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Muniz-Bongers LR, McClain CB, Saxena M, Bongers G, Merad M, Bhardwaj N. MMP2 and TLRs modulate immune responses in the tumor microenvironment. JCI Insight 2021; 6:144913. [PMID: 34032639 PMCID: PMC8262464 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.144913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2020] [Accepted: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The presence of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment is a major obstacle in the success of cancer immunotherapies. Because extracellular matrix components can shape the microenvironment, we investigated the role of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) in melanoma tumorigenesis. We found that MMP2 signals proinflammatory pathways on antigen presenting cells, and this requires both TLR2 and TLR4. B16 melanoma cells that express MMP2 at baseline have slower kinetics in Tlr2–/–Tlr4–/– mice, implicating MMP2 in promoting tumor growth. Indeed, Mmp2 overexpression in B16 cells potentiated rapid tumor growth, which was accompanied by reduced intratumoral cytolytic cells and increased M2 macrophages. In contrast, knockdown of Mmp2 slowed tumor growth and enhanced T cell proliferation and NK cell recruitment. Finally, we found that these effects of MMP2 are mediated through dysfunctional DC–T cell cross-talk as they are lost in Batf3–/– and Rag2–/– mice. These findings provide insights into the detrimental role of endogenous alarmins like MMP2 in modulating immune responses in the tumor microenvironment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Mansi Saxena
- Tisch Cancer Institute.,Hematology and Oncology Department, and
| | - Gerold Bongers
- Tisch Cancer Institute.,Oncological Sciences Department, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Miriam Merad
- Tisch Cancer Institute.,Oncological Sciences Department, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Nina Bhardwaj
- Tisch Cancer Institute.,Hematology and Oncology Department, and
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2
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Roudko V, Bozkus CC, Orfanelli T, McClain CB, Carr C, O'Donnell T, Chakraborty L, Samstein R, Huang KL, Blank SV, Greenbaum B, Bhardwaj N. Shared Immunogenic Poly-Epitope Frameshift Mutations in Microsatellite Unstable Tumors. Cell 2020; 183:1634-1649.e17. [PMID: 33259803 PMCID: PMC8025604 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2019] [Revised: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) tumors are characterized by high tumor mutation burden and responsiveness to checkpoint blockade. We identified tumor-specific frameshifts encoding multiple epitopes that originated from indel mutations shared among patients with MSI-H endometrial, colorectal, and stomach cancers. Epitopes derived from these shared frameshifts have high population occurrence rates, wide presence in many tumor subclones, and are predicted to bind to the most frequent MHC alleles in MSI-H patient cohorts. Neoantigens arising from these mutations are distinctly unlike self and viral antigens, signifying novel groups of potentially highly immunogenic tumor antigens. We further confirmed the immunogenicity of frameshift peptides in T cell stimulation experiments using blood mononuclear cells isolated from both healthy donors and MSI-H cancer patients. Our study uncovers the widespread occurrence and strong immunogenicity of tumor-specific antigens derived from shared frameshift mutations in MSI-H cancer and Lynch syndrome patients, suitable for the design of common "off-the-shelf" cancer vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Roudko
- Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA
| | - Cansu Cimen Bozkus
- Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA
| | - Theofano Orfanelli
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA; The Blavatnik Family Women's Health Research Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Christopher B McClain
- Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA
| | - Caitlin Carr
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA; The Blavatnik Family Women's Health Research Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Timothy O'Donnell
- Department of Genetics and Genomics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA
| | - Lauren Chakraborty
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Robert Samstein
- Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kuan-Lin Huang
- Department of Genetics and Genomics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA
| | - Stephanie V Blank
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA; The Blavatnik Family Women's Health Research Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Benjamin Greenbaum
- Computational Oncology, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nina Bhardwaj
- Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA.
