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De Monte L, Clemente F, Ruggiero E, Pini R, Ceraolo MG, Schiavo Lena M, Balestrieri C, Lazarevic D, Belfiori G, Crippa S, Balzano G, Falconi M, Doglioni C, Bonini C, Reni M, Protti MP. Pro-tumor Tfh2 cells induce detrimental IgG4 production and PGE 2-dependent IgE inhibition in pancreatic cancer. EBioMedicine 2023; 97:104819. [PMID: 37776595 PMCID: PMC10542011 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2023.104819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Revised: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/02/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a dismal prognosis and it is characterized by predominant pro-tumor Th2-type inflammation. T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are relevant immunoregulators in cancer, and often correlate with better survival. How the Th2-skewed microenvironment in PDAC modulates the differentiation of Tfh cells and their immunoregulatory function is unknown. METHODS We carried out high-dimensional flow cytometry and T-cell receptor- and RNA-sequencing, as well as bioinformatics, immunohistochemistry and in vitro mechanistic studies. FINDINGS We identified Tfh1-, Tfh2-, and Tfh17-like cell clusters in the blood, tumors and tumor-draining lymph-nodes (TDLNs) of chemo-naïve PDAC patients and showed that high percentages of Tfh2 cells within the tumor tissue and TDLNs correlated with reduced patient survival. Moreover, only Tfh2 cells were highly activated and were reduced in frequency in patients who responded to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. RNA-sequencing analysis of immunoglobulin expression showed that tumor and TDLN samples expressed all immunoglobulin (IGH) isotypes apart from IGHE. Consistent with these findings, Tfh2 cells differentiated in vitro by tumor microenvironment-conditioned dendritic cells promoted the production of anti-inflammatory IgG4 antibodies by co-cultured B cells, dependent on IL-13. Moreover, unexpectedly, Tfh2 cells inhibited the secretion of pro-inflammatory IgE, dependent on prostaglandin E2. INTERPRETATION Our results indicate that in PDAC, highly activated pro-tumor Tfh2 favor anti-inflammatory IgG4 production, while inhibit pro-inflammatory IgE. Thus, targeting the circuits that drive Tfh2 cells, in combination with chemotherapy, may re-establish beneficial anti-tumor Tfh-B cell interactions and facilitate more effective treatment. FUNDING Research grants from the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC) IG-19119 to MPP and the AIRC Special Program in Metastatic disease: the key unmet need in oncology, 5 per Mille no. 22737 to CB, MF, CD, MR and MPP; the ERA-NET EuroNanoMed III (a collaborative european grant financed by the Italian Ministry of Health, Italy) project PANIPAC (JTC2018/041) to MPP; the Fondazione Valsecchi to SC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia De Monte
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Francesca Clemente
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Eliana Ruggiero
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Experimental Hematology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Raffaella Pini
- Center for Omics Sciences, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Grazia Ceraolo
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Chiara Balestrieri
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Experimental Hematology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Center for Omics Sciences, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Dejan Lazarevic
- Center for Omics Sciences, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Giulio Belfiori
- Pancreatic Surgery Unit and Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Stefano Crippa
- Pancreatic Surgery Unit and Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Gianpaolo Balzano
- Pancreatic Surgery Unit and Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Massimo Falconi
- Pancreatic Surgery Unit and Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Claudio Doglioni
- Pathology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Bonini
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Experimental Hematology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Michele Reni
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy; Department of Medical Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
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2
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Testoni SGG, Minici C, Benetti E, Clemente F, Boselli D, Sciorati C, De Monte L, Petrone MC, Enderle M, Linzenbold W, Protti MP, Manfredi A, De Cobelli F, Reni M, Falconi M, Capurso G, Arcidiacono PG, Della-Torre E. Immunomodulatory Effects of Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Thermal Ablation in Patients with Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:3704. [PMID: 37509365 PMCID: PMC10378428 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15143704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Immunological consequences of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-local thermal ablation (LTA) for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) have not been extensively assessed. We aimed to explore EUS-LTA effects on the systemic immune response in PDAC. Peripheral blood was collected from 10 treatment-naïve patients with borderline resectable and locally advanced PDAC, randomly allocated to Nab-paclitaxel plus Gemcitabine chemotherapy (CT-arm, n = 5) or EUS-LTA with HybridTherm Probe plus CT (HTP + CT-arm, n = 5). Twenty healthy donors were included as controls. Flow-cytometry and multiplex assays were used to profile immune cell subsets and measure serum cytokines/chemokines, respectively. At baseline, PDAC patients showed increased circulating monocytes and lower circulating lymphocytes and CD19+ B cells counts compared to healthy controls. After 4 months, CT induced decrease of B regulatory cells, CD4+ cytotoxic T cells and IL-1β. The addition of EUS-HTP to CT selectively decreased the serum levels of APRIL/TNFSF13 as well as T regulatory cells, total, classic and inflammatory monocytes. Serum levels of APRIL/TNFSF13 and total, classic and inflammatory monocytes counts at baseline were associated with worse overall survival. EUS-HTP has the potential to selectively impact on immune cells and cytokines associated with poor outcomes in PDAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Gloria Giulia Testoni
- Pancreatico-Biliary Endoscopy and Endosonography Division, Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Claudia Minici
- IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Elisa Benetti
- Center for Omics Sciences, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
- San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-Tiget) and Pediatric Immunohematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Francesca Clemente
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation, and Infectious Disease, Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Daniela Boselli
- FRACTAL (Flow Cytometry Resource, Advanced Cytometry Technical Applications Laboratory), IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Clara Sciorati
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation & Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Lucia De Monte
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation, and Infectious Disease, Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Chiara Petrone
- Pancreatico-Biliary Endoscopy and Endosonography Division, Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Markus Enderle
- Department of Research and Basic Technologies, Erbe Elektromedizin GmbH, Waldhörnlestraße 17, 72072 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Walter Linzenbold
- Department of Research and Basic Technologies, Erbe Elektromedizin GmbH, Waldhörnlestraße 17, 72072 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation, and Infectious Disease, Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Angelo Manfredi
- Unit of Immunology, Rheumatology, Allergy and Rare Diseases, Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Francesco De Cobelli
- Department of Radiology, Experimental Imaging Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Michele Reni
- Department of Medical Oncology, Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Massimo Falconi
- Division of Pancreatic Surgery, Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Gabriele Capurso
- Pancreatico-Biliary Endoscopy and Endosonography Division, Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Giorgio Arcidiacono
- Pancreatico-Biliary Endoscopy and Endosonography Division, Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
| | - Emanuel Della-Torre
- Unit of Immunology, Rheumatology, Allergy and Rare Diseases, Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy
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3
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Manfredi F, Abbati D, Cianciotti BC, Stasi L, Potenza A, Ruggiero E, Magnani Z, Carnevale E, Doglio M, Noviello M, Tassi E, Balestrieri C, Buonanno S, Clemente F, De Lalla C, Protti MP, Mondino A, Casorati G, Dellabona P, Bonini C. Flow cytometry data mining by cytoChain identifies determinants of exhaustion and stemness in TCR-engineered T cells. Eur J Immunol 2021; 51:1992-2005. [PMID: 34081326 DOI: 10.1002/eji.202049103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Revised: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The phenotype of infused cells is a major determinant of Adoptive T-cell therapy (ACT) efficacy. Yet, the difficulty in deciphering multiparametric cytometry data limited the fine characterization of cellular products. To allow the analysis of dynamic and complex flow cytometry samples, we developed cytoChain, a novel dataset mining tool and a new analytical workflow. CytoChain was challenged to compare state-of-the-art and innovative culture conditions to generate stem-like memory cells (TSCM ) suitable for ACT. Noticeably, the combination of IL-7/15 and superoxides scavenging sustained the emergence of a previously unidentified nonexhausted Fit-TSCM signature, overlooked by manual gating and endowed with superior expansion potential. CytoChain proficiently traced back this population in independent datasets, and in T-cell receptor engineered lymphocytes. CytoChain flexibility and function were then further validated on a published dataset from circulating T cells in COVID-19 patients. Collectively, our results support the use of cytoChain to identify novel, functionally critical immunophenotypes for ACT and patients immunomonitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Manfredi
- Experimental Hematology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Vita Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Danilo Abbati
- Experimental Hematology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Lorena Stasi
- Vita Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Alessia Potenza
- Experimental Hematology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Eliana Ruggiero
- Experimental Hematology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Zulma Magnani
- Experimental Hematology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Erica Carnevale
- Experimental Hematology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Matteo Doglio
- Experimental Hematology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Vita Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Maddalena Noviello
- Experimental Hematology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Elena Tassi
- Experimental Hematology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Balestrieri
- Experimental Hematology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Silvia Buonanno
- Experimental Hematology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Claudia De Lalla
- Experimental Immunology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Anna Mondino
- Lymphocyte Activation Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Giulia Casorati
- Experimental Immunology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Dellabona
- Experimental Immunology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Bonini
- Experimental Hematology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Vita Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
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4
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Abstract
Th2-type inflammation has been proposed to facilitate tumor growth. In De Monte et al. (J Exp Med 208:469-478, 2011) we identify in pancreatic cancer a complex cytokine/chemokine cross-talk within the tumor microenvironment mediating Th2 immune-deviation and show that the ratio of Th2/Th1 tumor infiltrating lymphocytes is an independent predictive marker of patients survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit; Division of Immunology; Transplantation and Infectious Diseases; San Raffaele Scientific Institute; Milan, Italy
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5
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Cachot A, Bilous M, Liu YC, Li X, Saillard M, Cenerenti M, Rockinger GA, Wyss T, Guillaume P, Schmidt J, Genolet R, Ercolano G, Protti MP, Reith W, Ioannidou K, de Leval L, Trapani JA, Coukos G, Harari A, Speiser DE, Mathis A, Gfeller D, Altug H, Romero P, Jandus C. Tumor-specific cytolytic CD4 T cells mediate immunity against human cancer. Sci Adv 2021; 7:7/9/eabe3348. [PMID: 33637530 PMCID: PMC7909889 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe3348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 45.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
CD4 T cells have been implicated in cancer immunity for their helper functions. Moreover, their direct cytotoxic potential has been shown in some patients with cancer. Here, by mining single-cell RNA-seq datasets, we identified CD4 T cell clusters displaying cytotoxic phenotypes in different human cancers, resembling CD8 T cell profiles. Using the peptide-MHCII-multimer technology, we confirmed ex vivo the presence of cytolytic tumor-specific CD4 T cells. We performed an integrated phenotypic and functional characterization of these cells, down to the single-cell level, through a high-throughput nanobiochip consisting of massive arrays of picowells and machine learning. We demonstrated a direct, contact-, and granzyme-dependent cytotoxic activity against tumors, with delayed kinetics compared to classical cytotoxic lymphocytes. Last, we found that this cytotoxic activity was in part dependent on SLAMF7. Agonistic engagement of SLAMF7 enhanced cytotoxicity of tumor-specific CD4 T cells, suggesting that targeting these cells might prove synergistic with other cancer immunotherapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amélie Cachot
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
| | - Mariia Bilous
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Yen-Cheng Liu
- Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Xiaokang Li
- Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Margaux Saillard
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
| | - Mara Cenerenti
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, CH-1211, Switzerland
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
| | - Georg Alexander Rockinger
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
| | - Tania Wyss
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Philippe Guillaume
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
| | - Julien Schmidt
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
| | - Raphaël Genolet
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
| | - Giuseppe Ercolano
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, CH-1211, Switzerland
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Walter Reith
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, CH-1211, Switzerland
| | - Kalliopi Ioannidou
- Institute of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1011, Switzerland
| | - Laurence de Leval
- Institute of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1011, Switzerland
| | - Joseph A Trapani
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, 305 Grattan Street, Melbourne 3000, Australia
| | - George Coukos
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
| | - Alexandre Harari
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
| | - Daniel E Speiser
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
| | - Alexander Mathis
- Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Center for Neuroprosthetics, Center for Intelligent Systems, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - David Gfeller
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Hatice Altug
- Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Pedro Romero
- Department of Oncology and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
| | - Camilla Jandus
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, CH-1211, Switzerland.
