Oncology
Abstract
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been implicated in glioblastoma (GBM); however, a mechanistic connection in vivo has not been established. The purpose of this study is to characterize the effects of murine CMV (MCMV) on GBM growth in murine models. Syngeneic GBM models were established in mice perinatally infected with MCMV. We found that tumor growth was markedly enhanced in MCMV+ mice, with a significant reduction in overall survival compared with that of controls (P < 0.001). We observed increased angiogenesis and tumor blood flow in MCMV+ mice. MCMV reactivation was observed in intratumoral perivascular pericytes and tumor cells in mouse and human GBM specimens, and pericyte coverage of tumor vasculature was strikingly augmented in MCMV+ mice. We identified PDGF-D as a CMV-induced factor essential for pericyte recruitment, angiogenesis, and tumor growth. The antiviral drug cidofovir improved survival in MCMV+ mice, inhibiting MCMV reactivation, PDGF-D expression, pericyte recruitment, and tumor angiogenesis. These data show that MCMV potentiates GBM growth in vivo by increased pericyte recruitment and angiogenesis due to alterations in the secretome of CMV-infected cells. Our model provides evidence for a role of CMV in GBM growth and supports the application of antiviral approaches for GBM therapy.
Authors
Harald Krenzlin, Prajna Behera, Viola Lorenz, Carmela Passaro, Mykola Zdioruk, Michal O. Nowicki, Korneel Grauwet, Hong Zhang, Magdalena Skubal, Hirotaka Ito, Rachel Zane, Michael Gutknecht, Marion B. Griessl, Franz Ricklefs, Lai Ding, Sharon Peled, Arun Rooj, C. David James, Charles S. Cobbs, Charles H. Cook, E. Antonio Chiocca, Sean E. Lawler
Abstract
BRAF and CRAF are critical components of the MAPK signaling pathway which is activated in many cancer types. In approximately 1% of melanomas, BRAF or CRAF are activated through structural arrangements. We describe here a metastatic melanoma with a GOLGA4-RAF1 fusion and pathogenic variants in CTNNB1 and CDKN2A. Anti-CTLA4/anti-PD1 combination immunotherapy failed to control tumor progression. In the absence of other actionable variants the patient was administered MEK inhibitor therapy on the basis of its potential action against RAF1 fusions. This resulted in a profound and clinically significant response. We demonstrated that GOLGA4-RAF1 expression was associated with ERK activation, elevated expression of the RAS/RAF downstream co-effector ETV5, and a high Ki67 index. These findings provide a rationale for the dramatic response to targeted therapy. This study shows that thorough molecular characterization of treatment-resistant cancers can identify therapeutic targets and personalize management, leading to improved patient outcomes.
Authors
Christopher R. McEvoy, Huiling Xu, Kortnye Smith, Dariush Etemadmoghadam, Huei San Leong, David Y. Choong, David J. Byrne, Amir Iravani, Sophie Beck, Linda Mileshkin, Richard W. Tothill, David D. Bowtell, Bindi M. Bates, Violeta Nastevski, Judy Browning, Anthony H. Bell, Chloe Khoo, Jayesh Desai, Andrew P. Fellowes, Stephen B. Fox, Owen W.J. Prall
Abstract
BACKGROUND. Recent genomic and bioinformatic technological advances have made it possible to dissect the immune response to personalized neoantigens encoded by tumor-specific mutations. However, timely and efficient identification of neoantigens is still one of the major obstacles to using personalized neoantigen-based cancer immunotherapy. METHODS. Two different pipelines of neoantigens identification were established in this study: (1) Clinical grade targeted sequencing was performed in patients with refractory solid tumor, and mutant peptides with high variant allele frequency and predicted high HLA-binding affinity were de novo synthesized. (2) An inventory-shared neoantigen peptide library of common solid tumors was constructed, and patients' hotspot mutations were matched to the neoantigen peptide library. The candidate neoepitopes were identified by recalling memory T-cell responses in vitro. Subsequently, neoantigen-loaded dendritic cell vaccines and neoantigen-reactive T cells were generated for personalized immunotherapy in six patients. RESULTS. Immunogenic neo-epitopes were recognized by autologous T cells in 3 of 4 patients who utilized the de novo synthesis mode and in 6 of 13 patients who performed shared neoantigen peptide library, respectively. A metastatic thymoma patient achieved a complete and durable response beyond 29 months after treatment. Immune-related partial response was observed in another patient with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The remaining four patients achieved the prolonged stabilization of disease with a median PFS of 8.6 months. CONCLUSIONS. The current study provided feasible pipelines for neoantigen identification. Implementing these strategies to individually tailor neoantigens could facilitate the neoantigen-based translational immunotherapy research. TRIAL REGSITRATION. ChiCTR.org ChiCTR-OIC-16010092, ChiCTR-OIC-17011275, ChiCTR-OIC-17011913; ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03171220. FUNDING. This work was funded by grants from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC1308900), the National Major Projects for “Major New Drugs Innovation and Development” (Grant No.2018ZX09301048-003), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81672367, 81572329, 81572601), and the Key Research and Development Program of Jiangsu Province (No. BE2017607).
