the involvement of ICD process in STAD and provides a new perspective for further accurate assessment of prognosis and therapeutic efficacy in STAD patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ye Liu
- Department of Intensive Care Unit, First Affiliated Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, Heilongjiang Province, China
| | - Lijia Zhang
- Ethics Committee Office, First Affiliated Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, Heilongjiang Province, China
| | - Xue Lei
- Department of Clinical Specialty of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Graduate School, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, Heilongjiang Province, China
| | - Xinyu Yin
- Department of Clinical Specialty of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Graduate School, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, Heilongjiang Province, China
| | - Songjiang Liu
- Department of Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin 150040, Heilongjiang Province, China
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D’Amico S, Tempora P, Gragera P, Król K, Melaiu O, De Ioris MA, Locatelli F, Fruci D. Two bullets in the gun: combining immunotherapy with chemotherapy to defeat neuroblastoma by targeting adrenergic-mesenchymal plasticity. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1268645. [PMID: 37849756 PMCID: PMC10577183 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1268645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuroblastoma (NB) is a childhood tumor that originates in the peripheral sympathetic nervous system and is responsible for 15% of cancer-related deaths in the pediatric population. Despite intensive multimodal treatment, many patients with high-risk NB relapse and develop a therapy-resistant tumor. One of the phenomena related to therapeutic resistance is intratumor heterogeneity resulting from the adaptation of tumor cells in response to different selective environmental pressures. The transcriptional and epigenetic profiling of NB tissue has recently revealed the existence of two distinct cellular identities in the NB, termed adrenergic (ADRN) and mesenchymal (MES), which can spontaneously interconvert through epigenetic regulation. This phenomenon, known as tumor plasticity, has a major impact on cancer pathogenesis. The aim of this review is to describe the peculiarities of these two cell states, and how their plasticity affects the response to current therapeutic treatments, with special focus on the immunogenic potential of MES cells. Furthermore, we will discuss the opportunity to combine immunotherapy with chemotherapy to counteract NB phenotypic interconversion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia D’Amico
- Department of Paediatric Haematology/Oncology and Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Rome, Italy
| | - Patrizia Tempora
- Department of Paediatric Haematology/Oncology and Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Rome, Italy
| | - Paula Gragera
- Department of Paediatric Haematology/Oncology and Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Rome, Italy
| | - Kamila Król
- Department of Paediatric Haematology/Oncology and Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Rome, Italy
| | - Ombretta Melaiu
- Department of Paediatric Haematology/Oncology and Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Rome, Italy
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Antonietta De Ioris
- Department of Paediatric Haematology/Oncology and Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Rome, Italy
| | - Franco Locatelli
- Department of Paediatric Haematology/Oncology and Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Rome, Italy
- Department of Pediatrics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy
| | - Doriana Fruci
- Department of Paediatric Haematology/Oncology and Cell and Gene Therapy, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Rome, Italy
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