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Nguyen T, Chen PC, Pham J, Kaur K, Raman SS, Jewett A, Chiang J. Current and Future States of Natural Killer Cell-Based Immunotherapy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Crit Rev Immunol 2024; 44:71-85. [PMID: 38618730 DOI: 10.1615/critrevimmunol.2024052486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphoid cells that exhibit high levels of cytotoxicity against NK-specific targets. NK cells also produce various cytokines, and interact with T cells, B cells, and dendritic cells to effectively serve as frontliners of the innate immune system. Produce various cytokines, and interact with T cells, B cells, and dendritic cells to effectively serve as frontliners of the innate immune system. Moreover, NK cells constitute the second most common immune cell in the liver. These properties have drawn significant attention towards leveraging NK cells in treating liver cancer, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which accounts for 75% of all primary liver cancer and is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Notable anti-cancer functions of NK cells against HCC include activating antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity (ADCC), facilitating Gasdermin E-mediated pyroptosis of HCC cells, and initiating an antitumor response via the cGAS-STING signaling pathway. In this review, we describe how these mechanisms work in the context of HCC. We will then discuss the existing preclinical and clinical studies that leverage NK cell activity to create single and combined immunotherapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tu Nguyen
- UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
| | - Po-Chun Chen
- Division of Oral Biology and Medicine, The Jane and Jerry Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biotechnology, University of California School of Dentistry, 10833 Le Conte Ave, 90095 Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Janet Pham
- Department of Radiology, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kawaljit Kaur
- Division of Oral Biology and Medicine The Jane and Jerry Weintraub Center of Reconstructive Biotechnology University of California School of Dentistry Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Steven S Raman
- Department of Radiology, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA; The Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA School of Dentistry and Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Anahid Jewett
- Division of Oral Biology and Medicine, The Jane and Jerry Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biotechnology, University of California School of Dentistry, 10833 Le Conte Ave, 90095 Los Angeles, CA, USA; The Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA School of Dentistry and Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jason Chiang
- Department of Radiology, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA; The Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA School of Dentistry and Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Keisari Y, Kelson I. Tumor ablation induced anti-tumor immunity: destruction of the tumor in situ with the aim to evoke a robust anti-tumor immune response. Cancer Metastasis Rev 2023; 42:1065-1068. [PMID: 37952066 PMCID: PMC10713665 DOI: 10.1007/s10555-023-10150-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Yona Keisari
- Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel.
| | - Itzhak Kelson
- Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Liu J, Liu B, Li Y, Mi Z, Tan H, Rong P. PCMT1 is a potential target related to tumor progression and immune infiltration in liver cancer. Eur J Med Res 2023; 28:289. [PMID: 37596654 PMCID: PMC10436427 DOI: 10.1186/s40001-023-01216-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/20/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Liver cancer is a prevalent and deadly form of cancer with high incidence and mortality rates. The PCMT1 protein has been linked to cell anti-apoptosis and tumor metastasis, but its significance in liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) remains largely unexplored. METHODS We conducted a pan-cancer analysis to examine the expression differences of PCMT1. Kaplan-Meier curves were employed to assess the prognostic impact of PCMT1 on LIHC patients, and we investigated the association between PCMT1 and clinical features, which we validated using a GEO therapeutic dataset. Gene enrichment analysis helped identify signaling pathways associated with PCMT1 expression. Moreover, we evaluated the relationship between PCMT1 and immune cell infiltration, as well as the differences in gene mutations between high-expression and low-expression groups. In vitro and in vivo experiments were performed to assess the effect of PCMT1 on tumor cell lines and mouse tumor models, and potential pathways were explored through gene sequencing. RESULT PCMT1 is highly expressed in most tumors and exhibits a significant association with prognosis in LIHC patients. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that PCMT1 is involved in cell cycle regulation, immunity, and other processes. Further immune analysis demonstrated that high expression of PCMT1 could reduce tumor-killing immune cell infiltration. In vitro experiments indicated that PCMT1 knockdown could inhibit cancer cell proliferation and migration while promoting apoptosis. In vivo experiments showed that PCMT1 knockdown significantly reduced tumor growth rate, enhanced CD8+T cell infiltration, and increased caspase-3 expression in the tumor area. Gene sequencing suggested that PCMT1 may function through the PI3K-AKT pathway. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that PCMT1 acts as a promoter of liver cancer progression and may serve as a novel prognostic indicator and therapeutic target for patients with LIHC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiahao Liu
- Department of Radiology, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410000 China
