High CCL27 immunoreactivity in 'supratumoral' epidermis correlates with better prognosis in patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma

Immune mechanisms and predictive biomarkers related to neoadjuvant immunotherapy response in stage III melanoma

The treatment for stage III melanoma has advanced significantly, nevertheless, a substantial proportion of patients experience relapse. Neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade has emerged as a promising approach, allowing early micrometastatic disease treatment, reduction of tumor burden before surgery, and enhanced tumor-specific T-cell responses. However, not all patients respond to treatment, highlighting the need for understanding immune mechanisms behind failure and identification of predictive markers. Here we performed a robust evaluation of systemic and tumoral immune profiles in a well-defined cohort of advanced melanoma patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Elevated CTACK and CXCL9 chemokines pre-treatment suggested their potential as predictive tools for treatment response. Furthermore, CD95 expression in CD8+ T lymphocytes surfaced as a favorable prognostic indicator, while PD-1, CD161, and PD-L2 exhibited correlations with worst outcomes. These findings shed light on the intricate interplay between immune markers and melanoma response to neoadjuvant immune checkpoint therapy, offering insights into personalized treatment strategies.

The Diagnosis and Management of Cutaneous Metastases from Melanoma

Melanoma is one of the deadliest skin tumors, accounting for almost 90% of skin cancer mortality. Although immune therapy and targeted therapy have dramatically changed the prognosis of metastatic melanoma, many patients experience disease progression despite the currently available new treatments. Skin metastases from melanoma represent a relatively common event as first sign of advanced disease or a sign of recurrence. Skin metastases are usually asymptomatic, although in advanced stages, they can present with ulceration, bleeding, and superinfection; furthermore, they can cause symptoms related to compression on nearby tissues. Treatments vary from simple surgery resections to topical or intralesional local injections, or a combination of these techniques with the most recent systemic immune or target therapies. New research and studies should focus on the pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms of the cutaneous metastases of melanoma in order to shed light on the mechanisms underlying the different behavior and prognoses of different patients.

Roles of CCR10/CCL27-CCL28 axis in tumour development: mechanisms, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, and perspectives

Cancer is now one of the major causes of death across the globe. The imbalance of cytokine and chemokine secretion has been reported to be involved in cancer development. Meanwhile, CC chemokines have received considerable interest in cancer research. CCR10, as the latest identified CC chemokine receptor (CCR), has been implicated in the recruitment and infiltration of immune cells, especially lymphocytes, into epithelia such as skin via ligation to two ligands, CCL27 and CCL28. Other than homoeostatic function, several mechanisms have been shown to dysregulate CCR10/CCL27-CCL28 expression in the tumour microenvironment. As such, these receptors and ligands mediate T-cell trafficking in the tumour microenvironment. Depending on the types of lymphocytes recruited, CCR10/CCL27-CCL28 interaction has been shown to play conflicting roles in cancer development. If they were T helper and cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells, the role of this axis would be tumour-suppressive. In contrast, if CCR10/CCL27-CCL28 recruited regulatory T cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts or myeloid-derived suppressor cells, it would lead to tumour progression. In addition to the trafficking of lymphocytes and immune cells, CCR10 also leads to the migration of tumour cells or endothelial cells (called angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis) to promote tumour metastasis. Furthermore, CCR10 signalling triggers tumour-promoting signalling such as PI3K/AKT and mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase, resulting in tumour cell growth. Since CCR10/CCL27-CCL28 is dysregulated in the tumour tissues, it is suggested that analysis and measurement of them might predict tumour development. Finally, it is hoped using therapeutic approaches based on this axis might increase our knowledge to overcome tumour progression.

