1
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Shen J, Yang H, Qiao X, Chen Y, Zheng L, Lin J, Lang J, Yu Q, Wang Z. The E3 ubiquitin ligase TRIM17 promotes gastric cancer survival and progression via controlling BAX stability and antagonizing apoptosis. Cell Death Differ 2023; 30:2322-2335. [PMID: 37697039 PMCID: PMC10589321 DOI: 10.1038/s41418-023-01221-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2023] [Revised: 08/20/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Tripartite motif 17 (TRIM17) belongs to a subfamily of the RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligases, and regulates several cellular processes and pathological conditions including cancer. However, its potential function in gastric cancer (GC) remains obscure. Here, we have found TRIM17 mRNA and protein levels are both upregulated in human GC compared with normal specimens, and TRIM17 upregulation indicates poor survival for GC patients. Functionally, TRIM17 was found to act as an oncogene by promoting the proliferation and survival of GC cell lines AGS and HGC-27. Mechanistically, TRIM17 acts to interact with BAX and promote its ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation, leading to a deficiency in BAX-dependent apoptosis in GC cells in the absence and presence of apoptosis stimuli. Moreover, TRIM17 and BAX expression levels are inversely correlated in human GC specimens. Our data thus suggest TRIM17 contributes to gastric cancer survival through regulating BAX protein stability and antagonizing apoptosis, which provides a promising therapeutic target for GC treatment and a biomarker for prognosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiajia Shen
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Medicinal Biotecnology, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hang Yang
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Medicinal Biotecnology, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
| | - Xinran Qiao
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Medicinal Biotecnology, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yang Chen
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Medicinal Biotecnology, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Liyun Zheng
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Medicinal Biotecnology, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jingyu Lin
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Medicinal Biotecnology, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jingyu Lang
- CAS_Key Laboratory of Tissue Microenvironment and Tumor, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Qiang Yu
- Cancer Therapeutics and Stratified Oncology, Genome Institute of Singapore, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), Biopolis, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Zhen Wang
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Medicinal Biotecnology, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
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2
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Man S, Redman JE, Cross DL, Cole DK, Can I, Davies B, Hashimdeen SS, Reid R, Llewellyn-Lacey S, Miners KL, Ladell K, Lissina A, Brown PE, Wooldridge L, Price DA, Rizkallah PJ. Synthetic Peptides with Inadvertent Chemical Modifications Can Activate Potentially Autoreactive T Cells. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY (BALTIMORE, MD. : 1950) 2021; 207:1009-1017. [PMID: 34321228 PMCID: PMC7615501 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2000756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2020] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The human CD8+ T cell clone 6C5 has previously been shown to recognize the tert-butyl-modified Bax161-170 peptide LLSY(3-tBu)FGTPT presented by HLA-A*02:01. This nonnatural epitope was likely created as a by-product of fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl protecting group peptide synthesis and bound poorly to HLA-A*02:01. In this study, we used a systematic approach to identify and characterize natural ligands for the 6C5 TCR. Functional analyses revealed that 6C5 T cells only recognized the LLSYFGTPT peptide when tBu was added to the tyrosine residue and did not recognize the LLSYFGTPT peptide modified with larger (di-tBu) or smaller chemical groups (Me). Combinatorial peptide library screening further showed that 6C5 T cells recognized a series of self-derived peptides with dissimilar amino acid sequences to LLSY(3-tBu)FGTPT. Structural studies of LLSY(3-tBu)FGTPT and two other activating nonamers (IIGWMWIPV and LLGWVFAQV) in complex with HLA-A*02:01 demonstrated similar overall peptide conformations and highlighted the importance of the position (P) 4 residue for T cell recognition, particularly the capacity of the bulky amino acid tryptophan to substitute for the tBu-modified tyrosine residue in conjunction with other changes at P5 and P6. Collectively, these results indicated that chemical modifications directly altered the immunogenicity of a synthetic peptide via molecular mimicry, leading to the inadvertent activation of a T cell clone with unexpected and potentially autoreactive specificities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Man
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom;
| | - James E Redman
- School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Deborah L Cross
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - David K Cole
- Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Ilona Can
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Bethan Davies
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Shaikh Shimaz Hashimdeen
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Reiss Reid
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Sian Llewellyn-Lacey
- Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Kelly L Miners
- Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Kristin Ladell
- Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Anya Lissina
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Paul E Brown
- The Zeeman Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom; and
| | - Linda Wooldridge
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - David A Price
- Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Systems Immunity Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Pierre J Rizkallah
- Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
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3
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Abstract
Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) has long been thought to be an immunosuppressive disease and abnormalities in T-cell subset distribution and function have been observed in many studies. However, the role of T cells (if any) in disease progression remains unclear and has not been directly studied. This has changed with the advent of new therapies, such as chimeric antigen receptor-T cells, which actively use retargeted patient-derived T cells as "living drugs" for CLL. However complete responses are relatively low (~26%) and recent studies have suggested the differentiation status of patient T cells before therapy may influence efficacy. Non-chemotherapeutic drugs, such as idelalisib and ibrutinib, also have an impact on T cell populations in CLL patients. This review will highlight what is known about T cells in CLL during disease progression and after treatment, and discuss the prospects of using T cells as predictive biomarkers for immune status and response to therapy.
