Interplay between Immune Checkpoint Proteins and Cellular Metabolism

Interplay Between Skeletal and Hematopoietic Cells in the Bone Marrow Microenvironment in Homeostasis and Aging

PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW

In this review, we discuss the most recent scientific advances on the reciprocal regulatory interactions between the skeletal and hematopoietic stem cell niche, focusing on immunomodulation and its interplay with the cell's mitochondrial function, and how this impacts osteoimmune health during aging and disease.

RECENT FINDINGS

Osteoimmunology investigates interactions between cells that make up the skeletal stem cell niche and immune system. Much work has investigated the complexity of the bone marrow microenvironment with respect to the skeletal and hematopoietic stem cells that regulate skeletal formation and immune health respectively. It has now become clear that these cellular components cooperate to maintain homeostasis and that dysfunction in their interaction can lead to aging and disease. Having a deeper, mechanistic appreciation for osteoimmune regulation will lead to better research perspective and therapeutics with the potential to improve the aging process, skeletal and hematologic regeneration, and disease targeting.

GGT5: a potential immunotherapy response inhibitor in gastric cancer by modulating GSH metabolism and sustaining memory CD8+ T cell infiltration

PURPOSE

The variable responses to immunotherapy observed in gastric cancer (GC) patients can be attributed to the intricate nature of the tumor microenvironment. Glutathione (GSH) metabolism significantly influences the initiation and progression of gastric cancer. Consequently, targeting GSH metabolism holds promise for improving the effectiveness of Immune checkpoints inhibitors (ICIs).

METHODS

We investigated 16 genes related to GSH metabolism, sourced from the MSigDB database, using pan-cancer datasets from TCGA. The most representative prognosis-related gene was identified for further analysis. ScRNA-sequencing analysis was used to explore the tumor heterogeneity of GC, and the results were confirmed by  Multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC).

RESULTS

Through DEGs, LASSO, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses, and survival analysis, we identified GGT5 as the hub gene in GSH metabolism with the potential to promote GC. Combining CIBERSORT, ssGSEA, and scRNA analysis, we constructed the immune architecture of GC. The subpopulations of T cells were isolated, revealing a strong association between GGT5 and memory CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, specimens from 10 GC patients receiving immunotherapy were collected. mIHC was used to assess the expression levels of GGT5 and memory CD8+ T cell markers. Our results established a positive correlation between GGT5 expression, the enrichment of memory CD8+ T cells, and a suboptimal response to immunotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study identifies GGT5, a hub gene in GSH metabolism, as a potential therapeutic target for inhibiting the response to immunotherapy in GC patients. These findings offer new insights into strategies for optimizing immunotherapy of GC.

B7-H3 suppresses CD8+ T cell immunologic function through reprogramming glycolytic metabolism

Malignant neoplasms pose a formidable threat to human well-being. Prior studies have documented the extensive expression of B7 homolog 3 (B7-H3 or CD276) across various tumors, affecting glucose metabolism. Yet, the link between metabolic modulation and immune responses remains largely unexplored. Our study reveals a significant association between B7-H3 expression and advanced tumor stages, lymph node metastasis, and tumor location in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We further elucidate B7-H3's role in mediating glucose competition between cancer cells and CD8+ T cells. Through co-culturing tumor cells with flow cytometry-sorted CD8+ T cells, we measured glucose uptake and lactate secretion in both cell types. Additionally, we assessed interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) release and the immune and exhaustion status of CD8+ T cells. Our findings indicate that B7-H3 enhances glycolysis in OSCC and malignant melanoma, while simultaneously inhibiting CD8+ T cell glycolysis. Silencing B7-H3 led to increased IFN-γ secretion in co-cultures, highlighting its significant role in modulating CD8+ T cell functions within the tumor microenvironment and its impact on tumorigenicity. We also demonstrate that glycolysis inhibition can be mitigated by exogenous glucose supplementation. Mechanistically, our study suggests B7-H3's influence on metabolism might be mediated through the phosphoinositide3-kinase (PI3K)/ protein kinase B (Akt)/ mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. This research unveils how B7-H3 affects immune functions via metabolic reprogramming.

Discovering the strength of immunometabolism in cancer therapy: Employing metabolic pathways to enhance immune responses

Immunometabolism, which studies cellular metabolism and immune cell function, is a possible cancer treatment. Metabolic pathways regulate immune cell activation, differentiation, and effector functions, crucial to tumor identification and elimination. Immune evasion and tumor growth can result from tumor microenvironment metabolic dysregulation. These metabolic pathways can boost antitumor immunity. This overview discusses immune cell metabolism, including glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, amino acid, and lipid metabolism. Amino acid and lipid metabolic manipulations may improve immune cell activity and antitumor immunity. Combination therapy using immunometabolism-based strategies may enhance therapeutic efficacy. The complexity of the metabolic network, biomarker development, challenges, and future approaches are all covered, along with a summary of case studies demonstrating the effectiveness of immunometabolism-based therapy. Metabolomics, stable isotope tracing, single-cell analysis, and computational modeling are also reviewed for immunometabolism research. Personalized and combination treatments are considered. This review adds to immunometabolism expertise and sheds light on metabolic treatments' ability to boost cancer treatment immunological response. Also, in this review, we discussed the immune response in cancer treatment and altering metabolic pathways to increase the immune response against malignancies.

DDX24 promotes tumor progression by mediating hexokinase-1 induced glycolysis in gastric cancer

Metabolic reprogramming allows tumor cells to meet high demand of biogenesis and increased energy for rapid proliferation. Gastric cancer (GC) ranks among the most prevalent malignancies globally. Exploring the underlying mechanisms of glycolytic reprogramming in GC could provide new therapeutic target for GC treatment. Here, we showed that DEAD-box helicase 24 (DDX24) played a critical role in hexokinase-1 (HK1) induced glycolysis. DDX24 expression was significantly elevated in GC tissues and was closely associated with worse survival in GC patients. In addition, DDX24 promoted glucose uptake and lactate production in GC cells. Mechanistically, DDX24 could bind the HK1 mRNA and positively regulated HK1 level at the transcriptional level. Moreover, DDX24 promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion ability of GC cells by upregulating HK1. Collectively, these results suggested that DDX24 was a critical player in the regulation of glycolytic reprogramming and also implicated DDX24 as a valuable therapeutic target for GC.

The Tumor Stemness Indice mRNAsi can Act as Molecular Typing Tool for Lung Adenocarcinoma

Due to the high heterogeneity, lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) cannot be distinguished into precise molecular subtypes, thereby resulting in poor therapeutic effect and low 5-year survival rate clinically. Although the tumor stemness score (mRNAsi) has been shown to accurately characterize the similarity index of cancer stem cells (CSCs), whether mRNAsi can serve as an effective molecular typing tool for LUAD isn't reported to date. In this study, we first demonstrate that mRNAsi is significantly correlated with the prognosis and disease degree of LUAD patients, i.e., the higher the mRNAsi, the worse the prognosis and the higher the disease degree. Second, we identify 449 mRNAsi-related genes based on both weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and univariate regression analysis. Third, our results display that 449 mRNAsi-related genes can accurately distinguish the LUAD patients into two molecular subtypes: ms-H subtype (with high mRNAsi) and ms-L subtype (with low mRNAsi), particularly the ms-H subtype has a worse prognosis. Remarkably, significant differences in clinical characteristics, immune microenvironment, and somatic mutation exist between the two molecular subtypes, which might lead to the poorer prognosis of the ms-H subtype patients than that of the ms-L subtype ones. Finally, we establish a prognostic model containing 8 mRNAsi-related genes, which can effectively predict the survival rate of LUAD patients. Taken together, our work provides the first molecular subtype related to mRNAsi in LUAD, and reveals that these two molecular subtypes, the prognostic model and marker genes may have important clinical value for effectively monitoring and treating LUAD patients.