Chemokine Pathways in Cutaneous Melanoma: Their Modulation by Cancer and Exploitation by the Clinician

The incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma is rising globally and is projected to continue to rise. Advances in immunotherapy over the last decade have demonstrated that manipulation of the immune cell compartment of tumours is a valuable weapon in the arsenal against cancer; however, limitations to treatment still exist. Cutaneous melanoma lesions feature a dense cell infiltrate, coordinated by chemokines, which control the positioning of all immune cells. Melanomas are able to use chemokine pathways to preferentially recruit cells, which aid their growth, survival, invasion and metastasis, and which enhance their ability to evade anticancer immune responses. Aside from this, chemokine signalling can directly influence angiogenesis, invasion, lymph node, and distal metastases, including epithelial to mesenchymal transition-like processes and transendothelial migration. Understanding the interplay of chemokines, cancer cells, and immune cells may uncover future avenues for melanoma therapy, namely: identifying biomarkers for patient stratification, augmenting the effect of current and emerging therapies, and designing specific treatments to target chemokine pathways, with the aim to reduce melanoma pathogenicity, metastatic potential, and enhance immune cell-mediated cancer killing. The chemokine network may provide selective and specific targets that, if included in current therapeutic regimens, harbour potential to improve outcomes for patients.

Targeting regulatory T cells for immunotherapy in melanoma

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are essential in the maintenance of immunity, and they are also a key to immune suppressive microenvironment in solid tumors. Many studies have revealed the biology of Tregs in various human pathologies. Here we review recent understandings of the immunophenotypes and suppressive functions of Tregs in melanoma, including Treg recruitment and expansion in a tumor. Tregs are frequently accumulated in melanoma and the ratio of CD8+ T cells versus Tregs in the melanoma is predictive for patient survival. Hence, depletion of Tregs is a promising strategy for the enhancement of anti-melanoma immunity. Many recent studies are aimed to target Tregs in melanoma. Distinguishing Tregs from other immune cells and understanding the function of different subsets of Tregs may contribute to better therapeutic efficacy. Depletion of functional Tregs from the tumor microenvironment has been tested to induce clinically relevant immune responses against melanomas. However, the lack of Treg specific therapeutic antibodies or Treg specific depleting strategies is a big hurdle that is yet to be overcome. Additional studies to fine-tune currently available therapies and more agents that specifically and selectively target tumor infiltrating Tregs in melanoma are urgently needed.

CCL27 Signaling in the Tumor Microenvironment

Chemokines are a group of small proteins which play an important role in leukocyte migration and invasion. They are also involved in the cellular proliferation and migration of tumor cells.Chemokine CCL27 (cutaneous T cell-attracting chemokine, CTACK) is mainly expressed by keratinocytes of the normal epidermis. It is well known that this chemokine plays an important role in several inflammatory diseases of the skin, such as atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, and psoriasis. Moreover, several studies have shown an association between CCL27 expression and a variety of neoplasms including skin cancer.In this chapter, we address the role of chemokine CCL27 in the tumor microenvironment in the most relevant cancers of the skin and other anatomical locations. We also make a brief comment on future perspectives and the potential relation of CCL27 with different immunotherapeutic modalities.

CC Chemokines in a Tumor: A Review of Pro-Cancer and Anti-Cancer Properties of Receptors CCR5, CCR6, CCR7, CCR8, CCR9, and CCR10 Ligands

CC chemokines (or β-chemokines) are 28 chemotactic cytokines with an N-terminal CC domain that play an important role in immune system cells, such as CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ lymphocytes, dendritic cells, eosinophils, macrophages, monocytes, and NK cells, as well in neoplasia. In this review, we discuss human CC motif chemokine ligands: CCL1, CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, CCL18, CCL19, CCL20, CCL21, CCL25, CCL27, and CCL28 (CC motif chemokine receptor CCR5, CCR6, CCR7, CCR8, CCR9, and CCR10 ligands). We present their functioning in human physiology and in neoplasia, including their role in the proliferation, apoptosis resistance, drug resistance, migration, and invasion of cancer cells. We discuss the significance of chemokine receptors in organ-specific metastasis, as well as the influence of each chemokine on the recruitment of various cells to the tumor niche, such as cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF), Kupffer cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC), osteoclasts, tumor-associated macrophages (TAM), tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), and regulatory T cells (T_reg). Finally, we show how the effect of the chemokines on vascular endothelial cells and lymphatic endothelial cells leads to angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis.

