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Gao T, Niu L, Wu X, Dai D, Zhou Y, Liu M, Wu K, Yu Y, Guan N, Ye H. Sonogenetics-controlled synthetic designer cells for cancer therapy in tumor mouse models. Cell Rep Med 2024:101513. [PMID: 38608697 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2024.101513] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
Bacteria-based therapies are powerful strategies for cancer therapy, yet their clinical application is limited by a lack of tunable genetic switches to safely regulate the local expression and release of therapeutic cargoes. Rapid advances in remote-control technologies have enabled precise control of biological processes in time and space. We developed therapeutically active engineered bacteria mediated by a sono-activatable integrated gene circuit based on the thermosensitive transcriptional repressor TlpA39. Through promoter engineering and ribosome binding site screening, we achieved ultrasound (US)-induced protein expression and secretion in engineered bacteria with minimal noise and high induction efficiency. Specifically, delivered either intratumorally or intravenously, engineered bacteria colonizing tumors suppressed tumor growth through US-irradiation-induced release of the apoptotic protein azurin and an immune checkpoint inhibitor, a nanobody targeting programmed death-ligand 1, in different tumor mouse models. Beyond developing safe and high-performance designer bacteria for tumor therapy, our study illustrates a sonogenetics-controlled therapeutic platform that can be harnessed for bacteria-based precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tian Gao
- Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Genome Editing and Cell Therapy, Biomedical Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Dongchuan Road 500, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Lingxue Niu
- Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Genome Editing and Cell Therapy, Biomedical Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Dongchuan Road 500, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Xin Wu
- Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Genome Editing and Cell Therapy, Biomedical Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Dongchuan Road 500, Shanghai 200241, China; The Radiology Department of Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, The Fifth Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, China
| | - Di Dai
- Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Genome Editing and Cell Therapy, Biomedical Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Dongchuan Road 500, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Yang Zhou
- Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Genome Editing and Cell Therapy, Biomedical Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Dongchuan Road 500, Shanghai 200241, China; Wuhu Hospital, Health Science Center, East China Normal University, Middle Jiuhua Road 263, Wuhu City, China
| | - Mengyao Liu
- Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Genome Editing and Cell Therapy, Biomedical Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Dongchuan Road 500, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Ke Wu
- Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Genome Editing and Cell Therapy, Biomedical Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Dongchuan Road 500, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Yuanhuan Yu
- Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Genome Editing and Cell Therapy, Biomedical Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Dongchuan Road 500, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Ningzi Guan
- Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Genome Editing and Cell Therapy, Biomedical Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Dongchuan Road 500, Shanghai 200241, China.
| | - Haifeng Ye
- Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Genome Editing and Cell Therapy, Biomedical Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Dongchuan Road 500, Shanghai 200241, China; Wuhu Hospital, Health Science Center, East China Normal University, Middle Jiuhua Road 263, Wuhu City, China.
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2
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Liu LN, Chen C, Xin WJ, Li Q, Han C, Hua ZC. The oncolytic bacteria-mediated delivery system of CCDC25 nucleic acid drug inhibits neutrophil extracellular traps induced tumor metastasis. J Nanobiotechnology 2024; 22:69. [PMID: 38369519 PMCID: PMC10875894 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-024-02335-5] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), antibacterial weapons of neutrophils (NEs), have been found to play a crucial role in cancer metastasis in recent years. More and more cancer research is focusing on anti-NETs. However, almost all anti-NETs treatments have limitations such as large side effects and limited efficacy. Therefore, exploring new anti-NETs therapeutic strategies is a long-term goal. RESULTS The transmembrane protein coiled-coil domain containing 25 (CCDC25) on tumor cell membranes can bind NETs-DNA with high specificity and affinity, enabling tumor cells to sense NETs and thus promote distant metastasis. We transformed shCCDC25 into VNP20009 (VNP), an oncolytic bacterium, to generate VNP-shCCDC25 and performed preclinical evaluation of the inhibitory effect of shCCDC25 on cancer metastasis in B16F10 lung metastasis and 4T1 orthotopic lung metastasis models. VNP-shCCDC25 effectively blocked the downstream prometastatic signaling pathway of CCDC25 at tumor sites and reduced the formation of NETs while recruiting more neutrophils and macrophages to the tumor core, ultimately leading to excellent metastasis inhibition in the two lung metastasis models. CONCLUSION This study is a pioneer in focusing on the effect of anti-NET treatment on CCDC25. shCCDC25 is effectively delivered to tumor sites via the help of oncolytic bacteria and has broad application in the inhibition of cancer metastasis via anti-NETs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Na Liu
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China
| | - Chen Chen
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China
| | - Wen-Jie Xin
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China
| | - Qiang Li
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China
| | - Chao Han
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China
| | - Zi-Chun Hua
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China.
- Changzhou High-Tech Research Institute of Nanjing University and Jiangsu, Changzhou, China.
- TargetPharma Laboratories Inc., Changzhou, 213164, Jiangsu, China.