Glutaminolysis and peripheral CD4+ T cell differentiation: from mechanism to intervention strategy

To maintain the body's regular immune system, CD4+ T cell homeostasis is crucial, particularly T helper (Th1, Th17) cells and T regulatory (Treg) cells. Abnormally differentiated peripheral CD4+ T cells are responsible for the occurrence and development of numerous diseases, including autoimmune diseases, transplantation rejection, and irritability. Searching for an effective interventional approach to control this abnormal differentiation is therefore especially important. As immunometabolism progressed, the inherent metabolic factors underlying the immune cell differentiation have gradually come to light. Mounting number of studies have revealed that glutaminolysis plays an indelible role in the differentiation of CD4+ T cells. Besides, alterations in the glutaminolysis can also lead to changes in the fate of peripheral CD4+ T cells. All of this indicate that the glutaminolysis pathway has excellent potential for interventional regulation of CD4+ T cells differentiation. Here, we summarized the process by which glutaminolysis regulates the fate of CD4+ T cells during differentiation and further investigated how to reshape abnormal CD4+ T cell differentiation by targeting glutaminolysis.

Immune-related adverse events of immune checkpoint inhibitors: a review

Since the first Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor was developed, tumor immunotherapy has entered a new era, and the response rate and survival rate of many cancers have also been improved. Despite the success of immune checkpoint inhibitors, resistance limits the number of patients who can achieve a lasting response, and immune-related adverse events complicate treatment. The mechanism of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) is unclear. We summarize and discuss the mechanisms of action of immune checkpoint inhibitors, the different types of immune-related adverse events and their possible mechanisms, and describe possible strategies and targets for prevention and therapeutic interventions to mitigate them.

Single-cell RNA sequencing depicts metabolic changes in children with aplastic anemia

Introduction

Aplastic anemia (AA) is a bone marrow hematopoietic failure syndrome mediated by immune cells. The mechanism of this immune disorder is not well understood and therapeutic strategies still need to be improved.

Methods

Studies have found that abnormalities in metabolisms promote the survival of AA cells. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have reported the immunosuppressive therapy for the treatment of AA. In this study, we analyzed the transcriptome of AA from peripheral blood compared with healthy donors by single-cell sequencing and identified the affected metabolic pathways including lysine degradation. We demonstrated that the metabolic abnormalities of T lymphocytes mainly focus on glycolysis/gluconeogenesis. In addition, the metabolic abnormalities of natural killer cells concentrated in oxidative phosphorylation.

Results

The key genes involved in abnormal metabolic processes were Neustein neurotrophic factor (NENF), inositol polyphosphate-4-phosphatase type II B (INPP4B), aldo-keto reductase family 1, member C3 (AKR1C3), and carbohydrate (N-acetylglucosamine-6-O) sulfotransferase 2 (CHST2) by differential gene expression analysis.

Discussion

Molecule interaction analysis showed that tumor necrosis factor superfamily, member 12 (TNFSM12) in tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling was broadly activated in AA. In conclusion, we suppose that the treatment of the immune cells’ abnormal metabolic pathway may contribute to the development of novel strategies to treat AA.

Targeting RNA N6-methyladenosine to synergize with immune checkpoint therapy

Cancer immunotherapy, especially immune checkpoint therapy, has revolutionized therapeutic options by reactivating the host immune system. However, the efficacy varies, and only a small portion of patients develop sustained antitumor responses. Hence, illustrating novel strategies that improve the clinical outcome of immune checkpoint therapy is urgently needed. N6-methyladenosine (m⁶A) has been proved to be an efficient and dynamic posttranscriptional modification process. It is involved in numerous RNA processing, such as splicing, trafficking, translation and degradation. Compelling evidence emphasizes the paramount role of m⁶A modification in the regulation of immune response. These findings may provide a foundation for the rational combination of targeting m⁶A modification and immune checkpoints in cancer treatment. In the present review, we summarize the current landscape of m⁶A modification in RNA biology, and highlight the latest findings on the complex mechanisms by which m⁶A modification governs immune checkpoint molecules. Furthermore, given the critical role of m⁶A modification in antitumor immunity, we discuss the clinical significance of targeting m⁶A modification to improve the efficacy of immune checkpoint therapy for cancer control.

TIGIT signaling and its influence on T cell metabolism and immune cell function in the tumor microenvironment

One of the key challenges for successful cancer therapy is the capacity of tumors to evade immune surveillance. Tumor immune evasion can be accomplished through the induction of T cell exhaustion via the activation of various immune checkpoint molecules. The most prominent examples of immune checkpoints are PD-1 and CTLA-4. Meanwhile, several other immune checkpoint molecules have since been identified. One of these is the T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT), which was first described in 2009. Interestingly, many studies have established a synergistic reciprocity between TIGIT and PD-1. TIGIT has also been described to interfere with the energy metabolism of T cells and thereby affect adaptive anti-tumor immunity. In this context, recent studies have reported a link between TIGIT and the hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α (HIF1-α), a master transcription factor sensing hypoxia in several tissues including tumors that among others regulates the expression of metabolically relevant genes. Furthermore, distinct cancer types were shown to inhibit glucose uptake and effector function by inducing TIGIT expression in CD8+ T cells, resulting in an impaired anti-tumor immunity. In addition, TIGIT was associated with adenosine receptor signaling in T cells and the kynurenine pathway in tumor cells, both altering the tumor microenvironment and T cell-mediated immunity against tumors. Here, we review the most recent literature on the reciprocal interaction of TIGIT and T cell metabolism and specifically how TIGIT affects anti-tumor immunity. We believe understanding this interaction may pave the way for improved immunotherapy to treat cancer.

Identifying the Role of Oxidative Stress-Related Genes as Prognostic Biomarkers and Predicting the Response of Immunotherapy and Chemotherapy in Ovarian Cancer

Background

Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most frequently seen and fatal gynecological malignancies, and oxidative stress (OS) plays a critical role in the development and chemoresistance of OC.

Materials and Methods

OS-related genes (OSRGs) were obtained from the Molecular Signatures Database. Besides, gene expression profiles and clinical information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were selected to identify the prognostic OSRGs. Moreover, univariate Cox regression, LASSO, and multivariate Cox regression analyses were conducted sequentially to establish a prognostic signature, which was later validated in three independent Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets. Next, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and tumor mutation burden (TMB) analysis were performed. Afterwards, immune checkpoint genes (ICGs) and the tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) algorithm, together with IMvigor210 and GSE78220 cohorts, were applied to comprehensively explore the role of OSRG signature in immunotherapy. Further, the CellMiner and Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC) databases were also applied in investigating the significance of OSRG signature in chemotherapy.

Results

Altogether, 34 prognostic OSRGs were identified, among which 14 were chosen to establish the most valuable prognostic signature. The Kaplan-Meier (KM) analysis suggested that patients with lower OS-related risk score had better prognosis. The area under the curve (AUC) values were 0.71, 0.76, and 0.85 in 3, 5, and 7 years separately, and the stability of this prognostic signature was confirmed in three GEO datasets. As revealed by GSEA and TMB analysis results, OC patients in low-risk group might have better immunotherapeutic response, which was consistent with ICG expression and TIDE analyses. Moreover, both IMvigor210 and GSE78220 cohorts demonstrated that patients with lower OS-related risk score were more likely to benefit from anti-PD-1/L1 immunotherapy. In addition, the association between prognostic signature and drug sensitivity was explored.

Conclusion

According to our results in this work, OSRG signature can act as a powerful prognostic predictor for OC, which contributes to generating more individualized therapeutic strategies for OC patients.

Significance of monocyte infiltration in patients with gastric cancer: A combined study based on single cell sequencing and TCGA

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer is still one of the most lethal tumor diseases in the world. Despite some improvements, the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer is still not accurately predicted.

METHODS

Based on single cell sequencing data, we conducted a detailed analysis of gastric cancer patients and normal tissues to determine the role of monocytes in the progression of gastric cancer. WCGA facilitated our search for Grade-related genes in TCGA. Then, according to the marker genes and cell differentiation genes of monocytes, we determined the cancer-promoting genes of monocytes. Based on LASSO regression, we established a prognostic model using TCGA database. The accuracy of the model was verified by PCA, ROC curve, survival analysis and prognostic analysis. Finally, we evaluated the significance of the model in clinical diagnosis and treatment by observing drug sensitivity, immune microenvironment and immune checkpoint expression in patients with different risk groups.

