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Baleeiro RB, Dunmall LSC, Liu P, Lu S, Lone Y, Lemoine NR, Wang Y. Optimized Anchor-Modified Peptides Targeting Mutated RAS Are Promising Candidates for Immunotherapy. Front Immunol 2022; 13:902709. [PMID: 35720289 PMCID: PMC9204602 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.902709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
RAS mutations occur in approximately 20% of all cancers and given their clonality, key role as driver mutation, association with poor prognosis and undruggability, they represent attractive targets for immunotherapy. We have identified immunogenic peptides derived from codon 12 mutant RAS (G12A, G12C, G12D, G12R, G12S and G12V), which bind to HLA-A*02:01 and HLA-A*03:01 and elicit strong peptide-specific CD8+ T cell responses, indicating that there is an effective CD8+ T-cell repertoire against these mutant RAS-derived peptides that can be mobilized. Alterations in anchor residues of these peptides enhanced their binding affinity to HLA-A*02:01 molecules and allowed generation of CD8+ T cells that responded to target cells pulsed with the anchor-modified and also with the original peptide. Cytotoxic T cells generated against these peptides specifically lysed tumor cells expressing mutant RAS. Vaccination of transgenic humanized HLA-A2/DR1 mice with a long peptide encompassing an anchor-modified 9-mer G12V epitope generated CD8+ T cells reactive to the original 9-mer and to a HLA-A*02:01-positive human cancer cell line harboring the G12V mutation. Our data provide strong evidence that mutant RAS can be targeted by immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renato B Baleeiro
- Centre for Cancer Biomarkers and Biotherapeutics, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Louisa S Chard Dunmall
- Centre for Cancer Biomarkers and Biotherapeutics, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Peng Liu
- Centre for Cancer Biomarkers and Biotherapeutics, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Shuangshuang Lu
- Sino-British Research Centre for Molecular Oncology, National Centre for International Research in Cell and Gene Therapy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Yuchun Lone
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Transgénèse et Archivage d'Animaux Modèles (TAAM), Orleans, France
| | - Nicholas R Lemoine
- Centre for Cancer Biomarkers and Biotherapeutics, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.,Sino-British Research Centre for Molecular Oncology, National Centre for International Research in Cell and Gene Therapy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Yaohe Wang
- Centre for Cancer Biomarkers and Biotherapeutics, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.,Sino-British Research Centre for Molecular Oncology, National Centre for International Research in Cell and Gene Therapy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
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Liu W, Tang H, Li L, Wang X, Yu Z, Li J. Peptide-based therapeutic cancer vaccine: Current trends in clinical application. Cell Prolif 2021; 54:e13025. [PMID: 33754407 PMCID: PMC8088465 DOI: 10.1111/cpr.13025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2021] [Revised: 02/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The peptide‐based therapeutic cancer vaccines have attracted enormous attention in recent years as one of the effective treatments of tumour immunotherapy. Most of peptide‐based vaccines are based on epitope peptides stimulating CD8+ T cells or CD4+ T helper cells to target tumour‐associated antigens (TAAs) or tumour‐specific antigens (TSAs). Some adjuvants and nanomaterials have been exploited to optimize the efficiency of immune response of the epitope peptide to improve its clinical application. At present, numerous peptide‐based therapeutic cancer vaccines have been developed and achieved significant clinical benefits. Similarly, the combination of peptide‐based vaccines and other therapies has demonstrated a superior efficacy in improving anti‐cancer activity. We delve deeper into the choices of targets, design and screening of epitope peptides, clinical efficacy and adverse events of peptide‐based vaccines, and strategies combination of peptide‐based therapeutic cancer vaccines and other therapies. The review will provide a detailed overview and basis for future clinical application of peptide‐based therapeutic cancer vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wensi Liu
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.,Liaoning Key Laboratory of molecular targeted anti-tumor drug development and evaluation, Liaoning Cancer immune peptide drug Engineering Technology Research Center, Shenyang, China
| | - Haichao Tang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.,Liaoning Key Laboratory of molecular targeted anti-tumor drug development and evaluation, Liaoning Cancer immune peptide drug Engineering Technology Research Center, Shenyang, China