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3
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Wang Q, Tang Y, Dai A, Li T, Pei Y, Zhang Z, Hu X, Chen T, Chen Q. VNP20009-Abvec-Igκ-MIIP suppresses ovarian cancer progression by modulating Ras/MEK/ERK signaling pathway. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2024; 108:218. [PMID: 38372808 PMCID: PMC10876780 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-024-13047-z] [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: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Ovarian cancer poses a significant threat to women's health, with conventional treatment methods encountering numerous limitations, and the emerging engineered bacterial anti-tumor strategies offer newfound hope for ovarian cancer treatment. In this study, we constructed the VNP20009-Abvec-Igκ-MIIP (VM) engineered strain and conducted initial assessments of its in vitro growth performance and the expression capability of migration/invasion inhibitory protein (MIIP). Subsequently, ID8 ovarian cancer cells and mouse cancer models were conducted to investigate the impact of VM on ovarian cancer. Our results revealed that the VM strain demonstrated superior growth performance, successfully invaded ID8 ovarian cancer cells, and expressed MIIP, consequently suppressing cell proliferation and migration. Moreover, VM specifically targeted tumor sites and expressed MIIP which further reduced the tumor volume of ovarian cancer mice (p < 0.01), via the downregulation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Ras, p-MEK, and p-ERK. The downregulation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and the decrease in Bcl-2/Bax levels also indicated VM's apoptotic potency on ovarian cancer cells. In summary, our research demonstrated that VM exhibits promising anti-tumor effects both in vitro and in vivo, underscoring its potential for clinical treatment of ovarian cancer. KEY POINTS: • This study has constructed an engineered strain of Salmonella typhimurium capable of expressing anticancer proteins • The engineered bacteria can target and colonize tumor sites in vivo • VM can inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ovarian cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Wang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, 1 Minde Road, Donghu District, Nanchang City, 330000, Jiangxi Province, China
| | - Yuwen Tang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, 1 Minde Road, Donghu District, Nanchang City, 330000, Jiangxi Province, China
| | - Ang Dai
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, 1 Minde Road, Donghu District, Nanchang City, 330000, Jiangxi Province, China
| | - Tiange Li
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, 1 Minde Road, Donghu District, Nanchang City, 330000, Jiangxi Province, China
| | - Yulin Pei
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, 1 Minde Road, Donghu District, Nanchang City, 330000, Jiangxi Province, China
| | - Zuo Zhang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, 1 Minde Road, Donghu District, Nanchang City, 330000, Jiangxi Province, China
| | - Xinyue Hu
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, 1 Minde Road, Donghu District, Nanchang City, 330000, Jiangxi Province, China
| | - Tingtao Chen
- National Engineering Research Center for Bioengineering Drugs and the Technologies, Institute of Translational Medicine, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, No. 1299, Xuefu Avenue, Honggutan District, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, China.
| | - Qi Chen
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, 1 Minde Road, Donghu District, Nanchang City, 330000, Jiangxi Province, China.
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Duo Y, Chen Z, Li Z, Li X, Yao Y, Xu T, Gao G, Luo G. Combination of bacterial-targeted delivery of gold-based AIEgen radiosensitizer for fluorescence-image-guided enhanced radio-immunotherapy against advanced cancer. Bioact Mater 2023; 30:200-213. [PMID: 37663305 PMCID: PMC10470274 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2023.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [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: 01/06/2023] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Aggregation-Induced Emission luminogen (AIEgen) possess great potential in enhancing bioimaging-guided radiotherapeutic effects and radioimmunotherapy to improve the therapeutic effects of the tumor with good biosafety. Bacteria as a natural carrier have demonstrated great advantages in tumor targeted delivery and penetration to tumor. Herein, we construct a delivery platform that Salmonella VNP20009 act as an activated bacteria vector loaded the as-prepared novel AIEgen (TBTP-Au, VNP@TBTP-Au), which showed excellent radio-immunotherapy. VNP@TBTP-Au could target and retain AIEgen at the tumor site and deliver it into tumor cells specially, upon X-ray irradiation, much ROS was generated to induce immunogenic cell death via cGAS-STING signaling pathway to evoke immune response, thus achieving efficient radioimmunotherapy of the primary tumor with good biosafety. More importantly, the radioimmunotherapy with VNP@TBTP-Au formatted good abscopal effect that was able to suppress the growth of distant tumor. Our strategy pioneer a novel and simple strategy for the organic combination of bacteria and imaging-guided radiotherapy, and also pave the foundation for the combination with immunotherapy for better therapeutic effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanhong Duo
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen, 518020, Guangdong, China
- Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 17177, Sweden
| | - Zide Chen
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen, 518020, Guangdong, China
- Department of Interventional Radiology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
| | - Zihuang Li
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen, 518020, Guangdong, China
| | - Xing Li
- School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Yaoqiang Yao
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen, 518020, Guangdong, China
| | - Tianzhao Xu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen, 518020, Guangdong, China
| | - Ge Gao
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, China
| | - Guanghong Luo
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen, 518020, Guangdong, China
- Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 17177, Sweden
- Shenzhen Institute of Aggregate Science and Technology, School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, 518172, Guangdong, China
- Department of Interventional Radiology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