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MESH Headings
- Adenine/analogs & derivatives
- B-Lymphocytes/immunology
- B-Lymphocytes/pathology
- Humans
- Immunotherapy, Adoptive
- Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell/immunology
- Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell/pathology
- Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell/therapy
- Piperidines
- Purines/therapeutic use
- Pyrazoles/therapeutic use
- Pyrimidines/therapeutic use
- Quinazolinones/therapeutic use
- T-Lymphocyte Subsets/immunology
- T-Lymphocyte Subsets/pathology
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Man
- Section of Haematology, Division of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK
| | - Peter Henley
- Section of Haematology, Division of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK
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4
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Dolton G, Zervoudi E, Rius C, Wall A, Thomas HL, Fuller A, Yeo L, Legut M, Wheeler S, Attaf M, Chudakov DM, Choy E, Peakman M, Sewell AK. Optimized Peptide-MHC Multimer Protocols for Detection and Isolation of Autoimmune T-Cells. Front Immunol 2018; 9:1378. [PMID: 30008714 PMCID: PMC6034003 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2018] [Accepted: 06/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Peptide–MHC (pMHC) multimers have become the “gold standard” for the detection and isolation of antigen-specific T-cells but recent evidence shows that normal use of these reagents can miss fully functional T-cells that bear T-cell receptors (TCRs) with low affinity for cognate antigen. This issue is particularly pronounced for anticancer and autoimmune T-cells as self-reactive T-cell populations are enriched for low-affinity TCRs due to the removal of cells with higher affinity receptors by immune tolerance mechanisms. Here, we stained a wide variety of self-reactive human T-cells using regular pMHC staining and an optimized technique that included: (i) protein kinase inhibitor (PKI), to prevent TCR triggering and internalization, and (ii) anti-fluorochrome antibody, to reduce reagent dissociation during washing steps. Lymphocytes derived from the peripheral blood of type 1 diabetes patients were stained with pMHC multimers made with epitopes from preproinsulin (PPI), insulin-β chain, glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65), or glucose-6-phospate catalytic subunit-related protein (IGRP) presented by disease-risk allelles HLA A*02:01 or HLA*24:02. Samples from ankylosing spondylitis patients were stained with a multimerized epitope from vasoactive intestinal polypeptide receptor 1 (VIPR1) presented by HLA B*27:05. Optimized procedures stained an average of 40.5-fold (p = 0.01, range between 1.4 and 198) more cells than could be detected without the inclusion of PKI and cross-linking anti-fluorochrome antibody. Higher order pMHC dextramers recovered more cells than pMHC tetramers in parallel assays, and standard staining protocols with pMHC tetramers routinely recovered less cells than functional assays. HLA A*02:01-restricted PPI-specific and HLA B*27:05-restricted VIPR1-specific T-cell clones generated using the optimized procedure could not be stained by standard pMHC tetramer staining. However, these clones responded well to exogenously supplied peptide and endogenously processed and presented epitopes. We also showed that anti-fluorochrome antibody-conjugated magnetic beads enhanced staining of self-reactive T-cells that could not be stained using standard protocols, thus enabling rapid ex vivo isolation of autoimmune T-cells. We, therefore, conclude that regular pMHC tetramer staining is generally unsuitable for recovering self-reactive T-cells from clinical samples and recommend the use of the optimized protocols described herein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Garry Dolton
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Efthalia Zervoudi
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Cristina Rius
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Aaron Wall
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Hannah L Thomas
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Anna Fuller
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Lorraine Yeo
- Department of Immunobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.,NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Mateusz Legut
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Sophie Wheeler
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Meriem Attaf
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Dmitriy M Chudakov
- Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia.,Centre for Data-Intensive Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Skolkovo, Russia.,Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia
| | - Ernest Choy
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom.,Systems Immunity Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Mark Peakman
