外体（exosome）在肿瘤免疫治疗中的应用

外体（exosome）是由细胞分泌至细胞外的膜性小囊泡。研究发现,来源于树突状细胞和来源于肿瘤细胞的外体富集MHCⅠ/Ⅱ类分子、协同刺激分子、热激蛋白70和90等多种活性分子和肿瘤抗原,在体内外免疫调节中起关键作用,以外体为基础的肿瘤免疫治疗已成为热点。我们简要介绍外体的特征、分离制备和临床应用研究。     

肿瘤细胞外泌体对肿瘤血管新生的调控作用

外泌体可将其内容物蛋白质、脂类、RNA、循环DNA等生物活性分子由供体细胞转运至受体细胞,对细胞与细胞间的通讯发挥重要调控作用。肿瘤细胞可以主动释放包括外泌体在内的胞外囊泡进入周围微环境。血管为肿瘤的生长提供氧气和营养物质,因此血管新生是肿瘤生长所必需的。研究发现,蛋白或非编码RNA在不同肿瘤细胞衍生的外泌体中存在特异性表达的现象。肿瘤外泌体将其内含的非编码RNA以及蛋白转运至内皮细胞,上调促血管新生因子的表达,进而提高内皮细胞的活性,促进其增殖、迁移和管腔形成。     

Processing of Primary Brain Tumor Tissue for Stem Cell Assays and Flow Sorting

Brain tumors are typically comprised of morphologically diverse cells that express a variety of neural lineage markers. Only a relatively small fraction of cells in the tumor with stem cell properties, termed brain tumor initiating cells (BTICs), possess an ability to differentiate along multiple lineages, self-renew, and initiate tumors in vivo. We applied culture conditions originally used for normal neural stem cells (NSCs) to a variety of human brain tumors and found that this culture method specifically selects for stem-like populations. Serum-free medium (NSC) allows for the maintenance of an undifferentiated stem cell state, and the addition of bFGF and EGF allows for the proliferation of multi-potent, self-renewing, and expandable tumorspheres.To further characterize each tumor''s BTIC population, we evaluate cell surface markers by flow cytometry. We may also sort populations of interest for more specific characterization. Self-renewal assays are performed on single BTICs sorted into 96 well plates; the formation of tumorspheres following incubation at 37 °C indicates the presence of a stem or progenitor cell. Multiple cell numbers of a particular population can also be sorted in different wells for limiting dilution analysis, to analyze self-renewal capacity. We can also study differential gene expression within a particular cell population by using single cell RT-PCR.The following protocols describe our procedures for the dissociation and culturing of primary human samples to enrich for BTIC populations, as well as the dissociation of tumorspheres. Also included are protocols for staining for flow cytometry analysis or sorting, self-renewal assays, and single cell RT-PCR.     

脑肿瘤干细胞

脑肿瘤尤其是恶性脑胶质瘤,由于生长及复发快,预后极差,所以找到胶质瘤复发的根源,提高胶质瘤病人的存活率,已成为国内外的肿瘤生物学工作者和临床医学工作者亟待解决的难题。近年来肿瘤干细胞概念的提出及脑肿瘤干细胞的分离及鉴定,为脑肿瘤的研究提供了新的切入点,同时可成为肿瘤治疗新的靶标,为根治脑肿瘤带来了光明的前景。简要综述了脑肿瘤干细胞无限增殖、自我更新、多分化潜能的生物学特性,脑肿瘤干细胞的起源以及与脑肿瘤相关机制方面的研究进展,从而为今后脑肿瘤早期诊断、治疗以及以此为靶标的药物开发提供新的思路和方向。     

Brain Tumor Stem Cells

Primary malignant brain cancer, one of the most deadly diseases, has a high rate of recurrence after treatment. Studies in the past several years have led to the hypothesis that the root of the recurrence may be brain tumor stem cells (BTSCs), stem-like subpopulation of cells that are responsible for propagating the tumor. Current treatments combining surgery and chemoradiotherapy could not eliminate BTSCs because these cells are highly infiltrative and possess several properties that can reduce the damages caused by radiation or anti-cancer drugs. BTSCs are similar to NSCs in molecular marker expression and multi-lineage differentiation potential. Genetic analyses of Drosophila CNS neoplasia, mouse glioma models, and human glioma tissues have revealed a link between increased NSC self-renewal and brain tumorigenesis. Furthermore, data from various rodent models of malignant brain tumors have provided compelling evidence that multipotent NSCs and lineage-restricted neural progenitor cells (NPCs) could be the cell origin of brain tumors. Thus, the first event of brain tumorigenesis might be the occurrence of oncogenic mutations in the stem cell self-renewal pathway in an NSC or NPC. These mutations convert the NSC or NPC to a BTSC, which then initiates and sustains the growth of the tumor. The self-renewal of BTSCs is controlled by several evolutionarily conserved signaling pathways and requires an intact vascular niche. Targeting these pathways and the vascular niche could be a principle in novel brain tumor therapies aimed to eliminate BTSCs.     