Cutaneous melanoma dissemination is dependent on the malignant cell properties and factors of intercellular crosstalk in the cancer microenvironment (Review)

The incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma has been steadily increasing worldwide for several decades. This phenomenon seems to follow the trend observed in many types of malignancies caused by multiple significant factors, including ageing. Despite the progress in cutaneous malignant melanoma therapeutic options, the curability of advanced disease after metastasis represents a serious challenge for further research. In this review, we summarise data on the microenvironment of cutaneous malignant melanoma with emphasis on intercellular signalling during the disease progression. Malignant melanocytes with features of neural crest stem cells interact with non‑malignant populations within this microenvironment. We focus on representative bioactive factors regulating this intercellular crosstalk. We describe the possible key factors and signalling cascades responsible for the high complexity of the melanoma microenvironment and its premetastatic niches. Furthermore, we present the concept of melanoma early becoming a systemic disease. This systemic effect is presented as a background for the new horizons in the therapy of cutaneous melanoma.

HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells secrete chemokines which induce chemoattraction and intracellular calcium mobilization in NK92 cells

We recently reported that pretreatment of IL-2 activated human natural killer (NK) cells with the drugs dimethyl fumarate (DMF) and monomethyl fumarate (MMF) upregulated the expression of surface chemokine receptor CCR10. Ligands for CCR10, namely CCL27 and CCL28, induced the chemotaxis of these cells. Here, we performed a bioinformatics analysis to see which chemokines might be expressed by the human HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells. We observed that, in addition to CCL27 and CCL28, HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells profoundly express CXCL16 which binds CXCR6. Consequently, NK92 cells were treated with DMF and MMF for 24 h to investigate in vitro chemotaxis towards CXCL16, CCL27, and CCL28. Furthermore, supernatants collected from HCT-116 cells after 24 or 48 h incubation induced the chemotaxis of NK92 cells. Similar to their effects on human IL-2-activated NK cells, MMF and DMF enhanced the expression of CCR10 and CXCR6 in NK92 cells. Neutralizing anti-CXCL16 or anti-CCL28 inhibited the chemotactic effects of 24 and 48 supernatants, whereas anti-CCL27 only inhibited the 48 h supernatant activity, suggesting that 24 h supernatant contains CXCL16 and CCL28, whereas HCT-116 secretes all three chemokines after 48 h in vitro cultures. CXCL16, CCL27, and CCL28, as well as the supernatants collected from HCT-116, induced the mobilization of (Ca)2+ in NK92 cells. Cross-desensitization experiments confirmed the results of the chemotaxis experiments. Finally, incubation of NK92 cells with HCT-116 induced the lysis of the tumor cells. In summary, these results might have important implications in directing the anti-tumor effectors NK cells towards tumor growth sites.

CCL27/CCL28-CCR10 Chemokine Signaling Mediates Migration of Lymphatic Endothelial Cells

