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Yuan H, Jin L, Xiang H, Bhattacharya A, Brandish PE, Baltus G, Tong A, Zhou C, Glazer RI. Resistance of MMTV-NeuT/ATTAC mice to anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint therapy is associated with macrophage infiltration and Wnt pathway expression. Oncotarget 2022; 13:1350-1358. [PMID: 36537914 PMCID: PMC9765860 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.28330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the central challenges for cancer therapy is the identification of factors in the tumor microenvironment that increase tumor progression and immune tolerance. In breast cancer, fibrosis is a histopathologic criterion for invasive cancer and poor survival that results from inflammatory factors and remodeling of the extracellular matrix to produce an immune tolerant microenvironment. To determine whether tolerance is associated with the immune checkpoint, Programmed Cell Death 1 (PD-1), NeuT/ATTAC mice, a conditional model of mammary fibrosis that we recently developed, were administered a murine-specific anti-PD-1 mAb related to pembrolizumab, and drug response was monitored by tumor development, imaging mass cytometry, immunohistochemistry and tumor gene expression by RNAseq. Tumor progression in NeuT/ATTAC mice was unaffected by weekly injection of anti-PD-1 over four months. Insensitivity to anti-PD-1 was associated with several processes, including increased tumor-associated macrophages (TAM), epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), fibroblast proliferation, an enhanced extracellular matrix and the Wnt signaling pathway, including increased expression of Fzd5, Wnt5a, Vimentin, Mmp3, Col2a1 and Tgfβ1. These results suggest potential therapeutic avenues that may enhance PD-1 immune checkpoint sensitivity, including the use of tumor microenvironment targeted agents and Wnt pathway inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongyan Yuan
- 1Department of Oncology and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, USA
| | - Lu Jin
- 1Department of Oncology and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, USA
| | - Handan Xiang
- 2Discovery Immunology, Merck Research Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | | | - Philip E. Brandish
- 3Discovery Oncology, Merck Research Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA,4Bicycle Therapeutics, Lexington, MA 02421, USA
| | - Gretchen Baltus
- 2Discovery Immunology, Merck Research Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Alexander Tong
- 1Department of Oncology and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, USA
| | - Changyan Zhou
- 1Department of Oncology and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, USA
| | - Robert I. Glazer
- 1Department of Oncology and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, USA,Correspondence to:Robert I. Glazer, email:
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hMRP8-ATTAC Mice: A New Model for Conditional and Reversible Neutrophil Ablation. Cells 2022; 11:cells11152346. [PMID: 35954190 PMCID: PMC9367557 DOI: 10.3390/cells11152346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Neutrophils are not only crucial immune cells for the neutralization of pathogens during infections, but they are also key players in tissue repair and cancer. Several methods are available to investigate the in vivo role of neutrophils in these conditions, including the depletion of neutrophils with neutralizing antibodies against Ly6G, or the blockade of neutrophil recruitment with CXCR2 inhibitors. A limited number of transgenic mouse models were generated that rely on the disruption of genes important for neutrophil development or on the injection of diphtheria toxin to induce neutrophil ablation. However, these methods have various limitations, including a lack of neutrophil specificity, a lack of long-term efficacy, or a lack of the ability to conditionally deplete neutrophils. Therefore, we generated a transgenic mouse model for the inducible and reversible ablation of neutrophils using the ATTAC (Apoptosis Through Targeted Activation of Caspase 8) approach. With the ATTAC strategy, which relies on the expression of the caspase 8-FKBP fusion protein, apoptosis is induced upon administration of a chemical dimerizer (FK506 analogue) that facilitates the dimerization and activation of caspase 8. In order to achieve specific neutrophil depletion, we cloned the ATTAC construct under the human migration inhibitory factor-related protein 8 (hMRP8) promotor. The newly generated hMRP8-ATTAC mice expressed high levels of the transgene in neutrophils, and, as a consequence, dimerizer injection induced an efficient reduction of neutrophil levels in all the organs analyzed under homeostatic conditions. In situations with extensive pressure on the bone marrow to mobilize neutrophils, for instance in the context of cancer, effective neutrophil depletion in this model requires further optimization. In conclusion, we here describe the generation and characterization of a new transgenic model for conditional neutrophil ablation and highlight the need to improve the ATTAC strategy for the depletion of large numbers of rapidly generated short-lived cells, such as neutrophils.
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Sheng G, Yuan H, Jin L, Ranjit S, Panov J, Lu X, Levi M, Glazer RI. Reduction of fibrosis and immune suppressive cells in ErbB2-dependent tumorigenesis by an LXR agonist. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0248996. [PMID: 33780491 PMCID: PMC8007044 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the central challenges for cancer therapy is the identification of factors in the tumor microenvironment that increase tumor progression and prevent immune surveillance. One such element associated with breast cancer is stromal fibrosis, a histopathologic criterion for invasive cancer and poor survival. Fibrosis is caused by inflammatory factors and remodeling of the extracellular matrix that elicit an immune tolerant microenvironment. To address the role of fibrosis in tumorigenesis, we developed NeuT/ATTAC transgenic mice expressing a constitutively active NeuT/erbB2 transgene, and an inducible, fat-directed caspase-8 fusion protein, which upon activation results in selective and partial ablation of mammary fat and its replacement with fibrotic tissue. Induction of fibrosis in NeuT/ATTAC mice led to more rapid tumor development and an inflammatory and fibrotic stromal environment. In an effort to explore therapeutic options that could reduce fibrosis and immune tolerance, mice were treated with the oxysterol liver X receptor (LXR) pan agonist, N,N-dimethyl-3-β-hydroxy-cholenamide (DMHCA), an agent known to reduce fibrosis in non-malignant diseases. DMHCA reduced tumor progression, tumor multiplicity and fibrosis, and improved immune surveillance by reducing infiltrating myeloid-derived suppressor cells and increasing CD4 and CD8 effector T cells. These effects were associated with downregulation of an LXR-dependent gene network related to reduced breast cancer survival that included Spp1, S100a9, Anxa1, Mfge8 and Cd14. These findings suggest that the use of DMHCA may be a potentially effective approach to reduce desmoplasia and immune tolerance and increase the efficacy of cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gao Sheng
- Department of Oncology and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States of America
- Department of Breast, Women’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Nanjing, China
| | - Hongyan Yuan
- Department of Oncology and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Lu Jin
- Department of Oncology and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Suman Ranjit
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Julia Panov
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Xun Lu
- George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Moshe Levi
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Robert I. Glazer
- Department of Oncology and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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