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch, Lausanne, CH-1066, Switzerland
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6
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Reni M, Andreasi V, Gasparri AM, Dugnani E, Colombo B, Macchini M, Bianco M, Dallatomasina A, Citro A, Assi E, Protti MP, Esposito A, Falconi M, Curnis F, Piemonti L, Corti A. Circulating Chromogranin A Is Cleaved Into Vasoregulatory Fragments in Patients With Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Front Oncol 2020; 10:613582. [PMID: 33425767 PMCID: PMC7787052 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.613582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [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: 10/02/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Chromogranin A (CgA), a secretory protein released in the blood by the neuroendocrine system, consists of a mixture of full-length molecules and fragments endowed of vasoregulatory activity. The extent and the role of CgA fragmentation were investigated in patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC, n=172). Multivariate analysis showed that full-length CgA was associated with better progression free and overall survival, whereas CgA C-terminal fragmentation was associated with worse prognosis. In vitro studies showed that PDAC cells can promote the cleavage of CgA C-terminal region by activating plasminogen to plasmin. Limited digestion of full-length CgA with plasmin abolished its anti-angiogenic activity and generated pro-angiogenic molecules. The fragmentation of CgA C-terminal region was increased also in murine models of PDAC. In these models, the inhibition of CgA fragmentation with aprotinin, an inhibitor of plasmin and other serine proteases, or the blockade of pro-angiogenic fragments with specific antibodies inhibited the growth of PDAC implanted subcutaneously in mice. Finally, administration of full-length CgA to mice bearing orthotopic PDAC reduced tumor perfusion, as measured by contrast-enhanced ultrasound. These findings suggest that PDAC can promote the cleavage of circulating CgA C-terminal region to generate fragments that regulate the tumor vascular biology and that may represent new potential therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Reni
- Department of Medical Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Valentina Andreasi
- Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Pancreatic Surgery Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Anna Maria Gasparri
- Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Erica Dugnani
- Diabetes Research Institute, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Barbara Colombo
- Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Marina Macchini
- Department of Medical Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Mimma Bianco
- Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Alice Dallatomasina
- Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Antonio Citro
- Diabetes Research Institute, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Emma Assi
- Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Division of Immunology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Antonio Esposito
- Experimental Imaging Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Massimo Falconi
- Pancreatic Surgery Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Flavio Curnis
- Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Piemonti
- Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.,Diabetes Research Institute, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Angelo Corti
- Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
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7
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Abstract
The thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is an IL-7-like cytokine originally cloned from a murine thymic stromal cell line, and subsequently a human homolog was identified using database search methods. Human TSLP is mostly expressed in epithelial cells, among which are keratinocytes as well as stromal cells such as fibroblasts and immune cells. Human TSLP was first described to activate myeloid dendritic cells, which prime naïve T helper cells to produce high concentrations of Th2 cytokines, thus representing a key cytokine in triggering dendritic cells-mediated allergic Th2 inflammation. TSLP and/or its receptor has been shown to be expressed in several tumor types, where TSLP expression is associated with functional activities that can be associated or not with the induction of a Th2-prone tumor microenvironment, i.e., Th2-dependent and Th2-independent mechanisms. These mechanisms involve tissue- and immune cell target-dependent tumor-promoting or tumor-suppressive functions in different or even the same tumor type. Here we report and discuss the Th2-dependent and Th2-independent roles of TSLP in cancer and possible therapeutic targeting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricerca a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Lucia De Monte
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricerca a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
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8
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Minici C, Rigamonti E, Lanzillotta M, Monno A, Rovati L, Maehara T, Kaneko N, Deshpande V, Protti MP, De Monte L, Scielzo C, Crippa S, Arcidiacono PG, Dugnani E, Piemonti L, Falconi M, Pillai S, Manfredi AA, Della-Torre E. B lymphocytes contribute to stromal reaction in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Oncoimmunology 2020; 9:1794359. [PMID: 32923157 PMCID: PMC7458626 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2020.1794359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [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] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by a prominent stromal reaction that has been variably implicated in both tumor growth and tumor suppression. B-lymphocytes have been recently implicated in PDAC progression but their contribution to the characteristic stromal desmoplasia has never been assessed before. In the present work, we aimed to verify whether B-lymphocytes contribute to stromal cell activation in PDAC. CD19+ B-lymphocytes purified from peripheral blood of patients with PDAC were cultivated in the presence of human pancreatic fibroblasts and cancer-associated fibroblasts. Released pro-fibrotic soluble factors and collagen production were assessed by ELISA and Luminex assays. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to assess fibroblast activation in the presence of B cells. The expression of selected pro-fibrotic and inflammatory molecules was confirmed on PDAC tissue sections by multi-color immunofluorescence studies. We herein demonstrate that B-cells from PDAC patients (i) produce the pro-fibrotic molecule PDGF-B and stimulate collagen production by fibroblasts; (ii) express enzymes implicated in extracellular matrix remodeling including LOXL2; and (iii) produce the chemotactic factors CCL-4, CCL-5, and CCL-11. In addition we demonstrate that circulating plasmablasts are expanded in the peripheral blood of patients with PDAC, stimulate collagen production by fibroblasts, and infiltrate pancreatic lesions. Our results indicate that PDAC is characterized by perturbations of the B-cell compartment with expansion of B-lymphocyte subsets that directly contribute to the stromal reaction observed at disease site. These findings provide an additional rationale for modulating B-cell activity in patients with pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Minici
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Elena Rigamonti
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Marco Lanzillotta
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Unit of Immunology, Rheumatology, Allergy and Rare Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Antonella Monno
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Lucrezia Rovati
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Takashi Maehara
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Section of Oral and Maxillofacial Oncology, Division of Maxillofacial Diagnostic and Surgical Sciences, Faculty of Dental Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Naoki Kaneko
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Section of Oral and Maxillofacial Oncology, Division of Maxillofacial Diagnostic and Surgical Sciences, Faculty of Dental Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Vikram Deshpande
- Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation, and Infectious Disease, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Lucia De Monte
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation, and Infectious Disease, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Cristina Scielzo
- Division of Molecular Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Stefano Crippa
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Division of Pancreatic Surgery and Endosonography Division, Pancreas Translational and Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Giorgio Arcidiacono
- Pancreato-Biliary Endoscopy and Endosonography Division, Pancreas Translational and Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Erica Dugnani
- Diabetes Research Institute, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Piemonti
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Diabetes Research Institute, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Massimo Falconi
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Division of Pancreatic Surgery and Endosonography Division, Pancreas Translational and Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Shiv Pillai
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Angelo A Manfredi
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Unit of Immunology, Rheumatology, Allergy and Rare Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Emanuel Della-Torre
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Unit of Immunology, Rheumatology, Allergy and Rare Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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9
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Abstract
Apoptosis-associated Speck-like protein containing a CARD (caspase activation and recruitment domain) (ASC), also called PYCARD/Target of Methylation-induced Silencing-1 (TMS1), was originally discovered as a protein that forms aggregates (“specks”) in human leukemia cells treated with chemotherapeutic agents. Its expression was found to be silenced by methylation in many human tumors, preventing tumor cells from undergoing apoptosis and supporting its role as a tumor suppressor. Subsequently, ASC was also identified as a central adaptor molecule of the inflammasome complex, which mediates the secretion of inflammatory cytokines (i.e., IL-1β and IL-18). Inflammatory cytokines have been shown to mediate tumor-promoting functions. Thus, in the context of cancer development and progression, ASC may exert opposing functions, i.e., be either tumor-suppressing by inducing tumor cell apoptosis, or tumor-promoting by favoring secretion of inflammatory cytokines (by tumor cells and/or tumor infiltrating myeloid cells) within the tumor microenvironment. Here, we report and discuss this dual role of ASC by also considering the final contribution of each of its two main functions in several cancer types, taking into consideration the correlation between ASC expression, clinical correlates, and patients’ survival. ASC and inflammasome targeting strategies are being developed. However, before the use of such treatments in clinical practice, it is fundamental to better dissect the role of ASC in different tumors, in order to privilege or avoid their use in those tumors in which ASC exerts an anti-tumor or pro-tumor function, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Lucia De Monte
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
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10
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Costa-Nunes C, Cachot A, Bobisse S, Arnaud M, Genolet R, Baumgaertner P, Speiser DE, Sousa Alves PM, Sandoval F, Adotévi O, Reith W, Protti MP, Coukos G, Harari A, Romero P, Jandus C. High-throughput Screening of Human Tumor Antigen-specific CD4 T Cells, Including Neoantigen-reactive T Cells. Clin Cancer Res 2019; 25:4320-4331. [PMID: 31015344 DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-18-1356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2018] [Revised: 09/20/2018] [Accepted: 04/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Characterization of tumor antigen-specific CD4 T-cell responses in healthy donors and malignant melanoma patients using an in vitro amplified T-cell library screening procedure. PATIENTS AND METHODS A high-throughput, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-independent approach was used to estimate at unprecedented high sensitivity level precursor frequencies of tumor antigen- and neoantigen-specific CD4 T cells in healthy donors and patients with cancer. Frequency estimation was combined with isolation and functional characterization of identified tumor-reactive CD4 T-cell clones. RESULTS In healthy donors, we report frequencies of naïve tumor-associated antigen (TAA)-specific CD4 T cells comparable with those of CD4 T cells specific for infectious agents (Tetanus toxoid). Interestingly, we also identified low, but consistent numbers of memory CD4 T cells specific for several TAAs. In patients with melanoma, low frequencies of circulating TAA-specific CD4 T cells were detected that increased after peptide-based immunotherapy. Such antitumor TAA-specific CD4 T-cell responses were also detectable within the tumor-infiltrated tissues. TAA-specific CD4 T cells in patients displayed a highly polyfunctional state, with partial skewing to Type-2 polarization. Finally, we report the applicability of this approach to the detection and amplification of neoantigen-specific CD4 T cells. CONCLUSIONS This simple, noninvasive, high-throughput screening of tumor- and neoantigen-specific CD4 T cells requires little biologic material, is HLA class II independent and allows the concomitant screening for a large number of tumor antigens of interest, including neoantigens. This approach will facilitate the immunomonitoring of preexisting and therapy-induced CD4 T-cell responses, and accelerate the development of CD4 T-cell-based therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carla Costa-Nunes
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Amélie Cachot
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sara Bobisse
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marion Arnaud
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Raphael Genolet
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Petra Baumgaertner
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Daniel E Speiser
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Olivier Adotévi
- University Bourgogne Franche-Comté, INSERM, EFS BFC, UMR1098, Besançon, France
| | - Walter Reith
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - George Coukos
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alexandre Harari
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Pedro Romero
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Camilla Jandus
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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11
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Brunetto E, De Monte L, Balzano G, Camisa B, Laino V, Riba M, Heltai S, Bianchi M, Bordignon C, Falconi M, Bondanza A, Doglioni C, Protti MP. The IL-1/IL-1 receptor axis and tumor cell released inflammasome adaptor ASC are key regulators of TSLP secretion by cancer associated fibroblasts in pancreatic cancer. J Immunother Cancer 2019; 7:45. [PMID: 30760333 PMCID: PMC6373075 DOI: 10.1186/s40425-019-0521-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [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: 09/28/2018] [Accepted: 01/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), a key cytokine for development of Th2 immunity, is produced by cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in pancreatic cancer where predominant tumor infiltrating Th2 over Th1 cells correlates with reduced patients' survival. Which cells and molecules are mostly relevant in driving TSLP secretion by CAFs in pancreatic cancer is not defined. METHODS We performed in vitro, in vivo and ex-vivo analyses. For in vitro studies we used pancreatic cancer cell lines, primary CAFs cultures, and THP1 cells. TSLP secretion by CAFs was used as a read-out system to identify in vitro relevant tumor-derived inflammatory cytokines and molecules. For in vivo studies human pancreatic cancer cells and CAFs were orthotopically injected in immunodeficient mice. For ex-vivo studies immunohistochemistry was performed to detect ASC (apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain) expression in surgical samples. Bioinformatics was applied to interrogate published data sets. RESULTS We show in vitro that IL-1α and IL-1β released by pancreatic cancer cells and tumor cell-conditioned macrophages are crucial for TSLP secretion by CAFs. Treatment of immunodeficient mice orthotopically injected with human IL-1 positive pancreatic cancer cells plus CAFs using the IL-1R antagonist anakinra significantly reduced TSLP expression in the tumor. Importantly, we found that pancreatic cancer cells release alarmins, among which ASC, able to induce IL-1β secretion in macrophages. The relevance of ASC was confirmed ex-vivo by its expression in both tumor cells and tumor associated macrophages in pancreatic cancer surgical samples and survival data analyses showing statistically significant inverse correlation between ASC expression and survival in pancreatic cancer patients. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that tumor released IL-1α and IL-1β and ASC are key regulators of TSLP secretion by CAFs and their targeting should ultimately dampen Th2 inflammation and improve overall survival in pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emanuela Brunetto
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy.,Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy.,Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Lucia De Monte
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy.,Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy
| | - Gianpaolo Balzano
- Pancreatic Surgery Unit and Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Barbara Camisa
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy.,Innovative Immunotherapies Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Laino
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy.,Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy
| | - Michela Riba
- Center for Translational Genomics and Bioinformatics, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Silvia Heltai
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy.,Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy
| | - Marco Bianchi
- Chromatin Dynamics Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Division of Genetics and Cell Biology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Claudio Bordignon
- MolMed SpA, Milan, Italy.,Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Massimo Falconi
- Pancreatic Surgery Unit and Pancreas Translational & Clinical Research Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Attilio Bondanza
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy.,Innovative Immunotherapies Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Claudio Doglioni
- Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Pathology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy. .,Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 58, 20132, Milan, Italy.