RESULTS

Monocytes were poorly differentiated in tumor microenvironment. It mainly played a role in promoting cancer in two ways. One was to promote tumor progression indirectly by interacting with other tumor stromal cells. The other was to directly connect with tumor cells through the MIF and TNF pathway to play a tumor-promoting role. The former was more important in these two ways. A total of 292 monocyte tumor-promoting genes were obtained, and 12 genes were finally included in the construction of the prognosis model. A variety of validation methods showed that our model had an accurate prediction ability. Drug sensitivity analysis could provide guidance for clinical medication of patients. The results of immune microenvironment and immune checkpoint also indicated the reasons for poor prognosis of high-risk patients.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we provided a 12-gene risk score formula and nomogram for gastric cancer patients to assist clinical drug therapy and prognosis prediction. This model had good accuracy and clinical significance.

A Novel Glycolysis-Related Long Noncoding RNA Signature for Predicting Overall Survival in Gastric Cancer

Background: The aim of this study was to construct a glycolysis-related long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) signature to predict the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer (GC). Methods: Glycolysis-related genes were obtained from the Molecular Signatures Database (MSigDB), lncRNA expression profiles and clinical data of GC patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas database (TCGA). Furthermore, univariate Cox regression analysis, Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to construct prognostic glycolysis-related lncRNA signature. The specificity and sensitivity of the signature was verified by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. We constructed a nomogram to predict the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival rates of GC patients. Besides, the relationship between immune infiltration and the risk score was analyzed in the high and low risk groups. Multi Experiment Matrix (MEM) was used to analyze glycolysis-related lncRNA target genes. R "limma" package was used to analyze the mRNA expression levels of the glycolysis-related lncRNA target genes in TCGA. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was employed to further explore the biological pathways in the high-risk group and the glycolysis-related lncRNA target gene. Results: A prognostic signature was conducted based on nine glycolysis-related lncRNAs, which are AL391152.1, AL590705.3, RHOXF1-AS1, CFAP61-AS1, LINC00412, AC005165.1, AC110995.1, AL355574.1 and SCAT1. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) values at 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year were 0.765, 0.828 and 0.707 in the training set, and 0.669, 740 and 0.807 in the testing set, respectively. In addition, the nomogram could efficaciously predict the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival rates of the GC patients. Then, we discovered that GC patients with high-risk scores were more likely to respond to immunotherapy. GSEA revealed that the signature was mainly associated with the calcium signaling pathway, extracellular matrix (ECM) receptor interaction, and focal adhesion in high-risk group, also indicated that SBSPON is related to aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, citrate cycle, fructose and mannose metabolism, pentose phosphate pathway and pyrimidine metabolism. Conclusion: Our study shows that the signature can predict the prognosis of GC and may provide new insights into immunotherapeutic strategies.

Polarization and β-Glucan Reprogram Immunomodulatory Metabolism in Human Macrophages and Ex Vivo in Human Lung Cancer Tissues

Immunomodulatory (IM) metabolic reprogramming in macrophages (Mϕs) is fundamental to immune function. However, limited information is available for human Mϕs, particularly in response plasticity, which is critical to understanding the variable efficacy of immunotherapies in cancer patients. We carried out an in-depth analysis by combining multiplex stable isotope-resolved metabolomics with reversed phase protein array to map the dynamic changes of the IM metabolic network and key protein regulators in four human donors' Mϕs in response to differential polarization and M1 repolarizer β-glucan (whole glucan particles [WGPs]). These responses were compared with those of WGP-treated ex vivo organotypic tissue cultures (OTCs) of human non-small cell lung cancer. We found consistently enhanced tryptophan catabolism with blocked NAD+ and UTP synthesis in M1-type Mϕs (M1-Mϕs), which was associated with immune activation evidenced by increased release of IL-1β/CXCL10/IFN-γ/TNF-α and reduced phagocytosis. In M2a-Mϕs, WGP treatment of M2a-Mϕs robustly increased glucose utilization via the glycolysis/oxidative branch of the pentose phosphate pathway while enhancing UDP-N-acetyl-glucosamine turnover and glutamine-fueled gluconeogenesis, which was accompanied by the release of proinflammatory IL-1β/TNF-α to above M1-Mϕ's levels, anti-inflammatory IL-10 to above M2a-Mϕ's levels, and attenuated phagocytosis. These IM metabolic responses could underlie the opposing effects of WGP, i.e., reverting M2- to M1-type immune functions but also boosting anti-inflammation. Variable reprogrammed Krebs cycle and glutamine-fueled synthesis of UTP in WGP-treated OTCs of human non-small cell lung cancer were observed, reflecting variable M1 repolarization of tumor-associated Mϕs. This was supported by correlation with IL-1β/TNF-α release and compromised tumor status, making patient-derived OTCs unique models for studying variable immunotherapeutic efficacy in cancer patients.

Metabolic modulation of immune checkpoints and novel therapeutic strategies in cancer

Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) or programmed death-1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)-based immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have led to significant improvements in the overall survival of patients with certain cancers and are expected to benefit patients by achieving complete, long-lasting remissions and cure. However, some patients who receive ICIs either fail treatment or eventually develop immunotherapy resistance. The existence of such patients necessitates a deeper understanding of cancer progression, specifically nutrient regulation in the tumor microenvironment (TME), which includes both metabolic cross-talk between metabolites and tumor cells, and intracellular metabolism in immune and cancer cells. Here we review the features and behaviors of the TME and discuss the recently identified major immune checkpoints. We comprehensively and systematically summarize the metabolic modulation of tumor immunity and immune checkpoints in the TME, including glycolysis, amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, and other metabolic pathways, and further discuss the potential metabolism-based therapeutic strategies tested in preclinical and clinical settings. These findings will help to determine the existence of a link or crosstalk between tumor metabolism and immunotherapy, which will provide an important insight into cancer treatment and cancer research.

CENPA acts as a prognostic factor that relates to immune infiltrates in gliomas

Background

Glioma is the most common primary tumor of the central nervous system (CNS). Centromere protein A (CENPA) plays an essential role in ensuring that mitosis proceeds normally. The effect of CENPA on glioma is rarely reported. However, the current study aims to explore whether aberrant CENPA expression promotes glioma progression and the potential mechanisms involved.

Methods

The GEPIA website, The Cancer Genome Atlas, and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were used to assess the expression of CENPA in glioma. The results were validated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical staining of clinical samples. The relationship between the expression and prognostic value of the CENPA gene in glioma was investigated by Kaplan–Meier (KM) survival analysis with RNA-seq and clinical profiles downloaded from the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) and UCSC Xena. The association between CENPA and clinical characteristics was also evaluated. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay, wound healing assay using two glioma cell lines, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), KEGG and gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, immune infiltration analysis, temozolomide (TMZ) sensitivity analysis, and single-cell sequence analysis were performed to explore the underlying mechanisms of high CENPA expression and its effect on glioma development. Finally, we performed a Cox analysis based on the expression of CENPA to predict patient prognosis.

Results

CENPA was significantly upregulated in glioma tissue samples and correlated with patient prognosis. Moreover, the downregulation of CENPA inhibited the migration and proliferation of glioma cells. In addition, the expression level of CENPA was significantly correlated with the grade, primary–recurrent–secondary (PRS) type, IDH mutation status, and 1p19q codeletion status. Furthermore, CENPA could serve as an independent prognostic factor for glioma that mainly interferes with the normal progression of mitosis and regulates the tumor immune microenvironment favoring glioma development.

Conclusion

CENPA may act as a prognostic factor in patients with glioma and provide a novel target for the treatment of gliomas.

Prognostic value of lactate transporter SLC16A1 and SLC16A3 as oncoimmunological biomarkers associating tumor metabolism and immune evasion in glioma

BACKGROUND

Hypoxic microenvironment is immunosuppressive and protumorigenic, and elevated lactate is an intermediary in the modulation of immune responses. However, as critical lactate transporters, the role of SLC16A1 and SLC16A3 in immune infiltration and evasion of glioma is not fully elucidated.

METHODS

Gene expression in low- and high-grade glioma (LGG and GBM) was evaluated with TCGA database. The TISIDB, TIMER and CIBERSORT databases were utilized for the analysis of the correlation between SLC16A1 or SLC16A3 and immunocyte infiltration as well as immune checkpoints.