Authors
Fangjun Chen, Zhengyun Zou, Juan Du, Shu Su, Jie Shao, Fanyan Meng, Ju Yang, Qiuping Xu, Naiqing Ding, Yang Yang, Qin Liu, Qin Wang, Zhichen Sun, Shujuan Zhou, Shiyao Du, Jia Wei, Baorui Liu
Abstract
Bone osteogenic sarcoma has a poor prognosis as the exact cell of origin and the signaling pathways underling tumor formation remain undefined. Here, we report an osteogenic tumor mouse model based on the conditional knockout of liver kinase b1 (Lkb1; also known as Stk11) in Cathepsin K (Ctsk)-Cre expressing cells. Lineage tracing studies demonstrated that Ctsk-Cre could label a population of periosteal cells. The cells functioned as mesenchymal progenitors with regard to markers and functional properties. LKB1 deficiency increased proliferation and osteoblast differentiation of Ctsk+ periosteal cells, while downregulation of mTORC1 activity, using Raptor genetic mouse model or mTORC1 inhibitor treatment, ameliorated tumor progression of Ctsk-Cre Lkb1fllfl mice. Xenograft mouse models, using human osteosarcoma cell lines, also demonstrated that LKB1 deficiency promoted tumor formation, while mTOR inhibition suppressed xenograft tumor growth. In summary, we identified periosteum-derived Ctsk-Cre expressing cells as a cell of origin for osteogenic tumor and suggested the LKB1-mTORC1 pathway as a promising target for treatment of osteogenic tumor.
Authors
Yujiao Han, Heng Feng, Jun Sun, Xiaoting Liang, Zhuo Wang, Wenhui Xing, Qinggang Dai, Yang Yang, Anjia Han, Zhanying Wei, Qing Bi, Hongbin Ji, Tiebang Kang, Weiguo Zou
Abstract
Anti-leukemic effect of BET/BRD4 (BETP) protein inhibition has been largely attributed to transcriptional downregulation of cellular anabolic/anti-apoptotic processes but its effect on bone marrow microenvironment, a sanctuary favoring persistence of leukemia stem/progenitor cells, is unexplored. Sustained degradation of BETP with small-molecule BET proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC), ARV-825, resulted in marked downregulation of surface CXCR4 and CD44, key proteins in leukemia-microenvironment interaction, in AML cells. Abrogation of surface CXCR4 expression impaired SDF-1α directed migration and was mediated through transcriptional down-regulation of PIM1 kinase that in turn phosphorylates CXCR4 and facilitates its surface localization. Down-regulation of CD44/CD44v8-10 impaired cystine uptake, lowered intracellular reduced glutathione and increased oxidative stress. More importantly, BETP degradation markedly decreased CD34+CD38-CD90-CD45RA+ leukemic stem cell population and alone or in combination with Cytarabine, prolonged survival in mouse model of human leukemia including AML-PDX. Gene expression profiling and single cell proteomics confirmed down regulation of the gene signatures associated with ‘stemness’ in AML and Wnt/β-catenin, Myc pathways. Hence, BETP degradation by ARV-825 simultaneously targets cell intrinsic signaling, stromal interactions and metabolism in AML.