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12
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Di Lullo G, Marcatti M, Heltai S, Tresoldi C, Paganoni AM, Bordignon C, Ciceri F, Protti MP. Immunomodulatory Drugs in the Context of Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Associate With Reduced Pro-tumor T Cell Subsets in Multiple Myeloma. Front Immunol 2019; 9:3171. [PMID: 30719025 PMCID: PMC6348257 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.03171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [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: 09/21/2018] [Accepted: 12/24/2018] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) are effective therapeutics for multiple myeloma (MM), where in different clinical settings they exert their function both directly on MM cells and indirectly by modulating immune cell subsets, although with not completely defined mechanisms. Here we studied the role of IMiDs in the context of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation on the T cell subset distribution in the bone marrow of newly diagnosed MM patients. We found that after transplantation pro-tumor Th17-Th1 and Th22 cells and their related cytokines were lower in patients treated with IMiDs during induction chemotherapy compared to untreated patients. Of note, lower levels of IL-17, IL-22, and related IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-23 in the bone marrow sera correlated with treatment with IMiDs and favorable clinical outcome. Collectively, our results suggest a novel anti-inflammatory role for IMiDs in MM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Di Lullo
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Magda Marcatti
- Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Silvia Heltai
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Cristina Tresoldi
- Molecular Hematology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Anna Maria Paganoni
- Laboratory for Modeling and Scientific Computing (MOX), Dipartimento di Matematica,Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Fabio Ciceri
- Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
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13
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Manzo T, Sturmheit T, Basso V, Petrozziello E, Hess Michelini R, Riba M, Freschi M, Elia AR, Grioni M, Curnis F, Protti MP, Schumacher TN, Debets R, Swartz MA, Corti A, Bellone M, Mondino A. T Cells Redirected to a Minor Histocompatibility Antigen Instruct Intratumoral TNFα Expression and Empower Adoptive Cell Therapy for Solid Tumors. Cancer Res 2016; 77:658-671. [PMID: 27872095 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-16-0725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [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: 03/08/2016] [Revised: 10/31/2016] [Accepted: 11/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Donor-derived allogeneic T cells evoke potent graft versus tumor (GVT) effects likely due to the simultaneous recognition of tumor-specific and host-restricted minor histocompatibility (H) antigens. Here we investigated whether such effects could be reproduced in autologous settings by TCR gene-engineered lymphocytes. We report that T cells redirected either to a broadly expressed Y-encoded minor H antigen or to a tumor-associated antigen, although poorly effective if individually transferred, when simultaneously administered enabled acute autochthonous tumor debulking and resulted in durable clinical remission. Y-redirected T cells proved hyporesponsive in peripheral lymphoid organs, whereas they retained effector function at the tumor site, where in synergy with tumor-redirected lymphocytes, they instructed TNFα expression, endothelial cell activation, and intratumoral T-cell infiltration. While neutralizing TNFα hindered GVT effects by the combined T-cell infusion, a single injection of picogram amounts of NGR-TNF, a tumor vessel-targeted TNFα derivative currently in phase III clinical trials, substituted for Y-redirected cells and enabled tumor debulking by tumor-redirected lymphocytes. Together, our results provide new mechanistic insights into allogeneic GVT, validate the importance of targeting the tumor and its associated stroma, and prove the potency of a novel combined approach suitable for immediate clinical implementation. Cancer Res; 77(3); 658-71. ©2016 AACR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Manzo
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Disease, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
| | - Tabea Sturmheit
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Disease, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
| | - Veronica Basso
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Disease, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Petrozziello
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Disease, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.,Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
| | - Rodrigo Hess Michelini
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Disease, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Michela Riba
- Center for Translational Genomics and Bioinformatics, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Massimo Freschi
- Department of Pathology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Angela R Elia
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Disease, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Matteo Grioni
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Disease, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Flavio Curnis
- Division of Experimental Oncology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Disease, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Ton N Schumacher
- Division of Immunology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Reno Debets
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Melody A Swartz
- Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Angelo Corti
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.,Division of Experimental Oncology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Matteo Bellone
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Disease, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Anna Mondino
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Disease, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
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14
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Baumgaertner P, Costa Nunes C, Cachot A, Maby-El Hajjami H, Cagnon L, Braun M, Derré L, Rivals JP, Rimoldi D, Gnjatic S, Abed Maillard S, Marcos Mondéjar P, Protti MP, Romano E, Michielin O, Romero P, Speiser DE, Jandus C. Vaccination of stage III/IV melanoma patients with long NY-ESO-1 peptide and CpG-B elicits robust CD8 + and CD4 + T-cell responses with multiple specificities including a novel DR7-restricted epitope. Oncoimmunology 2016; 5:e1216290. [PMID: 27853637 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2016.1216290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2016] [Revised: 07/11/2016] [Accepted: 07/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Long synthetic peptides and CpG-containing oligodeoxynucleotides are promising components for cancer vaccines. In this phase I trial, 19 patients received a mean of 8 (range 1-12) monthly vaccines s.c. composed of the long synthetic NY-ESO-179-108 peptide and CpG-B (PF-3512676), emulsified in Montanide ISA-51. In 18/18 evaluable patients, vaccination induced antigen-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell and antibody responses, starting early after initiation of immunotherapy and lasting at least one year. The T-cells responded antigen-specifically, with strong secretion of IFNγ and TNFα, irrespective of patients' HLAs. The most immunogenic regions of the vaccine peptide were NY-ESO-189-102 for CD8+ and NY-ESO-183-99 for CD4+ T-cells. We discovered a novel and highly immunogenic epitope (HLA-DR7/NY-ESO-187-99); 7/7 HLA-DR7+ patients generated strong CD4+ T-cell responses, as detected directly ex vivo with fluorescent multimers. Thus, vaccination with the long synthetic NY-ESO-179-108 peptide combined with the strong immune adjuvant CpG-B induced integrated, robust and functional CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell responses in melanoma patients, supporting the further development of this immunotherapeutic approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Baumgaertner
- Ludwig Cancer Research Center, Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne , Switzerland
| | - C Costa Nunes
- Ludwig Cancer Research Center, Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne , Switzerland
| | - A Cachot
- Ludwig Cancer Research Center, Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne , Switzerland
| | - H Maby-El Hajjami
- Ludwig Cancer Research Center, Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology, University Hospital Center (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - L Cagnon
- Department of Oncology, University Hospital Center (CHUV) , Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - M Braun
- Ludwig Cancer Research Center, Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne , Switzerland
| | - L Derré
- Urology Research Unit, Urology Department, University Hospital Center (CHUV) , Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - J-P Rivals
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, CHUV, University of Lausanne , Switzerland
| | - D Rimoldi
- Ludwig Cancer Research Center, Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne , Switzerland
| | - S Gnjatic
- Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai , New York, USA
| | - S Abed Maillard
- Department of Oncology, University Hospital Center (CHUV) , Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - P Marcos Mondéjar
- Ludwig Cancer Research Center, Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology, University Hospital Center (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - M P Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - E Romano
- Department of Oncology, University Hospital Center (CHUV) , Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - O Michielin
- Ludwig Cancer Research Center, Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology, University Hospital Center (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - P Romero
- Ludwig Cancer Research Center, Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology, University Hospital Center (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - D E Speiser
- Ludwig Cancer Research Center, Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology, University Hospital Center (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - C Jandus
- Ludwig Cancer Research Center, Department of Oncology, University of Lausanne , Switzerland
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De Monte L, Wörmann S, Brunetto E, Heltai S, Magliacane G, Reni M, Paganoni AM, Recalde H, Mondino A, Falconi M, Aleotti F, Balzano G, Algül H, Doglioni C, Protti MP. Basophil Recruitment into Tumor-Draining Lymph Nodes Correlates with Th2 Inflammation and Reduced Survival in Pancreatic Cancer Patients. Cancer Res 2016; 76:1792-803. [DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-15-1801-t] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2015] [Accepted: 01/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Di Lullo G, Marcatti M, Protti MP. Non-redundant roles for Th17 and Th22 cells in multiple myeloma clinical correlates. Oncoimmunology 2015; 5:e1093278. [PMID: 27141378 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2015.1093278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2015] [Revised: 08/30/2015] [Accepted: 09/07/2015] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
We recently reported that in multiple myeloma increased Th22 cell frequencies correlate with poor prognosis. Here we show that within the same patients' cohort Th17 cells associate with bone disease and not with prognosis. Thus, we propose that Th22 and Th17 cells play non-redundant roles in multiple myeloma and constitute independent therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Di Lullo
- Tumor Immunology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Magda Marcatti
- Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute , Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
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17
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Brunetto E, De Monte L, Heltai S, Protti MP. Abstract 443: Mechanisms of IL-1 production and release in pancreatic cancer cells. Cancer Res 2015. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2015-443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Pancreatic Ductal AdenoCarcinoma (PDAC) is a very aggressive disease, characterized by desmoplasia and Th2-inflammation. Th2-inflammation correlates with poor prognosis and it is driven by the release of the Thymic Stromal LymphoPoietin (TSLP) from Cancer Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) activated by tumor-derived pro-inflammatory cytokines.