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Sun Y, Guo Y, Liu X, Liu J, Sun H, Li Z, Wen M, Jiang SN, Tan W, Zheng JH. Engineered oncolytic bacteria HCS1 exerts high immune stimulation and safety profiles for cancer therapy. Theranostics 2023; 13:5546-5560. [PMID: 37908720 PMCID: PMC10614684 DOI: 10.7150/thno.87340] [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] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Background and rationale: Attenuated Salmonella typhimurium VNP20009 has been used to treat tumor-bearing mice and entered phase I clinical trials. However, its mild anticancer effect in clinical trials may be related to insufficient bacterial colonization and notable adverse effects with increasing dosages. Guanosine 5'-diphosphate-3'-diphosphate (ppGpp) synthesis-deficient Salmonella is an attenuated strain with good biosafety and anticancer efficacy that has been widely investigated in various solid cancers in preclinical studies. Integration of the advantages of these two strains may provide a new solution for oncolytic bacterial therapy. Methods: We incorporated the features of ΔppGpp into VNP20009 and obtained the HCS1 strain by deleting relA and spoT, and then assessed its cytotoxicity in vitro and antitumor activities in vivo. Results: In vitro experiments revealed that the invasiveness and cytotoxicity of HCS1 to cancer cells were significantly lower than those of the VNP20009. Additionally, tumor-bearing mice showed robust cancer suppression when treated with different doses of HCS1 intravenously, and the survival time and cured mice were dramatically increased. Furthermore, HCS1 can increase the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in tumor tissues and relieve the immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironments. It can also recruit abundant immune cells into tumor tissues, thereby increasing immune activation responses. Conclusion: The newly engineered Salmonella HCS1 strain manifests high prospects for cancer therapeutics and is a promising option for future clinical cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yujie Sun
- School of Biomedical Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Yanxia Guo
- School of Biomedical Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Xiaoqing Liu
- School of Biomedical Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Jinling Liu
- School of Biomedical Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
- College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Honglai Sun
- School of Biomedical Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Zhongying Li
- School of Biomedical Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Min Wen
- Department of Neurosurgery, Guangzhou First People′s Hospital, Guangzhou 510180, China
| | - Sheng-Nan Jiang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510260, China
| | - Wenzhi Tan
- School of Biomedical Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
- School of Food Science and Bioengineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410114, China
| | - Jin Hai Zheng
- School of Biomedical Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
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Liu L, Xin W, Li Q, Huang B, Yin T, Hua S, Yang C, Chen C, Han C, Hua Z. Neutrophil-Mediated Tumor-Targeting Delivery System of Oncolytic Bacteria Combined with ICB for Melanoma Lung Metastasis Therapy. Adv Sci (Weinh) 2023; 10:e2301835. [PMID: 37565362 PMCID: PMC10582430 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202301835] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023]
Abstract
Oncolytic bacteria are the most promising tumor target vector. Questions also remain regarding finding a balance between the therapeutic efficacy and safety of oncolytic bacteria. The critical measure of how this balance is maintained is the improvement in tumor colonization. Attenuated Salmonella typhimurium (VNP20009) as the only Salmonella strain to be evaluated in a clinical trial is a potential tumor therapeutic bacterium. A delivery system with controlled release of VNP after being loaded into neutrophils, which significantly increases the tumor-targeting of VNP and enhances its therapeutic efficacy in a melanoma lung metastasis model is constructed. To improve the synergistic therapeutic effect, a PD1 nanobody is applied to this system (NE(PD1nb)). NE(PD1nb) activate dendritic cells (DCs) differentiation and stimulate the M1-like differentiation of macrophages, and induce CD4+ T-cells maturity and cytotoxic CD8+ T-cells activation through DCs tumor antigen presentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lina Liu
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical BiotechnologySchool of Life SciencesNanjing UniversityNanjingJiangsu210023China
| | - Wenjie Xin
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical BiotechnologySchool of Life SciencesNanjing UniversityNanjingJiangsu210023China
| | - Qiang Li
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical BiotechnologySchool of Life SciencesNanjing UniversityNanjingJiangsu210023China
| | - Baolian Huang
- School of BiopharmacyChina Pharmaceutical UniversityNanjingJiangsu210023China
| | - Te Yin
- School of BiopharmacyChina Pharmaceutical UniversityNanjingJiangsu210023China
| | - Siqi Hua
- School of BiopharmacyChina Pharmaceutical UniversityNanjingJiangsu210023China
| | - Chen Yang
- School of BiopharmacyChina Pharmaceutical UniversityNanjingJiangsu210023China
| | - Chen Chen
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical BiotechnologySchool of Life SciencesNanjing UniversityNanjingJiangsu210023China
| | - Chao Han
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical BiotechnologySchool of Life SciencesNanjing UniversityNanjingJiangsu210023China
| | - Zichun Hua
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical BiotechnologySchool of Life SciencesNanjing UniversityNanjingJiangsu210023China
- School of BiopharmacyChina Pharmaceutical UniversityNanjingJiangsu210023China
- Changzhou High‐Tech Research Institute of Nanjing University and Jiangsu TargetPharma Laboratories Inc.ChangzhouJiangsu213164China
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7
