Oncology
Abstract
T follicular helper cells (TFH cells) are important regulators of antigen-specific B cell responses. The B cell chemoattractant CXCL13 has recently been linked with TFH cell infiltration and improved survival in human cancer. Although human TFH cells can produce CXCL13, their immune functions are currently unknown. This study presents data from human breast cancer, advocating a role for tumor-infiltrating CXCL13-producing (CXCR5–) TFH cells, here named TFHX13 cells, in promoting local memory B cell differentiation. TFHX13 cells potentially trigger tertiary lymphoid structure formation and thereby generate germinal center B cell responses at the tumor site. Follicular DCs are not potent CXCL13 producers in breast tumor tissues. We used the TFH cell markers PD-1 and ICOS to identify distinct effector and regulatory CD4+ T cell subpopulations in breast tumors. TFHX13 cells are an important component of the PD-1hiICOSint effector subpopulation and coexpanded with PD-1hiICOSintFOXP3hi Tregs. IL2 deprivation induces CXCL13 expression in vitro with a synergistic effect from TGFβ1, providing insight into TFHX13 cell differentiation in response to Treg accumulation, similar to conventional TFH cell responses. Our data suggest that human TFHX13 cell differentiation may be a key factor in converting Treg-mediated immune suppression to de novo activation of adaptive antitumor humoral responses in the chronic inflammatory breast cancer microenvironment.
Authors
Chunyan Gu-Trantien, Edoardo Migliori, Laurence Buisseret, Alexandre de Wind, Sylvain Brohée, Soizic Garaud, Grégory Noël, Luan Dang C.V., Jean-Nicolas Lodewyckx, Céline Naveaux, Hugues Duvillier, Stanislas Goriely, Denis Larsimont, Karen Willard-Gallo
Insulin supplementation attenuates cancer-induced cardiomyopathy and slows tumor disease progression
Abstract
Advanced cancer induces fundamental changes in metabolism and promotes cardiac atrophy and heart failure. We discovered systemic insulin deficiency in cachectic cancer patients. Similarly, mice with advanced B16F10 melanoma (B16F10-TM) or colon 26 carcinoma (C26-TM) displayed decreased systemic insulin associated with marked cardiac atrophy, metabolic impairment, and function. B16F10 and C26 tumors decrease systemic insulin via high glucose consumption, lowering pancreatic insulin production and producing insulin-degrading enzyme. As tumor cells consume glucose in an insulin-independent manner, they shift glucose away from cardiomyocytes. Since cardiomyocytes in both tumor models remained insulin responsive, low-dose insulin supplementation by subcutaneous implantation of insulin-releasing pellets improved cardiac glucose uptake, atrophy, and function, with no adverse side effects. In addition, by redirecting glucose to the heart in addition to other organs, the systemic insulin treatment lowered glucose usage by the tumor and thereby decreased tumor growth and volume. Insulin corrected the cancer-induced reduction in cardiac Akt activation and the subsequent overactivation of the proteasome and autophagy. Thus, cancer-induced systemic insulin depletion contributes to cardiac wasting and failure and may promote tumor growth. Low-dose insulin supplementation attenuates these processes and may be supportive in cardio-oncologic treatment concepts.
Authors
James T. Thackeray, Stefan Pietzsch, Britta Stapel, Melanie Ricke-Hoch, Chun-Wei Lee, Jens P. Bankstahl, Michaela Scherr, Jörg Heineke, Gesine Scharf, Arash Haghikia, Frank M. Bengel, Denise Hilfiker-Kleiner
Abstract
Metabolic dysregulation promotes cancer growth through not only energy production, but also epigenetic reprogramming. Here, we report that a critical node in methyl donor metabolism, nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT), ranked among the most consistently overexpressed metabolism genes in glioblastoma relative to normal brain. NNMT was preferentially expressed by mesenchymal glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs). NNMT depletes S-adenosyl methionine (SAM), a methyl donor generated from methionine. GSCs contained lower levels of methionine, SAM, and nicotinamide, but they contained higher levels of oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) than differentiated tumor cells. In concordance with the poor prognosis associated with DNA hypomethylation in glioblastoma, depletion of methionine, a key upstream methyl group donor, shifted tumors toward a mesenchymal phenotype and accelerated tumor growth. Targeting NNMT expression reduced cellular proliferation, self-renewal, and in vivo tumor growth of mesenchymal GSCs. Supporting a mechanistic link between NNMT and DNA methylation, targeting NNMT reduced methyl donor availability, methionine levels, and unmethylated cytosine, with increased levels of DNA methyltransferases, DNMT1 and DNMT3A. Supporting the clinical significance of these findings, NNMT portended poor prognosis for glioblastoma patients. Collectively, our findings support NNMT as a GSC-specific therapeutic target in glioblastoma by disrupting oncogenic DNA hypomethylation.