The aims of our study are: i) to verify which tumor-derived cytokines are responsible for CAFs activation, ii) to understand the stimuli/mechanisms of tumor-derived cytokine production in pancreatic cancer cells.
Analyzing a series of 9 PDAC cell lines by both Real-time PCR and immunofluorescence, we found heterogeneous expression of IL-1α, IL-1β and TNF-α. Furthermore, ELISA tests revealed that some PDAC cell lines could either actively secrete or release during necrosis these pro-inflammatory cytokines. Next, we treated CAFs obtained from surgical patient samples with rhIL-1α, rhIL-1β, rhTNF-α and PDAC cell supernatants. Interestingly, we observed an induction in TSLP secretion that was significantly reduced by anti-IL1α and Anakinra (the recombinant form of IL-1Ra), suggesting a predominant role of the IL-1/IL-1R axis.
It is known that IL-1α and TLRs ligands can activate NF-kB that in turn induces the synthesis of proIL-1β that is cleaved to matureIL-1β by caspase-1, upon inflammasome activation.
In line with this, we performed Western Blot analysis and we observed constitutive activation of both NF-kB and inflammasome. We also demonstrated that IL-1α is able to increase IL-1β production in PDAC cells, with an autocrine loop. Furthermore, treating THP1 cells (a monocytic cell line that secrete IL-1β only upon stimulation) with PDAC cell supernatants we found that both IL-1-expressing and non-IL-1-expressing cells can release inflammasome-activating factors.
Since pancreatic cancer is highly hypoxic, we cultured PDAC cell lines in hypoxic conditions and we demonstrated that prolonged severe hypoxia, in combination with starvation, induces an increase in both IL-1α and IL-1β secretion.
In conclusion, our study demonstrates that PDAC cells can constitutively express IL-1α, IL-1β and TNF-α, thus inducing TSLP secretion from CAFs and eventually Th2-inflammation. PDAC cells secrete inflammasome-activating factors that sustain cytokine production with an autocrine loop, and that could induce cytokine release from infiltrating macrophages. Finally, the hypoxic environment of pancreatic cancer can further increase IL-1α and IL-1β secretion.
Our findings support the development of clinical studies combining the use of Anakinra with conventional chemotherapy, in order to interfere with the IL-1/IL-1R axis and therefore Th2-inflammation, thus improving the prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients.
Citation Format: Emanuela Brunetto, Lucia De Monte, Silvia Heltai, Maria Pia Protti. Mechanisms of IL-1 production and release in pancreatic cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 443. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-443
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Di Lullo G, Marcatti M, Heltai S, Brunetto E, Tresoldi C, Bondanza A, Bonini C, Ponzoni M, Tonon G, Ciceri F, Bordignon C, Protti MP. Th22 cells increase in poor prognosis multiple myeloma and promote tumor cell growth and survival. Oncoimmunology 2015; 4:e1005460. [PMID: 26155400 PMCID: PMC4485827 DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2015.1005460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [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: 12/01/2014] [Revised: 12/30/2014] [Accepted: 12/30/2014] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
There is increased production of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) in the bone marrow (BM) of multiple myeloma (MM) patients and these favor Th22 cell differentiation. Here, we found that the frequency of interleukin (IL)-22+IL-17-IL-13+ T cells is significantly increased in peripheral blood (PB) and BM of stage III and relapsed/refractory MM patients compared with healthy donors and patients with asymptomatic or stage I/II disease. Th22 cells cloned from the BM of MM patients were CCR6+CXCR4+CCR4+CCR10- and produced IL-22 and IL-13 but not IL-17. Furthermore, polyfunctional Th22-Th2 and Th22-Th1 clones were identified based on the co-expression of additional chemokine receptors and cytokines (CRTh2 or CXCR3 and IL-5 or interferon gamma [IFNγ], respectively). A fraction of MM cell lines and primary tumors aberrantly expressed the IL-22RA1 and IL-22 induced STAT-3 phosphorylation, cell growth, and resistance to drug-induced cell death in MM cells. IL-13 treatment of normal BM mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) induced STAT-6 phosphorylation, adhesion molecule upregulation, and increased IL-6 production and significantly favored MM cell growth compared with untreated BM MSCs. Collectively, our data show that increased frequency of IL-22+IL-17-IL-13+ T cells correlates with poor prognosis in MM through IL-22 and IL-13 protumor activity and suggest that interference with IL-22 and IL-13 signaling pathways could be exploited for therapeutic intervention.
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Key Words
- Ab, antibody; BM, bone marrow; BMMCs, bone marrow mononuclear cells; DCs, dendritic cells; Dx, dexamethasone; ICS, intracellular cytokine staining; IFN, interferon; IL, interleukin; ISS, International Staging System; LCL, Epstein–Barr virus-transformed B lymphoblastoid cell line; Ln, lenalidomide; MGUS, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined clinical significance; MM, multiple myeloma; MSC, mesenchymal stromal cell; PB, peripheral blood; PBMCs, peripheral blood mononuclear cells; pDCs, plasmacytoid dendritic cells; SMM, smoldering multiple myeloma; Th, T helper; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; Treg, regulatory T cells; WB, Western blot
- CD4+ T helper lymphocytes
- IL-22RA1
- Th22 cells
- bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells
- bone marrow microenvironment
- interleukin-13
- interleukin-22
- multiple myeloma
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Di Lullo
- Tumor Immunology Unit; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy ; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy
| | - Magda Marcatti
- Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy
| | - Silvia Heltai
- Tumor Immunology Unit; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy ; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy
| | - Emanuela Brunetto
- Tumor Immunology Unit; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy ; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy
| | - Cristina Tresoldi
- Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy
| | - Attilio Bondanza
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy ; Leukenia Immunotherapy Group; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Bonini
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy ; Experimental Hematology Unit; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy
| | - Maurilio Ponzoni
- Pathology Unit; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy ; Division of Molecular Oncology; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy
| | - Giovanni Tonon
- Division of Molecular Oncology; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy ; Functional Genomics of Cancer Unit; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy
| | - Fabio Ciceri
- Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy
| | - Claudio Bordignon
- MolMed SpA ; Milan, Italy ; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University ; Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy ; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases; IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute ; Milan, Italy
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Protti MP, De Monte L, Monte LD, Di Lullo G, Lullo GD. Tumor antigen-specific CD4+ T cells in cancer immunity: from antigen identification to tumor prognosis and development of therapeutic strategies. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014; 83:237-46. [PMID: 24641502 DOI: 10.1111/tan.12329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2013] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
CD4(+) T cells comprise a large fraction of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and it is now established that they may exert an important role in tumor immune-surveillance. Several CD4(+) T cell subsets [i.e. T helper (Th)1, Th2, T regulatory (Treg), Th17, Th22 and follicular T helper (Tfh)] have been described and differentiation of each subset depends on both the antigen presenting cells responsible for its activation and the cytokine environment present at the site of priming. Tumor antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells with different functional activity have been found in the blood of cancer patients and different CD4(+) T cell subsets have been identified at the tumor site by the expression of specific transcription factors and the profile of secreted cytokines. Importantly, depending on the subset, CD4(+) T cells may exert antitumor versus pro-tumor functions. Here we review the studies that first identified the presence of tumor-specific CD4(+) T cells in cancer patients, the techniques used to identify the tumor antigens recognized, the role of the different CD4(+) T cell subsets in tumor immunity and in cancer prognosis and the development of therapeutic strategies aimed at activating efficient antitumor CD4(+) T cell effectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- M P Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
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Abstract
Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with dismal prognosis. The tumor microenvironment is composed by multiple cell types, molecular factors, and extracellular matrix forming a strong desmoplastic reaction, which is a hallmark of the disease. A complex cross-talk between tumor cells and the stroma exists with reciprocal influence that dictates tumor progression and ultimately the clinical outcome. In this context, tumor infiltrating immune cells through secretion of chemokine and cytokines exert an important regulatory role. Here we review the correlation between the immune infiltrates, evaluated on tumor samples of pancreatic cancer patients underwent surgical resection, and disease free and/or overall survival after surgery. Specifically, we focus on tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), mast cells (MCs) and macrophages that all contribute to a Th2-type inflammatory and immunosuppressive microenvironment. In these patients tumor immune infiltrates not only do not contribute to disease eradication but rather the features of Th2-type inflammation and immunosuppression is significantly associated with more rapid disease progression and reduced survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute Milan, Italy ; Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute Milan, Italy
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Di Lullo G, Ieva F, Longhi R, Paganoni AM, Protti MP. Estimating point and interval frequency of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells based on short in vitro expansion and improved poisson distribution analysis. PLoS One 2012; 7:e42340. [PMID: 22879946 PMCID: PMC3413706 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2012] [Accepted: 07/03/2012] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Knowledge of antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells frequencies is pivotal to the choice of the antigen to be used in anti-viral and anti-tumor vaccination procedures and for monitoring of immune responses. Methods that employ small cell numbers from patient samples, are easy to perform and do not require complex techniques/instrumentations and therefore standardization are desirable. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Purified blood CD4(+) T cells from healthy donors were cultured with autologous antigen presenting cells in several replicate wells in equal numbers in the absence (un-stimulated wells) or in the presence of synthetic peptides corresponding to viral antigens promiscuous HLA-DR epitopes (antigen-stimulated wells). At day 7 of culture low dose IL-2 was added and at day 14 IFN-γ and IL-5 release in the supernatant was measured. A statistical analysis approach, based on Poisson distribution, was then implemented to calculate the frequency of viral-specific CD4(+) T cells. We first determined a patient-specific exceptionality threshold of cytokine release in the un-stimulated wells and then, based on this threshold, we counted the inactive/active wells within the antigen-stimulated wells. This number, along with the number of cells per well, allowed the point and interval estimates of frequencies. A ready-to-use Excel worksheet template with automatic calculations for frequencies estimate was developed and is provided as a supplemental file (Table S9). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE We report a simple experimental procedure combining short term in vitro cell culture with statistical analysis to calculate the frequency of antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells. The detailed experimental procedure along with the Excel applicative are a valuable tool for monitoring immune responses in the clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Di Lullo
- Tumor Immunology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Francesca Ieva
- Laboratorty for Modeling and Scientific Computing (MOX), Dipartimento di Matematica, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Renato Longhi
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Istituto di Chimica del Riconoscimento Molecolare, Milan, Italy
| | - Anna Maria Paganoni
- Laboratorty for Modeling and Scientific Computing (MOX), Dipartimento di Matematica, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- * E-mail:
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De Monte L, Reni M, Tassi E, Clavenna D, Papa I, Recalde H, Braga M, Di Carlo V, Doglioni C, Protti MP. Intratumor T helper type 2 cell infiltrate correlates with cancer-associated fibroblast thymic stromal lymphopoietin production and reduced survival in pancreatic cancer. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011; 208:469-78. [PMID: 21339327 PMCID: PMC3058573 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20101876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 507] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Expression of TSLP in pancreatic cancer correlates with Th2 deviation of antitumor immunity that is associated with decrease of patient survival. Pancreatic cancer is a very aggressive disease characterized by a marked desmoplasia with a predominant Th2 (GATA-3+) over Th1 (T-bet+) lymphoid infiltrate. We found that the ratio of GATA-3+/T-bet+ tumor-infiltrating lymphoid cells is an independent predictive marker of patient survival. Patients surgically treated for stage IB/III disease with a ratio inferior to the median value had a statistically significant prolonged overall survival, implying an active role for Th2 responses in disease progression. Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), which favors Th2 cell polarization through myeloid dendritic cell (DC) conditioning, was secreted by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) after activation with tumor-derived tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin 1β. TSLP-containing supernatants from activated CAFs induced in vitro myeloid DCs to up-regulate the TSLP receptor (TSLPR), secrete Th2-attracting chemokines, and acquire TSLP-dependent Th2-polarizing capability in vitro. In vivo, Th2 chemoattractants were expressed in the tumor and in the stroma, and TSLPR-expressing DCs were present in the tumor stroma and in tumor-draining but not in nondraining lymph nodes. Collectively, this study identifies in pancreatic cancer a cross talk between tumor cells and CAFs, resulting in a TSLP-dependent induction of Th2-type inflammation which associates with reduced patient survival. Thus, blocking TSLP production by CAFs might help to improve prognosis in pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia De Monte