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Hababag EAC, Cauilan A, Quintero D, Bermudes D. Tryptophanase Expressed by Salmonella Halts Breast Cancer Cell Growth In Vitro and Inhibits Production of Immunosuppressive Kynurenine. Microorganisms 2023; 11:1355. [PMID: 37317329 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11051355] [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: 04/24/2023] [Revised: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Tryptophan is an essential amino acid required for tumor cell growth and is also the precursor to kynurenine, an immunosuppressive molecule that plays a role in limiting anticancer immunity. Tryptophanase (TNase) is an enzyme expressed by different bacterial species that converts tryptophan into indole, pyruvate and ammonia, but is absent in the Salmonella strain VNP20009 that has been used as a therapeutic delivery vector. We cloned the Escherichia coli TNase operon tnaCAB into the VNP20009 (VNP20009-tnaCAB), and were able to detect linear production of indole over time, using Kovács reagent. In order to conduct further experiments using the whole bacteria, we added the antibiotic gentamicin to stop bacterial replication. Using a fixed number of bacteria, we found that there was no significant effect of gentamicin on stationary phase VNP20009-tnaCAB upon their ability to convert tryptophan to indole over time. We developed a procedure to extract indole from media while retaining tryptophan, and were able to measure tryptophan spectrophotometrically after exposure to gentamicin-inactivated whole bacterial cells. Using the tryptophan concentration equivalent to that present in DMEM cell culture media, a fixed number of bacteria were able to deplete 93.9% of the tryptophan in the culture media in 4 h. In VNP20009-tnaCAB depleted tissue culture media, MDA-MB-468 triple negative breast cancer cells were unable to divide, while those treated with media exposed only to VNP20009 continued cell division. Re-addition of tryptophan to conditioned culture media restored tumor cell growth. Treatment of tumor cells with molar equivalents of the TNase products indole, pyruvate and ammonia only caused a slight increase in tumor cell growth. Using an ELISA assay, we confirmed that TNase depletion of tryptophan also limits the production of immunosuppressive kynurenine in IFNγ-stimulated MDA-MB-468 cancer cells. Our results demonstrate that Salmonella VNP20009 expressing TNase has improved potential to stop tumor cell growth and reverse immunosuppression.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Allea Cauilan
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA 91330, USA
| | - David Quintero
- Los Angeles Medical Facility, Los Angeles, CA 90027, USA
| | - David Bermudes
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA 91330, USA
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Takahashi M, Sukowati EW, Nomura S, Kato A, Mizuseki K, Watanabe Y, Mukai H. Impact of tumoral structure and bacterial species on growth and biodistribution of live bacterial therapeutics in xenografted tumours. J Drug Target 2023; 31:194-205. [PMID: 36097977 DOI: 10.1080/1061186x.2022.2122477] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Live bacterial therapeutics is gaining attention, especially for cancer therapy, because anaerobic bacteria selectively grow inside the solid tumours. However, the effect of tumour structure and bacterial characteristics on the pharmacokinetics of tumours is unclear; therefore, we aimed to elucidate the effects of tumour structure and types of bacteria on tumoral bacterial growth. Using six mouse xenograft models, including stroma-rich tumours similar to clinical tumours, and two models of live bacterial therapeutics, Salmonella typhimurium VNP20009 and Escherichia coli DH5α, we investigated bacterial growth and distribution in tumours after intravenous administration. Rapid growth of E. coli was observed in HCT116 and other tumours with few collagens, blood vessels not covered by mural cells, and a cancer cell area proliferated disorderly, whereas tumours with contrasting features, such as BxPC-3, showed lower bacterial growth and a limited intratumor distribution. Alternatively, Salmonella typhimurium VNP20009, when successfully proliferated (the probability was approximately 50%), grew to 108 colony forming units/g tissue even in BxPC-3 tumours, and its intratumor distribution was extensive. This study suggests that the development of new methods to modify tumour structure will be essential for the development of anti-tumour clinical therapies based on live bacterial therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maiko Takahashi
- Laboratory for Molecular Delivery and Imaging Technology, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Japan.,Department of Physiology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
| | - Erike Widyasari Sukowati
- Laboratory for Molecular Delivery and Imaging Technology, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Japan
| | - Shoko Nomura
- Laboratory for Molecular Delivery and Imaging Technology, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Japan
| | - Akari Kato
- Laboratory for Molecular Delivery and Imaging Technology, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Japan
| | - Kenji Mizuseki
- Department of Physiology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
| | - Yasuyoshi Watanabe
- Laboratory for Pathophysiological and Health Science, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Japan
| | - Hidefumi Mukai
- Laboratory for Molecular Delivery and Imaging Technology, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Japan.,Department of Pharmaceutical Informatics, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
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Zhou DX, Wang XH, Xu X, Chen WJ, Wei J, Chen TT, Wei H. Anti-Tumor Effects of Engineered VNP20009-Abvec-Igκ-mPD-1 Strain in Melanoma Mice via Combining the Oncolytic Therapy and Immunotherapy. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14. [PMID: 36559282 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14122789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Programmed cell death protein 1/Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) immune checkpoint inhibitors are the most promising treatments for malignant tumors currently, but the low response rate limits their further clinical utilization. To address this problem, our group constructed an engineered strain of VNP20009-Abvec-Igκ-mPD-1 [V-A-mPD-1 (mPD-1, murine PD-1)] to combine oncolytic bacterial therapy with immunotherapy. Further, we evaluated its growth performance and mPD-1 expression ability in vitro while establishing the melanoma mice model to explore its potential anti-cancer effects in tumor therapy. Our results indicated that the V-A-mPD-1 strain has superior growth performance and can invade B16F10 melanoma cells and express PD-1. In addition, in the melanoma mice model, we observed a marked reduction in tumor volume and the formation of a larger necrotic area. V-A-mPD-1 administration resulted in a high expression of mPD-1 at the tumor site, inhibiting tumor cell proliferation via the down-regulation of the expression of rat sarcoma (Ras), phosphorylated mitogen-activated protein kinase (p-MEK)/MEK, and phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK)/ERK expression significantly inhibited tumor cell proliferation. Tumor cell apoptosis was promoted by down-regulating phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K) and protein kinase B (AKT) signaling pathways, as evidenced by an increased Bcl-2-associated X protein/B cell lymphoma-2 (Bax/Bcl-2) expression ratio. Meanwhile, the expression levels of systemic inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), were substantially reduced. In conclusion, our research demonstrated that V-A-mPD-1 has an excellent anti-tumor effect, prompting that the combined application of microbial therapy and immunotherapy is a feasible cancer treatment strategy.
