Protective antitumor immunity induced by tumor cell lysates conjugated with diphtheria toxin and adjuvant epitope in mouse breast tumor models

Diversity of extracellular HSP70 in cancer: advancing from a molecular biomarker to a novel therapeutic target

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is a highly conserved protein functioning as a "molecular chaperone", which is integral to protein folding and maturation. In addition to its high expression within cells upon stressful challenges, HSP70 can be translocated to the cell membrane or released from cells in free form or within extracellular vesicles (EVs). Such trafficking of HSP70 is also present in cancer cells, as HSP70 is overexpressed in various types of patient samples across a range of common malignancies, signifying that extracellular HSP70 (eHSP70) can serve as a tumor biomarker. eHSP70 is involved in a broad range of cancer-related events, including cell proliferation and apoptosis, extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), angiogenesis, and immune response. eHSP70 can also induce cancer cell resistance to various treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) immunotherapy. Though the role of eHSP70 in tumors is contradictory, characterized by both pro-tumor and anti-tumor effects, eHSP70 serves as a promising target in cancer treatment. In this review, we comprehensively summarized the current knowledge about the role of eHSP70 in cancer progression and treatment resistance and discussed the feasibility of eHSP70 as a cancer biomarker and therapeutic target.

HSP70 Family in Cancer: Signaling Mechanisms and Therapeutic Advances

The 70 kDa heat shock proteins (HSP70s) are a group of highly conserved and inducible heat shock proteins. One of the main functions of HSP70s is to act as molecular chaperones that are involved in a large variety of cellular protein folding and remodeling processes. HSP70s are found to be over-expressed and may serve as prognostic markers in many types of cancers. HSP70s are also involved in most of the molecular processes of cancer hallmarks as well as the growth and survival of cancer cells. In fact, many effects of HSP70s on cancer cells are not only related to their chaperone activities but rather to their roles in regulating cancer cell signaling. Therefore, a number of drugs directly or indirectly targeting HSP70s, and their co-chaperones have been developed aiming to treat cancer. In this review, we summarized HSP70-related cancer signaling pathways and corresponding key proteins regulated by the family of HSP70s. In addition, we also summarized various treatment approaches and progress of anti-tumor therapy based on targeting HSP70 family proteins.

In vivo antitumor activity evaluation of cancer vaccines prepared by various antigen forms in a murine hepatocellular carcinoma model

Cancer cell vaccines with strong specificity and low tolerance have been revealed to be a promising option for oncology treatment. Various antigen forms, including tumor cell lysate and glutaraldehyde-fixed tumor cells, have been intensively used in cancer vaccine preparation. However, the most effective antigen form has not yet been identified. In the present study, the antitumor efficiency of vaccines prepared by these two antigen forms was systematically investigated. Murine H22 hepatocellular carcinoma cell lysate and glutaraldehyde-fixed H22 hepatocellular carcinoma cells were conjugated with Freund's adjuvant to prepare vaccines, H22-TCL and Fixed-H22-CELL, respectively. H22-TCL and Fixed-H22-CELL were administrated by subcutaneous immunization in prophylactic and therapeutic strategies. The results of the present study revealed that H22-TCL immunization induced more significant inhibition on tumor growth and metastasis compared with Fixed-H22-CELL injection. Furthermore, histopathological observation demonstrated that H22-TCL vaccine induced larger areas of continuous necrosis within tumors compared to the Fixed-H22-CELL vaccine, which was associated with the extent of tumor inhibition. More importantly, the H22-TCL vaccine injection elicited more evident antigen-specific antibody responses compared with the Fixed-H22-CELL injection. Splenocytes from H22-TCL vaccinated mice also exhibited a more significant T lymphocytes proliferation compared with that from Fixed-H22-CELL-treated mice. All the results indicated that whole tumor cell lysate may be a more effective antigen form in cancer vaccine preparation compared with glutaraldehyde-fixed tumor cells, which elicited more marked antigen specific humoral and cellular immune responses resulted with a superior antitumor efficiency. This would have important clinical signification for cancer vaccine preparation and serve a role in prompting this to other researchers.

B16 cell lysates plus polyinosinic-cytidylic acid effectively eradicate melanoma in a mouse model by acting as a prophylactic vaccine

Th1 antigen-specific T cells secrete interferon-γ, which is able to kill antigen-specific cancer cells and is helpful for cancer vaccines. The aim of the present study was to explore whether B16 cell lysates plus polyinosinic-cytidylic acid (poly I:C) can effectively inhibit the progression of melanoma in an animal model. In the present study, C57BL/6 mice were divided into three groups, with each group containing more than six mice. The groups of mice were immunized twice with B16 cell lysates plus poly I:C, B16 cell lysates, or phosphate-buffered saline only, respectively. The in vivo results demonstrated that splenocytes from the mice immunized with B16 cell lysates plus poly I:C contained higher percentages of CD3+CD8+ T lymphocytes and CD3+CD4+ T lymphocytes, which were detected by a fluorescence-activated cell sorter, and produced higher levels of antigen-specific splenocyte proliferation activity, as detected by MTT assay. The splenocytes from the mice immunized with B16 cell lysates in combination with poly I:C produced higher levels of interferon‑γ, as detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and ELISA, as well as cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity when stimulated in vitro with B16 lysates. Additionally, subcutaneous immunization of the C57BL/6 mice with B16 cell lysates plus poly I:C conferred greater protection against tumor-forming B16 melanoma cells than that of the mice immunized with injection of B16 cell lysate alone. In conclusion, the cancer vaccine of B16 cell lysates plus poly I:C exerts potently protective effects that polarize responses toward Th1 and elicit antitumor immunity.