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3
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Noto FK, Sangodkar J, Adedeji BT, Moody S, McClain CB, Tong M, Ostertag E, Crawford J, Gao X, Hurst L, O’Connor CM, Hanson EN, Izadmehr S, Tohmé R, Narla J, LeSueur K, Bhattacharya K, Rupani A, Tayeh MK, Innis JW, Galsky MD, Evers BM, DiFeo A, Narla G, Jamling TY. The SRG rat, a Sprague-Dawley Rag2/Il2rg double-knockout validated for human tumor oncology studies. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0240169. [PMID: 33027304 PMCID: PMC7540894 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
We have created the immunodeficient SRG rat, a Sprague-Dawley Rag2/Il2rg double knockout that lacks mature B cells, T cells, and circulating NK cells. This model has been tested and validated for use in oncology (SRG OncoRat®). The SRG rat demonstrates efficient tumor take rates and growth kinetics with different human cancer cell lines and PDXs. Although multiple immunodeficient rodent strains are available, some important human cancer cell lines exhibit poor tumor growth and high variability in those models. The VCaP prostate cancer model is one such cell line that engrafts unreliably and grows irregularly in existing models but displays over 90% engraftment rate in the SRG rat with uniform growth kinetics. Since rats can support much larger tumors than mice, the SRG rat is an attractive host for PDX establishment. Surgically resected NSCLC tissue from nine patients were implanted in SRG rats, seven of which engrafted and grew for an overall success rate of 78%. These developed into a large tumor volume, over 20,000 mm3 in the first passage, which would provide an ample source of tissue for characterization and/or subsequent passage into NSG mice for drug efficacy studies. Molecular characterization and histological analyses were performed for three PDX lines and showed high concordance between passages 1, 2 and 3 (P1, P2, P3), and the original patient sample. Our data suggest the SRG OncoRat is a valuable tool for establishing PDX banks and thus serves as an alternative to current PDX mouse models hindered by low engraftment rates, slow tumor growth kinetics, and multiple passages to develop adequate tissue banks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fallon K. Noto
- Hera BioLabs Inc., Lexington, Kentucky, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Jaya Sangodkar
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | | | - Sam Moody
- Hera BioLabs Inc., Lexington, Kentucky, United States of America
| | | | - Ming Tong
- Poseida Therapeutics Inc., San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Eric Ostertag
- Poseida Therapeutics Inc., San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Jack Crawford
- Hera BioLabs Inc., Lexington, Kentucky, United States of America
| | - Xiaohua Gao
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Lauren Hurst
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Caitlin M. O’Connor
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Erika N. Hanson
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Sudeh Izadmehr
- Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Rita Tohmé
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America
- Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Jyothsna Narla
- Regional Medical Center, San Jose, California, United States of America
| | - Kristin LeSueur
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Kajari Bhattacharya
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Amit Rupani
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Marwan K. Tayeh
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Jeffrey W. Innis
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
- Department of Human Genetics, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
- Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Matthew D. Galsky
- Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - B. Mark Evers
- Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, United States of America
| | - Analisa DiFeo
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Goutham Narla
- Hera BioLabs Inc., Lexington, Kentucky, United States of America
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
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McClain CB, Vabret N. SARS-CoV-2: the many pros of targeting PLpro. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2020; 5:223. [PMID: 33024071 PMCID: PMC7537779 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-020-00335-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Revised: 09/14/2020] [Accepted: 09/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher B McClain
- Department of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.,Precision Immunology Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nicolas Vabret
- Department of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. .,Precision Immunology Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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5
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Pavlick A, Blazquez AB, Meseck M, Lattanzi M, Ott PA, Marron TU, Holman RM, Mandeli J, Salazar AM, McClain CB, Gimenez G, Balan S, Gnjatic S, Sabado RL, Bhardwaj N. Combined Vaccination with NY-ESO-1 Protein, Poly-ICLC, and Montanide Improves Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses in Patients with High-Risk Melanoma. Cancer Immunol Res 2020; 8:70-80. [PMID: 31699709 PMCID: PMC6946846 DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.cir-19-0545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2019] [Revised: 08/01/2019] [Accepted: 10/31/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Given its ability to induce both humoral and cellular immune responses, NY-ESO-1 has been considered a suitable antigen for a cancer vaccine. Despite promising results from early-phase clinical studies in patients with melanoma, NY-ESO-1 vaccine immunotherapy has not been widely investigated in larger trials; consequently, many questions