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Chen J, Qiao Y, Chen G, Chang C, Dong H, Tang B, Cheng X, Liu X, Hua Z. Salmonella flagella confer anti-tumor immunological effect via activating Flagellin/TLR5 signalling within tumor microenvironment. Acta Pharm Sin B 2021; 11:3165-3177. [PMID: 34729307 PMCID: PMC8546927 DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2021.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Revised: 04/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
mediated cancer therapy has achieved remarkable anti-tumor effects in experimental animal models, but the detailed mechanism remains unsolved. In this report, the active involvement of the host immune response in this process was confirmed by comparing the tumor-suppressive effects of Salmonella in immunocompetent and immunodeficient mice bearing melanoma allografts. Since flagella are key inducers of the host immune response during bacterial infection, flagella were genetically disrupted to analyse their involvement in Salmonella-mediated cancer therapy. The results showed that flagellum-deficient strains failed to induce significant anti-tumor effects, even when more bacteria were administered to offset the difference in invasion efficiency. Flagella mainly activate immune cells via Flagellin/Toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5) signalling pathway. Indeed, we showed that exogenous activation of TLR5 signalling by recombinant Flagellin and exogenous expression of TLR5 both enhanced the therapeutic efficacy of flagellum-deficient Salmonella against melanoma. Our study highlighted the therapeutic value of the interaction between Salmonella and the host immune response through Flagellin/TLR5 signalling pathway during Salmonella-mediated cancer therapy, thereby suggesting the potential application of TLR5 agonists in the cancer immune therapy.
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Key Words
- AKT, Akt serine/threonine kinase
- Bacteria-mediated cancer therapy
- CFU, colony-forming units
- CTLA-4, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4
- Cancer immune therapy
- DN, dominant-negative
- ERBB2, Erb-B2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2
- ERKl, extracellular regulated protein kinase 1
- Flagellin
- Flagellum
- GAPDH, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase
- GFP, green fluorescent protein
- IFN-γ, interferon-γ
- IL, interleukins
- IκB, inhibitor of NF-κB
- JNK, c-Jun N-terminal kinase
- LPS, lipopolysaccharide
- LRR, leucine-rich repeat
- MyD88, myeloid differentiation factor 88
- NF-κB
- NF-κB, nuclear factor kappa-B
- PBS, phosphate-buffered saline
- PCR, polymerase chain reaction
- PD-1, programmed cell death protein-1
- PD-L1, programmed cell death-ligand 1
- PEI, polyethylenimine
- Salmonella
- TIR, Toll/Interleukin-1 receptor
- TLR, Toll-like receptor
- TLR5
- TME, tumor microenvironment
- TRAF6, TNF receptor associated factor 6
- VNP20009
- i.p., intraperitoneally
- i.t., intratumorally
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Li M, Lu M, Lai Y, Zhang X, Li Y, Mao P, Liang Z, Mu Y, Lin Y, Zhao AZ, Zhao Z, Zhou S, Li F. Inhibition of acute leukemia with attenuated Salmonella typhimurium strain VNP20009. Biomed Pharmacother 2020; 129:110425. [PMID: 32570123 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2020.110425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Revised: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 06/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Acute leukemia is a common hematological malignancy. Despite recent promising progress, the prognosis of acute leukemia patients remains to be improved. New therapies are therefore still needed. Salmonella typhimurium has been shown to be highly effective as an anti-tumor agent in many solid cancer models, but it has not been applied in acute leukemia. Here, we report an attenuated Salmonella typhimurium strain, VNP20009, can induce apoptosis in multiple types of leukemia cells both in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, VNP20009 significantly inhibited the proliferation of MLL-AF9-induced acute myeloid leukemia cells and prolonged the survival of the AML-carrying mice. VNP20009 restored the counts of white blood cell (WBC) and its five subsets in peripheral blood (PB) to near-physiological values, and elevated the levels of certain cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), chemokine C-X-C motif ligand-10 (CXCL-10) and C-C motif ligand-2 (CCL-2). Moreover, the ratio of immune cells, including natural killer cells (NKs), CD4+ Th1-type cells and CD8+ IFN-γ-producing effector T cells were highly upregulated in the AML mice treated with VNP20009. The results of the present study potentially provide an alternative therapeutic strategy for hematologic malignancies through boosting the innate and adaptive anti-tumor immunity.