- Department of Immunobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.,NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew K Sewell
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom.,Systems Immunity Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
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5
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Tucher C, Bode K, Schiller P, Claßen L, Birr C, Souto-Carneiro MM, Blank N, Lorenz HM, Schiller M. Extracellular Vesicle Subtypes Released From Activated or Apoptotic T-Lymphocytes Carry a Specific and Stimulus-Dependent Protein Cargo. Front Immunol 2018; 9:534. [PMID: 29599781 PMCID: PMC5862858 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.00534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2017] [Accepted: 03/02/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released from nearly all mammalian cells and different EV populations have been described. Microvesicles represent large EVs (LEVs) released from the cellular surface, while exosomes are small EVs (SEVs) released from an intracellular compartment. As it is likely that different stimuli promote the release of distinct EV populations, we analyzed EVs from human lymphocytes considering the respective release stimuli (activation Vs. apoptosis induction). We could clearly separate two EV populations, namely SEVs (average diameter <200 nm) and LEVs (diameter range between 200 and 1000 nm). Morphology and size were analyzed by electron microscopy and nanoparticle tracking analysis. Apoptosis induction caused a massive release of LEVs, while activated T-cells released SEVs and LEVs in considerably lower amounts. The release of SEVs from apoptotic T-cells was comparable with LEV release from activated ones. LEVs contained signaling proteins and proteins of the actin-myosin cytoskeleton. SEVs carried cytoplasmic/endosomal proteins like the 70-kDa heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) or tumor susceptibility 101 (TSG101), microtubule-associated proteins, and ubiquitinated proteins. The protein expression profile of SEVs and LEVs changed substantially after the induction of apoptosis. After apoptosis induction, HSP70 and TSG101 (often used as exosome markers) were highly expressed within LEVs. Interestingly, in contrast to HSP70 and TSG101, gelsolin and eps15 homology domain-containing protein 3 (EHD3) turned out to be specific for SEVs irrespective of the stimulus causing the EV release. Finally, we detected several subunits of the proteasome (PSMB9, PSMB10) as well as the danger signal HMGB1 exclusively within apoptotic cell-released LEVs. Thus, we were able to identify new marker proteins that can be useful to discriminate between distinct LEV subpopulations. The mass spectrometry proteomics data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD009074.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Tucher
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine V, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Konrad Bode
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.,Laboratory Dr. Limbach and Colleagues, Medical Care Unit, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Petra Schiller
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine V, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Laura Claßen
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine V, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Carolin Birr
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine V, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | - Norbert Blank
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine V, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Hanns-Martin Lorenz
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine V, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.,ACURA Center for Rheumatic Diseases, Baden-Baden, Germany
| | - Martin Schiller
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine V, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
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6
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Rius C, Attaf M, Tungatt K, Bianchi V, Legut M, Bovay A, Donia M, Thor Straten P, Peakman M, Svane IM, Ott S, Connor T, Szomolay B, Dolton G, Sewell AK. Peptide-MHC Class I Tetramers Can Fail To Detect Relevant Functional T Cell Clonotypes and Underestimate Antigen-Reactive T Cell Populations. