调节性B细胞在肿瘤免疫治疗中的作用

调节性B细胞(regulatory B cell, Breg)是一类具有免疫抑制功能的B细胞亚群,在维持机体免疫平衡中发挥重要作用,主要通过分泌抗炎性细胞因子发挥免疫抑制功能。Breg在炎症、自身免疫性疾病及肿瘤等疾病中发挥重要作用,并逐渐成为肿瘤免疫治疗研究的新焦点。本文介绍了肿瘤微环境中Breg的表型及其作用,综述了近年来以Breg为靶点的肿瘤免疫治疗研究进展,以期为利用Breg提高肿瘤免疫治疗效果提供新思路。     

调节性T细胞与胶质瘤的免疫治疗

调节性T细胞（regulatory T cell,Treg）是一群具有抑制其它免疫细胞功能的起负性调控的细胞群. Treg细胞能抑制多种免疫细胞,如CD4+T和CD8+T淋巴细胞、NK细胞、B淋巴细胞以及树突状细胞的活化和增殖,是体内维持免疫系统稳定,防止出现自身免疫性疾病重要因素.最新研究表明,Treg细胞在肿瘤免疫逃逸中也发挥重要作用. 肿瘤细胞通过扩增或招募Treg细胞,抑制机体对肿瘤的免疫作用,由此可知,Treg细胞在肿瘤的发生和发展过程中发挥重要作用. 因此,抑制Treg细胞的活性和数量是包括胶质瘤在内的肿瘤免疫治疗有效的方式.     

Hsp90特异性抑制剂对HeLa宫颈癌细胞p53蛋白表达的影响

HSP90抑制剂作为新型抗肿瘤药物,其治疗肿瘤效果良好,是目前抗肿瘤新药研发的热点。本研究目的在于探讨Hsp90特异性抑制剂对宫颈癌hela细胞增殖、凋亡影响及其调节p53通路的作用机制。利用HSP90抑制剂干预宫颈癌hela细胞24 h、48 h、72 h后细胞生长抑制率情况,观察HSP90抑制剂作用宫颈癌hela细胞48 h后细胞凋亡及半胱氨酸蛋白酶-3(Caspase-3)、半胱氨酸蛋白酶-8(Caspase-8)及p53蛋白水平变化的影响。结果表明,HSP90抑制剂可导致宫颈癌hela细胞形态学改变,增加细胞通透性,破坏细胞膜导致细胞破碎脱落。HSP90抑制剂能有效抑制宫颈癌hela细胞,可抑制细胞增殖并促进宫颈癌hela细胞凋亡,且呈剂量及时间依赖性。在细胞培养48 h后随HSP90抑制剂浓度增加,Caspase-3、Caspase-8、p53表达显著增加。结果表明HSP90抑制剂能可通过上调Caspase-3、Caspase-8、p53蛋白表达而诱导宫颈癌hela细胞凋亡。     

自然杀伤细胞参与肝脏恶性肿瘤免疫逃逸研究进展

自然杀伤细胞是机体固有免疫系统重要组成部分,在肝脏等免疫器官中含量丰富,而且免疫表型、功能等表现出器官特异性。在正常情况下,靶细胞表面的配体与自然杀伤细胞表面的活化性受体直接结合并释放细胞毒性物质,诱导活化靶细胞凋亡程序,从而发挥抗感染、抗肿瘤作用。然而肿瘤细胞仍能够通过多种途径逃逸机体的免疫监视功能,研究认为肿瘤细胞抗原异常表达、肿瘤微环境中细胞因子及其他免疫细胞相互作用等因素所引起的自然杀伤细胞活性降低对于诱导肿瘤免疫逃逸起重要作用。本文综述了自然杀伤细胞在肝脏恶性肿瘤发生过程中参与免疫逃逸的机制及研究进展,以期为临床抗肿瘤免疫治疗的研究提供参考。     