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Quintero D, Carrafa J, Vincent L, Kim HJ, Wohlschlegel J, Bermudes D. Co-Expression of a Chimeric Protease Inhibitor Secreted by a Tumor-Targeted Salmonella Protects Therapeutic Proteins from Proteolytic Degradation. J Microbiol Biotechnol 2018; 28:2079-2094. [PMID: 30661346 PMCID: PMC6883771 DOI: 10.4014/jmb.1807.08036] [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] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
Sunflower trypsin inhibitor (SFTI) is a 14-amino-acid bicyclic peptide that contains a single internal disulfide bond. We initially constructed chimeras of SFTI with N-terminal secretion signals from the Escherichia coli OmpA and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ToxA, but only detected small amounts of protease inhibition resulting from these constructs. A substantially higher degree of protease inhibition was detected from a C-terminal SFTI fusion with E. coli YebF, which radiated more than a centimeter from an individual colony of E. coli using a culture-based inhibitor assay. Inhibitory activity was further improved in YebF-SFTI fusions by the addition of a trypsin cleavage signal immediately upstream of SFTI, and resulted in production of a 14-amino-acid, disulfide-bonded SFTI free in the culture supernatant. To assess the potential of the secreted SFTI to protect the ability of a cytotoxic protein to kill tumor cells, we utilized a tumor-selective form of the Pseudomonas ToxA (OTG-PE38K) alone and expressed as a polycistronic construct with YebF-SFTI in the tumor-targeted Salmonella VNP20009. When we assessed the ability of toxin-containing culture supernatants to kill MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells, the untreated OTG-PE38K was able to eliminate all detectable tumor cells, while pretreatment with trypsin resulted in the complete loss of anticancer cytotoxicity. However, when OTG-PE38K was co-expressed with YebF-SFTI, cytotoxicity was completely retained in the presence of trypsin. These data demonstrate SFTI chimeras are secreted in a functional form and that co-expression of protease inhibitors with therapeutic proteins by tumor-targeted bacteria has the potential to enhance the activity of therapeutic proteins by suppressing their degradation within a proteolytic environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Quintero
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA 91330-8303, USA
- Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Sciences (IRIS), California State University, College of Science and Math, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, CA 91330-8303
| | - Jamie Carrafa
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA 91330-8303, USA
| | - Lena Vincent
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA 91330-8303, USA
- Current Address, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Hee Jong Kim
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles, 615 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - James Wohlschlegel
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles, 615 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - David Bermudes
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA 91330-8303, USA
- Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Sciences (IRIS), California State University, College of Science and Math, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, CA 91330-8303
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13
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Xu W, Zhou T, Zhou J, Qiang Z, Zhang J, Hua Z. Attenuated Salmonella VNP20009 mutant (ΔhtrA) is a promising candidate for bacteria-mediated tumour therapy in hosts with TNFR1 deficiency. Lett Appl Microbiol 2018; 67:97-103. [PMID: 29698572 DOI: 10.1111/lam.12999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [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: 01/31/2018] [Revised: 04/13/2018] [Accepted: 04/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
VNP20009 is a genetically modified strain of Salmonella typhimurium and has a good anticancer effect wildly used in tumour therapy on animal models. For its clinical application, an accurate bio-safety assessment on sensitive models is necessary. In this study, we use TNFR1 KO mice as a susceptive model to assess the virulence of bacterial VNP20009 and its derivative ΔhtrA. By intraperitoneal administration of Salmonella, the increased lethality was observed in TNFR1 KO mice infected with VNP20009, but not with ΔhtrA. We performed a systemically comparative analysis of their toxicity, and ΔhtrA shows a better bio-safety for TNFR1 KO mice. Since the macrophages with TNFR1 deficiency exhibit a reduced ability of bacteria clearance, ΔhtrA with lower survival ability in normal macrophages restores its viability in TNFR1 KO macrophages. Thus, ΔhtrA was further tested for its antitumour effect in TNFR1 KO mice bearing a B16F10 melanoma model. It displays a moderate antitumour effect, suggesting ΔhtrA instead of VNP20009 might be a promising candidate for bacteria-mediated tumour therapy specific to those with low immunity. SIGNIFICANT AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY VNP20009 is attenuated Salmonella with a good safety widely used for tumour-targeting bacterial therapies. Little is known about its toxicity in hosts with low immunity. This study is the first systemically comparative analysis of their toxicity of VNP20009 and its mutant ΔhtrA in TNFR1-KO mice. Research on toxicity of tumour-targeting Salmonella in mice with immunodeficiency can facilitate the optimization of bacterial therapies with reduced adverse effects in future clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- W Xu
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - T Zhou
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - J Zhou
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Z Qiang
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - J Zhang
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.,Changzhou High-Tech Research Institute of Nanjing University and Jiangsu TargetPharma Laboratories Inc., Changzhou, China
| | - Z Hua
- The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.,Changzhou High-Tech Research Institute of Nanjing University and Jiangsu TargetPharma Laboratories Inc., Changzhou, China.,Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University, Shenzhen, China
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14
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Zhang X, Xu Q, Yang L, Lai Y, Zhang Z, Han C, Jiang C, Li J, Shi Y, Hua ZC. The genes slyA, STM3120 and htrA are required for the anticancer ability of VNP20009. Oncotarget 2016; 7:81187-96. [PMID: 27835896 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.13217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2016] [Accepted: 10/14/2016] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
VNP20009 is a very effective anti-cancer agent and can specifically target tumors and inhibit tumor growth. It was assumed that the tumor targeting ability of VNP20009 correlated to its anticancer capacity. However, our observation contradicted to this assumption. Three VNP20009 mutant strains (ΔslyA, ΔSTM3120 and ΔhtrA) with reduced fitness in normal tissues and unchanged fitness in tumors partially or completely lost their anti-cancer capacities. The genes slyA, STM3120 and htrA were required for survival within macrophages and were indispensable for tumor microenvironment remodeling by VNP20009. The infiltration of immune cells occurred less in the tumors of mice infected with the mutant strains. In addition, the mRNA levels of TNF-α and IL-1β were significantly decreased in the tumors of mice treated with the mutant strains. Our results indicate that the immune responses elicited by bacteria rather than the bacterial titer in tumors play a “decisive” role in VNP20009-mediated bacterial cancer therapy, which provides a novel perspective for the underlying mechanism of bacterial cancer therapy.