Authors
Sujan Piya, Hong Mu, Seemana Bhattacharya, Philip L. Lorenzi, R. Eric Davis, Teresa McQueen, Vivian Ruvolo, Natalia Baran, Zhiqiang Wang, Yimin Qian, Craig M. Crews, Marina Konopleava, Jo Ishizawa, M. James You, Hagop Kantarjian, Michael Andreeff, Gautam Borthakur
Abstract
Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most common human sarcoma, frequently characterized by an oncogenic mutation in the KIT or platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA) genes. We performed RNA sequencing of 75 human GIST tumors from 75 patients, comprising the largest cohort of GISTs sequenced to date, in order to discover differences in the immune infiltrates of KIT and PDGFRA-mutant GIST. Through bioinformatics, immunohistochemistry, and flow cytometry, we found that PDGFRA-mutant GISTs harbored more immune cells with increased cytolytic activity when compared to KIT-mutant GISTs. PDGFRA-mutant GISTs expressed many chemokines, such as CXCL14, at a significantly higher level when compared to KIT-mutant GISTs and exhibited more diverse driver-derived neoepitope:HLA binding, both of which may contribute to PDGFRA-mutant GIST immunogenicity. Through machine learning, we generated gene expression-based immune profiles capable of differentiating KIT and PDGFRA-mutant GISTs, and also identified additional immune features of high PD-1 and PD-L1 expressing tumors across all GIST mutational subtypes, which may provide insight into immunotherapeutic opportunities and limitations in GIST.
Authors
Gerardo A. Vitiello, Timothy G. Bowler, Mengyuan Liu, Benjamin D. Medina, Jennifer Q. Zhang, Nesteene J. Param, Jennifer K. Loo, Rachel L. Goldfeder, Frederic Chibon, Ferdinand Rossi, Shan Zeng, Ronald P. DeMatteo
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) represents an immune quiescent tumor that is resistant to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Previously, our group has shown that a GM-CSF secreting allogenic pancreatic tumor cell vaccine (GVAX), may prime the tumor microenvironment by inducing intratumoral T-cell infiltration. Here, we show that untreated PDACs express minimal indoleamine-2, 3-dioxygenase (IDO1); however, GVAX therapy induced IDO1 expression on tumor epithelia as well as vaccine-induced tertiary lymphoid aggregates. IDO1 expression plays a role in regulating the polarization of Th1, Th17, and possibly T-regulatory cells in PDAC tumors. IDO1 inhibitor enhanced anti-tumor efficacy of GVAX in a murine model of PDACs. The combination of vaccine and IDO1 inhibitor enhanced intratumoral T-cell infiltration and function, but adding anti-PD-L1 antibody to the combination did not offer further synergy and in fact may have a negative interaction decreasing the number of intratumoral effector T-cells. Additionally, IDO1 inhibitor in the presence of vaccine therapy, did not significantly modulate intratumoral myeloid derived suppressor cells quantitatively, but diminished their suppressive effect on CD8+ proliferation. Our study thus supports the combination of IDO1 inhibitor and vaccine therapy, however, does not support the combination of IDO1 inhibitor and anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibody for T cell-inflamed tumors such as PDACs treated with vaccine therapy.
Authors
Alex B. Blair, Jennifer Kleponis, Dwayne L. Thomas II, Stephen T. Muth, Adrian G. Murphy, Victoria Kim, Lei Zheng
Abstract
Understanding the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) promises to be key for optimal cancer therapy, especially in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Integrating spatial resolution of immune cells with laser capture microdissection gene expression profiles, we defined distinct TIME stratification in TNBC with implications for current therapies, including immune checkpoint blockade. TNBCs with an immunoreactive microenvironment exhibited tumoral infiltration of granzyme B+ CD8+ T cells, a type I interferon signature, elevated expression of multiple immune inhibitory molecules, including IDO, PD-L1, and good outcome. An “immune-cold” microenvironment with absence of tumoral CD8+ T cells was defined by elevated expression of the immunosuppressive marker B7-H4, signatures of fibrotic stroma and poor outcome. A distinct poor outcome immunomodulatory microenvironment, hitherto poorly characterized, exhibited stromal restriction of CD8+ T cells, stromal expression of PD-L1 and enrichment for signatures of cholesterol biosynthesis. Metasignatures defining these TIME subtypes stratified TNBC, predicting outcome and identifying potential therapeutic targets for TNBC.