工程化外泌体介导巨噬细胞清除肿瘤外泌体*

目的:通过膜表面修饰改造技术构建工程化外泌体(engineered exosomes,enExos),并以此介导巨噬细胞特异性清除膜表面富含表皮生长因子受体(epidermal growth factor receptor,EGFR)的肿瘤外泌体。方法:利用表面展示技术获得膜表面展示趋化因子(chemokine 8,CXCL8)的外泌体,同时在其磷脂双分子层上修饰EGFR核酸适配体制备工程化外泌体;纳米颗粒跟踪和纳米粒度电位分析enExos的尺寸、电位;CCK-8试剂盒检测细胞活力;透射电子显微镜观察enExos与高表达EGFR的肿瘤外泌体的特异性结合;荧光成像技术及流式细胞术分析探究enExos靶向趋化巨噬细胞吞噬高表达EGFR的肿瘤外泌体。结果:成功构建膜表面展示EGFR与CXCL8的工程化外泌体,enExos可以特异性识别并捕获高表达EGFR的肿瘤外泌体,同时利用其趋化因子CXCL8特异性靶向巨噬细胞膜表面趋化因子受体CXCR1/CXCR2,刺激巨噬细胞对肿瘤外泌体的捕获及清除。结论:工程化外泌体促进了特定肿瘤外泌体的清除,为后续深入研究工程化外泌体抑制癌症转移的作用奠定基础,并期望为癌症转移治疗提供新的研究方向。     

Exosomes Derived from Mesenchymal Stem Cells Suppress Angiogenesis by Down-Regulating VEGF Expression in Breast Cancer Cells

Exosomes are small membrane vesicles released by a variety of cell types. Exosomes contain genetic materials, such as mRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs), implying that they may play a pivotal role in cell-to-cell communication. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which potentially differentiate into multiple cell types, can migrate to the tumor sites and have been reported to exert complex effects on tumor progression. To elucidate the role of MSCs within the tumor microenvironment, previous studies have suggested various mechanisms such as immune modulation and secreted factors of MSCs. However, the paracrine effects of MSC-derived exosomes on the tumor microenvironment remain to be explored. The hypothesis of this study was that MSC-derived exosomes might reprogram tumor behavior by transferring their molecular contents. To test this hypothesis, exosomes from MSCs were isolated and characterized. MSC-derived exosomes exhibited different protein and RNA profiles compared with their donor cells and these vesicles could be internalized by breast cancer cells. The results demonstrated that MSC-derived exosomes significantly down-regulated the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in tumor cells, which lead to inhibition of angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, miR-16, a miRNA known to target VEGF, was enriched in MSC-derived exosomes and it was partially responsible for the anti-angiogenic effect of MSC-derived exosomes. The collective results suggest that MSC-derived exosomes may serve as a significant mediator of cell-to-cell communication within the tumor microenvironment and suppress angiogenesis by transferring anti-angiogenic molecules.     

Artificial Analogs of Naturally Occurring Tumor Promoters as Biochemical Tools and Therapeutic Leads

Tumor promoters are non-carcinogenic chemicals that enhance tumor formation when administered repeatedly after a low dose of a carcinogen. Phorbol esters, teleocidins, and aplysiatoxins are typical examples of naturally occurring tumor promoters. All of them share the ability to bind and activate protein kinase C (PKC) despite the differences in their chemical structures. A variety of analogs with unique chemical and biological properties have been developed to analyze the molecular mechanism of tumor promotion through PKC activation. Moreover, coupled with the emerging significance of PKC in the pathological processes of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) as well as cancer, several efforts have been made recently to generate analogs of tumor promoters with therapeutic potential. This review focuses on artificial analogs of phorbol esters, teleocidins, and aplysiatoxins, and discusses their potential as biochemical tools and therapeutic leads.     

Exosomes Transfer p53 between Cells and Can Suppress Growth and Proliferation of p53-Negative Cells

Exosomes are nanosized vesicles that are secreted by many types of cells. We have found that exosomes secreted by HEK293 and HT-1080 can suppress growth and proliferation of p53-deficient cells. Upon overexpression of exogenous p53-GFP in HEK293 cells, we observed p53 protein in exosomes that were secreted by these cells. We also found endogenous p53 in exosomes that were secreted by HT-1080 cells with a higher level of p53 expression. We were able to detect endogenous p53 protein in exosomes that originated from human plasma and were transferred to p53-deficient cells. Our findings indicate that p53 protein can be transferred between cells and may play an important physiological role.     

Network Modeling Identifies Molecular Functions Targeted by miR-204 to Suppress Head and Neck Tumor Metastasis

Due to the large number of putative microRNA gene targets predicted by sequence-alignment databases and the relative low accuracy of such predictions which are conducted independently of biological context by design, systematic experimental identification and validation of every functional microRNA target is currently challenging. Consequently, biological studies have yet to identify, on a genome scale, key regulatory networks perturbed by altered microRNA functions in the context of cancer. In this report, we demonstrate for the first time how phenotypic knowledge of inheritable cancer traits and of risk factor loci can be utilized jointly with gene expression analysis to efficiently prioritize deregulated microRNAs for biological characterization. Using this approach we characterize miR-204 as a tumor suppressor microRNA and uncover previously unknown connections between microRNA regulation, network topology, and expression dynamics. Specifically, we validate 18 gene targets of miR-204 that show elevated mRNA expression and are enriched in biological processes associated with tumor progression in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC). We further demonstrate the enrichment of bottleneckness, a key molecular network topology, among miR-204 gene targets. Restoration of miR-204 function in HNSCC cell lines inhibits the expression of its functionally related gene targets, leads to the reduced adhesion, migration and invasion in vitro and attenuates experimental lung metastasis in vivo. As importantly, our investigation also provides experimental evidence linking the function of microRNAs that are located in the cancer-associated genomic regions (CAGRs) to the observed predisposition to human cancers. Specifically, we show miR-204 may serve as a tumor suppressor gene at the 9q21.1–22.3 CAGR locus, a well established risk factor locus in head and neck cancers for which tumor suppressor genes have not been identified. This new strategy that integrates expression profiling, genetics and novel computational biology approaches provides for improved efficiency in characterization and modeling of microRNA functions in cancer as compared to the state of art and is applicable to the investigation of microRNA functions in other biological processes and diseases.