Harnessing the CD1 restricted T cell response for leukemia adoptive immunotherapy

Disease recurrence following chemotherapy and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation is the major unmet clinical need of acute leukemia. Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) with allogeneic T lymphocytes can control recurrences at the cost of inducing detrimental GVHD. Targeting T cell recognition on leukemia cells is therefore needed to overcome the problem and ensure safe and durable disease remission. In this review, we discuss adoptive cells therapy based on CD1-restricted T cells specific for tumor associated self-lipid antigens. CD1 molecules are identical in every individual and expressed essentially on mature hematopoietic cells and leukemia blasts, but not by parenchymatous cells, while lipid antigens are enriched in malignant cells and unlike to mutate upon immune-mediated selective pressure. Redirecting T cells against self-lipids presented by CD1 molecules can thus provide an appealing cell therapy strategy for acute leukemia that is patient-unrestricted and can minimize risks for GVHD, implying potential prognostic improvement for this cancer.     

Insight for Immunotherapy of HCMV Infection

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a ubiquitous in humans, has a high prevalence rate. Young people are susceptible to HCMV infection in developing countries, while older individuals are more susceptible in developed countries. Most patients have no obvious symptoms from the primary infection. Studies have indicated that the virus has gradually adapted to the host immune system. Therefore, the control of HCMV infection requires strong immune modulation. With the recent advances in immunotherapy, its application to HCMV infections is receiving increasing attention. Here, we discuss the immune response to HCMV infection, the immune escape mechanism, and the different roles that HCMV plays in various types of immunotherapy, including vaccines, adoptive cell therapy, checkpoint blockade therapy, and targeted antibodies.     

Optimizing Dendritic Cell-Based Approaches for Cancer Immunotherapy

Dendritic cells (DC) are professional antigen-presenting cells uniquely suited for cancer immunotherapy. They induce primary immune responses, potentiate the effector functions of previously primed T-lymphocytes, and orchestrate communication between innate and adaptive immunity. The remarkable diversity of cytokine activation regimens, DC maturation states, and antigen-loading strategies employed in current DC-based vaccine design reflect an evolving, but incomplete, understanding of optimal DC immunobiology. In the clinical realm, existing DC-based cancer immunotherapy efforts have yielded encouraging but inconsistent results. Despite recent U.S. Federal and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of DC-based sipuleucel-T for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, clinically effective DC immunotherapy as monotherapy for a majority of tumors remains a distant goal. Recent work has identified strategies that may allow for more potent “next-generation” DC vaccines. Additionally, multimodality approaches incorporating DC-based immunotherapy may improve clinical outcomes.     

DC与CIK细胞治疗难治复发急性髓细胞白血病的近期临床观察

目的：评估自体DC与CIK细胞治疗难治复发急性髓细胞白血病的近期疗效与安全性。方法：给予20例难治复发急性髓细胞白血病患者树突状细胞（DC）与细胞因子诱导的杀伤细胞（CIK）治疗,20例难治复发的应用同样化疗方案的急性髓细胞白血病患者做为对照组;治疗后4周观察两组患者临床疗效和生存质量（KVS）评分,DC与CIK细胞治疗前和治疗后1周检测T细胞亚群（CD3＋、CD3＋CD4＋、CD3＋CD8＋、CD3＋CD56＋）和细胞因子（IL-12、IL-2、IL-7、IFN-γ及TNF—α）水平的变化。结果：（1）DC与CIK细胞治疗组有效率和KPS评分明显高于对照组（P〈0．05）,所有患者的不良反应轻微,均可耐受。（2）DC与CIK细胞治疗后1周,患者T细胞亚群百分比和细胞因子含量较治疗前均明显升高,其中CD3＋、CD3＋CD56＋及IL-12、IL-7明显升高（P〈0．05）。结论：DC与CIK细胞免疫治疗难治复发急性髓细胞白血病安全有效。     

Manufacturing of highly functional and specific T cells for adoptive immunotherapy against virus from granulocyte colony-stimulating factor–mobilized donors

