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Dongye Z, Li J, Wu Y. Toll-like receptor 9 agonists and combination therapies: strategies to modulate the tumour immune microenvironment for systemic anti-tumour immunity. Br J Cancer 2022; 127:1584-1594. [PMID: 35902641 PMCID: PMC9333350 DOI: 10.1038/s41416-022-01876-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2022] [Revised: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the past decade, tremendous progress has taken place in tumour immunotherapy, relying on the fast development of combination therapy strategies that target multiple immunosuppressive signaling pathways in the immune system of cancer patients to achieve a high response rate in clinical practice. Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonists have been extensively investigated as therapeutics in monotherapy or combination therapies for the treatment of cancer, infectious diseases and allergies. TLR9 agonists monotherapy shows limited efficacy in cancer patients; whereas, in combination with other therapies including antigen vaccines, radiotherapies, chemotherapies and immunotherapies exhibit great potential. Synthetic unmethylated CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN), a commonly used agonist for TLR9, stimulate various antigen-presenting cells in the tumour microenvironment, which can initiate innate and adaptive immune responses. Novel combination therapy approaches, which co-deliver immunostimulatory CpG-ODN with other therapeutics, have been tested in animal models and early human clinical trials to induce anti-tumour immune responses. In this review, we describe the basic understanding of TLR9 signaling pathway; the delivery methods in most studies; discuss the key challenges of each of the above mentioned TLR9 agonist-based combination immunotherapies and provide an overview of the ongoing clinical trial results from CpG-ODN based combination therapies in cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhangchi Dongye
- grid.410645.20000 0001 0455 0905Department of Immunology, Medical College of Qingdao University, 266071 Qingdao, Shandong PR China ,grid.410570.70000 0004 1760 6682Institute of Immunology, PLA, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Jian Li
- grid.410570.70000 0004 1760 6682Institute of Immunology, PLA, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Yuzhang Wu
- grid.410570.70000 0004 1760 6682Institute of Immunology, PLA, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, China
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Dongye Z, Wu X, Wen Y, Ding X, Wang C, Zhao T, Li J, Wu Y. Icaritin and intratumoral injection of CpG treatment synergistically promote T cell infiltration and antitumor immune response in mice. Int Immunopharmacol 2022; 111:109093. [PMID: 35930912 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2022.109093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The development of combination therapy that can modulate the tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment is highly desirable for cancer immunotherapy. Icaritin (ICT), a hydrolytic product of icariin from genus Epimedium, has been used as an anti-cancer immunoregulatory agent for many types of cancers. Herein, we design a novel therapeutic strategy for mice melanoma that combines systemic administration of icaritin with intratumoral injection of unmethylated cytosine-guanine oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG). Icaritin induces tumor cell apoptosis and increases tumor immunogenicity. The combination of icaritin with CpG synergistically suppresses tumor growth and significantly prolonged survival time of B16F10 melanoma bearing mice. importantly, the anti-tumor effects of this combination strategy are associated with the reversing of immunosuppressive microenvironment through increased recruitment of functional DCs and tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) in tumors, leading to the infiltration of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells expressing elevated levels of IFN-γ and TNF-α. Furthermore, the combination of icaritin with CpG augments the anti-tumor immune response to anti-PD-1/CTLA-4 immune checkpoint blockade treatment. These results support the combination of icaritin with CpG as a novel strategy to elicit effective T cell-mediated antitumor immune response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhangchi Dongye
- Department of Immunology, Medical College of Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, PR China; Institute of Immunology, PLA, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Xiaoping Wu
- Institute of Immunology, PLA, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Yuxiang Wen
- Institute of Immunology, PLA, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Xuelei Ding
- Institute of Immunology, PLA, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Chuanjie Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Tingting Zhao
- Institute of Immunology, PLA, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Jian Li
- Institute of Immunology, PLA, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, China.
| | - Yuzhang Wu
- Institute of Immunology, PLA, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, China.
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Kokatla HP, Sil D, Tanji H, Ohto U, Malladi SS, Fox LM, Shimizu T, David SA. Structure-based design of novel human Toll-like receptor 8 agonists. ChemMedChem 2014; 9:719-23. [PMID: 24474703 PMCID: PMC4105021 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201300573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2013] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Toll-like receptor (TLR)-8 agonists activate adaptive immune responses by inducing robust production of T helper 1-polarizing cytokines, suggesting that TLR8-active compounds might be promising candidate vaccine adjuvants. Recently, a C2-butyl furo[2,3-c]quinoline was reported with purely TLR8 agonistic activity. This compound was successfully co-crystallized with the human TLR8 ectodomain, and the co-crystal structure revealed ligand-induced reorganization of the binding pocket of TLR8. The loss of a key hydrogen bond between the oxygen atom of the furanyl ring of the agonist and Thr 574 in TLR8 suggested that the furan ring is dispensable. Employing a disconnection strategy, 3- and 4-substituted aminoquinolines were investigated. Focused structure-based ligand design studies led to the identification of 3-pentyl-quinoline-2-amine as a novel, structurally simple, and highly potent human TLR8-specific agonist (EC50 =0.2 μM). Preliminary evaluation of this compound in ex vivo human blood assay systems revealed that it retains prominent cytokine-inducing activity. Together, these results indicate the suitability of this compound as a novel vaccine adjuvant, warranting further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hari Prasad Kokatla
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Kansas, Multidisciplinary Research Building, Room 320D, 2030 Becker Drive, Lawrence KS 66047, USA
| | - Diptesh Sil
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Kansas, Multidisciplinary Research Building, Room 320D, 2030 Becker Drive, Lawrence KS 66047, USA
| | - Hiromi Tanji
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, and CREST, JST., Japan
| | - Umeharu Ohto
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, and CREST, JST., Japan
| | - Subbalakshmi S. Malladi
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Kansas, Multidisciplinary Research Building, Room 320D, 2030 Becker Drive, Lawrence KS 66047, USA
| | - Lauren M. Fox
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Kansas, Multidisciplinary Research Building, Room 320D, 2030 Becker Drive, Lawrence KS 66047, USA
| | - Toshiyoki Shimizu
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, and CREST, JST., Japan
| | - Sunil A. David
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Kansas, Multidisciplinary Research Building, Room 320D, 2030 Becker Drive, Lawrence KS 66047, USA
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Choi IS. Immune tolerance by induced regulatory T cells in asthma. ALLERGY, ASTHMA & IMMUNOLOGY RESEARCH 2012; 4:113-5. [PMID: 22548202 PMCID: PMC3328726 DOI: 10.4168/aair.2012.4.3.113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2012] [Accepted: 02/01/2012] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Inseon S Choi
- Department of Allergy, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea
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