Metastasis via the lymphatic vasculature is an important step in cancer progression. The formation of new lymphatic vessels (lymphangiogenesis), or remodeling of existing lymphatics, is thought to facilitate the entry and transport of tumor cells into lymphatic vessels and on to distant organs. The migration of lymphatic endothelial cells (LEC) toward guidance cues is critical for lymphangiogenesis. While chemokines are known to provide directional navigation for migrating immune cells, their role in mediating LEC migration during tumor-associated lymphangiogenesis is not well defined. Here, we undertook gene profiling studies to identify chemokine-chemokine receptor pairs that are involved in tumor lymphangiogenesis associated with lymph node metastasis. CCL27 and CCL28 were expressed in tumor cells with metastatic potential, while their cognate receptor, CCR10, was expressed by LECs and upregulated by the lymphangiogenic growth factor VEGFD and the proinflammatory cytokine TNFα. Migration assays demonstrated that LECs are attracted to both CCL27 and CCL28 in a CCR10-dependent manner, while abnormal lymphatic vessel patterning in CCR10-deficient mice confirmed the significant role of CCR10 in lymphatic patterning. In vivo analyses showed that LECs are recruited to a CCL27 or CCL28 source, while VEGFD was required in combination with these chemokines to enable formation of coherent lymphatic vessels. Moreover, tumor xenograft experiments demonstrated that even though CCL27 expression by tumors enhanced LEC recruitment, the ability to metastasize was dependent on the expression of VEGFD. These studies demonstrate that CCL27 and CCL28 signaling through CCR10 may cooperate with inflammatory mediators and VEGFD during tumor lymphangiogenesis. SIGNIFICANCE: The study shows that the remodeling of lymphatic vessels in cancer is influenced by CCL27 and CCL28 chemokines, which may provide a future target to modulate metastatic spread.

Downregulation of intratumoral expression of miR-205, miR-200c and miR-125b in primary human cutaneous melanomas predicts shorter survival

While only 15–25 percent of melanoma patients develop distant metastasis and die, this disease is still responsible for the majority of skin cancer-related deaths. The availability of adjuvant therapies makes the selection of high-risk patients essential. We evaluated the intratumoral expression of ten miRNAs in primary melanomas in relation to its ability to predict melanoma survival. To this end, we correlated miRNA expression in 132 cryopreserved primary and metastatic tumors with clinicopathological factors and clinical outcome. We found sequential downregulation of intratumoral expression of miR-125b, miR-182, miR-200c and miR-205 over the full spectrum of melanoma progression. Moreover, downregulation of these miRNAs occurred in primary melanomas that further disseminated to distant sites. Furthermore, miR-125b, miR-200c and miR-205 correlated as independent factors with shorter survival. Our in vitro findings demonstrate that loss of miR-205 potentiates the invasive ability of melanoma cells. We conclude that the downregulation of miR-205 in primary melanomas is an intrinsic property that might contribute to distant metastasis. In particular, the interaction of melanoma cells with the extracellular matrix is one of the key mechanisms by which miR-205 influences melanoma metastasis. In conclusion, miR-125b, miR-200c and miR-205 are useful prognostic biomarkers at the time of diagnosis to select high-risk patients.

Contribution of diminished kidney transplant GFR to increased circulating chemokine ligand 27 level

Background

Inflammatory chemokine ligands (CCLs) play an important role in cardiovascular disease and allograft injury. CCLs may independently associate with diminished estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in stable renal transplant recipients (RTR).

Methods

Plasma levels of 19 CCLs (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 24, 26, 27, CXCL5, 8, 10, 12 and 13) were measured in a cohort of 101 RTR. The cohort was divided according to CKD-EPI equation into three groups; group 1: eGFR ≥ 60 ml/min, group 2: eGFR 30–59.9 ml/min and group 3 eGFR ≤ 29.9 ml/min. ANOVA, Krusklwallis, Mann- Whitney Spearman correlation and regression analysis tests were used to determine association between reduced eGFR and inflammatory CCLs plasma levels measured by multiplex techniques. 20 healthy subjects with eGFR above 90 ml/min were included as control. Significance was sat at < 0.05.

Results

Levels of CCLs 1, 4, 15, 27, CXCL8 and CXCL10 were significantly different among the four studied groups. Multivariate regression analysis (MVA) between eGFR and all CCLs demonstrated that CCL27 was the only ligand to remain significantly associated with diminished eGFR {P = 0.021 and r = − 0.35,(P = 0.001)}. In a second MVA between CCL 27 and patient’s demographics and laboratory variables, diminished eGFR, and elevated PTH, out of the twenty one available variables remained significantly associated with elevated CCL27levels.