- Tumor Immunology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
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Cecconi V, Moro M, Del Mare S, Sidney J, Bachi A, Longhi R, Sette A, Protti MP, Dellabona P, Casorati G. The CD4+ T-cell epitope-binding register is a critical parameter when generating functional HLA-DR tetramers with promiscuous peptides. Eur J Immunol 2010; 40:1603-16. [PMID: 20306469 DOI: 10.1002/eji.200940123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Detection of CD4(+) T cells specific for tumor-associated antigens is critical to investigate the spontaneous tumor immunosurveillance and to monitor immunotherapy protocols in patients. We investigated the ability of HLA-DR 1101 multimers to detect CD4(+) T cells specific for three highly promiscuous MAGE-A3 derived peptides: MAGE-A3(191-205) (p39), MAGE-A3(281-295) (p57) and MAGE-A3(286-300) (p58). Tetramers stained specific CD4(+) T cells only when loaded with p39, although all peptides activated the specific T cells when presented by plastic-bound HLA-DR 1101 monomers. This suggested that tetramer staining ability was determined by the mode rather than the affinity of peptide binding to HLA-DR 1101. We hypothesized that peptides should bear a single P1 anchor residue to bind all arms of the multimer in a homogeneous register to generate peptide-HLA-DR conformers with maximal avidity. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that p39 contained one putative P1 anchor residue, whereas the other two peptides contained multiple ones. Designing p57 and p58 analogues containing a single anchor residue generated HLA-DR 1101 tetramers that stained specific CD4(+) T cells. Producing HLA-DR 1101 monomers linked with the optimized MAGE-A3 analogues, but not with the original epitopes, further improved tetramer efficiency. Optimization of CD4(+) T-cell epitope-binding registers is thus critical to generate functional HLA-DR tetramers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia Cecconi
- Experimental Immunology Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy
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Seresini S, Origoni M, Caputo L, Lillo F, Longhi R, Vantini S, Paganoni AM, Protti MP. CD4+ T cells against human papillomavirus-18 E7 in patients with high-grade cervical lesions associate with the absence of the virus in the cervix. Immunology 2010; 131:89-98. [PMID: 20545782 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2010.03277.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Cervical neoplastic lesions are associated with infection by high-risk human papilloma-viruses (HPV). The two genotypes most frequently found in the lesions are HPV-16 and HPV-18 with a prevalence of 50-60% and 15-18%, respectively. The E6 and E7 viral oncoproteins are involved in the transformation process and represent foreign antigens for the host. We previously reported that anti-HPV-18 E6 CD4(+) T cells are present in patients with high-grade HPV-18-expressing cervical lesions but also in 50% of the total consecutive patients tested, independently of the HPV type carried. These results indicated that HPV-18 E6 is immunogenic and suggested that all responsive patients, irrespective of the HPV expressed, had encountered HPV-18 and cleared the infection. Here, we investigated anti-HPV-18 E7 CD4(+) T-cell immunity in a cohort of 23 HPV-18 E6-responsive patients. We found that, although E7-specific CD4(+) T cells were present in all women, a robust T helper type (Th1)/Th2 type response against E7 was associated with HPV-18-negative status, suggesting that indeed these patients might have cleared the virus. In agreement with this hypothesis, we found strong anti-E7 CD4(+) T-cell immunity in 20% of 24 healthy donors without evidence of disease. In contrast, a robust Th1/Th2 type response against E6 but not E7 correlated with a lack of disease relapse and/or infection recurrence but did not discriminate between HPV-18-positive and HPV-18-negative patients. Collectively, our data suggest different roles for anti-HPV-18 E6 and E7 CD4(+) T cells in anti-viral and anti-tumour immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha Seresini
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
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Tassi E, Braga M, Longhi R, Gavazzi F, Parmiani G, Di Carlo V, Protti MP. Non-redundant role for IL-12 and IL-27 in modulating Th2 polarization of carcinoembryonic antigen specific CD4 T cells from pancreatic cancer patients. PLoS One 2009; 4:e7234. [PMID: 19798410 PMCID: PMC2749205 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2009] [Accepted: 09/09/2009] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Pancreatic cancer is a very aggressive disease with dismal prognosis; peculiar is the tumor microenvironment characterized by an extensive fibrotic stroma, which favors rapid tumor progression. We previously reported that pancreatic cancer patients have a selective Th2 skew in the anti-carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) CD4+ T cell immunity, which correlates with the presence of a predominant GATA-3+ tumor lymphoid infiltrate. This has negative effects in both effective anti-tumor immunity and further favoring fibrinogenesis. Aim of this study was to evaluate whether the Th2 polarization of CEA-specific CD4+ T cells from pancreatic cancer patients is stable or can be reverted by immunomodulating cytokines. Methodology/Principal Findings We first evaluated the influence of IL-12 and IL-27, as single agents and in association, on the polarization of CEA-specific Th2 CD4+ T cell clones from a pancreatic cancer patient. We found that only the combination of IL-12 and IL-27 modified the polarization of Th2 effectors by both reduction of IL-5, GM-CSF and IL-13 and induction of IFN-γ production, which lasted after cytokine removal. Second, we evaluated the effect of the combined treatment on polyclonal CEA-specific CD4+ T cells in short-time re-stimulation assays. In agreement with the data obtained with the clones, we found that the combined treatment functionally modulated the Th2 polarization of CEA-specific CD4+ T cells and enhanced pre-existing Th1 type immunity. Conclusions/Significance Collectively, our results demonstrate that tumor antigen specific Th2 CD4+ T cells in pancreatic cancer are endowed with functional plasticity. Hence, loco-regional cytokines delivery or targeted therapy based on antibodies or molecules directed to the tumor stroma might improve anti-tumor immunity and ameliorate fibrosis, without systemic toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Tassi
- Tumor Immunology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Marco Braga
- Pancreas Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Department of Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Renato Longhi
- CNR-Istituto di Chimica del Riconoscimento Molecolare, Milan, Italy
| | - Francesca Gavazzi
- Pancreas Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- Department of Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Giorgio Parmiani
- Immuno-Biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- Division of Molecular Oncology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Valerio Di Carlo
- Pancreas Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Department of Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
- * E-mail:
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Tassi E, Gavazzi F, Albarello L, Senyukov V, Longhi R, Dellabona P, Doglioni C, Braga M, Di Carlo V, Protti MP. Carcinoembryonic antigen-specific but not antiviral CD4+ T cell immunity is impaired in pancreatic carcinoma patients. J Immunol 2009; 181:6595-603. [PMID: 18941250 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.181.9.6595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Pancreatic carcinoma is a very aggressive disease with dismal prognosis. Although evidences for tumor-specific T cell immunity exist, factors related to tumor microenvironment and the presence of immunosuppressive cytokines in patients' sera have been related to its aggressive behavior. Carcinoembryonic Ag (CEA) is overexpressed in 80-90% of pancreatic carcinomas and contains epitopes recognized by CD4(+) T cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent of cancer-immune surveillance and immune suppression in pancreatic carcinoma patients by comparing the anti-CEA and antiviral CD4(+) T cell immunity. CD4(+) T cells from 23 normal donors and 44 patients undergoing surgical resection were tested for recognition of peptides corresponding to CEA and viral naturally processed promiscuous epitopes by proliferation and cytokine release assays. Anti-CEA CD4(+) T cell immunity was present in a significantly higher number of normal donors than pancreatic cancer patients. Importantly, whereas CD4(+) T cells from normal donors produced mainly GM-CSF and IFN-gamma, CD4(+) T cells from the patients produced mainly IL-5, demonstrating a skew toward a Th2 type. On the contrary, the extent of antiviral CD4(+) T cell immunity was comparable between the two groups and showed a Th1 type. The immunohistochemical analysis of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes showed a significantly higher number of GATA-3(+) compared with T-bet(+) lymphoid cells, supporting a Th2 skew also at the tumor site. Collectively, these results demonstrate that Th2-immune deviation in pancreatic cancer is not generalized but tumor related and suggests that the skew might be possibly due to factor(s) present at the tumor site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Tassi
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
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Abstract
Little is known about the repertoire of MAGE-A3 CD4(+) T-cell epitopes recognized in vivo by neoplastic patients and how antigen processing influences epitope formation. Here, we first show that MAGE-A3-specific CD4(+) T cells are present in the blood of advanced melanoma patients. MAGE-A3(111-125), MAGE-A3(191-205), and MAGE-A3(281-300) were recognized by 7, 6, and 5 of the 11 patients tested, respectively. MAGE-A3(146-160) and MAGE-A3(171-185) were also recognized in two and one cases, whereas no recognition of MAGE-A3(161-175) and MAGE-A3(243-258) was observed. Cytokines produced were mainly interleukin 5 and/or granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, suggesting impairment of productive polarized Th1 responses. Secondly, proteases inhibitors were used to modulate in vitro the recognition by CD4(+) T-cells clones of dendritic cells loaded with MAGE-A3-expressing cell lysates. We found that formation of MAGE-A3(111-125) depended on both leupeptin-sensitive and pepstatin-sensitive proteases. In contrast, we found that MAGE-A3(161-175), which was never recognized ex vivo, was formed by leupeptin but destroyed by pepstatin-sensitive proteases. Collectively, our results show that (a) anti-MAGE-A3 CD4(+) T-cell immunity develops in vivo in neoplastic patients and is focused toward immunodominant epitopes, (b) the response in advanced disease is skewed toward a Th2 type, and (c) endosomal/lysosomal proteases in dendritic cells influence the repertoire of the epitopes recognized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jill Marturano
- Department of Oncology, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
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Marturano J, Longhi R, Casorati G, Protti MP. MAGE-A3(161-175) contains an HLA-DRbeta4 restricted natural epitope poorly formed through indirect presentation by dendritic cells. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2008; 57:207-15. [PMID: 17628799 PMCID: PMC11030650 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-007-0364-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2007] [Accepted: 06/20/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
We report here that HLA-DRbeta4*01 restricted MAGE-A3(161-175 )specific CD4(+) T cells from a healthy donor recognize a naturally processed epitope formed through the exogenous but not the endogenous pathway. However, the intensity of recognition of the native epitope by MAGE-A3(161-175 )specific CD4(+) T cells strongly depends on the antigen presenting cells and the amount of protein available for processing. EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cells (LCLs) and melanoma cells engineered to express MAGE-A3 in the endosomal/lysosomal compartment were strongly recognized while autologous dendritic cells loaded with lysate from MAGE-A3 expressing cells were, although significantly, poorly recognized. To prove that the amount of antigen available for processing was a key factor determining the different response LCLs were sorted by MAGE-A3 expression. The response intensity correlated with the amount of MAGE-A3 expressed by the cells. Collectively, these results suggest that different antigen presenting cells with different amount of antigen available for processing as well as protease activity are important factors in determining the epitope repertoire produced in vivo, and therefore reliable tools should be used when testing recognition of native epitopes by peptide specific CD4(+) T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jill Marturano
- Tumor Immunology Unit, DIBIT, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Department of Oncology, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
| | - Renato Longhi
- CNR-Istituto di Chimica del Riconoscimento Molecolare, Milan, Italy
| | - Giulia Casorati
- Experimental Immunology Unit, DIBIT, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Department of Oncology, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumor Immunology Unit, DIBIT, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Department of Oncology, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
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De Monte L, Sanvito F, Olivieri S, Viganò F, Doglioni C, Frasson M, Braga M, Bachi A, Dellabona P, Protti MP, Alessio M. Serological immunoreactivity against colon cancer proteome varies upon disease progression. J Proteome Res 2008; 7:504-14. [PMID: 18179166 DOI: 10.1021/pr070360m] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Sera from colon carcinoma patients were used to identify tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) by screening tumor proteome resolved by 2D electrophoresis. A panel of six TAAs eliciting a serological immune response in colorectal cancer was identified, showing a modification in antigen recognition by B cells in patients as a function of colon cancer progression. The expression of these proteins was either confined or increased in tumor as compared to normal mucosa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia De Monte
- Proteome Biochemistry, Tumor Immunology, Mass Spectrometry, Pathology, Surgery, Experimental Immunology, Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milan, Italy
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30