Authors
Jinkyu Jung, Leo J.Y. Kim, Xiuxing Wang, Qiulian Wu, Tanwarat Sanvoranart, Christopher G. Hubert, Briana C. Prager, Lisa C. Wallace, Xun Jin, Stephen C. Mack, Jeremy N. Rich
Abstract
Authors
Brateil Badal, Alexander Solovyov, Serena Di Cecilia, Joseph Minhow Chan, Li-Wei Chang, Ramiz Iqbal, Iraz T. Aydin, Geena S. Rajan, Chen Chen, Franco Abbate, Kshitij S. Arora, Antoine Tanne, Stephen B. Gruber, Timothy M. Johnson, Douglas R. Fullen, Leon Raskin, Robert Phelps, Nina Bhardwaj, Emily Bernstein, David T. Ting, Georg Brunner, Eric E. Schadt, Benjamin D. Greenbaum, Julide Tok Celebi
Abstract
ICOS costimulation generates Th17 cells with durable memory responses to tumor. Herein, we found that ICOS induces PI3K/p110δ/Akt and Wnt/β-catenin pathways in Th17 cells. Coinhibiting PI3Kδ and β-catenin altered the biological fate of Th17 cells. Th17 cells inhibited of both pathways expressed less RORγt, which, in turn, reduced their ability to secrete IL-17. Unexpectedly, these cells were more effective (than uninhibited cells) at regressing tumor when infused into mice, leading to long-term curative responses. PI3Kδ inhibition expanded precursor Th17 cells with a central memory phenotype that expressed nominal regulatory properties (low FoxP3), while β-catenin inhibition enhanced Th17 multifunctionality in vivo. Remarkably, upon TCR restimulation, RORγt and IL-17 rebounded in Th17 cells treated with PI3Kδ and β-catenin inhibitors. Moreover, these cells regained β-catenin, Tcf7, and Akt expression, licensing them to secrete heightened IL-2, persist, and eradicate solid tumors without help from endogenous NK and CD8 T cells. This finding shines a light on ways to repurpose FDA-approved drugs to augment T cell–based cancer immunotherapies.
Authors
Kinga Majchrzak, Michelle H. Nelson, Jacob S. Bowers, Stefanie R. Bailey, Megan M. Wyatt, John M. Wrangle, Mark P. Rubinstein, Juan C. Varela, Zihai Li, Richard A. Himes, Sherine S.L. Chan, Chrystal M. Paulos
Abstract
Authors
Vivek Subbiah, Muhammad Rizwan Khawaja, David S. Hong, Behrang Amini, Jiang Yungfang, Hui Liu, Adrienne Johnson, Alexa B. Schrock, Siraj M. Ali, James X. Sun, David Fabrizio, Sarina Piha-Paul, Siqing Fu, Apostolia M. Tsimberidou, Aung Naing, Filip Janku, Daniel D. Karp, Michael Overman, Cathy Eng, Scott Kopetz, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Gerald S. Falchook
Abstract
Women diagnosed with breast cancer within 5 years of childbirth have poorer prognosis than nulliparous or pregnant women. Weaning-induced breast involution is implicated, as the collagen-rich, immunosuppressive microenvironment of the involuting mammary gland is tumor promotional in mice. To investigate the role of mammary fibroblasts, isolated mammary PDGFRα+ cells from nulliparous and postweaning mice were assessed for activation phenotype and protumorigenic function. Fibroblast activation during involution was evident by increased expression of fibrillar collagens, lysyl oxidase,
Authors
Qiuchen Guo, Jessica Minnier, Julja Burchard, Kami Chiotti, Paul Spellman, Pepper Schedin
Abstract
Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) frequently harbors genetic alterations that activate the B cell receptor (BCR) and TLR pathways, which converge to activate NF-κB. While selective inhibition of BTK with ibrutinib causes clinical responses in relapsed DLBCL patients, most responses are partial and of a short duration. Here, we demonstrated that MyD88 silencing enhanced ibrutinib efficacy in DLBCL cells harboring MyD88 L265P mutations. Chemical downregulation of MyD88 expression with HDAC inhibitors also synergized with ibrutinib. We demonstrate that HDAC inhibitor regulation of MyD88 expression is mediated by STAT3. In turn, STAT3 silencing caused a decrease in MyD88 mRNA and protein levels, and enhanced the ibrutinib antilymphoma effect in MyD88 mutant DLBCL cells. Induced mutations in the STAT3 binding site in the MyD88 promotor region was associated with a decrease in MyD88 transcriptional activity. We also demonstrate that treatment with the HDAC inhibitor panobinostat decreased phosphorylated STAT3 binding to the MyD88 promotor. Accordingly, combined treatment with panobinostat and ibrutinib resulted in enhanced inhibition of NF-κB activity and caused regression of DLBCL xenografts. Our data provide a mechanistic rationale for combining HDAC inhibitors and ibrutinib for the treatment of DLBCL.