Conclusion

Diminished eGFR in stable RTR is associated with elevated plasma levels of CCL27. This association may explain, at least in part, the independent contribution of reduced eGFR to enhanced inflammation in RTR.

Diverse expression of TNF-α and CCL27 in serum and blister of Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis

Background

The pathogenesis of Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS)/toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is not fully understood. Our previous study reported that chemokine CCL27 was overexpressed in serum of SJS/TEN patients. The objective of this study was to investigate the levels of CCL27 and TNF-α in serum and blister fluid from patients with SJS/TEN during the acute stage or resolution phase.

Methods

A total of 27 patients with SJS/TEN and 39 healthy donors were recruited to the study. Serum and vesicular levels of CCL27 and TNF-α were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Results

Serum levels of CCL27 and TNF-α were significantly elevated in patients with SJS/TEN during the acute stage as compared to the resolution phase and also compared with levels observed in normal controls (P = 0.001/< 0.001; P = 0.012/< 0.001). Serum TNF-α levels were significantly higher in patients with SJS/TEN during the resolution phase compared with normal controls (P < 0.001). Serum CCL27 levels were positively correlated with TNF-α levels during the acute stage (r_s = 0.660; P < 0.001). Blister fluid exhibited much lower CCL27 levels than serum did during the acute stage (P = 0.008). TNF-α levels were much higher in vesicles in contrast to serum from acute stage (P = 0.040) as well as serum from resolution phase (P = 0.029).

Conclusions

Our study demonstrated roles of CCL27 and TNF-α in promoting the course of SJS/TEN. CCL27 may act early in the course of disease, via the circulation, whereas TNF-α acts throughout the course of disease, in skin lesions.

Chemokine CCL27 is a novel plasma biomarker for identification the nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients from the Epstein-Barr virus capsid antigen-specific IgA seropositive population

Background

To investigate the predictive value of chemokine CCL27 for identifying early stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients within a population seropositive for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) capsid antigen-specific IgA (VCA-IgA).

Methods

CCL27 in plasma samples from 104 NPC patients, 112 VCA-IgA–positive healthy donors, and 140 VCA-IgA–negative normal subjects was measured by ELISA. Expression of CCL27 in nasopharyngeal tissue from 20 VCA-IgA–positive healthy donors and 20 NPC patients was examined by immunohistochemical staining.

Results

Levels of CCL27 in the plasma of VCA-IgA–positive healthy donors (607.33 ± 218.81 pg/ml) were significantly higher than the levels in all NPC patients (437.09 ± 217.74, P = < 0.0001) and in the subset of patients with early stage NPC (463.85 ± 226.17, P = 0.0126). Plasma CCL27 levels were significantly lower in the VCA-IgA–negative normal subjects (358.22 ± 133.15 pg/ml) than in either the VCA-IgA–positive healthy donors (P < 0.0001) or the NPC patients (P = 0.0113). CCL27 protein was detected in 16 of 20 (80%) nasopharyngeal tissue samples from VCA-IgA–positive healthy donors and in 3 of 20 (15%) tumor tissue samples from NPC patients. There was no relationship between CCL27 levels and VCA-IgA titers or plasma EBV DNA content. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves demonstrated that plasma CCL27 levels had a sensitivity of 67.00%, a specificity of 73.10%, and an area under the ROC of 0.725 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.657–0.793) for distinguishing between NPC patients and VCA-IgA–positive healthy donors. Further analysis showed that CCL27 levels could distinguish between early stage NPC patients and VCA-IgA–positive healthy donors with an area under the ROC of 0.712 (95% CI: 0.560–0.865), a sensitivity of 59.80%, and a specificity of 84.60%.

Conclusions

Chemokine CCL27 could successfully identify NPC patients within a VCA-IgA–positive population.