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Seresini S, Origoni M, Lillo F, Caputo L, Paganoni AM, Vantini S, Longhi R, Taccagni G, Ferrari A, Doglioni C, Secchi P, Protti MP. IFN-gamma produced by human papilloma virus-18 E6-specific CD4+ T cells predicts the clinical outcome after surgery in patients with high-grade cervical lesions. J Immunol 2007; 179:7176-83. [PMID: 17982110 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.179.10.7176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Cervical neoplastic lesions are associated with infection by high-risk human papilloma viruses (HPVs). HPV-16 and HPV-18 are the most common genotypes. It has been proposed that development of HPV-16-positive cervical lesions is associated with impaired CD4(+) T cell immunity against early Ags. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether this impairment also applies to HPV-18. We investigated the presence and the quality of anti-HPV-18 E6 CD4(+) T cell responses in the blood of 37 consecutive patients with high-grade cervical lesions, 25 normal donors, and 20 cord bloods. The immune infiltrate in the cervical lesions was also evaluated. The characteristics of the responses were correlated to the clinical outcome. We found that one or more HPV-18 E6 peptides, containing naturally processed epitopes, were able to induce a response in 40-50% of the patients, depending on the effector function tested. Importantly, these percentages rose to 80-100% when HPV-18-positive patients were considered. HPV-18 E6-specific CD4(+) T cells produced mixed Th1/Th2 responses and statistical analysis of the cytokines produced revealed that the amount of IFN-gamma released could predict infection persistence and/or disease relapse after surgery. Finally, we found that a higher number of infiltrating CD4(+) and T-bet(+) T cells in the lesions correlated with a favorable clinical outcome. Our results strongly suggest a relevant role for CD4(+) T cells in the control of the HPV-18 compared with HPV-16 infections in patients with high-grade cervical lesions and identify an immunologic parameter potentially useful for patients' stratification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha Seresini
- Tumor Immunology Unit, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
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Tassi E, Facchinetti V, Seresini S, Borri A, Dell'antonio G, Garavaglia C, Casorati G, Protti MP. Peptidome from renal cell carcinoma contains antigens recognized by CD4+ T cells and shared among tumors of different histology. Clin Cancer Res 2006; 12:4949-57. [PMID: 16914584 DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-06-0995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is considered immunogenic; nonetheless, rare tumor-associated antigens have been identified or are expressed in RCC. Peptidome (i.e., the total content of natural peptides of whole cells) from other tumors, such as melanoma, has proved to be immunogenic. The aims of this study were to determine whether peptidome from RCC is immunogenic and whether it contains tumor peptides shared among allogenic RCCs. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Autologous dendritic cells pulsed with RCC peptidome were used to activate in vitro CD4(+) T cells from healthy donors and a metastatic RCC patient. CD4(+) T-cell polyclonal lines and clones were characterized for tumor cell recognition by proliferation assay, killing activity, and cytokine secretion. RESULTS CD4(+) T-cell lines and clones recognized HLA-DR-matched allogenic RCC and, for the patient, the autologous tumor. RCC-reactive CD4(+) T cells showed a heterogeneous Th1 or Th0/Th2 pattern of cytokine secretion. Moreover, RCC-reactive CD4(+) T cells recognized also melanoma, colon carcinoma, cervical carcinoma, pancreas carcinoma, lung carcinoma, gastric carcinoma, and lymphoma cells but not autologous T-cell blasts. CONCLUSIONS Our results show that (a) the RCC peptidome contain antigens recognized by CD4(+) T cells and (b) shared among tumors of different histology and (c) it induces both Th1-type and Th2/Th0-type immune responses. These data support the use of the peptidome from allogenic RCC for specific immunotherapy in RCC and possibly in other neoplastic diseases. Moreover, the CD4(+) T-cell clones generated here are useful tools for tumor antigen identification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Tassi
- Tumor Immunology Unit, DIBIT, Department of Oncology, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
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Crosti M, Longhi R, Consogno G, Melloni G, Zannini P, Protti MP. Identification of Novel Subdominant Epitopes on the Carcinoembryonic Antigen Recognized by CD4+ T Cells of Lung Cancer Patients. J Immunol 2006; 176:5093-9. [PMID: 16585607 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.176.8.5093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The carcinoembryonic Ag (CEA) is an attractive target for immunotherapy because of its expression profile and role in tumor progression. To verify the existence of spontaneous anti-CEA CD4+ T cells in lung cancer patients, we first identified CEA sequences forming naturally processed epitopes, and then used the identified epitopes to test their recognition by CD4+ T cells from the patients. We had previously identified CEA(177-189/355-367) as an immunodominant epitope recognized by CD4+ T cells in association with several HLA-DR alleles. In this study, we identified four additional subdominant CEA sequences (CEA(99-111), CEA(425-437), CEA(568-582), and CEA(666-678)), recognized in association with one or more HLA-DR alleles. Peptide-specific CD4+ T cells produced proinflammatory cytokines when challenged with the native protein and CEA-expressing tumor cells, thus demonstrating that the identified CEA sequences contain naturally processed epitopes. However, CEA is expressed in the thymus and belongs to the CD66 family that comprises highly homologous molecules expressed on hemopoietic cells, raising concerns about tolerance interfering with the in vivo development of anti-CEA immunity. We thus tested the spontaneous reactivity to the identified epitopes of peripheral blood CD4+ T lymphocytes from eight early-stage lung cancer patients bearing CEA-positive tumors. We found GM-CSF- and IFN-gamma-producing CD4+ T cells in two patients. Our data indicate that CD4+ immune responses against CEA develop in neoplastic patients, suggesting that tolerance toward CEA or cross-reactive CD66 homologous molecules might be either not absolute or be overcome in the neoplastic disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariacristina Crosti
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
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Di Matteo P, Curnis F, Longhi R, Colombo G, Sacchi A, Crippa L, Protti MP, Ponzoni M, Toma S, Corti A. Immunogenic and structural properties of the Asn-Gly-Arg (NGR) tumor neovasculature-homing motif. Mol Immunol 2006; 43:1509-18. [PMID: 16337683 DOI: 10.1016/j.molimm.2005.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2005] [Revised: 10/07/2005] [Accepted: 10/14/2005] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Tumor homing peptides containing the NGR motif, such as CNGRC and GNGRG, have been used for delivering cytokines, chemotherapeutic drugs, apoptotic peptides, and liposomes to a CD13 isoform expressed in tumor blood vessels. In view of the potential clinical applications of these drugs and considering the risk that NGR peptides could elicit blocking antibodies we have investigated the immunogenic properties of CNGRC and GNGRG in mice and rabbits, using various products containing these residues and different administration schedules. The results suggest that the immunogenicity of the NGR motif is very low, even when it is conjugated to tumor necrosis factor-alpha or to highly immunogenic carrier proteins. Molecular dynamics simulation experiments showed that both peptides have a strong propensity to populate a turn conformation. Superposition of predicted structures to the CTGNGRGEWKC loop of the 5th type I repeat of human fibronectin, a protein that contains four NGR motives, showed that the root mean square deviation of backbones was 0.7A for GNGRG and 0.5A for NGR. These results suggest that NGR peptides could mimic from an immunological point of view a "self" structure, likely the GNGRG loop of fibronectin, with important implications for the use of these targeting peptides in patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Di Matteo
- Department of Biological and Technological Research, San Raffaele H Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
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Moro M, Cecconi V, Martinoli C, Dallegno E, Giabbai B, Degano M, Glaichenhaus N, Protti MP, Dellabona P, Casorati G. Generation of functional HLA-DR*1101 tetramers receptive for loading with pathogen- or tumour-derived synthetic peptides. BMC Immunol 2005; 6:24. [PMID: 16329759 PMCID: PMC1325046 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2172-6-24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2005] [Accepted: 12/05/2005] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background MHC class I-peptide tetramers are currently utilised to characterize CD8+ T cell responses at single cell level. The generation and use of MHC class II tetramers to study antigen-specific CD4+ T cells appears less straightforward. Most MHC class II tetramers are produced with a homogeneously built-in peptide, reducing greatly their flexibility of use. We attempted the generation of "empty" functional HLA-DR*1101 tetramers, receptive for loading with synthetic peptides by incubation. No such reagent is in fact available for this HLA-DR allele, one of the most frequent in the Caucasian population. Results We compared soluble MHC class II-immunoglobulin fusion proteins (HLA-DR*1101-Ig) with soluble MHC class II protein fused with an optimised Bir site for enzymatic biotynilation (HLA-DR*1101-Bir), both produced in insect cells. The molecules were multimerised by binding fluorochrome-protein A or fluorochrome-streptavidin, respectively. We find that HLA-DR*1101-Bir molecules are superior to the HLA-DR*1101-Ig ones both in biochemical and functional terms. HLA-DR*1101-Bir molecules can be pulsed with at least three different promiscuous peptide epitopes, derived from Tetanus Toxoid, influenza HA and the tumour associated antigen MAGE-3 respectively, to stain specific CD4+ T cells. Both staining temperature and activation state of CD4+ T cells are critical for the binding of peptide-pulsed HLA-DR*1101-Bir to the cognate TCR. Conclusion It is therefore possible to generate a soluble recombinant HLA-DR*1101 backbone that is receptive for loading with different peptides to stain specific CD4+ T cells. As shown for other HLA-DR alleles, we confirm that not all the strategies to produce soluble HLA-DR*1101 multimers are equivalent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica Moro
- Experimental Immunology Unit, Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Dept. of Oncology, DIBIT San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milano, Italy
| | - Virginia Cecconi
- Experimental Immunology Unit, Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Dept. of Oncology, DIBIT San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milano, Italy
| | - Chiara Martinoli
- Experimental Immunology Unit, Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Dept. of Oncology, DIBIT San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milano, Italy
| | - Eliana Dallegno
- Experimental Immunology Unit, Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Dept. of Oncology, DIBIT San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milano, Italy
| | - Barbara Giabbai
- Biocrystallography Unit, DIBIT San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milano, Italy
| | - Massimo Degano
- Biocrystallography Unit, DIBIT San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milano, Italy
| | | | - Maria Pia Protti
- Tumour Immunology Unit, Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Dept. of Oncology, DIBIT San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milano, Italy
| | - Paolo Dellabona
- Experimental Immunology Unit, Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Dept. of Oncology, DIBIT San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milano, Italy
| | - Giulia Casorati
- Experimental Immunology Unit, Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Dept. of Oncology, DIBIT San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milano, Italy
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Facchinetti V, Seresini S, Longhi R, Garavaglia C, Casorati G, Protti MP. CD4+ T cell immunity against the human papillomavirus-18 E6 transforming protein in healthy donors: identification of promiscuous naturally processed epitopes. Eur J Immunol 2005; 35:806-15. [PMID: 15719368 DOI: 10.1002/eji.200425699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Infection by 'high-risk' human papillomaviruses (HPV) is associated with the development of neoplastic lesions. HPV-18 is responsible for a very aggressive form of cancer and poor survival. As for other HPV types, immune surveillance has probably a role in the control of the infection. However, very little is known on HPV-18 immunogenicity. CD4(+) T cells from 16 healthy donors were tested ex vivo for reactivity to synthetic peptides corresponding to 3 sequences on the HPV-18 E6 transforming protein predicted by bioinformatics as promiscuous HLA-DR ligands, and to the recombinant E6 protein. We found 3 donors with CD4(+) T cells that specifically proliferated in the presence of HPV-18 E6 antigens and produced IFN-gamma in the presence of the E6 protein. We then propagated CD4(+) T cell lines and clones from the responsive subjects to better characterize the recognized sequences. We show that E6(52-66) and E6(97-111) are indeed promiscuous and, most importantly, they contain naturally processed epitopes. Collectively, our data indicate that healthy donors may develop spontaneous CD4 immunity against HPV-18 E6 epitopes, thus strongly suggesting the potential for this protein to elicit in the host a natural productive immune response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Facchinetti
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, DIBIT, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
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36
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Burastero SE, Paolucci C, Breda D, Longhi R, Silvestri M, Hammer J, Protti MP, Rossi GA. T-cell receptor-mediated cross-allergenicity. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 2004; 135:296-305. [PMID: 15583456 DOI: 10.1159/000082323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2004] [Accepted: 07/20/2004] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Profilins are conserved and ubiquitous plant and animal proteins. We wanted to discover whether the T-cell response to conserved epitopes on birch and grass profilins could account for cross-allergenicity in subjects allergic to these two pollens. METHODS Thirty-one patients allergic to grass and birch were recruited for the study. Grass and birch reactive T lymphocytes were studied by measuring proliferation to birch and grass allergen, respectively, followed by Vbeta T-cell receptor family-specific polymerase chain reaction and heteroduplex analysis. T-cell clones were derived from patients with cross-proliferating T cells. RESULTS In 25 of 31 subjects the T-cell response to grass was quite distinct from that to birch. In contrast, in 6 of 31 individuals grass T cells cross-proliferated to birch and this was reproduced in 4 patients by birch profilin. CD4 Th2 cell clones were derived which promiscuously recognized homologously conserved regions on birch and grass profilins. CONCLUSION We conclude that a functionally relevant T-cell response to conserved regions of panallergens underlie cross-allergenicity in a subset of allergic patients. These results suggest that a reciprocal modulation of the response to one sensitizing allergen can occur following natural exposure to or immunotherapy with another allergen. These results have relevance in the management of patients with multiple allergies.