基于髓源性抑制细胞的食药用菌多糖抗肿瘤免疫作用机制

髓源性抑制细胞(myeloid-derived suppressor cells,MDSCs)是一种异质性的免疫调节细胞。在癌症机体中,MDSCs是主要的免疫抑制细胞,通过多种途径诱导T淋巴细胞衰竭和凋亡,促进肿瘤细胞逃逸,从而导致肿瘤不受控制地生长,是癌症治疗的主要障碍。目前,MDSCs是癌症药物研究的热点和关键靶点。近年来,研究报道显示多糖可下调MDSCs在癌症患者及肿瘤实验动物体内数量和比例,并诱导免疫抑制功能丧失。食药用菌多糖是天然多糖的主要来源,可以通过多种途径激活肿瘤免疫应答,其抑制MDSCs功能的研究报道逐年增多,目前研究主要集中在香菇多糖、灵芝多糖等部分种类。因此,本文简要描述髓源性抑制细胞在癌症中的免疫抑制功能,然后详细地综述食药用菌多糖对髓源性抑制细胞作用的研究进展,以期为食药用菌多糖在肿瘤免疫药物开发及辅助增强(如免疫检查点抑制剂)等免疫治疗提供新思路。     

细胞微环境对免疫细胞黏附与迁移的调控

免疫细胞的黏附与迁移是机体免疫与宿主防御的关键环节,在机体免疫监视以及稳态维持中发挥重要作用,甚至参与到癌细胞转移的过程中。免疫细胞在血管内皮表面的滚动、活化、稳定黏附和定向迁移依赖整合素功能,并受到细胞微环境,包括生物微环境、化学微环境以及物理微环境的多因子协同作用和调控。细胞微环境的紊乱往往导致免疫细胞黏附与迁移的异常,引发炎症性疾病,甚至肿瘤。将对细胞微环境通过整合素调控免疫细胞黏附与迁移进行概述,重点介绍生物微环境、化学微环境和物理微环境对免疫细胞黏附与迁移的调控机制。     

NF-κB在调控肿瘤细胞凋亡中的作用

细胞凋亡在维持细胞动态平衡和机体稳定方面发挥重要作用。核转录因子κB(nuclear factors κB,NF-κB)参与细胞生长、分化及炎症反应等基因表达调控,同时参与了肿瘤的发生、发展及转移,一度被认为是肿瘤治疗的靶点之一。近年来研究发现,NF-κB活化在炎症诱发的肿瘤形成中发挥重要作用,但同时发现NF-κB活化也可发挥促凋亡作用,抑制肿瘤发生发展。对NF-κB在肿瘤形成中两方面作用的认识,为肿瘤临床治疗提供理论依据。     

唾液酸在肿瘤免疫逃逸中的作用

唾液酸是一类携带负电荷的九碳单糖,在体内广泛分布。唾液酸具有多种多样的生物学功能,而肿瘤细胞表面唾液酸异常高表达能够保护肿瘤细胞免受免疫系统的识别和攻击。其作用机理主要是通过干扰机体免疫系统中的免疫细胞与免疫分子,抑制一系列抗肿瘤免疫应答的发生,如抑制补体系统的活化,阻碍抗原提呈细胞的激活,削弱免疫效应细胞的杀伤作用和促进免疫抑制性细胞因子的分泌等,进而介导肿瘤免疫逃逸。本综述主要阐述的是唾液酸的结构和生物学功能以及其在肿瘤免疫逃逸中的作用及机制。     