RESULTS

Compared with normal tissues, a significant increase of both SLC16A1 and SLC16A3 was found in LGG and GBM, and closely related to the poor prognosis only in LGG. Cancer SEA indicated that SLC16A1 was involved in hypoxia while SLC16A3 contributed to metastasis and inflammation in glioma. The SLC16A3 expression was significantly correlated with neutrophil activation by GO analysis. TISCH showed the distribution of SLC16A1 on glioma cells and SLC16A3 on immune cells, which was correlated to tumor-associated macrophages and neutrophils that are immunosuppressive. SLC16A1 and SLC16A3 were identified to tightly interacted with diverse immune checkpoints (especially PD1, PD-L1, PD-L2, Tim-3) and immunosuppressive factors (TGF-β and IL-10) in glioma. Furthermore, SLC16A3 had a positive correlation to activation markers of tumor-associated neutrophils and chemokines such as CCL2, CCL22, CXCR2, CXCR4 in LGG and CCL7, CCL20 CXCL8 in GBM, which could enhance infiltration of immunosuppressive cells to the tumor microenvironment.

CONCLUSION

In general, our results suggest that SLC16A1 and SLC16A3 act as a bridge between tumor metabolism and immunity by promoting immunosuppressive cell infiltration, which contributes to immune evasion and a worse prognosis in glioma. Targeting SLC16A1 and SLC16A3 may provide novel therapeutic strategy for immunotherapy in glioma.

Consistent expression of PD-L1 in tumor microenvironment with peripheral PD-1/PD-L1 in circulating T lymphocytes of operable breast cancer: a diagnostic test

Background

The expression of PD-L1 in the immune microenvironment can guide the application of immunosuppressants. In order to monitor the immune status of the body, repeated biopsies have to be taken. Our research aims to find new and convenient means to evaluate this indicator.

Methods

Eighty-three cases of newly diagnosed operable breast cancer without receiving preoperative treatment, were recruited from Beijing Shijitan Hospital between November 2018 and November 2019. The expression of PD-1/PD-L1 on circulating T lymphocytes was detected by flow cytometry and the expression of PD-L1 on immune cells in tumor microenvironment was detected by immunohistochemistry.

Results

The median percentage of positive PD-1 and PD-L1 expression on circulating T lymphocytes was 15.2% and 0.7%, respectively. The peripheral PD-1 had no relationship with clinicopathological characteristics, but the peripheral PD-L1 expression had a correlation with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.005) and Her-2 expression (p = 0.034) (p < 0.05). The positive rate of PD-L1 expression was 32.9% in tumor microenvironment. PD-L1 expression in tumor microenvironment had a significant correlation with PD-1/PD-L1 expression on circulating T lymphocytes, the correlation coefficients being 0.24 (p < 0.05) and 0.26 (p < 0.05), respectively. To predict the PD-L1 expression in tumor microenvironment, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.65 and 0.66 for peripheral PD-1 and PD-L1, respectively. High level of peripheral PD-1/PD-L1 expression was associated with the odds ratios of 5.42 and 4.76 for positive PD-L1 expression in tumor microenvironment.

Conclusion

Peripheral PD-1/PD-L1 expression had a significant consistency with PD-L1 expression in tumor microenvironment and could act as an alternative choice of tissue detection, for the patients intolerable of biopsy.

The prognostic value and clinical significance of mitophagy-related genes in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Mitophagy has been found to play a significant part in the cancer process in a growing number of studies in recent years. However, there is still a lack of study on mitophagy-related genes' (MRGs) prognostic potential and clinical significance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We employed bioinformatics and statistical knowledge to examine the transcriptome data of HCC patients in the TCGA and GEO databases, with the goal of constructing a multigene predictive model. Then, we separated the patients into high- and low-risk groups based on the score. The model's dependability was determined using principal components analysis (PCA), survival analysis, independent prognostic analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Following that, we examined the clinical correlations, pharmacological treatment sensitivity, immune checkpoint expression, and immunological correlations between patients in high and low risk groups. Finally, we evaluated the variations in gene expression between high- and low-risk groups and further analyzed the network core genes using protein-protein interaction network analysis. Results: Prognostic models were built using eight genes (OPTN, ATG12, CSNK2A2, MFN1, PGAM5, SQSTM1, TOMM22, TOMM5). During validation, the prognostic model demonstrated high reliability, indicating that it could accurately predict the prognosis of HCC patients. Additionally, we discovered that typical HCC treatment medicines had varying impacts on patients classified as high or low risk, and that individuals classified as high risk are more likely to fail immunotherapy. Additionally, the high-risk group expressed more immunological checkpoints. The immunological status of patients in different risk categories varies as well, and patients with a high-risk score have a diminished ability to fight cancer. Finally, PPI analysis identified ten related genes with potential for research. Conclusion: Our prognostic model had good and reliable predictive ability, as well as clinical diagnosis and treatment guiding significance. Eight prognostic MRGs and ten network core genes merited further investigation.

Emerging Role of Deubiquitinating Enzymes (DUBs) in Melanoma Pathogenesis

Metastatic melanoma is the leading cause of death from skin cancer. Therapies targeting the BRAF oncogenic pathway and immunotherapies show remarkable clinical efficacy. However, these treatments are limited to subgroups of patients and relapse is common. Overall, the majority of patients require additional treatments, justifying the development of new therapeutic strategies. Non-genetic and genetic alterations are considered to be important drivers of cellular adaptation mechanisms to current therapies and disease relapse. Importantly, modification of the overall proteome in response to non-genetic and genetic events supports major cellular changes that are required for the survival, proliferation, and migration of melanoma cells. However, the mechanisms underlying these adaptive responses remain to be investigated. The major contributor to proteome remodeling involves the ubiquitin pathway, ubiquitinating enzymes, and ubiquitin-specific proteases also known as DeUBiquitinases (DUBs). In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding the nature and roles of the DUBs recently identified in melanoma progression and therapeutic resistance and discuss their potential as novel sources of vulnerability for melanoma therapy.

Distinguishing the Pros and Cons of Metabolic Reprogramming in Oncolytic Virus Immunotherapy

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) represent a class of cancer immunotherapies that rely on hijacking the host cell factory for replicative oncolysis and eliciting immune responses for tumor clearance. An increasing evidence suggests that the metabolic state of tumor cells and immune cells is a putative determinant of the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. However, how therapeutic intervention with OVs affects metabolic fluxes within the tumor microenvironment (TME) remains poorly understood. Herein, we review the complexities of metabolic reprogramming involving the effects of viruses and their consequences on tumor cells and immune cells. We highlight the inherent drawback of oncolytic virotherapy, namely that treatment with OVs inevitably further exacerbates the depletion of nutrients and the accumulation of metabolic wastes in the TME, leading to a metabolic barrier to antitumor immune responses. We also describe targeted metabolic strategies that can be used to unlock the therapeutic potential of OVs.

The immune checkpoint B7-H3 (CD276) regulates adipocyte progenitor metabolism and obesity development

The immune checkpoint B7-H3 (CD276) is a member of the B7 family that has been studied in the tumor microenvironment and immunotherapy, but its potential role in metabolism remains largely unknown. Here, we show that B7-H3 is highly expressed in mouse and human adipose tissue at steady state, with the highest levels in adipocyte progenitor cells. B7-H3 is rapidly down-regulated upon the initiation of adipocyte differentiation. Combined RNA sequencing and metabolic studies reveal that B7-H3 stimulates glycolytic and mitochondrial activity of adipocyte progenitors. Loss of B7-H3 in progenitors results in impaired oxidative metabolism program and increased lipid accumulation in derived adipocytes. Consistent with these observations, mice knocked out for B7-H3 develop spontaneous obesity, metabolic dysfunction, and adipose tissue inflammation. Our results reveal an unexpected metabolic role for B7-H3 in adipose tissue and open potential new avenues for the treatment of metabolic diseases by targeting the B7-H3 pathway.

Interferon-a potentiates anti-PD-1 efficacy by remodeling glucose metabolism in the hepatocellular carcinoma microenvironment

The overall response rate for anti-PD-1 therapy remains modest in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We found that a combination of interferon alpha (IFN-a) and anti-PD-1-based immunotherapy resulted in enhanced antitumor activity in unresectable HCC patients. In both immunocompetent orthotopic and spontaneous HCC models, IFN-a therapy synergized with anti-PD-1 and the combination treatment led to significant enrichment of cytotoxic CD27+ CD8+ T cells. Mechanistically, IFN-a suppressed HIF1a signaling by inhibiting FosB transcription in HCC cells, resulting in reduced glucose consumption capacity and consequentially establishing the high-glucose microenvironment that fostered transcription of the T cell costimulatory molecule Cd27 via mTOR-FOXM1 signaling in infiltrating CD8+ T cells. Together, these data reveal that IFN-a reprograms glucose metabolism within HCC tumor microenvironment, thereby liberating T cell cytotoxic capacities and potentiating the PD-1 blockade-induced immune response. Our findings suggest that IFN-a and anti-PD-1 cotreatment is an effective novel combination strategy for HCC patients.

Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy Increases the Levels of Soluble Immune Checkpoint Proteins in Patients with Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer

Purpose

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) has been widely applied to locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) patients, inducing the massive release of antigen and systematic immunomodulatory effects. However, its effect on the soluble immune checkpoint proteins (sICPs) remains unclear, which might play a key role in the immune response. Therefore, the current study explored changes in the levels of 16 sICPs in LACC patients during CCRT.

Methods

We prospectively enrolled fifty-one LACC patients treated with CCRT and collected patients' blood before, during and after CCRT. The levels of 16 sICPs were measured using the Luminex platform, and the changes were measured using Friedman test with Bonferroni's posttest. One month after CCRT, the tumor response was evaluated according to the RECIST 1.1 guidelines.

Results

The levels of soluble T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing-3 (sTIM-3) significantly increased during CCRT (P = 0.041), while those of the soluble B and T lymphocyte attenuator (sBTLA), sCD40, soluble glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor ligand (sGITRL), sCD80, sCD86, sPD-1, sPD-L1, sCTLA-4, and soluble inducible T-cell costimulator (sICOS) significantly increased after CCRT (all P < 0.05). Other sICPs showed no significant changes throughout the CCRT (all P > 0.05). 41 (80%), 8 (16%), and 2 (4%) patients showed complete response (CR), partial response (PR), and stable disease (SD) after CCRT, respectively. Interestingly, the level of soluble lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (sLAG-3) was significantly higher among the PR/SD patients as compared to the CR after CCRT (P = 0.009).

Conclusions

This study revealed that CCRT might elevate the serum levels of sTIM-3, sBTLA, sCD40, sGITRL, sCD80, sCD86, sPD-1, sPD-L1, sCTLA-4, and sICOS in the patients with LACC. The sLAG-3 level was higher in the patients with poor response to CCRT. These findings revealed the dynamic changes in the sICPs levels during CCRT, which might be helpful in designing optimal treatment strategies for LACC patients.

Hepatocellular carcinoma-infiltrating γδ T cells are functionally defected and allogenic Vδ2+ γδ T cell can be a promising complement

In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), γδ T cells participate in mediating the anti-tumour response and are linked with a positive prognosis. However, these cells can become pro-tumoural in the tumour microenvironment (TME). We aimed to decipher the immune landscape and functional states of HCC-infiltrating γδ T cells to provide fundamental evidence for the adoptive transfer of allogeneic Vδ2+ γδ T cells in HCC immunotherapy. We performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) on γδ T cells derived from HCC tumours and healthy donor livers. Confocal microscopy, flow cytometry and a Luminex assay were applied to validate the scRNA-seq findings. The γδ T cells in the HCC TME entered G2/M cell cycle arrest, and expressed cytotoxic molecules such as interferon-gamma and granzyme B, but were functionally exhausted as indicated by upregulated gene and protein LAG3 expression. The γδ T cells in the HCC TME were dominated by the LAG3+ Vδ1+ population, whereas the Vδ2+ γδ T population was greatly depleted. Moreover, glutamine metabolism of γδ T cells was markedly upregulated in the glutamine-deficient TME. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that glutamine deficiency upregulated LAG3 expression. Finally, our results indicated that ex vivo-expanded Vδ2+ γδ T cells from healthy donor could complement the loss of T cell receptor clonality and effector functions of HCC-derived γδ T cells. This work deciphered the dysfunctional signatures of HCC-infiltrating γδ T cells in the HCC TME, providing scientific support for the use of allogeneic Vδ2+ γδ T cells in HCC cellular therapy.

Imaging the Rewired Metabolism in Lung Cancer in Relation to Immune Therapy

Metabolic reprogramming is recognized as one of the hallmarks of cancer. Alterations in the micro-environmental metabolic characteristics are recognized as important tools for cancer cells to interact with the resident and infiltrating T-cells within this tumor microenvironment. Cancer-induced metabolic changes in the micro-environment also affect treatment outcomes. In particular, immune therapy efficacy might be blunted because of somatic mutation-driven metabolic determinants of lung cancer such as acidity and oxygenation status. Based on these observations, new onco-immunological treatment strategies increasingly include drugs that interfere with metabolic pathways that consequently affect the composition of the lung cancer tumor microenvironment (TME). Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has developed a wide array of tracers targeting metabolic pathways, originally intended to improve cancer detection and staging. Paralleling the developments in understanding metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells, as well as its effects on stromal, immune, and endothelial cells, a wave of studies with additional imaging tracers has been published. These tracers are yet underexploited in the perspective of immune therapy. In this review, we provide an overview of currently available PET tracers for clinical studies and discuss their potential roles in the development of effective immune therapeutic strategies, with a focus on lung cancer. We report on ongoing efforts that include PET/CT to understand the outcomes of interactions between cancer cells and T-cells in the lung cancer microenvironment, and we identify areas of research which are yet unchartered. Thereby, we aim to provide a starting point for molecular imaging driven studies to understand and exploit metabolic features of lung cancer to optimize immune therapy.

Metabolic Implications of Immune Checkpoint Proteins in Cancer

Expression of immune checkpoint proteins restrict immunosurveillance in the tumor microenvironment; thus, FDA-approved checkpoint inhibitor drugs, specifically PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors, promote a cytotoxic antitumor immune response. Aside from inflammatory signaling, immune checkpoint proteins invoke metabolic reprogramming that affects immune cell function, autonomous cancer cell bioenergetics, and patient response. Therefore, this review will focus on the metabolic alterations in immune and cancer cells regulated by currently approved immune checkpoint target proteins and the effect of costimulatory receptor signaling on immunometabolism. Additionally, we explore how diet and the microbiome impact immune checkpoint blockade therapy response. The metabolic reprogramming caused by targeting these proteins is essential in understanding immune-related adverse events and therapeutic resistance. This can provide valuable information for potential biomarkers or combination therapy strategies targeting metabolic pathways with immune checkpoint blockade to enhance patient response.

Crosstalk between non-coding RNAs expression profile, drug resistance and immune response in breast cancer

Drug resistance is one of the most critical challenges facing researchers in treating breast cancer. Despite numerous treatments for breast cancer, including conventional chemical drugs, monoclonal antibodies, and immunotherapeutic drugs known as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), many patients resist various approaches. In recent years, the relationship between gene expression profiles and drug resistance phenotypes has attracted much attention. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are regulatory molecules that have been shown to regulate gene expression and cell transcriptome. Two categories, microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs have been more considered and studied among these ncRNAs. Studying the role of different ncRNAs in chemical drug resistance and ICI resistance together can be beneficial in selecting more effective treatments for breast cancer. Changing the expression and action mechanism of these regulatory molecules on drug resistance phenotypes is the main topic of this review article.

Alternative Energy: Breaking Down the Diverse Metabolic Features of Lung Cancers

Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer initiation, progression, and relapse. From the initial observation that cancer cells preferentially ferment glucose to lactate, termed the Warburg effect, to emerging evidence indicating that metabolic heterogeneity and mitochondrial metabolism are also important for tumor growth, the complex mechanisms driving cancer metabolism remain vastly unknown. These unique shifts in metabolism must be further investigated in order to identify unique therapeutic targets for individuals afflicted by this aggressive disease. Although novel therapies have been developed to target metabolic vulnerabilities in a variety of cancer models, only limited efficacy has been achieved. In particular, lung cancer metabolism has remained relatively understudied and underutilized for the advancement of therapeutic strategies, however recent evidence suggests that lung cancers have unique metabolic preferences of their own. This review aims to provide an overview of essential metabolic mechanisms and potential therapeutic agents in order to increase evidence of targeted metabolic inhibition for the treatment of lung cancer, where novel therapeutics are desperately needed.