remain as to the optimal vaccine formulation, predictive biomarkers, and sequencing and timing of vaccines in melanoma treatment. We conducted an adjuvant phase I/II clinical trial in high-risk resected melanoma to optimize the delivery of poly-ICLC, a TLR-3/MDA-5 agonist, as a component of vaccine formulation. A phase I dose-escalation part was undertaken to identify the MTD of poly-ICLC administered in combination with NY-ESO-1 and montanide. This was followed by a randomized phase II part investigating the MTD of poly-ICLC with NY-ESO-1 with or without montanide. The vaccine regimens were generally well tolerated, with no treatment-related grade 3/4 adverse events. Both regimens induced integrated NY-ESO-1-specific CD4+ T-cell and humoral responses. CD8+ T-cell responses were mainly detected in patients receiving montanide. T-cell avidity toward NY-ESO-1 peptides was higher in patients vaccinated with montanide. In conclusion, NY-ESO-1 protein in combination with poly-ICLC is safe, well tolerated, and capable of inducing integrated antibody and CD4+ T-cell responses in most patients. Combination with montanide enhances antigen-specific T-cell avidity and CD8+ T-cell cross-priming in a fraction of patients, indicating that montanide contributes to the induction of specific CD8+ T-cell responses to NY-ESO-1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Pavlick
- Cancer Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York
| | - Ana B Blazquez
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Departments of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Marcia Meseck
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Departments of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Michael Lattanzi
- Cancer Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York
| | | | - Thomas U Marron
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Departments of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | | | - John Mandeli
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Tisch Cancer Institute, New York, New York
| | | | - Christopher B McClain
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Departments of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Gustavo Gimenez
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Departments of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Sreekumar Balan
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Departments of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Sacha Gnjatic
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Departments of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
- Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | | | - Nina Bhardwaj
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Departments of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Tisch Cancer Institute, New York, New York
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6
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Noto FK, Adjan-Steffey V, Tong M, Ravichandran K, Zhang W, Arey A, McClain CB, Ostertag E, Mazhar S, Sangodkar J, DiFeo A, Crawford J, Narla G, Jamling TY. Sprague Dawley Rag2-Null Rats Created from Engineered Spermatogonial Stem Cells Are Immunodeficient and Permissive to Human Xenografts. Mol Cancer Ther 2018; 17:2481-2489. [PMID: 30206106 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-18-0156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2018] [Revised: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 09/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The rat is the preferred model for toxicology studies, and it offers distinctive advantages over the mouse as a preclinical research model including larger sample size collection, lower rates of drug clearance, and relative ease of surgical manipulation. An immunodeficient rat would allow for larger tumor size development, prolonged dosing and drug efficacy studies, and preliminary toxicologic testing and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic studies in the same model animal. Here, we created an immunodeficient rat with a functional deletion of the Recombination Activating Gene 2 (Rag2) gene, using genetically modified spermatogonial stem cells (SSC). We targeted the Rag2 gene in rat SSCs with TALENs and transplanted these Rag2-deficient SSCs into sterile recipients. Offspring were genotyped, and a founder with a 27 bp deletion mutation was identified and bred to homozygosity to produce the Sprague-Dawley Rag2 - Rag2 tm1Hera (SDR) knockout rat. We demonstrated that SDR rat lacks mature B and T cells. Furthermore, the SDR rat model was permissive to growth of human glioblastoma cell line subcutaneously resulting in successful growth of tumors. In addition, a human KRAS-mutant non-small cell lung cancer cell line (H358), a patient-derived high-grade serous ovarian cancer cell line (OV81), and a patient-derived recurrent endometrial cancer cell line (OV185) were transplanted subcutaneously to test the ability of the SDR rat to accommodate human xenografts from multiple tissue types. All human cancer cell lines showed efficient tumor uptake and growth kinetics indicating that the SDR rat is a viable host for a range of xenograft studies. Mol Cancer Ther; 17(11); 2481-9. ©2018 AACR.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Min Tong
- Poseida Therapeutics Inc., San Diego, California
| | | | - Wei Zhang
- Hera BioLabs Inc., Lexington, Kentucky
| | | | | | - Eric Ostertag
- Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals Inc., Lexington, Kentucky
| | - Sahar Mazhar
- Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | | | | | - Jack Crawford
- Hera BioLabs Inc., Lexington, Kentucky.,Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals Inc., Lexington, Kentucky
| | - Goutham Narla
- Hera BioLabs Inc., Lexington, Kentucky.,The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Tseten Y Jamling
- Hera BioLabs Inc., Lexington, Kentucky. .,Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals Inc., Lexington, Kentucky
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