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Feau S, Facchinetti V, Granucci F, Citterio S, Jarrossay D, Seresini S, Protti MP, Lanzavecchia A, Ricciardi-Castagnoli P. Dendritic cell-derived IL-2 production is regulated by IL-15 in humans and in mice. Blood 2004; 105:697-702. [PMID: 15353479 DOI: 10.1182/blood-2004-03-1059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Dendritic cells (DCs) are involved in the initiation and regulation of innate and adaptive immune responses. Several molecular mechanisms regulate these diverse DC functions, and we have previously reported that mouse dendritic cells (mDCs) can produce interleukin-2 (IL-2) in vitro and in vivo, in response to microbial activation and T-cell-mediated stimuli. This property is shared by different DC subtypes, including Langerhans cells. Here we show that, on appropriate stimulation, human DCs, both plasmacytoid and myeloid subtypes, also express IL-2. Interestingly, the production of IL-2 by myeloid DCs is induced by T-cell-mediated stimuli and depends on the presence of IL-15. The key role of this cytokine in regulating IL-2 production was also confirmed in the mouse system. In particular, we could show that DCs from IL-15-deficient mice were strongly impaired in the ability to produce IL-2 after interactions with different microbial stimuli. Our results indicate that DC-produced IL-2 is tightly coregulated with the expression of IL-15.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Feau
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioscience, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
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38
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Campi G, Crosti M, Consogno G, Facchinetti V, Conti-Fine BM, Longhi R, Casorati G, Dellabona P, Protti MP. CD4(+) T cells from healthy subjects and colon cancer patients recognize a carcinoembryonic antigen-specific immunodominant epitope. Cancer Res 2003; 63:8481-6. [PMID: 14679013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/27/2023]
Abstract
The carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is an attractive target for immunotherapeutic purposes because of its expression profile, its role in tumor progression, and its immunogenicity. However, CEA belongs to the CD66 immunoglobulin super-gene family that comprises highly homologous molecules expressed on leukocytes, making CEA a potential autoantigen expressed on hematopoietic cells. We used a MHC class II epitope prediction algorithm (TEPITOPE) to select 11 sequence segments of CEA that could form promiscuous CD4(+) T-cell epitopes and used synthetic peptides corresponding to the predicted sequences to propagate in vitro CD4(+) T cells from healthy donors and colon cancer patients. CD4(+) T cells from all subjects strongly recognized the sequence segment (LWWVNNQSLPVSP), repeated at residues 177-189 and 355-367. Importantly, we demonstrated that this highly immunodominant region contains a naturally processed epitope(s). Cross-recognition experiments with peptide analogues present on the CD66 homologous proteins showed that CEA(177-189/355-367)-specific CD4(+) T cells did not recognize the analogues, demonstrating that recognition of the immunodominant epitope is CEA specific. These data suggest that the repertoire of CEA(177-189/355-367)-specific CD4(+) T cells might have been shaped by a selective process to exclude CD4(+) T cells specific for CD66 homologues expressed on leukocyte, while preserving the CEA-specific repertoire. The features of strong immunogenicity and immunodominance in the absence of potential induction of autoimmunity make the identified CEA epitope of particular interest for the development of antitumor vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Campi
- Experimental Immunology Unit, Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, 20132 Milan, Italy
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Consogno G, Manici S, Facchinetti V, Bachi A, Hammer J, Conti-Fine BM, Rugarli C, Traversari C, Protti MP. Identification of immunodominant regions among promiscuous HLA-DR-restricted CD4+ T-cell epitopes on the tumor antigen MAGE-3. Blood 2003; 101:1038-44. [PMID: 12393675 DOI: 10.1182/blood-2002-03-0933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [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] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The molecular characterization of the CD4(+) T-cell epitope repertoire on human tumor antigens would contribute to both clinical investigation and cancer immunotherapy. In particular, the identification of promiscuous epitopes would be beneficial to a large number of patients with neoplastic diseases regardless of their HLA-DR type. MAGE-3 is a tumor-specific antigen widely expressed in solid and hematologic malignancies; therefore, is an excellent candidate antigen. We used a major histocompatability complex (MHC) class II epitope prediction algorithm, the TEPITOPE software, to predict 11 sequence segments of MAGE-3 that could form promiscuous CD4(+) T-cell epitopes. In binding assays, the synthetic peptides corresponding to the 11 predicted sequences bound at least 3 different HLA-DR alleles. Nine of the 11 peptides induced proliferation of CD4(+) T cells from both healthy subjects and melanoma patients. Four immunodominant regions (residues 111-125, 146-160, 191-205, and 281-295), containing naturally processed epitopes, were recognized by most of the donors, in association with 3 to 4 different HLA-DR alleles, thus covering up to 94% of the alleles expressed in whites. On the contrary, the other promiscuous regions (residues 161-175 and 171-185) contained epitopes not naturally processed in vitro. The immunodominant epitopes identified will be useful in the design of peptide-based cancer vaccines and in the study of the functional state of tumor-specific CD4(+) T cells in patients bearing tumors expressing MAGE-3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Consogno
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Functional Proteomics Centre HRS-IFOM, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, and MOLMED, SpA, DIBIT, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
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Abstract
The identification of human tumor-associated antigens has opened new avenues for immune intervention in cancer. Clinical trials using synthetic peptides that match segments of known tumor-associated proteins are ongoing. Alternatively, naturally processed peptides, obtained by acid treatment of tumor cells can be used. Here, Matteo Bellone and colleagues discuss the advantages and disadvantages of synthetic versus natural tumor peptides in cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Bellone
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, and the Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Instituto Scientifico H San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy.
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Ronchetti A, Iezzi G, Crosti MC, Garancini MP, Protti MP, Bellone M. Role of antigen-presenting cells in cross-priming of cytotoxic T lymphocytes by apoptotic cells. J Leukoc Biol 1999; 66:247-51. [PMID: 10449162 DOI: 10.1002/jlb.66.2.247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the mechanisms regulating recognition and phagocytosis of apoptotic cells by scavenger cells are the subject of intense investigation, little is known about the fate of the antigens contained in apoptotic cells and the constraints defining their immunogenicity. We developed a model in C57BL/6 mice to evaluate whether phagocytosis of apoptotic tumor cells yielded antigens able to get access to the MHC class I pathway and activate a specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte response. Our results demonstrate that apoptotic tumor cells are antigenic in vitro and can be immunogenic in vivo. Their immunogenicity depends on the number of cells used for immunization and the antigen-presenting cells involved in processing and presentation of antigens contained in the dying cells. The demonstration of the immunogenicity of apoptotic cells may have direct implications both in autoimmunity and cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Ronchetti
- Laboratorio di Immunologia dei Tumori, Istituto Scientifico H San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
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Ronchetti A, Rovere P, Iezzi G, Galati G, Heltai S, Protti MP, Garancini MP, Manfredi AA, Rugarli C, Bellone M. Immunogenicity of apoptotic cells in vivo: role of antigen load, antigen-presenting cells, and cytokines. J Immunol 1999; 163:130-6. [PMID: 10384108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/13/2023]
Abstract
Apoptosis allows the clearance of unwanted cells from living tissues without causing inflammation. Processing of phagocytosed apoptotic cells yields Ags that access the cytosol and the MHC class I pathway of engulfing cells and are recognized by Ag-specific CTL. We show here that injection of apoptotic RMA cells, a syngeneic T cell lymphoma, into C57BL/6 mice results in priming of a functional and long-lasting tumor-specific immune response. Cross-priming of CTLs by apoptotic cells requires CD4+ T cell help. Apoptotic cells, however, are at least 20-fold less immunogenic than nonreplicating live cells. Immunogenicity of apoptotic cells is proportional to the number of cells injected, correlates with the serum concentration of IL-10 and IL-1beta cytokines, and is enhanced in IL-10 knockout mice. Moreover, immunization with dendritic cells (DCs), but not macrophages (Mphi), pulsed with apoptotic cells primes tumor-specific CTLs and confers protection against a tumor challenge. Our findings demonstrate that tumor cells undergoing apoptosis are, though scarcely, immunogenic in vivo, outline the different roles of Mphi and DCs in the physiologic clearance of unwanted cells, and have implications in designing immunomodulating vaccines.