Comprehensive study of a novel immune-related lncRNA for prognosis and drug treatment of cervical squamous cell carcinoma

A comprehensive study focusing on immune-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in cervical cancer (CC) was performed. Through the integration of TCGA data, a total of 266 immune-related lncRNAs were obtained. We defined all samples as an entire set, and randomly divided them into train set and test set at a ratio of 1:1. Univariate, LASSO and multivariate Cox regression analyses were carried out based on train set for key lncRNAs (UBL7-AS1, AC083809.1, LIPE-AS1, PCED1B-AS1, ELFN1-AS1 and NCK1-DT) to construct a prognostic model, while the others were used for validation. The overall survival (OS) suggested that we may have longer survival expectations for patients classified into the low-risk group. The P values of risk score in univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were all less than 0.05, indicating the ability of risk score to independently assess the prognosis of patients. For clinical application, a nomogram with a high degree of agreement between the predicted curve and the actual curve was constructed. Subsequently, immune status and chemotherapy response were investigated in two prognostic subtypes. The associations between risk score and immune cell were estimated, in which CD8+ T cells showed the highest positive correlation and activated mast cell showed the highest negative correlation. In addition, checkpoint proteins (CTLA4, LAG3, PD-1, and TIGIT) showing negative correlation with risk score were found to be upregulated in low-risk group. A total of 3 chemotherapy drugs including paclitaxel, vinorelbine and methotrexate were considered effective in patients of high-risk group. Using 6 key immune-related lncRNAs, we identified two prognostic subtypes and provided new insights for CC immunotherapy.

Innate immune activation by checkpoint inhibition in human patient-derived lung cancer tissues

Although Pembrolizumab-based immunotherapy has significantly improved lung cancer patient survival, many patients show variable efficacy and resistance development. A better understanding of the drug’s action is needed to improve patient outcomes. Functional heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment (TME) is crucial to modulating drug resistance; understanding of individual patients’ TME that impacts drug response is hampered by lack of appropriate models. Lung organotypic tissue slice cultures (OTC) with patients’ native TME procured from primary and brain-metastasized (BM) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients were treated with Pembrolizumab and/or beta-glucan (WGP, an innate immune activator). Metabolic tracing with ¹³C₆-Glc/¹³C₅,¹⁵N₂-Gln, multiplex immunofluorescence, and digital spatial profiling (DSP) were employed to interrogate metabolic and functional responses to Pembrolizumab and/or WGP. Primary and BM PD-1⁺ lung cancer OTC responded to Pembrolizumab and Pembrolizumab + WGP treatments, respectively. Pembrolizumab activated innate immune metabolism and functions in primary OTC, which were accompanied by tissue damage. DSP analysis indicated an overall decrease in immunosuppressive macrophages and T cells but revealed microheterogeneity in immune responses and tissue damage. Two TMEs with altered cancer cell properties showed resistance. Pembrolizumab or WGP alone had negligible effects on BM-lung cancer OTC but Pembrolizumab + WGP blocked central metabolism with increased pro-inflammatory effector release and tissue damage. In-depth metabolic analysis and multiplex TME imaging of lung cancer OTC demonstrated overall innate immune activation by Pembrolizumab but heterogeneous responses in the native TME of a patient with primary NSCLC. Metabolic and functional analysis also revealed synergistic action of Pembrolizumab and WGP in OTC of metastatic NSCLC.

Actin-Binding Proteins as Potential Biomarkers for Chronic Inflammation-Induced Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy

Actin-binding proteins (ABPs), by interacting with actin, regulate the polymerization, depolymerization, bundling, and cross-linking of actin filaments, directly or indirectly, thereby mediating the maintenance of cell morphology, cell movement, and many other biological functions. Consequently, these functions of ABPs help regulate cancer cell invasion and metastasis when cancer occurs. In recent years, a variety of ABPs have been found to be abnormally expressed in various cancers, indicating that the detection and interventions of unusual ABP expression to alter this are available for the treatment of cancer. The early stages of most cancer development involve long-term chronic inflammation or repeated stimulation. This is the case for breast cancer, gastric cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer, esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, melanoma, and colorectal cancer. This article discusses the relationship between chronic inflammation and the above-mentioned cancers, emphatically introduces relevant research on the abnormal expression of ABPs in chronic inflammatory diseases, and reviews research on the expression of different ABPs in the above-mentioned cancers. Furthermore, there is a close relationship between ABP-induced inflammation and cancer. In simple terms, abnormal expression of ABPs contributes to the chronic inflammation developing into cancer. Finally, we provide our viewpoint regarding these unusual ABPs serving as potential biomarkers for chronic inflammation-induced cancer diagnosis and therapy, and interventions to reverse the abnormal expression of ABPs represent a potential approach to preventing or treating the corresponding cancers.

Metabolic Interplay between the Immune System and Melanoma Cells: Therapeutic Implications

Malignant melanoma represents the most fatal skin cancer due to its aggressive biological behavior and high metastatic potential. Treatment strategies for advanced disease have dramatically changed over the last years due to the introduction of BRAF/MEK inhibitors and immunotherapy. However, many patients either display primary (i.e., innate) or eventually develop secondary (i.e., acquired) resistance to systemic treatments. Treatment resistance depends on multiple mechanisms driven by a set of rewiring processes, which involve cancer metabolism, epigenetic, gene expression, and interactions within the tumor microenvironment. Prognostic and predictive biomarkers are needed to guide patients’ selection and treatment decisions. Indeed, there are no recognized clinical or biological characteristics that identify which patients will benefit more from available treatments, but several biomarkers have been studied with promising preliminary results. In this review, we will summarize novel tumor metabolic pathways and tumor-host metabolic crosstalk mechanisms leading to melanoma progression and drug resistance, with an overview on their translational potential as novel therapeutic targets.

Identification of an immune signature to predict poor clinical outcome in cervical cancer

Aim: To explore tumor immune microenvironment and identify immune prognostic-related circRNAs in cervical cancer. Materials & methods: RNA-seq in combination with bioinformatics were performed to establish a prognostic risk model and a circRNAs-miRNAs-CXCL8 network. Results: High-risk group correlated with poor survival outcome, and had lower PD-1 immunogenicity. Additionally, CXCL8 could distinguish normal tissue, low- and high-risk tumor tissues, the expression of which showed an increasing trend among the three groups. RNA-seq and bioinformatics indicated that circRNAs like hsa_circ_0025721 might upregulate CXCL8 through sponging miRNAs including hsa-miR-4428. Conclusion: We constructed an immune risk model related with CD8 T cells to predict the cervical cancer patients' prognosis and explored the abnormal expression mechanism of CXCL8 through the ceRNA mechanism.

The prognostic landscape of tumor-infiltrating immune cells in lung squamous cell carcinoma

Background

Exploring novel biomarkers and developing effective therapeutic strategies can improve the prognosis of lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) in the future. The prognostic value of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs) in solid tumors has been extensively studied. However, the landscape of TICs involved in the prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), especially in LUSC, remains unclear and should be systematically investigated.

Methods

This retrospective study analyzed the immune-related transcriptional profiles of 490 LUSC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort. Using the CIBERSORT method, TICs were evaluated and examined for their association with overall survival (OS) in LUSC.

Results

Out of the 27 TICs, 14 were correlated with prognosis in LUSC. A novel prognostic model characterized by fewer memory B cells and more central memory CD8 T cells, regulatory T cells (Tregs), and plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) infiltration predicted poor OS in LUSC with high accuracy. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year areas under the curve (AUC) were 0.95, 0.98, and 0.96, respectively, in the training cohort. This finding was further validated in the validation cohort, where the 1-, 3-, and 5-year AUCs were 0.95, 0.98, and 0.95, respectively.

Conclusions

These findings may provide more effective prognostic biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for the immunotherapy of LUSC.

Efficacy and tolerability of immunotherapy in advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma with or without chemotherapy: a meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Evidence of programmed death-1 inhibitors in nasopharyngeal carcinoma has been accumulated. However, previous clinical studies were basically small sample size.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to summarize existing studies to comprehensively compare programmed death-1 inhibitors in nasopharyngeal carcinoma with or without chemotherapy.

METHODS

Different databases were searched for full-text publications with a programmed death-1 inhibitor with or without chemotherapy. No study-to-study heterogeneity was detected, and fixed-effect models were applied to synthesize data.