Toll样受体通路调节Tregs功能的研究进展

模式识别受体Toll样受体(Toll like receptors,TLRs)是固有免疫中免疫受体的代表,进化上十分保守,对生物体的生存极为重要。TLRs通过内源或外源的配体启动信号转导,激活下游一系列重要的基因表达与活化。研究表明调节性T细胞(Regulatory T cell,Treg)在维持机体外周免疫耐受和阻止移植排斥反应等方面发挥核心作用。Treg细胞表达某些TLRs,包括TLR2、TLR4、TLR5、TLR7、TLR8、TLR9等。TLRs的活化可能直接或间接地影响(主要是活化) Treg的增殖和免疫抑制功能,这种调节与感染、自身免疫病和癌症的发生密切相关。其中热休克蛋白作为TLRs配体分子对于Treg的调节发挥了重要的作用。因此,了解TLRs通路对研究Treg免疫调控机制、新药物研发和靶向治疗有重大意义。文中简要介绍了TLRs通路调节Treg免疫功能的相关研究进展。     

调节性T细胞抑制作用机制的研究进展

调节性T细胞(Treg)对维持机体免疫动态平衡具有重要作用。不仅诱导产生自身免疫耐受,防止自身免疫疾病的发生,而且能够限制免疫防御中T、B细胞过度活化,避免造成组织损伤。最近研究发现,Treg可能导致效应性免疫细胞失活,降低机体对肿瘤和病原的免疫应答。尽管Treg可能通过调节免疫细胞活化、增值和分化及效应等多环节产生抑制作用,但其抑制机制仍未清楚。本文对近几年国外研究Treg可能的抑制作用机制的进展作一综述。     

Association of HSP90 with the heme-regulated eukaryotic initiation factor 2α kinase—A collaboration for regulating protein synthesis

Among the various heat shock proteins (HSPs), members of the HSP70 and HSP90 families have drawn particular attention due to their heat shock-unrelated functions. HSP90, an ubiquitous and abundant member of the HSP90 family has been shown to be associated with a large array of protein factors. These proteins reside in the nucleus as well as in the cytoplasm and are involved in various physiological processes, such as, regulation of chromatin structure, cell cycle, cytoskelelal architecture, protein trafficking and protein synthesis. In this article, we focus our interest on the role of HSP90 in protein synthesis. Recent data obtained from a few laboratories strongly suggest that HSP90 interacts with the heme-regulated eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (elF-2α) kinase, also called the heme-regulated inhibitor, and causes its activation which leads to inhibition of protein synthesis. On the basis of data reported from various laboratories, including our own, we propose a possible model on the mechanism of HSP90-mediated activation of heme-regulated inhibitor and regulation of protein synthesis.     

Aldehyde dehydrogenase and HSP90 co-localize in human glioblastoma biopsy cells

The concept of a stem cell subpopulation as understood from normal epithelial tissue or bone marrow function has been extended to our understanding of cancer tissue and is now the target of treatment efforts specifically directed to this subpopulation. In glioblastoma, as well as in other cancers, increased expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) has been found localized within a minority sub-population of tumor cells which demonstrate stem cell properties. A separate body of research associated increased expression of heat-shock protein-90 (HSP90) with stem cell attributes. We present here results from our initial immunohistochemistry study of human glioblastoma biopsy tissue where both ALDH and HSP90 tended to be co-expressed in high amounts in the same minority of cells. Since 12% of all cells in the six biopsies studied were ALDH positive and 17% were HSP90 positive, by chance alone 2% would have been expected to be positive for both. In fact 7% of all cells simultaneously expressed both markers-a significant difference (p = 0.037). That two previously identified proteins associated with stem cell attributes tend to be co-expressed in the same individual glioblastoma cells might have clinical utility. Disulfiram, used to treat alcoholism for half-a century now, is a potent ALDH inhibitor and the old anti-viral drug ritonavir inhibits HSP90. These should be explored for the potential to retard aspects of glioblastoma stem cells' function subserved by ALDH and HSP90.     

