Cytoplasmic dsRNA induces the expression of OCT3/4 and NANOG mRNAs in differentiated human cells

Development of Self-Adjuvants in mRNA Vaccine and Its Application in Disease Prevention and Treatment

Adjuvants augment the immunogenicity of vaccines when co-administered with messenger RNA (mRNA) antigens. In recent years, nanotechnology and nanoscience have seen significant growth, resulting in the discovery of synthetic small molecule compounds, natural extracts, and nanomaterials with self-adjuvant properties for nano delivery. The materials exhibit robust immune activity and efficiently activate various innate immune signaling pathways. Moreover, they possess a comparatively simple chemical composition in contrast to conventional adjuvants. This significantly streamlines the manufacturing process of vaccine formulations. Therefore, these self-adjuvant materials theoretically improve the reproducibility of adjuvant production and quality control. Herein, this review summarizes the current research and development progress of mRNA adjuvants, with a specific focus on various types of mRNA adjuvants, notably self-adjuvant nanomaterials. It discusses the current research status on a range of diseases and investigates the potential development of mRNA vaccine adjuvants.

ISGylation enhances dsRNA-induced interferon response and NFκB signaling in fallopian tube epithelial cells

Heritable mutations in BRCA1 associate with increased risk of high-grade serous tubo-ovarian cancer. Nongenetic risk factors associated with this cancer, which arises from fallopian tube epithelial (FTE) cells, suggests a role for repetitive ovulation wherein FTE cells are exposed to inflammatory signaling molecules within follicular fluid. We previously reported increased NFκB and EGFR signaling in BRCA1-deficient primary FTE cells, with follicular fluid exposure further increasing abundance of interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) transcripts, including the ubiquitin-like protein ISG15 and other ISGylation pathway members. Both NFκB and type I interferon signaling are upregulated by stimulation of cGAS-STING or MDA5 and RIGI pattern recognition receptors. Since some pattern recognition receptors and their signal transduction pathway members are ISGylated, we tested the impact of ISG15 and ISGylation on interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and NFκB signaling through cGAS-STING or RIGI and MDA5 activation. Expression of ISG15 or UBA7, the E1-like ISG15-activating enzyme, in immortalized FTE cells was disrupted by CRISPR gene editing. Activation of IRF3 by RIGI or MDA5 but not cGAS-STING was attenuated by loss of either ISG15 or UBA7 and this was reflected by a similar effect on NFκB activation and downstream targets. Loss of ISGylation decreased levels of both MDA5 and RIGI, with knockdown of RIGI but not MDA5, decreasing IRF3 and NFκB activation in parental cells. These finding indicate that ISGylation enhances the ability of dsRNA to activate cytokine release and proinflammatory signaling. Further work to explore ISGylation as a target for prevention of high-grade serous tubo-ovarian cancer in BRCA1 mutation carriers is warranted.

Targeting the chromatin structural changes of antitumor immunity

Epigenomic imbalance drives abnormal transcriptional processes, promoting the onset and progression of cancer. Although defective gene regulation generally affects carcinogenesis and tumor suppression networks, tumor immunogenicity and immune cells involved in antitumor responses may also be affected by epigenomic changes, which may have significant implications for the development and application of epigenetic therapy, cancer immunotherapy, and their combinations. Herein, we focus on the impact of epigenetic regulation on tumor immune cell function and the role of key abnormal epigenetic processes, DNA methylation, histone post-translational modification, and chromatin structure in tumor immunogenicity, and introduce these epigenetic research methods. We emphasize the value of small-molecule inhibitors of epigenetic modulators in enhancing antitumor immune responses and discuss the challenges of developing treatment plans that combine epigenetic therapy and immunotherapy through the complex interaction between cancer epigenetics and cancer immunology.

OCT3/4 is a potential immunohistochemical biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis of primary intracranial germ cell tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction

Intracranial germ cell tumors (iGCTs), comprising of germinoma (GE) and non-germinomatous GCT (NGGCT), are a group of heterogenous brain tumors. Immunohistochemical markers, such as placental-like alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), are commonly used in diagnosis but show moderate sensitivity. Organic cation transporter 3/4 (OCT3/4) has been proposed as a novel biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis of iGCTs. This paper aimed to compare OCT3/4 with PLAP as potential immunohistochemical biomarkers in iGCTs diagnosis and clarify the relationship between OCT3/4 and prognosis of patients with iGCTs.

Methods

Meta-analyses were performed to estimate pooled percentage point differences in positive rates between OCT3/4 and PLAP, their sensitivities, and correlation between OCT3/4 and prognosis in iGCTs.

Results

Nine articles were included representing of 241 patients. A fixed-effects model meta-analysis revealed that OCT3/4s positive rate was 8.6% higher (95% CI, 0.7% lower to 17.9% higher) than that of PLAP. Using fixed-effects models, sensitivities of OCT3/4 as a potential immunohistochemical biomarker in CNS GE and NGGCT were 85% (95% CI, 79% to 89%) and 56% (95% CI, 39% to 71%), respectively. In comparison, PLAP had lower sensitivities in both GE (73%; 95% CI, 64% to 91%) and NGGCT (43%; 95% CI, 27% to 61%). Moreover, OCT3/4 was significantly negatively correlated with 5-year progression free survival in patients with CNS GE (HR = 2.56, 95 % CI 1.47 to 4.44; p = 0.0008). Sensitivity analyses showed similar results.

Discussion

This study provides the first comprehensive assessment of the efficacies of OCT3/4 and PLAP in iGCTs detection and prognosis prediction, indicating OCT3/4 seems to be a more sensitive and reliable immunohistochemical marker in iGCT diagnosis.

Zinc finger proteins in the host-virus interplay: multifaceted functions based on their nucleic acid-binding property

Zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) are a huge family comprised of massive, structurally diverse proteins characterized by zinc ion coordinating. They engage in the host-virus interplay in-depth and occupy a significant portion of the host antiviral arsenal. Nucleic acid-binding is the basic property of certain ZFPs, which draws increasing attention due to their immense influence on viral infections. ZFPs exert multiple roles on the viral replications and host cell transcription profiles by recognizing viral genomes and host mRNAs. Their roles could be either antiviral or proviral and were separately discussed. Our review covers the recent research progress and provides a comprehensive understanding of ZFPs in antiviral immunity based on their DNA/RNA binding property.