| | - Luanfeng Li
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.,Liaoning Key Laboratory of molecular targeted anti-tumor drug development and evaluation, Liaoning Cancer immune peptide drug Engineering Technology Research Center, Shenyang, China
| | - Xiangyi Wang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.,Liaoning Key Laboratory of molecular targeted anti-tumor drug development and evaluation, Liaoning Cancer immune peptide drug Engineering Technology Research Center, Shenyang, China
| | - Zhaojin Yu
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.,Liaoning Key Laboratory of molecular targeted anti-tumor drug development and evaluation, Liaoning Cancer immune peptide drug Engineering Technology Research Center, Shenyang, China
| | - Jianping Li
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.,Transfusion Medicine Institute, Liaoning Blood Center, Shenyang, China.,Transfusion Medicine Institute, Harbin Blood Center, Harbin, China
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Anti-cancer Immunotherapies Targeting Telomerase. Cancers (Basel) 2020; 12:cancers12082260. [PMID: 32806719 PMCID: PMC7465444 DOI: 10.3390/cancers12082260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Revised: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Telomerase is a reverse transcriptase that maintains telomeres length, compensating for the attrition of chromosomal ends that occurs during each replication cycle. Telomerase is expressed in germ cells and stem cells, whereas it is virtually undetectable in adult somatic cells. On the other hand, telomerase is broadly expressed in the majority of human tumors playing a crucial role in the replicative behavior and immortality of cancer cells. Several studies have demonstrated that telomerase-derived peptides are able to bind to HLA (human leukocyte antigen) class I and class II molecules and effectively activate both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells subsets. Due to its broad and selective expression in cancer cells and its significant immunogenicity, telomerase is considered an ideal universal tumor-associated antigen, and consequently, a very attractive target for anti-cancer immunotherapy. To date, different telomerase targeting immunotherapies have been studied in pre-clinical and clinical settings, these approaches include peptide vaccination and cell-based vaccination. The objective of this review paper is to discuss the role of human telomerase in cancer immunotherapy analyzing recent developments and future perspectives in this field.
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Zahm CD, Colluru VT, McNeel DG. Vaccination with High-Affinity Epitopes Impairs Antitumor Efficacy by Increasing PD-1 Expression on CD8 + T Cells. Cancer Immunol Res 2017. [PMID: 28634215 DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.cir-16-0374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Antitumor vaccines encoding self-antigens generally have low immunogenicity in clinical trials. Several approaches are aimed at improving vaccine immunogenicity, including efforts to alter encoded epitopes. Immunization with epitopes altered for increased affinity for the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) or T-cell receptor (TCR) elicits greater numbers of CD8 T cells but inferior antitumor responses. Our previous results suggested that programmed death 1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1) increased on antigen-specific CD8 T cells and tumor cells, respectively, after high-affinity vaccination. In this report, we use two murine models to investigate whether the dose, MHC affinity, or TCR affinity of an epitope affected the antitumor response via the PD-1/PD-L1 axis. T cells activated with high-affinity epitopes resulted in prolonged APC:T-cell contact time that led to elevated, persistent PD-1 expression, and expression of other checkpoint molecules, in vitro and in vivo Immunization with high-affinity epitopes also decreased antitumor efficacy in the absence of PD-1 blockade. Thus, APC:T-cell contact time can be altered by epitope affinity and lead to therapeutically relevant changes in vaccine efficacy mediated by changes in PD-1 expression. These findings have implications for the use of agents targeting PD-1 expression or function whenever high-affinity CD8 T cells are elicited or supplied by means of vaccination or adoptive transfer. Cancer Immunol Res; 5(8); 630-41. ©2017 AACR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher D Zahm
- University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Viswa T Colluru
- University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Douglas G McNeel
- University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.
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