HSP90s are required for NLR immune receptor accumulation in Arabidopsis

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) serve as molecular chaperones for diverse client proteins in many biological processes. In plant immunity, cytosolic HSP90s participate in the assembly, stability control and/or activation of immune receptor complexes. In this paper we report that in addition to the well‐established positive roles that HSP90 isoforms play in plant immunity, they are also involved in the negative regulation of immune receptor accumulation. Point mutations in two HSP90 genes, HSP90.2 and HSP90.3, were identified from a forward genetic screen designed to isolate mutants with enhanced disease resistance. We found that specific mutations in HSP90.2 and HSP90.3 lead to heightened accumulation of immune receptors, including SNC1, RPS2 and RPS4. HSP90s may assist SGT1 in the formation of SCF E3 ubiquitin ligase complexes that target immune receptors for degradation. Such regulation is critical for maintaining appropriate levels of immune receptor proteins to avoid autoimmunity.     

HSP70 and genomic stability

The 70 kDa heat shock proteins (HSP70s) were initially identified by their elevated expression following hyperthermic cell stress, however, these highly conserved proteins also protect critical cellular functions from a wider range of important environmental and physiological stresses. At least one result of HSP70 expression is inhibition of stress induced caspase activation as well as downstream events in the apoptotic cell death pathway. HSP70 have been reported upregulated in tumor cells, selective inhibition of such proteins might be valuable approach to treat cancer. A recent study revealed that cells with inactivated HSP70 displayed telomere instability and high frequency of spontaneous chromosomal aberrations, indicating a possible role for HSP70 proteins in the maintenance of genomic stability.     

The HSP90-SGT1-RAR1 molecular chaperone complex: A core modulator in plant immunity

The HSP90 (heat shock protein 90), SGT1 (suppressor of G-two allele ofSkp1), and RAR1 (required forMla12 resistance) proteins in plants form a molecular chaperone complex which is involved in diverse biological signaling including development and disease resistance. The three components of this complex interact via specific protein binding motifs and recruit client proteins to initiate a specific signaling cascade in response to cellular or environmental cues. Although the functions of this chaperone complex during development/growth have not been well characterized, the HSP90 chaperone and SGT1 and RAR1 co-chaperones have been demonstrated to be essential signaling components of plant immune responses. These three proteins also play important roles in activation of the mammalian Nod genes, which possess a structurally conserved plant resistance (R) protein motif, NB-LRR (nucleotide binding site-leucine rich repeat). In this review, we summarize the structures and functions of these molecular chaperones, and discuss their putative modes of action in plant immune responses.     

HSP70 and Genomic Stability

The 70 kDa heat shock proteins (HSP70) were initially identified by their elevated expression following hyperthermic cell stress, however, these highly conserved proteins also protect critical cellular functions from a wider range of important environmental and physiological stresses. At least one result of HSP70 expression is inhibition of stress induced caspase activation as well as downstream events in the apoptotic cell death pathway. HSP70 have been reported upregulated in tumor cells, selective inhibition of such proteins might be valuable approach to treat cancer. A recent study revealed that cells with inactivated HSP70 displayed telomere instability and high frequency of spontaneous chromosomal aberrations, indicating a possible role for HSP70 proteins in the maintenance of genomic stability.     

Dendritic-Tumor Fusion Cells Derived Heat Shock Protein70-Peptide Complex Has Enhanced Immunogenicity

Tumor-derived heat shock protein70-peptide complexes (HSP70.PC-Tu) have shown great promise in tumor immunotherapy due to numerous advantages. However, large-scale phase III clinical trials showed that the limited immunogenicity remained to be enhanced. In previous research, we demonstrated that heat shock protein 70-peptide complexes (HSP70.PC-Fc) derived from dendritic cell (DC)-tumor fusions exhibit enhanced immunogenicity compared with HSP70.PCs from tumor cells. However, the DCs used in our previous research were obtained from healthy donors and not from the patient population. In order to promote the clinical application of these complexes, HSP70.PC-Fc was prepared from patient-derived DC fused directly with patient-derived tumor cells in the current study. Our results showed that compared with HSP70.PC-Tu, HSP70.PC-Fc elicited much more powerful immune responses against the tumor from which the HSP70 was derived, including enhanced T cell activation, and CTL responses that were shown to be antigen specific and HLA restricted. Our results further indicated that the enhanced immunogenicity is related to the activation of CD4+ T cells and increased association with other heat shock proteins, such as HSP90. Therefore, the current study confirms the enhanced immunogenicity of HSP70.PC derived from DC-tumor fusions and may provide direct evidence promoting their future clinical use.     