RESULTS

Seven studies were included. The mean progression-free survival duration of programmed death-1 inhibitors treatment was 4.66 months. The 6 month progression-free survival rate was 50%, however, the12 month progression-free survival rate fell to 27%. Comparing with programmed death-1 inhibitor monotherapy, the objective response rate was higher in combination therapy (pooled RR=2.90, 95% CI: 2.07-4.08). The partial response rate was higher in patients receiving programmed death-1 in association with chemotherapy (pooled RR=3.09, 95% CI: 2.15-4.46), In contrast, the progressive disease rate was lower in combination therapy group (pooled RR=0.06, 95% CI: 0.01-0.31). Stable disease condition was comparable (pooled RR=0.90, 95% CI: 0.50-1.64) with or without chemotherapy. Programmed death-1 single use or combined with chemotherapy did not influence the total adverse events occurrence (pooled RR=0.99, 95% CI: 0.93-1.05). However, combination therapy could increase the risk of serious adverse events such as anemia, thrombocytopenia, and neutropenia.

CONCLUSION

The present study summarized the efficacy and safety of programmed death-1 inhibitors in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Combination therapy showed higher anti-tumor activity except for higher risk of myelosuppression.

Immunological Feature and Transcriptional Signaling of Ly6C Monocyte Subsets From Transcriptome Analysis in Control and Hyperhomocysteinemic Mice

Background

Murine monocytes (MC) are classified into Ly6C^high and Ly6C^low MC. Ly6C^high MC is the pro-inflammatory subset and the counterpart of human CD14⁺⁺CD16⁺ intermediate MC which contributes to systemic and tissue inflammation in various metabolic disorders, including hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy). This study aims to explore molecule signaling mediating MC subset differentiation in HHcy and control mice.

Methods

RNA-seq was performed in blood Ly6C^high and Ly6C^low MC sorted by flow cytometry from control and HHcy cystathionine β-synthase gene-deficient (Cbs^-/-) mice. Transcriptome data were analyzed by comparing Ly6C^high vs. Ly6C^low in control mice, Ly6C^high vs. Ly6C^low in Cbs^-/- mice, Cbs^-/- Ly6C^high vs. control Ly6C^high MC and Cbs^-/- Ly6C^low vs. control Ly6C^low MC by using intensive bioinformatic strategies. Significantly differentially expressed (SDE) immunological genes and transcription factor (TF) were selected for functional pathways and transcriptional signaling identification.

Results

A total of 7,928 SDE genes and 46 canonical pathways derived from it were identified. Ly6C^high MC exhibited activated neutrophil degranulation, lysosome, cytokine production/receptor interaction and myeloid cell activation pathways, and Ly6C^low MC presented features of lymphocyte immunity pathways in both mice. Twenty-four potential transcriptional regulatory pathways were identified based on SDE TFs matched with their corresponding SDE immunological genes. Ly6C^high MC presented downregulated co-stimulatory receptors (CD2, GITR, and TIM1) which direct immune cell proliferation, and upregulated co-stimulatory ligands (LIGHT and SEMA4A) which trigger antigen priming and differentiation. Ly6C^high MC expressed higher levels of macrophage (MΦ) markers, whereas, Ly6C^low MC highly expressed lymphocyte markers in both mice. HHcy in Cbs^-/- mice reinforced inflammatory features in Ly6C^high MC by upregulating inflammatory TFs (Ets1 and Tbx21) and strengthened lymphocytes functional adaptation in Ly6C^low MC by increased expression of CD3, DR3, ICOS, and Fos. Finally, we established 3 groups of transcriptional models to describe Ly6C^high to Ly6C^low MC subset differentiation, immune checkpoint regulation, Ly6C^high MC to MΦ subset differentiation and Ly6C^low MC to lymphocyte functional adaptation.

Conclusions

Ly6C^high MC displayed enriched inflammatory pathways and favored to be differentiated into MΦ. Ly6C^low MC manifested activated T-cell signaling pathways and potentially can adapt the function of lymphocytes. HHcy reinforced inflammatory feature in Ly6C^high MC and strengthened lymphocytes functional adaptation in Ly6C^low MC.

Predictive factors in the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma using PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors

Due to immune impairment and lymphocyte enrichment of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy is regarded as a potential treatment option. However, tumor heterogeneity, differences in the immune conditions of patients, and the interrelation between tumor cells and stromal cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME) could affect the therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint blockades. Therefore, to maximize the benefit of blockade PD-1/PD-L1 axis, to find an efficient predictor (the possible clinical parameters or biological factors) before treatment are of great importance. In this review, we discuss the advantages of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy for OSCC patients and find three respects that are currently available in predicting curative effect. Firstly, OSCC with high PD-L1 expression evaluating by immunohistochemistry (high tumor proportion score (TPS) and combined positive score (CPS)) are considered to be suitable for anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. Secondly, gene-level predictive biomarkers including high metastatic mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR) signature or enrichment of interferon-γ and PD1 signaling pathway is expected to be favorable factors. Besides, PET/CT parameters (SUV_max, MTV, TLG) are proved to be correlated with PD-L1 expression, and some newly developed immunoPET probes are enlarging the application of PET/CT in predicting therapeutic efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors.

Immune and metabolic checkpoints blockade: Dual wielding against tumors

Recent advances in cancer immunotherapy have raised hopes for treating cancers that are resistant to conventional therapies. Among the various immunotherapy methods, the immune checkpoint (IC) blockers were more promising and have paved their way to the clinic. Tumor cells induce the expression of ICs on the immune cells and derive them to a hyporesponsive exhausted phenotype. IC blockers could hinder immune exhaustion in the tumor microenvironment and reinvigorate immune cells for an efficient antitumor response. Despite the primary success of IC blockers in the clinic, the growing numbers of refractory cases require an in-depth study of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying IC expression and function. Immunometabolism is recently found to be a key factor in the regulation of immune responses. Activated or exhausted immune cells exploit different metabolic pathways. Tumor cells can suppress antitumor responses via immunometabolism alteration. Therefore, it is expected that concurrent targeting of ICs and immunometabolism pathways can cause immune cells to restore their antitumor activity. In this review, we dissected the reciprocal interactions of immune cell metabolism with expression and signaling of ICs in the tumor microenvironment. Recent findings on dual targeting of ICs and metabolic checkpoints have also been discussed.

Targeting the ubiquitination/deubiquitination process to regulate immune checkpoint pathways

The immune system initiates robust immune responses to defend against invading pathogens or tumor cells and protect the body from damage, thus acting as a fortress of the body. However, excessive responses cause detrimental effects, such as inflammation and autoimmune diseases. To balance the immune responses and maintain immune homeostasis, there are immune checkpoints to terminate overwhelmed immune responses. Pathogens and tumor cells can also exploit immune checkpoint pathways to suppress immune responses, thus escaping immune surveillance. As a consequence, therapeutic antibodies that target immune checkpoints have made great breakthroughs, in particular for cancer treatment. While the overall efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is unsatisfactory since only a small group of patients benefited from ICB treatment. Hence, there is a strong need to search for other targets that improve the efficacy of ICB. Ubiquitination is a highly conserved process which participates in numerous biological activities, including innate and adaptive immunity. A growing body of evidence emphasizes the importance of ubiquitination and its reverse process, deubiquitination, on the regulation of immune responses, providing the rational of simultaneous targeting of immune checkpoints and ubiquitination/deubiquitination pathways to enhance the therapeutic efficacy. Our review will summarize the latest findings of ubiquitination/deubiquitination pathways for anti-tumor immunity, and discuss therapeutic significance of targeting ubiquitination/deubiquitination pathways in the future of immunotherapy.