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15
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Tian P, Xu D, Huang Z, Meng F, Fu J, Wei H, Chen T. Evaluation of truncated G protein delivered by live attenuated Salmonella as a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus. Microb Pathog 2018; 115:299-303. [PMID: 29306006 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2017.12.080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [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: 06/21/2017] [Revised: 12/31/2017] [Accepted: 12/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can cause severe acute lower respiratory tract disease leading to numerous hospitalizations and deaths in the infant and elderly populations worldwide, while no vaccine or effective drug is available for RSV infections. In the present study, truncated G protein was successfully expressed both in prokaryotic and eukaryotic system, and high levels of serum IgG in response to truncated G protein were observed both in GD-protein group (intramuscularly with purified GD protein) and GD-VNP20009 group (challenged via the oral route with 1 × 109 CFU of pLIVE-RSV-GD-VNP20009 strains) since 21th day, and GD-VNP20009 significantly reduced the productions of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, histamine and pathological features caused by the RSV Long strain (P < .01). Our data indicated that Salmonella typhimurium can be used to deliver truncated G DNA vaccine and represents a promising effect to protect host against RSV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Puyuan Tian
- School of Life Sciences, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330031, PR China; Institute of Translational Medicine, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330031, PR China
| | - Di Xu
- School of Life Sciences, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330031, PR China
| | - Zhixiang Huang
- Institute of Translational Medicine, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330031, PR China
| | - Fanjing Meng
- Institute of Translational Medicine, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330031, PR China
| | - Jinheng Fu
- Jiangxi-OAI Joint Research Institute, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330047, PR China
| | - Hua Wei
- School of Life Sciences, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330031, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330031, PR China
| | - Tingtao Chen
- School of Life Sciences, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330031, PR China; Institute of Translational Medicine, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330031, PR China.
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16
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Zhang Y, Cao W, Toneri M, Zhang N, Kiyuna T, Murakami T, Nelson SD, Dry SM, Li Y, Li S, Wang X, Ma H, Singh AS, Eilber FC, Hoffman RM, Zhao M. Toxicology and efficacy of tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R compared to VNP 20009 in a syngeneic mouse tumor model in immunocompetent mice. Oncotarget 2017; 8:54616-28. [PMID: 28903369 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.17605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2017] [Accepted: 03/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Salmonella typhimurium A1-R (S. typhimurium A1-R) attenuated by leu and arg auxotrophy has been shown to target multiple types of cancer in mouse models. In the present study, toxicologic and biodistribution studies of tumor-targeting S. typhimurium A1-R and S. typhimurium VNP20009 (VNP 20009) were performed in a syngeneic tumor model growing in immunocompetent BALB/c mice. Single or multiple doses of S. typhimurium A1-R of 2.5 × 105 and 5 × 105 were tolerated. A single dose of 1 × 106 resulted in mouse death. S. typhimurium A1-R (5 × 105 CFU) was eliminated from the circulation, liver and spleen approximately 3-5 days after bacterial administration via the tail vein, but remained in the tumor in high amounts. S. typhimurium A1-R was cleared from other organs much more rapidly. S. typhimurium A1-R and VNP 20009 toxicity to the spleen and liver was minimal. S. typhimurium A1-R showed higher selective targeting to the necrotic areas of the tumors than VNP20009. S. typhimurium A1-R inhibited the growth of CT26 colon carcinoma to a greater extent at the same dose of VNP20009. In conclusion, we have determined a safe dose and schedule of S. typhimurium A1-R administration in BALB/c mice, which is also efficacious against tumor growth. The results of the present report indicate similar toxicity of S. typhimurium A1-R and VNP20009, but greater antitumor efficacy of S. typhimurium A1-R in an immunocompetent animal. Since VNP2009 has already proven safe in a Phase I clinical trial, the present results indicate the high clinical potential of S. typhimurium A1-R.
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17
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Quintero D, Carrafa J, Vincent L, Bermudes D. EGFR-targeted Chimeras of Pseudomonas ToxA released into the extracellular milieu by attenuated Salmonella selectively kill tumor cells. Biotechnol Bioeng 2016; 113:2698-2711. [PMID: 27260220 PMCID: PMC5083144 DOI: 10.1002/bit.26026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2016] [Revised: 05/25/2016] [Accepted: 05/29/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Tumor-targeted Salmonella VNP20009 preferentially replicate within tumor tissue and partially suppress tumor growth in murine tumor models. These Salmonella have the ability to locally induce apoptosis when they are in direct contact with cancer cells but they lack significant bystander killing, which may correlate with their overall lack of antitumor activity in human clinical studies. In order to compensate for this deficiency without enhancing overall toxicity, we engineered the bacteria to express epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted cytotoxic proteins that are released into the extracellular milieu. In this study, we demonstrate the ability of the Salmonella strain VNP20009 to produce three different forms of the Pseudomonas exotoxin A (ToxA) chimeric with a tumor growth factor alpha (TGFα) which results in its producing culture supernatants that are cytotoxic and induce apoptosis in EGFR positive cancer cells as measured by the tetrazolium dye reduction, and Rhodamine 123 and JC-10 mitochondrial depolarization assays. In addition, exchange of the ToxA REDLK endoplasmic reticulum retention signal for KDEL and co-expression of the ColE3 lysis protein resulted in an overall increased cytotoxicity compared to the wild type toxin. This approach has the potential to significantly enhance the antitumor activity of VNP20009 while maintaining its previously established safety profile. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 2698-2711. © 2016 The Authors. Biotechnology and Bioengineering published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Quintero
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California, 91330-8303
- Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Sciences (IRIS), California State University Northridge, Northridge, California, 91330-8303
| | - Jamie Carrafa
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California, 91330-8303
| | - Lena Vincent
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California, 91330-8303
| | - David Bermudes
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California, 91330-8303.
- Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Sciences (IRIS), California State University Northridge, Northridge, California, 91330-8303.
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18
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Zhang Y, Zhang N, Zhao M, Hoffman RM. Comparison of the selective targeting efficacy of Salmonella typhimurium A1-R and VNP20009 on the Lewis lung carcinoma in nude mice. Oncotarget 2016; 6:14625-31. [PMID: 25714030 PMCID: PMC4546492 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.3342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [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: 12/16/2014] [Accepted: 01/03/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Salmonella typhimurium A1-R is auxotrophic for arg and leu, which attenuates growth in normal tissue but allows high tumor targeting and virulence. A1-R is effective against metastatic human prostate, breast, and pancreatic cancer as well as osteosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, and glioma in clinically-relevant mouse models. VNP20009 is also a genetically-modified strain of Salmonella typhimurium that has been tested in Phase I clinical trials, but is more attenuated than S. typhimurium A1-R and in addition of multiple amino-acid auxotrophs, is purine auxotropic with the purI mutation. In the present study, mouse Lewis lung carcinoma-bearing nude mouse models were treated with S. typhimurium A1-R or VNP20009. S. typhimurium A1-R and VNP20009 were both eliminated from the liver and spleen approximately 3-5 days after administration via the tail vein. However, A1-R showed higher tumor targeting and inhibited the Lewis lung carcinoma to a greater extent than VNP20009, with less body weight loss. The mice tolerated S. typhimurium A1-R to at a least 2-fold higher dose than VNP20009 when the bacteria were administered iv. The results of the present study suggest that S. typhimurium A1-R has greater clinical potential than VNP20009.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong Zhang
- AntiCancer, Inc., San Diego, California, USA
| | - Nan Zhang
- AntiCancer, Inc., San Diego, California, USA
| | - Ming Zhao
- AntiCancer, Inc., San Diego, California, USA
| | - Robert M Hoffman
- AntiCancer, Inc., San Diego, California, USA.,Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego, California, USA
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Zhou S, Zhao Z, Lin Y, Gong S, Li F, Pan J, Li X, Gao Z, Zhao AZ. Suppression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma growth by intratumoral delivery of attenuated Salmonella typhimurium using a dual fluorescent live tracking system. Cancer Biol Ther 2016; 17:732-40. [PMID: 27089121 PMCID: PMC4970537 DOI: 10.1080/15384047.2016.1177683] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has the poorest prognosis among all malignancies and is resistant to almost all current therapies. Attenuated Salmonella typhimurium strain VNP20009 has been deployed as powerful anticancer agent in a variety of animal cancer models, and previous phase 1 clinical trials have proven its safety profiles. However, thus far, little is known about its effect on PDAC. Here, we established CFPAC-1 cell lines expressing an mKate2 protein and thus emitting far-red fluorescence in the subsequent xenograft implant. VNP20009 strain was further engineered to carry a luciferase cDNA, which catalyzes the light-emitting reaction to allow the observation of salmonella distribution and accumulation within tumor with live imaging. Using such VNP20009 strain and intratumoral delivery, we could reduce the growth of pancreatic cancer by inducing apoptosis and severe necrosis in a dosage dependent manner. Consistent with this finding, intratumoral delivery of VNP20009 also increase caspase-3 activity and the expression of Bax protein. In summary, we revealed that VNP20009 is a promising bacterial agent for the treatment of PDAC, and that we have established a dual fluorescent imaging system as a valuable tool for noninvasive live imaging of solid tumor and engineered bacterial drug.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sujin Zhou
- a Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, The Center of Metabolic Disease Research, Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , Jiangsu Province , China
| | - Zhenggang Zhao
- a Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, The Center of Metabolic Disease Research, Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , Jiangsu Province , China
| | - Yan Lin
- a Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, The Center of Metabolic Disease Research, Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , Jiangsu Province , China
| | - Sijia Gong
- a Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, The Center of Metabolic Disease Research, Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , Jiangsu Province , China
| | - Fanghong Li
- a Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, The Center of Metabolic Disease Research, Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , Jiangsu Province , China
| | - Jinshun Pan
- a Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, The Center of Metabolic Disease Research, Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , Jiangsu Province , China
| | - Xiaoxi Li
- a Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, The Center of Metabolic Disease Research, Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , Jiangsu Province , China
| | - Zhuo Gao
- b Department of Clinical Laboratory , The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University , Harbin , Heilongjiang , China
| | - Allan Z Zhao
- a Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, The Center of Metabolic Disease Research, Nanjing Medical University , Nanjing , Jiangsu Province , China
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