Authors
Patrizia Mondello, Elliott J. Brea, Elisa De Stanchina, Eneda Toska, Aaron Y. Chang, Myles Fennell, Venkatraman Seshan, Ralph Garippa, David A. Scheinberg, José Baselga, Hans-Guido Wendel, Anas Younes
Abstract
Focal therapies play an important role in the treatment of cancers where palliation is desired, local control is needed, or surgical resection is not feasible. Pairing immunotherapy with such focal treatments is particularly attractive; however, there is emerging evidence that focal therapy can have a positive or negative impact on the efficacy of immunotherapy. Thermal ablation is an appealing modality to pair with such protocols, as tumors can be rapidly debulked (cell death occurring within minutes to hours), tumor antigens can be released locally, and treatment can be conducted and repeated without the concerns of radiation-based therapies. In a syngeneic model of epithelial cancer, we found that 7 days of immunotherapy (TLR9 agonist and checkpoint blockade), prior to thermal ablation, reduced macrophages and myeloid-derived suppressor cells and enhanced IFN-γ–producing CD8+ T cells, the M1 macrophage fraction, and PD-L1 expression on CD45+ cells. Continued treatment with immunotherapy alone or with immunotherapy combined with ablation (primed ablation) then resulted in a complete response in 80% of treated mice at day 90, and primed ablation expanded CD8+ T cells as compared with all control groups. When the tumor burden was increased by implantation of 3 orthotopic tumors, successive primed ablation of 2 discrete lesions resulted in survival of 60% of treated mice as compared with 25% of mice treated with immunotherapy alone. Alternatively, when immunotherapy was begun immediately after thermal ablation, the abscopal effect was diminished and none of the mice within the cohort exhibited a complete response. In summary, we found that immunotherapy begun before ablation can be curative and can enhance efficacy in the presence of a high tumor burden. Two mechanisms have potential to impact the efficacy of immunotherapy when begun immediately after thermal ablation: mechanical changes in the tumor microenvironment and inflammatory-mediated changes in immune phenotype.
Authors
Matthew T. Silvestrini, Elizabeth S. Ingham, Lisa M. Mahakian, Azadeh Kheirolomoom, Yu Liu, Brett Z. Fite, Sarah M. Tam, Samantha T. Tucci, Katherine D. Watson, Andrew W. Wong, Arta M. Monjazeb, Neil E. Hubbard, William J. Murphy, Alexander D. Borowsky, Katherine W. Ferrara
Abstract
Parathyroid carcinoma (PC) is an extremely rare malignancy lacking effective therapeutic intervention. We generated and analyzed whole-exome sequencing data from 17 patients to identify somatic and germline genetic alterations. A panel of selected genes was sequenced in a 7-tumor expansion cohort. We show that 47% (8 of 17) of the tumors harbor somatic mutations in the
Authors
Chetanya Pandya, Andrew V. Uzilov, Justin Bellizzi, Chun Yee Lau, Aye S. Moe, Maya Strahl, Wissam Hamou, Leah C. Newman, Marc Y. Fink, Yevgeniy Antipin, Willie Yu, Mark Stevenson, Branca M. Cavaco, Bin T. Teh, Rajesh V. Thakker, Hans Morreau, Eric E. Schadt, Robert Sebra, Shuyu D. Li, Andrew Arnold, Rong Chen
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