Three Immune-Associated Subtypes of Diffuse Glioma Differ in Immune Infiltration, Immune Checkpoint Molecules, and Prognosis

Diffuse glioma is one of the most prevalent malignancies of the brain, with high heterogeneity of tumor-infiltrating immune cells. However, immune-associated subtypes of diffuse glioma have not been determined, nor has the effect of different immune-associated subtypes on disease prognosis and immune infiltration of diffuse glioma patients. We retrieved the expression profiles of immune-related genes from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) (n = 672) and GSE16011 (n = 268) cohorts and used them to identify subtypes of diffuse glioma via Consensus Cluster Plus analysis. We used the limma, clusterProfiler, ESTIMATE, and survival packages of R for differential analysis, functional enrichment, immune and stromal score evaluation respectively in three subtypes, and performed log-rank tests in immune subtypes of diffuse glioma. The immune-associated features of diffuse glioma in the two cohorts were characterized via bioinformatic analyses of the mRNA expression data of immune-related genes. Three subtypes (C1–3) of diffuse glioma were identified from TCGA data, and were verified using the GSE16011 cohort. We then evaluated their immune characteristics and clinical features. Our mRNA profiling analyses indicated that the different subtypes of diffuse glioma presented differential expression profile of specific genes and signal pathways in the TCGA cohort. Patients with subtype C1, who were mostly diagnosed with grade IV glioma, had poorer outcomes than patients with subtype C2 or C3. Subtype C1 was characterized by a higher degree of immune cell infiltration as estimated by GSVA, and more frequent wildtype IDH1. By contrast, subtype C3 included more grade II and IDH1-mutated glioma, and was associated with more infiltration of CD4⁺T cells. Most subtype C2 had the features between subtypes C1 and C3. Meanwhile, immune checkpoints and their ligand molecules, including PD1/(PD-L1/PDL2), CTLA4/(CD80/CD86), and B7H3/TLT2, were significantly upregulated in subtype C1 and downregulated in subtype C3. In addition, patients with subtype C1 exhibited more frequent gene mutations. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that diffuse glioma subtype was an effective, independent, and better prognostic factor. Therefore, we established a novel immune-related classification of diffuse glioma, which provides potential immunotherapy targets for diffuse glioma.

Cardiotoxicity of immune checkpoint inhibitors: An updated review

The immune checkpoint molecules are involved in the regulation of T cells in order to prevent them from attacking to sell tissues and play a role in the immune response homeostasis. Application of the immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has provided a promising therapeutic approach in pathologies where the immune system is suppressed. The extended utilization of ICIs in several cancers has caused immune-related side effects in the cardiovascular system like cardiomyopathy and myocarditis. Cardiac toxicity, one of the main side effects of the ICIs based therapeutic approach has less been concerned; however, during the last years, many cases of fatal heart failure and myocarditis have been reported in patients treated with ICIs. In this review article, we attempted to discuss the cardiac adverse effects of inhibiting different immune checkpoint molecules. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Glycolytic expression in lower-grade glioma reveals an epigenetic association between IDH mutation status and PDL1/2 expression

Background

The interplay between glycolysis and immunosuppression in cancer has recently emerged as an intriguing area of research. The aim of this study was to elucidate a potential epigenetic link between glycolysis, isocitrate hydrogenase (IDH) status, and immune checkpoint expression in human lower-grade glioma (LGG).

Methods

Genomic analysis was conducted on 507 LGG samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Data types analyzed included RNA-seq (IlluminaHiSeq) and DNA methylation (Methylation450K). Unsupervised clustering grouped samples according to glycolytic expression level and IDH status. Global promoter methylation patterns were examined, as well as methylation levels of LDHA/LDHB and immune checkpoint genes. Methylation data from a knock-in IDH1^R132H/WT allele in HCT116 cells and ChIP-seq data from immortalized human astrocytes using an inducible IDH1^R132H mutation were also assessed.

Results

Glycolytic expression distinguished a tumor cluster enriched for wild-type IDH and poorer overall survival (P < .0001). This cluster showed lower levels of LDHA promoter methylation and a higher LDHA/LDHB expression ratio. These samples also displayed lower PDL1/2 promoter methylation and higher PDL1/2 expression, which was more pronounced for PDL2. IDH1^R132H/WT cell line data showed that induced changes in methylation were enriched for genes involved in immune regulation, and ChIP-seq data showed that promoter H3K4me3 decreased for LDHA, PDL2, and PDL1 upon induction of IDH1^R132H.

Conclusions

These results suggest a previously unrecognized epigenetic link between glycolysis and immune checkpoint expression in LGG. This work advances our understanding of glioma genomics and provides support for further exploration of the metabolic-immune interface in LGG.

Amino Acids and Their Transporters in T Cell Immunity and Cancer Therapy

Metabolism reprogramming is critical for both cancer progression and effective immune responses in the tumor microenvironment. Amino acid metabolism in different cells and their cross-talk shape tumor immunity and therapy efficacy in patients with cancer. In this review, we focus on multiple amino acids and their transporters, solute carrier (SLC) members. We discuss their involvement in regulation of immune responses in the tumor microenvironment and assess their associations with cancer immunotherapy, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, and we review their potential as targets for cancer therapy. We stress the necessity to understand individual amino acids and their transporters in different cell subsets, the molecular intersection between amino acid metabolism, and effective T cell immunity and its relevance in cancer therapies.

Cellular metabolism dictates T cell effector function in health and disease

In a healthy person, metabolically quiescent T lymphocytes (T cells) circulate between lymph nodes and peripheral tissues in search of antigens. Upon infection, some T cells will encounter cognate antigens followed by proliferation and clonal expansion in a context-dependent manner, to become effector T cells. These events are accompanied by changes in cellular metabolism, known as metabolic reprogramming. The magnitude and variation of metabolic reprogramming are, in addition to antigens, dependent on factors such as nutrients and oxygen to ensure host survival during various diseases. Herein, we describe how metabolic programmes define T cell subset identity and effector functions. In addition, we will discuss how metabolic programs can be modulated and affect T cell activity in health and disease using cancer and autoimmunity as examples.

Engineering Programmed Death Ligand-1/Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte-Associated Antigen-4 Dual-Targeting Nanovesicles for Immunosuppressive Therapy in Transplantation

T cell activation by immune allorecognition is a major contributing factor toward the triggering of organ rejection. Immunosuppressive drugs have to be taken after organ transplantation, but long-term use of these drugs increases the risks of infection and other serious disorders. Here, we showed dysregulation of programmed cell death-ligand 1/programmed cell death 1 (PD-L1/PD-1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4/cluster of differentiation 80 (CTLA-4/CD80) in the spleen of two organ transplantation models. Using a bioengineering approach, cellular exosome-like nanovesicles (NVs) displaying PD-L1/CTLA-4 dual-targeting cargos were designed, and their specificity to bind their ligands PD-1 and CD80 on T cell and dendritic cell surfaces was confirmed. These NVs consequently enhanced PD-L1/PD-1 and CTLA-4/CD80 immune inhibitory pathways, two key immune checkpoints to co-inhibit T cell activation and maintain peripheral tolerance. It was also confirmed that PD-L1/CTLA-4 NVs led to the reduction of T cell activation and proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Finally, it was demonstrated that PD-L1/CTLA-4 NVs reduced density of CD8⁺ T cells and cytokine production, enriched regulatory T cells, and prolonged the survival of mouse skin and heart grafts. Taken together, these data supported the idea that PD-L1/CTLA-4 dual-targeting NVs exert immune inhibitory effects and may be used as a prospective immunosuppressant in organ transplantation.

Tumor Cell-Intrinsic Immunometabolism and Precision Nutrition in Cancer Immunotherapy

One of the greatest challenges in the cancer immunotherapy field is the need to biologically rationalize and broaden the clinical utility of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The balance between metabolism and immune response has critical implications for overcoming the major weaknesses of ICIs, including their lack of universality and durability. The last decade has seen tremendous advances in understanding how the immune system's ability to kill tumor cells requires the conspicuous metabolic specialization of T-cells. We have learned that cancer cell-associated metabolic activities trigger shifts in the abundance of some metabolites with immunosuppressory roles in the tumor microenvironment. Yet very little is known about the tumor cell-intrinsic metabolic traits that control the immune checkpoint contexture in cancer cells. Likewise, we lack a comprehensive understanding of how systemic metabolic perturbations in response to dietary interventions can reprogram the immune checkpoint landscape of tumor cells. We here review state-of-the-art molecular- and functional-level interrogation approaches to uncover how cell-autonomous metabolic traits and diet-mediated changes in nutrient availability and utilization might delineate new cancer cell-intrinsic metabolic dependencies of tumor immunogenicity. We propose that clinical monitoring and in-depth molecular evaluation of the cancer cell-intrinsic metabolic traits involved in primary, adaptive, and acquired resistance to cancer immunotherapy can provide the basis for improvements in therapeutic responses to ICIs. Overall, these approaches might guide the use of metabolic therapeutics and dietary approaches as novel strategies to broaden the spectrum of cancer patients and indications that can be effectively treated with ICI-based cancer immunotherapy.