Iron-oxide nanoparticles target intracellular HSP90 to induce tumor radio-sensitization

BackgroundNanoparticle-based therapies have emerged as a promising approach to overcome limitations of conventional chemotherapy. Present study investigates the potential of oleic acid-functionalized iron-oxide nanoparticles (MN-OA) to enhance the radiation response of fibrosarcoma tumor and elucidates its underlying mechanism.MethodsVarious cellular and molecular assays (e.g. MTT, clonogenic, cell cycle analysis, cell death, DNA damage/repair) and tumor growth kinetics were employed to investigate the mechanism of MN-OA induced radio-sensitization.ResultsMouse (WEHI-164) and human (HT-1080) fibrosarcoma cells treated with MN-OA and gamma-radiation (2 Gy) showed a significant decrease in the cell proliferation. Combination treatment showed significant decrease in clonogenic survival of WEHI-164 cells and was found to induce cell cycle arrest, apoptosis and mitotic catastrophe. The mechanism of radio-sensitization was found to involve binding of MN-OA with HSP90, resulting in down-regulation of its client proteins, involved in cell cycle progression (Cyclin B1 and CDC2) and DNA-double strand break repair (e.g. RAD51 and BRCA1). Consistently, longer persistence of DNA damage in cells treated with MN-OA and radiation was observed in the form of γ-H2AX foci. The efficacy and mechanism of MN-OA-induced radio-sensitization was also validated in an immuno-competent murine fibrosarcoma model.ConclusionThis study reveals the key role of HSP90 in the mechanism of tumor radio-sensitization by MN-OA.General significancePresent work provides a deeper understanding about the mechanism of MN-OA-induced tumor radiosensitization, highlighting the role of HSP90 protein. In addition to diagnostic and magnetic hyperthermia abilities, present remarkable radiosensitizing activity of MN-OA would further excite the clinicians to test its anti-cancer potential.     

Enhanced immunogenicity of heat shock protein 70 peptide complexes from dendritic cell-tumor fusion cells

We have developed a molecular chaperone-based tumor vaccine that reverses the immune tolerance of cancer cells. Heat shock protein (HSP) 70 extracted from fusions of dendritic (DC) and tumor cells (HSP70.PC-F) possess superior properties such as stimulation of DC maturation and T cell proliferation over its counterpart from tumor cells. More importantly, immunization of mice with HSP70.PC-F resulted in a T cell-mediated immune response including significant increase of CD8 T cells and induction of the effector and memory T cells that was able to break T cell unresponsiveness to a nonmutated tumor Ag and provide protection of mice against challenge with tumor cells. By contrast, the immune response to vaccination with HSP70-PC derived from tumor cells is muted against such nonmutated tumor Ag. HSP70.PC-F complexes differed from those derived from tumor cells in a number of key manners, most notably, enhanced association with immunologic peptides. In addition, the molecular chaperone HSP90 was found to be associated with HSP70.PC-F as indicated by coimmunoprecipitation, suggesting ability to carry an increased repertoire of antigenic peptides by the two chaperones. Significantly, activation of DC by HSP70.PC-F was dependent on the presence of an intact MyD88 gene, suggesting a role for TLR signaling in DC activation and T cell stimulation. These experiments indicate that HSP70-peptide complexes (PC) derived from DC-tumor fusion cells have increased their immunogenicity and therefore constitute an improved formulation of chaperone protein-based tumor vaccine.