| | - Baiying Liu
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Yanan Li
- Department of Radiology, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410000 China
| | - Ze Mi
- Department of Radiology, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410000 China
| | - Hongpei Tan
- Department of Radiology, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410000 China
| | - Pengfei Rong
- Department of Radiology, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410000 China
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Eresen A, Sun C, Zhou K, Shangguan J, Wang B, Pan L, Hu S, Ma Q, Yang J, Zhang Z, Yaghmai V. Early Differentiation of Irreversible Electroporation Ablation Regions With Radiomics Features of Conventional MRI. Acad Radiol 2022; 29:1378-1386. [PMID: 34933803 PMCID: PMC10029937 DOI: 10.1016/j.acra.2021.11.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2021] [Revised: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a promising non-thermal ablation technique for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Early differentiation of the IRE zone from surrounding reversibly electroporated (RE) penumbra is vital for the evaluation of treatment response. In this study, an advanced statistical learning framework was developed by evaluating standard MRI data to differentiate IRE ablation zones, and to correlate with histological tumor biomarkers. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fourteen rabbits with VX2 liver tumors were scanned following IRE ablation and forty-six features were extracted from T1w and T2w MRI. Following identification of key imaging variables through two-step feature analysis, multivariable classification and regression models were generated for differentiation of IRE ablation zones, and correlation with histological markers reflecting viable tumor cells, microvessel density, and apoptosis rate. The performance of the multivariable models was assessed by measuring accuracy, receiver operating characteristics curve analysis, and Spearman correlation coefficients. RESULTS The classifiers integrating four radiomics features of T1w, T2w, and T1w+T2w MRI data distinguished IRE from RE zones with an accuracy of 97%, 80%, and 97%, respectively. Also, pixelwise classification models of T1w, T2w, and T1w+T2w MRI labeled each voxel with an accuracy of 82.8%, 66.5%, and 82.9%, respectively. Regression models obtained a strong correlation with behavior of viable tumor cells (0.62 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.85, p < 0.01), apoptosis (0.40 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.82, p < 0.01), and microvessel density (0.48 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.58, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION MRI radiomics features provide descriptive power for early differentiation of IRE and RE zones while observing strong correlations among multivariable MRI regression models and histological tumor biomarkers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aydin Eresen
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois; Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California
| | - Chong Sun
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois; Department of Orthopedics, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, China
| | - Kang Zhou
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois; Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Junjie Shangguan
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Bin Wang
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois; Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Minimally Invasive Surgery, Guangzhou, China
| | - Liang Pan
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois; Department of Radiology, Third Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Su Hu
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois; Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Quanhong Ma
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois; Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California
| | - Jia Yang
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Zhuoli Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois; Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois; Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California
| | - Vahid Yaghmai
- Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California; Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California.
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Eresen A, Zhou K, Sun C, Shangguan J, Wang B, Pan L, Hu S, Pang Y, Zhang Z, Tran RMN, Bhatia AP, Nouizi F, Abi-Jaoudeh N, Yaghmai V, Zhang Z. Early assessment of irreversible electroporation ablation outcomes by analyzing MRI texture: preclinical study in an animal model of liver tumor. Am J Transl Res 2022; 14:5541-5551. [PMID: 36105031 PMCID: PMC9452330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Accurate differentiation of temporary vs. permanent changes occurring following irreversible electroporation (IRE) holds immense importance for the early assessment of ablative treatment outcomes. Here, we investigated the benefits of advanced statistical learning models for an immediate evaluation of therapeutic outcomes by interpreting quantitative characteristics captured with conventional MRI. METHODS The preclinical study integrated twenty-six rabbits with anatomical and perfusion MRI data acquired with a 3T clinical MRI scanner. T1w and T2w MRI data were quantitatively analyzed, and forty-six quantitative features were computed with four feature extraction methods. The candidate key features were determined by graph clustering following the filtering-based feature selection technique, RELIEFF algorithm. Kernel-based support vector machines (SVM) and random forest (RF) classifiers interpreting quantitative features of T1w, T2w, and combination (T1w+T2w) MRI were developed for replicating the underlying characteristics of the tissues to distinguish IRE ablation regions for immediate assessment of treatment response. Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristics curve were used to evaluate classification performance. RESULTS Following the analysis of quantitative variables, three features were integrated to develop a SVM classification model, while five features were utilized for generating RF classifiers. SVM classifiers demonstrated detection accuracy of 91.06%, 96.15%, and 98.04% for individual and combination MRI data, respectively. Besides, RF classifiers obtained slightly lower accuracy compared to SVM which were 95.06%, 89.40%, and 94.38% respectively. CONCLUSIONS Quantitative models integrating structural characteristics of conventional T1w and T2w MRI data with statistical learning techniques identified IRE ablation regions allowing early assessment of treatment status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aydin Eresen
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern UniversityChicago, IL, USA,Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA
| | - Kang Zhou
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern UniversityChicago, IL, USA,Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College HospitalBeijing 100000, China
| | - Chong Sun
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern UniversityChicago, IL, USA,Department of Orthopedics, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao UniversityQingdao 266000, Shandong, China
| | - Junjie Shangguan
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern UniversityChicago, IL, USA
| | - Bin Wang
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern UniversityChicago, IL, USA,Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical UniversityGuangzhou 510000, Guangdong, China
| | - Liang Pan
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern UniversityChicago, IL, USA,Department of Radiology, Third Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou UniversityChangzhou 213000, Jiangsu, China
| | - Su Hu
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern UniversityChicago, IL, USA,Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversitySuzhou 215000, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yongsheng Pang
- Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA
| | - Zigeng Zhang
- Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA
| | | | - Ajeet Pal Bhatia
- Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA
| | - Farouk Nouizi
- Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA,Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA
| | - Nadine Abi-Jaoudeh
- Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA,Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA
| | - Vahid Yaghmai
- Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA,Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA
| | - Zhuoli Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern UniversityChicago, IL, USA,Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA,Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA,Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern UniversityChicago, IL, USA,Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California IrvineIrvine, CA, USA
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Papak I, Chruściel E, Dziubek K, Kurkowiak M, Urban-Wójciuk Z, Marjański T, Rzyman W, Marek-Trzonkowska N. What Inhibits Natural Killers’ Performance in Tumour. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23137030. [PMID: 35806034 PMCID: PMC9266640 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23137030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Revised: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural killer cells are innate lymphocytes with the ability to lyse tumour cells depending on the balance of their activating and inhibiting receptors. Growing numbers of clinical trials show promising results of NK cell-based immunotherapies. Unlike T cells, NK cells can lyse tumour cells independent of antigen presentation, based simply on their activation and inhibition receptors. Various strategies to improve NK cell-based therapies are being developed, all with one goal: to shift the balance to activation. In this review, we discuss the current understanding of ways NK cells can lyse tumour cells and all the inhibitory signals stopping their cytotoxic potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ines Papak
- International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science, University of Gdansk, Ul. Kładki 24, 80-822 Gdansk, Poland; (I.P.); (E.C.); (K.D.); (M.K.); (Z.U.-W.)
| | - Elżbieta Chruściel
- International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science, University of Gdansk, Ul. Kładki 24, 80-822 Gdansk, Poland; (I.P.); (E.C.); (K.D.); (M.K.); (Z.U.-W.)
| | - Katarzyna Dziubek
- International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science, University of Gdansk, Ul. Kładki 24, 80-822 Gdansk, Poland; (I.P.); (E.C.); (K.D.); (M.K.); (Z.U.-W.)
| | - Małgorzata Kurkowiak
- International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science, University of Gdansk, Ul. Kładki 24, 80-822 Gdansk, Poland; (I.P.); (E.C.); (K.D.); (M.K.); (Z.U.-W.)
| | - Zuzanna Urban-Wójciuk
- International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science, University of Gdansk, Ul. Kładki 24, 80-822 Gdansk, Poland; (I.P.); (E.C.); (K.D.); (M.K.); (Z.U.-W.)
| | - Tomasz Marjański
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland; (T.M.); (W.R.)
| | - Witold Rzyman
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland; (T.M.); (W.R.)
| | - Natalia Marek-Trzonkowska
- International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science, University of Gdansk, Ul. Kładki 24, 80-822 Gdansk, Poland; (I.P.); (E.C.); (K.D.); (M.K.); (Z.U.-W.)
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation and Cellular Therapies, Department of Family Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland
- Correspondence:
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