Authors
Tina Gruosso, Mathieu Gigoux, Venkata Satya Kumar Manem, Nicholas Bertos, Dongmei Zuo, Irina Perlitch, Sadiq Mehdi Ismail Saleh, Hong Zhao, Margarita Souleimanova, Radia Marie Johnson, Anne Monette, Valentina Munoz Ramos, Michael Trevor Hallett, John Stagg, Réjean Lapointe, Atilla Omeroglu, Sarkis Meterissian, Laurence Buisseret, Gert Van den Eynden, Roberto Salgado, Marie-Christine Guiot, Benjamin Haibe-Kains, Morag Park
Abstract
Constitutive JAK2 signaling is central to myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) pathogenesis and results in activation of STAT, PI3K/AKT and MEK/ERK signaling. However, the therapeutic efficacy of current JAK2 inhibitors is limited. We investigated the role of MEK/ERK signaling in MPN cell survival in the setting of JAK kinase inhibition. Type I and II JAK2 inhibition suppressed MEK/ERK activation in MPN cell lines in vitro, but not in Jak2V617F and MPLW515L mouse models in vivo. JAK2 inhibition ex vivo inhibited MEK/ERK signaling suggesting cell extrinsic factors maintain ERK activation in vivo. We identified PDGFRα as an activated kinase that remains activated upon JAK2 inhibition in vivo, and PDGF-AA/PDGF-BB production persisted in the setting of JAK kinase inhibition. PDGF-BB maintained ERK activation in presence of ruxolitinib consistent with its function as a ligand-induced bypass for ERK activation. Combined JAK/MEK inhibition suppressed MEK/ERK activation in Jak2V617F and MPLW515L mice with increased efficacy and reversal of fibrosis to an extent not seen with JAK inhibitors. This demonstrates that compensatory ERK activation limits the efficacy of JAK2 inhibition and dual JAK/MEK inhibition provides an opportunity for improved therapeutic efficacy in MPNs and in other malignancies driven by aberrant JAK-STAT signaling.
Authors
Simona Stivala, Tamara Codilupi, Sime Brkic, Anne Baerenwaldt, Nilabh Ghosh, Hui Hao-Shen, Stephan Dirnhofer, Matthias S. Dettmer, Cedric Simillion, Beat A. Kaufmann, Sophia Chiu, Matthew D. Keller, Maria Kleppe, Morgane Hilpert, Andreas S. Buser, Jakob R. Passweg, Thomas Radimerski, Radek C. Skoda, Ross L. Levine, Sara C. Meyer
Abstract
The discovery of recurrent mutations in subunits of the vacuolar-type H+-translocating ATPase (v-ATPase) in follicular lymphoma (FL) highlights a role for the amino acid- and energy-sensing pathway to MTOR in the pathogenesis of this disease. Here, through the use of complementary experimental approaches involving mammalian cells and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we have demonstrated that mutations in the v-ATPase subunit ATP6V1B2/Vma2 activate autophagic flux and maintain MTOR/Tor in an active state. Engineered lymphoma cell lines and primary follicular lymphoma B cells (FL B cells) carrying mutated ATP6V1B2 demonstrated a remarkable ability to survive low leucine concentrations. The treatment of primary FL B cells with inhibitors of autophagy uncovered an addiction for survival for FL B cells harboring ATP6V1B2 mutants. These data support mutational activation of autophagic flux by recurrent hotspot mutations in ATP6V1B2 as an adaptive mechanism in FL pathogenesis and as a new possible therapeutically targetable pathway.
Authors
Fangyang Wang, Damián Gatica, Zhang Xiao Ying, Luke F. Peterson, Peter K. Kim, Denzil Bernard, Kamlai Saiya-Cork, Shaomeng Wang, Mark S. Kaminski, Alfred E. Chang, Tycel Phillips, Daniel J. Klionsky, Sami N. Malek
Copyright © 2019 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)