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2018; 200:2263-2279. [PMID: 29483360 PMCID: PMC5857646 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1700242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2017] [Accepted: 01/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Peptide-MHC (pMHC) multimers, usually used as streptavidin-based tetramers, have transformed the study of Ag-specific T cells by allowing direct detection, phenotyping, and enumeration within polyclonal T cell populations. These reagents are now a standard part of the immunology toolkit and have been used in many thousands of published studies. Unfortunately, the TCR-affinity threshold required for staining with standard pMHC multimer protocols is higher than that required for efficient T cell activation. This discrepancy makes it possible for pMHC multimer staining to miss fully functional T cells, especially where low-affinity TCRs predominate, such as in MHC class II–restricted responses or those directed against self-antigens. Several recent, somewhat alarming, reports indicate that pMHC staining might fail to detect the majority of functional T cells and have prompted suggestions that T cell immunology has become biased toward the type of cells amenable to detection with multimeric pMHC. We use several viral- and tumor-specific pMHC reagents to compare populations of human T cells stained by standard pMHC protocols and optimized protocols that we have developed. Our results confirm that optimized protocols recover greater populations of T cells that include fully functional T cell clonotypes that cannot be stained by regular pMHC-staining protocols. These results highlight the importance of using optimized procedures that include the use of protein kinase inhibitor and Ab cross-linking during staining to maximize the recovery of Ag-specific T cells and serve to further highlight that many previous quantifications of T cell responses with pMHC reagents are likely to have considerably underestimated the size of the relevant populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Rius
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom
| | - Meriem Attaf
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom
| | - Katie Tungatt
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom
| | - Valentina Bianchi
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom
| | - Mateusz Legut
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom
| | - Amandine Bovay
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom.,Department of Oncology and Ludwig Cancer Research, Lausanne University Hospital, Epalinges VD 1066, Switzerland
| | - Marco Donia
- Centre for Cancer Immune Therapy, Herlev University Hospital, DK-2730 Herlev, Denmark
| | - Per Thor Straten
- Centre for Cancer Immune Therapy, Herlev University Hospital, DK-2730 Herlev, Denmark
| | - Mark Peakman
- Department of Immunobiology, Guy's Hospital, King's College London, London SE1 9RT, United Kingdom
| | - Inge Marie Svane
- Centre for Cancer Immune Therapy, Herlev University Hospital, DK-2730 Herlev, Denmark
| | - Sascha Ott
- Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Tom Connor
- Systems Immunity Research Institute, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom; and.,Cardiff University School of Biosciences, Cardiff CF10 3AX, United Kingdom
| | - Barbara Szomolay
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom
| | - Garry Dolton
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew K Sewell
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom; .,Systems Immunity Research Institute, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom; and
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7
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Legut M, Dolton G, Mian AA, Ottmann OG, Sewell AK. CRISPR-mediated TCR replacement generates superior anticancer transgenic T cells. Blood 2018; 131:311-322. [PMID: 29122757 PMCID: PMC5774207 DOI: 10.1182/blood-2017-05-787598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 149] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Accepted: 11/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Adoptive transfer of T cells genetically modified to express a cancer-specific T-cell receptor (TCR) has shown significant therapeutic potential for both hematological and solid tumors. However, a major issue of transducing T cells with a transgenic TCR is the preexisting expression of TCRs in the recipient cells. These endogenous TCRs compete with the transgenic TCR for surface expression and allow mixed dimer formation. Mixed dimers, formed by mispairing between the endogenous and transgenic TCRs, may harbor autoreactive specificities. To circumvent these problems, we designed a system where the endogenous TCR-β is knocked out from the recipient cells using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein-9 (Cas9) technology, simultaneously with transduction with a cancer-reactive receptor of choice. This TCR replacement strategy resulted in markedly increased surface expression of transgenic αβ and γδ TCRs, which in turn translated to a stronger, and more polyfunctional, response of engineered T cells to their target cancer cell lines. Additionally, the TCR-plus-CRISPR-modified T cells were up to a thousandfold more sensitive to antigen than standard TCR-transduced T cells or conventional model proxy systems used for studying TCR activity. Finally, transduction with a pan-cancer-reactive γδ TCR used in conjunction with CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of the endogenous αβ TCR resulted in more efficient redirection of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells against a panel of established blood cancers and primary, patient-derived B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia blasts compared with standard TCR transfer. Our results suggest that TCR transfer combined with genome editing could lead to new, improved generations of cancer immunotherapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mateusz Legut
- Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine
- Systems Immunity Research Institute, and
| | - Garry Dolton
- Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine
- Systems Immunity Research Institute, and
| | - Afsar Ali Mian
- Haematology, Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Oliver G Ottmann
- Haematology, Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew K Sewell
- Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine
- Systems Immunity Research Institute, and
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8
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DRAM1 regulates apoptosis through increasing protein levels and lysosomal localization of BAX. Cell Death Dis 2015; 6:e1624. [PMID: 25633293 PMCID: PMC4669745 DOI: 10.1038/cddis.2014.546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2014] [Revised: 10/31/2014] [Accepted: 11/17/2014] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
DRAM1 (DNA damage-regulated autophagy modulator 1) is a TP53 target gene that modulates autophagy and apoptosis. We previously found that DRAM1 increased autophagy flux by promoting lysosomal acidification and protease activation. However, the molecular mechanisms by which DRAM1 regulates apoptosis are not clearly defined. Here we report a novel pathway by which DRAM1 regulates apoptosis involving BAX and lysosomes. A549 or HeLa cells were treated with the mitochondrial complex II inhibitor, 3-nitropropionic acid (3NP), or an anticancer drug, doxorubicin. Changes in the protein and mRNA levels of BAX and DRAM1 and the role of DRAM1 in BAX induction were determined. The interaction between DRAM1 and BAX and its effect on BAX degradation, BAX lysosomal localization, the release of cathepsin B and cytochrome c by BAX and the role of BAX in 3NP- or doxorubicin-induced cell death were studied. The results showed that BAX, a proapoptotic protein, was induced by DRAM1 in a transcription-independent manner. BAX was degraded by autophagy under basal conditions; however, its degradation was inhibited when DRAM1 expression was induced. There was a protein interaction between DRAM1 and BAX and this interaction prolonged the half-life of BAX. Furthermore, upregulated DRAM1 recruited BAX to lysosomes, leading to the release of lysosomal cathepsin B and cleavage of BID (BH3-interacting domain death agonist). BAX mediated the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c, activation of caspase-3 and cell death partially through the lysosome-cathepsin B-tBid pathway. These results indicate that DRAM1 regulates apoptosis by inhibiting BAX degradation. In addition to mitochondria, lysosomes may also be involved in BAX-initiated apoptosis.
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9
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Tungatt K, Bianchi V, Crowther MD, Powell WE, Schauenburg AJ, Trimby A, Donia M, Miles JJ, Holland CJ, Cole DK, Godkin AJ, Peakman M, Straten PT, Svane IM, Sewell AK, Dolton G. Antibody stabilization of peptide-MHC multimers reveals functional T cells bearing extremely low-affinity TCRs. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2014; 194:463-74. [PMID: 25452566 PMCID: PMC4273996 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1401785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Fluorochrome-conjugated peptide–MHC (pMHC) multimers are commonly used in combination with flow cytometry for direct ex vivo visualization and characterization of Ag-specific T cells, but these reagents can fail to stain cells when TCR affinity and/or TCR cell-surface density are low. pMHC multimer staining of tumor-specific, autoimmune, or MHC class II–restricted T cells can be particularly challenging, as these T cells tend to express relatively low-affinity TCRs. In this study, we attempted to improve staining using anti-fluorochrome unconjugated primary Abs followed by secondary staining with anti-Ab fluorochrome-conjugated Abs to amplify fluorescence intensity. Unexpectedly, we found that the simple addition of an anti-fluorochrome unconjugated Ab during staining resulted in considerably improved fluorescence intensity with both pMHC tetramers and dextramers and with PE-, allophycocyanin-, or FITC-based reagents. Importantly, when combined with protein kinase inhibitor treatment, Ab stabilization allowed pMHC tetramer staining of T cells even when the cognate TCR–pMHC affinity was extremely low (KD >1 mM) and produced the best results that we have observed to date. We find that this inexpensive addition to pMHC multimer staining protocols also allows improved recovery of cells that have recently been exposed to Ag, improvements in the recovery of self-specific T cells from PBMCs or whole-blood samples, and the use of less reagent during staining. In summary, Ab stabilization of pMHC multimers during T cell staining extends the range of TCR affinities that can be detected, yields considerably enhanced staining intensities, and is compatible with using reduced amounts of these expensive reagents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie Tungatt