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MESH Headings
- Adoptive Transfer
- Animals
- Antigen-Presenting Cells/immunology
- Antigen-Presenting Cells/metabolism
- Antigens, Neoplasm/administration & dosage
- Antigens, Neoplasm/immunology
- Apoptosis/immunology
- CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology
- CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology
- Cell Line, Transformed
- Cytokines/metabolism
- Cytokines/physiology
- Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic
- Female
- Injections, Intraperitoneal
- Lymphoma, T-Cell/immunology
- Lymphoma, T-Cell/pathology
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Mice, Knockout
- Neoplasm Transplantation
- Phagocytes/immunology
- Phagocytes/transplantation
- Rauscher Virus
- Tumor Cells, Cultured
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Affiliation(s)
- A Ronchetti
- Laboratorio di Immunologia dei Tumori, Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Unità di Epidemiologia, Università Vita e Salute, Istituto Scientifico H San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
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Ronchetti A, Rovere P, Iezzi G, Galati G, Heltai S, Protti MP, Garancini MP, Manfredi AA, Rugarli C, Bellone M. Immunogenicity of Apoptotic Cells In Vivo: Role of Antigen Load, Antigen-Presenting Cells, and Cytokines. The Journal of Immunology 1999. [DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.163.1.130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Apoptosis allows the clearance of unwanted cells from living tissues without causing inflammation. Processing of phagocytosed apoptotic cells yields Ags that access the cytosol and the MHC class I pathway of engulfing cells and are recognized by Ag-specific CTL. We show here that injection of apoptotic RMA cells, a syngeneic T cell lymphoma, into C57BL/6 mice results in priming of a functional and long-lasting tumor-specific immune response. Cross-priming of CTLs by apoptotic cells requires CD4+ T cell help. Apoptotic cells, however, are at least 20-fold less immunogenic than nonreplicating live cells. Immunogenicity of apoptotic cells is proportional to the number of cells injected, correlates with the serum concentration of IL-10 and IL-1β cytokines, and is enhanced in IL-10 knockout mice. Moreover, immunization with dendritic cells (DCs), but not macrophages (Mφ), pulsed with apoptotic cells primes tumor-specific CTLs and confers protection against a tumor challenge. Our findings demonstrate that tumor cells undergoing apoptosis are, though scarcely, immunogenic in vivo, outline the different roles of Mφ and DCs in the physiologic clearance of unwanted cells, and have implications in designing immunomodulating vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Ronchetti
- *Laboratorio di Immunologia dei Tumori and Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program,
| | - Patrizia Rovere
- *Laboratorio di Immunologia dei Tumori and Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program,
| | - Giandomenica Iezzi
- *Laboratorio di Immunologia dei Tumori and Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program,
| | - Giacomo Galati
- *Laboratorio di Immunologia dei Tumori and Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program,
| | - Silvia Heltai
- *Laboratorio di Immunologia dei Tumori and Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program,
| | - Maria Pia Protti
- *Laboratorio di Immunologia dei Tumori and Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program,
| | | | - Angelo A. Manfredi
- *Laboratorio di Immunologia dei Tumori and Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program,
| | - Claudio Rugarli
- *Laboratorio di Immunologia dei Tumori and Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program,
- ‡Università Vita e Salute, Istituto Scientifico H San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
| | - Matteo Bellone
- *Laboratorio di Immunologia dei Tumori and Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program,
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Sturniolo T, Bono E, Ding J, Raddrizzani L, Tuereci O, Sahin U, Braxenthaler M, Gallazzi F, Protti MP, Sinigaglia F, Hammer J. Generation of tissue-specific and promiscuous HLA ligand databases using DNA microarrays and virtual HLA class II matrices. Nat Biotechnol 1999; 17:555-61. [PMID: 10385319 DOI: 10.1038/9858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 546] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Most pockets in the human leukocyte antigen-group DR (HLA-DR) groove are shaped by clusters of polymorphic residues and, thus, have distinct chemical and size characteristics in different HLA-DR alleles. Each HLA-DR pocket can be characterized by "pocket profiles," a quantitative representation of the interaction of all natural amino acid residues with a given pocket. In this report we demonstrate that pocket profiles are nearly independent of the remaining HLA-DR cleft. A small database of profiles was sufficient to generate a large number of HLA-DR matrices, representing the majority of human HLA-DR peptide-binding specificity. These virtual matrices were incorporated in software (TEPITOPE) capable of predicting promiscuous HLA class II ligands. This software, in combination with DNA microarray technology, has provided a new tool for the generation of comprehensive databases of candidate promiscuous T-cell epitopes in human disease tissues. First, DNA microarrays are used to reveal genes that are specifically expressed or upregulated in disease tissues. Second, the prediction software enables the scanning of these genes for promiscuous HLA-DR binding sites. In an example, we demonstrate that starting from nearly 20,000 genes, a database of candidate colon cancer-specific and promiscuous T-cell epitopes could be fully populated within a matter of days. Our approach has implications for the development of epitope-based vaccines.
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Ferrarini M, Imro MA, Sciorati C, Heltai S, Protti MP, Pellicciari C, Rovere P, Manfredi AA, Rugarli C. Blockade of the Fas-triggered intracellular signaling pathway in human melanomas is circumvented by cytotoxic lymphocytes. Int J Cancer 1999; 81:573-9. [PMID: 10225447 DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19990517)81:4<573::aid-ijc12>3.0.co;2-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Fas and Fas ligand (FasL) have been found both in lymphoid and in non-lymphoid malignancies, and are thought to play a role in the interplay between tumors and the immune system. Here we investigated Fas/FasL expression, function and intracellular signalling pathways in human melanomas. Of 5 melanoma cell lines, 3 expressed Fas at their surface, and all of them expressed FasL. FasL was functional, since it triggered Fas-induced apoptosis of human T lymphocytes clones. Conversely, cross-linking of Fas molecule with a specific monoclonal antibody failed to induce apoptosis in any of the melanomas tested, or ceramide intracellular accumulation or caspase-3 activation, pointing to an early alteration in the Fas-triggered signaling cascade. All melanomas retained the ability to undergo apoptosis induced by cytotoxic lymphocytes, which was mediated by the granule exocytosis mechanism. This suggests that melanoma cells evade immune-mediated Fas-triggered apoptosis via a selective blockade of the Fas apoptotic pathway. Cytotoxic lymphocytes, however, may circumvent tumor resistance to Fas-induced death via granzyme-mediated apoptosis, further supporting the development of immunotherapeutic strategies in the treatment of cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Ferrarini
- Laboratorio di Immunologia dei Tumori, Divisione di Medicina II, H San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
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Imro MA, Manici S, Russo V, Consogno G, Bellone M, Rugarli C, Traversari C, Protti MP. Major histocompatibility complex class I restricted cytotoxic T cells specific for natural melanoma peptides recognize unidentified shared melanoma antigen(s). Cancer Res 1999; 59:2287-91. [PMID: 10344730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
Abstract
CTLs were generated in vitro from two healthy donors and one melanoma patient by stimulation of CD8+ T cells with autologous dendritic cells pulsed with natural melanoma peptides (NMPs), obtained by acid treatment of HLA-matched melanoma cells. CTLs showed MHC class I-restricted melanoma-specific cytolytic activity. Importantly, CTLs from the patient, induced with NMPs obtained from an allogeneic HLA-A-matched melanoma, killed the autologous tumor. COS-7 cells cotransfected with the cDNA of 13 melanoma antigens and the HLA-A1-restricting allele did not induce cytokines release from NMP-specific CTLs, suggesting that they recognize unidentified shared melanoma antigens and that they may be valuable for identification of new tumor antigens. These results strongly support the use of autologous and/or allogeneic NMP-pulsed dendritic cells as cancer vaccines in patients whose neoplasms do not express or have lost expression of known tumor antigens.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Imro
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, and Cancer Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy Program, Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
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Manici S, Sturniolo T, Imro MA, Hammer J, Sinigaglia F, Noppen C, Spagnoli G, Mazzi B, Bellone M, Dellabona P, Protti MP. Melanoma cells present a MAGE-3 epitope to CD4(+) cytotoxic T cells in association with histocompatibility leukocyte antigen DR11. J Exp Med 1999; 189:871-6. [PMID: 10049951 PMCID: PMC2192952 DOI: 10.1084/jem.189.5.871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 172] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study we used TEPITOPE, a new epitope prediction software, to identify sequence segments on the MAGE-3 protein with promiscuous binding to histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR molecules. Synthetic peptides corresponding to the identified sequences were synthesized and used to propagate CD4(+) T cells from the blood of a healthy donor. CD4(+) T cells strongly recognized MAGE-3281-295 and, to a lesser extent, MAGE-3141-155 and MAGE-3146-160. Moreover, CD4(+) T cells proliferated in the presence of recombinant MAGE-3 after processing and presentation by autologous antigen presenting cells, demonstrating that the MAGE-3 epitopes recognized are naturally processed. CD4(+) T cells, mostly of the T helper 1 type, showed specific lytic activity against HLA-DR11/MAGE-3-positive melanoma cells. Cold target inhibition experiments demonstrated indeed that the CD4(+) T cells recognized MAGE-3281-295 in association with HLA-DR11 on melanoma cells. This is the first evidence that a tumor-specific shared antigen forms CD4(+) T cell epitopes. Furthermore, we validated the use of algorithms for the prediction of promiscuous CD4(+) T cell epitopes, thus opening the possibility of wide application to other tumor-associated antigens. These results have direct implications for cancer immunotherapy in the design of peptide-based vaccines with tumor-specific CD4(+) T cell epitopes.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Manici
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, Department of Biology and Technology (DIBIT), Scientific Institute H. San Raffaele, 20132 Milan, Italy
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Imro MA, Dellabona P, Manici S, Heltai S, Consogno G, Bellone M, Rugarli C, Protti MP. Human melanoma cells transfected with the B7-2 co-stimulatory molecule induce tumor-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes in vitro. Hum Gene Ther 1998; 9:1335-44. [PMID: 9650618 DOI: 10.1089/hum.1998.9.9-1335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Neoplastic cells express tumor-associated antigens, but tumor rejection seldom occurs in vivo. The absence of an effective immune response may be explained by the inability of tumor cells to deliver co-stimulatory signals. Indeed, transfection of either B7-1 or B7-2 co-stimulatory molecules into mouse tumor cells enhances antitumor immune responses. In this study, we stably transfected human melanoma cells with the cDNA encoding the B7-2 molecule to evaluate in vitro: (i) the induction of anti-melanoma cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) by stimulation of CD8+ T cells, purified from healthy donors and a melanoma patient, with B7-2 transfected allogeneic HLA-matched melanoma cells; (ii) the tumor specificity and the HLA restriction of the induced CTL; and (iii) the feasibility to propagate long-term antimelanoma CTL lines. We found that B7-2 transfected, but not untransfected or mock-transfected, melanoma cells activated MHC-class I-restricted, melanoma-specific CD8+ CTL from healthy donors. More importantly, CD8+ tumor-associated lymphocytes, purified from a tumor-invaded lymph node of a melanoma patient and stimulated with B7-2-transfected melanoma cells, acquired a strong reactivity toward the autologous tumor. CTL lines with specific cytolytic activity could be propagated in long-term culture. These results indicate that: (i) the expression of the B7-2 molecule into human melanoma cells makes them immunogenic and able to act as antigen-presenting cells and (ii) purified CD8+ cells, stimulated with B7-2+ allogeneic HLA-matched melanoma cells, preferentially recognize melanoma-specific rather than allogeneic antigens. This study may have clinical implications for passive and/or active immunotherapy in melanoma patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Imro
- Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, Scientific Institute H San Raffaele, Milan, Italy
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Raju R, Navaneetham D, Protti MP, Horton RM, Hoppe BL, Howard J, Conti-Fine BM. Acetylcholine receptor-specific CD4+ T cells in myasthenia gravis patients have individual, but restricted TCR V beta usage. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1998; 841:324-8. [PMID: 9668251 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb10939.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- R Raju
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108, USA
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