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, United Kingdom
| | - Valentina Bianchi
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, United Kingdom
| | - Michael D Crowther
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, United Kingdom
| | - Wendy E Powell
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, United Kingdom
| | - Andrea J Schauenburg
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew Trimby
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, United Kingdom
| | - Marco Donia
- Center for Cancer Immune Therapy, Herlev University Hospital, DK-2730 Herlev, Denmark
| | - John J Miles
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, United Kingdom; QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia; and
| | - Christopher J Holland
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, United Kingdom
| | - David K Cole
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew J Godkin
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, United Kingdom
| | - Mark Peakman
- Department of Immunobiology, King's College London School of Medicine, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, United Kingdom
| | - Per Thor Straten
- Center for Cancer Immune Therapy, Herlev University Hospital, DK-2730 Herlev, Denmark
| | - Inge Marie Svane
- Center for Cancer Immune Therapy, Herlev University Hospital, DK-2730 Herlev, Denmark
| | - Andrew K Sewell
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, United Kingdom;
| | - Garry Dolton
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales, United Kingdom
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Reid RA, Redman JE, Rizkallah P, Fegan C, Pepper C, Man S. CD8 + T-cell recognition of a synthetic epitope formed by t-butyl modification. Immunology 2014; 144:495-505. [PMID: 25284607 PMCID: PMC4557686 DOI: 10.1111/imm.12398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2014] [Revised: 09/30/2014] [Accepted: 09/30/2014] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
We set out to clone Bax-specific CD8+ T-cells from peripheral blood samples of primary chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients. A number of clones were generated using a Bax peptide pool and their T-cell epitope was mapped to two peptides sharing a common 9-aa sequence (LLSYFGTPT), restricted by HLA-A*0201. However, when these T-cell clones were tested against highly purified syntheses (>95%) of the same peptide sequence, there was no functional response. Subsequent mass spectrometric analysis and HPLC fractionation suggested that the active component in the original crude peptide preparations (77% pure) was a peptide with a tert-butyl (tBu) modification of the tyrosine residue. This was confirmed by modification of the inactive wild type (wt) sequence to generate functionally active peptides. Computer modeling of peptide:HLA-A*0201 structures predicted that the tBu modification would not affect interactions between peptide residues and the HLA binding site. However these models did predict that the tBu modification of tyrosine would result in an extension of the side chain out of the peptide-binding groove up towards the TCR. This modified product formed <1% of the original P603 crude peptide preparation and <0.05% of the original 23 peptide mixture used for T-cell stimulation. The data presented here, illustrates the potential for chemical modifications to change the immunogenicity of synthetic peptides, and highlights the exquisite capacity of TCR to discriminate between structurally similar peptide sequences. Furthermore this study highlights potential pitfalls associated with the use of synthetic peptides for the monitoring and modulating of human immune responses. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reiss A Reid
- School of Medicine, Institute of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff UniversityCardiff, UK
| | | | - Pierre Rizkallah
- School of Medicine, Institute of Infection & Immunity, Wales Heart Research Institute, Cardiff UniversityCardiff, UK
| | - Chris Fegan
- School of Medicine, Institute of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff UniversityCardiff, UK
| | - Chris Pepper
- School of Medicine, Institute of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff UniversityCardiff, UK
| | - Stephen Man
- School of Medicine, Institute of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff UniversityCardiff, UK
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11
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Dolton G, Lissina A, Skowera A, Ladell K, Tungatt K, Jones E, Kronenberg-Versteeg D, Akpovwa H, Pentier JM, Holland CJ, Godkin AJ, Cole DK, Neller MA, Miles JJ, Price DA, Peakman M, Sewell AK. Comparison of peptide-major histocompatibility complex tetramers and dextramers for the identification of antigen-specific T cells. Clin Exp Immunol 2014; 177:47-63. [PMID: 24673376 PMCID: PMC4089154 DOI: 10.1111/cei.12339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/12/2014] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Fluorochrome-conjugated peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) multimers are widely used for flow cytometric visualization of antigen-specific T cells. The most common multimers, streptavidin-biotin-based 'tetramers', can be manufactured readily in the laboratory. Unfortunately, there are large differences between the threshold of T cell receptor (TCR) affinity required to capture pMHC tetramers from solution and that which is required for T cell activation. This disparity means that tetramers sometimes fail to stain antigen-specific T cells within a sample, an issue that is particularly problematic when staining tumour-specific, autoimmune or MHC class II-restricted T cells, which often display TCRs of low affinity for pMHC. Here, we compared optimized staining with tetramers and dextramers (dextran-based multimers), with the latter carrying greater numbers of both pMHC and fluorochrome per molecule. Most notably, we find that: (i) dextramers stain more brightly than tetramers; (ii) dextramers outperform tetramers when TCR-pMHC affinity is low; (iii) dextramers outperform tetramers with pMHC class II reagents where there is an absence of co-receptor stabilization; and (iv) dextramer sensitivity is enhanced further by specific protein kinase inhibition. Dextramers are compatible with current state-of-the-art flow cytometry platforms and will probably find particular utility in the fields of autoimmunity and cancer immunology.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Dolton
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK
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12
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Li Z, Wu X, Li J, Yao L, Sun L, Shi Y, Zhang W, Lin J, Liang D, Li Y. Antitumor activity of celastrol nanoparticles in a xenograft retinoblastoma tumor model. Int J Nanomedicine 2012; 7:2389-98. [PMID: 22661892 PMCID: PMC3357982 DOI: 10.2147/ijn.s29945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Celastrol, a Chinese herbal medicine, has shown antitumor activity against various tumor cell lines. However, the effect of celastrol on retinoblastoma has not yet been analyzed. Additionally, the poor water solubility of celastrol restricts further therapeutic applications. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of celastrol nanoparticles (CNPs) on retinoblastoma and to investigate the potential mechanisms involved. Methods Celastrol-loaded poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(ɛ-caprolactone) nanopolymeric micelles were developed to improve the hydrophilicity of celastrol. The 2-(2-methoxy-4- nitrophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-(2,4-disulf-ophenyl)-2H tetrazolium monosodium salt (WST-8) assay was used to determine the inhibitory effect of CNPs on SO-Rb 50 cell proliferation in vitro. Immunofluorescence was used to evaluate the apoptotic effect of CNPs on nuclear morphology, and flow cytometry was used to quantify cellular apoptosis. The expression of Bcl-2, Bax, NF-κB p65, and phospo-NF-κB p65 proteins was assessed by Western blotting. A human retinoblastoma xenograft model was used to evaluate the inhibitory effects of CNPs on retinoblastoma in NOD-SCID mice. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to assess the apoptotic effects of CNPs on retinoblastoma. Results CNPs inhibit the proliferation of SO-Rb 50 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner with an IC50 of 17.733 μg/mL (celastrol-loading content: 7.36%) after exposure to CNPs for 48 hours. CNPs induce apoptosis in SO-Rb 50 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The expression of Bcl-2, NF-κB p65, and phospo-NF-κB p65 proteins decreased after exposure to CNPs 54.4 μg/mL for 48 hours. Additionally, the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio increased, whereas the expression of Bax itself was not significantly altered. CNPs inhibit the growth of retinoblastoma and induce apoptosis in retinoblastoma cells in mice. Conclusion CNPs inhibit the growth of retinoblastoma in mouse xenograft model by inducing apoptosis in SO-Rb 50 cells, which may be related to the increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and the inhibition of NF-κB. CNPs may represent a potential alternative treatment for retinoblastoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhanrong Li
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
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