Background aimsCytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation remains an important risk after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which can be effectively controlled through adoptive transfer of donor-derived CMV-specific T cells (CMV-T). CMV-T are usually obtained from donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected before G-CSF mobilization. Despite previous studies that showed impaired T-cell function after granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) mobilization, recent publications suggest that G-CSF-primed PBMCs retain anti-viral function and are a suitable starting material for CMV-T manufacturing. The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of generating CMV-T from G-CSF–mobilized donors by use of the activation marker CD137 in comparison with conventional non-primed PBMCs.MethodsCMV-T were isolated from G-CSF–mobilized and non-mobilized donor PBMCs on the basis of CMVpp65 activation-induced CD137 expression and expanded during 3 weeks. Functional assays were performed to assess antigen-specific activation, cytokine release, cytotoxic activity and proliferation after anti-genic re-stimulation.ResultsWe successfully manufactured highly specific, functional and cytotoxic CMV-T from G-CSF–mobilized donor PBMCs. Their anti-viral function was equivalent to non-mobilized CMV-T, and memory phenotype would suggest their long-term maintenance after adoptive transfer.ConclusionsWe confirm that the use of an aliquot from G-CSF–mobilized donor samples is suitable for the manufacturing of CMV cellular therapies and thereby abrogates the need for successive donations and ensures the availability for patients with unrelated donors.     

Sublingual Immunotherapy as an Alternative to Induce Protection Against Acute Respiratory Infections

Sublingual route has been widely used to deliver small molecules into the bloodstream and to modulate the immune response at different sites. It has been shown to effectively induce humoral and cellular responses at systemic and mucosal sites, namely the lungs and urogenital tract. Sublingual vaccination can promote protection against infections at the lower and upper respiratory tract; it can also promote tolerance to allergens and ameliorate asthma symptoms. Modulation of lung’s immune response by sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is safer than direct administration of formulations by intranasal route because it does not require delivery of potentially harmful molecules directly into the airways. In contrast to intranasal delivery, side effects involving brain toxicity or facial paralysis are not promoted by SLIT. The immune mechanisms underlying SLIT remain elusive and its use for the treatment of acute lung infections has not yet been explored. Thus, development of appropriate animal models of SLIT is needed to further explore its potential advantages. This work shows how to perform sublingual administration of therapeutic agents in mice to evaluate their ability to protect against acute pneumococcal pneumonia. Technical aspects of mouse handling during sublingual inoculation, precise identification of sublingual mucosa, draining lymph nodes and isolation of tissues, bronchoalveolar lavage and lungs are illustrated. Protocols for single cell suspension preparation for FACS analysis are described in detail. Other downstream applications for the analysis of the immune response are discussed. Technical aspects of the preparation of Streptococcus pneumoniae inoculum and intranasal challenge of mice are also explained.SLIT is a simple technique that allows screening of candidate molecules to modulate lungs’ immune response. Parameters affecting the success of SLIT are related to molecular size, susceptibility to degradation and stability of highly concentrated formulations.     

树突状细胞对海藻酸钙纳米胶囊的吞噬作用与功能诱导

本研究采用量子点标记方法,证实了人外周血来源树突状细胞对海藻酸钙纳米胶囊的吞噬作用,并对其体外成熟诱导和接受偶联有牛血清白蛋白的纳米胶囊刺激之后的自体T淋巴细胞免疫作用进行了探讨。实验结果表明,树突状细胞在吞噬海藻酸钙纳米胶囊后被诱导成熟,而且偶联有牛血清白蛋白的纳米胶囊可诱导自体T淋巴细胞增殖,显示该海藻酸钙纳米胶囊可能成为具有载体功能的癌症细胞免疫治疗佐剂。     

Construction of immune-related LncRNAs classifier to predict prognosis and immunotherapy response in thymic epithelial tumors

The primary objective of this study was to construct an immune-related long noncoding RNAs (IRLs) classifier to precisely predict the prognosis and immunotherapy response of patients with thymic epithelial tumors (TET). Based on univariable Cox regression analysis and Lasso regression, six prognosis-related IRLs (AC004466.3, {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"AC138207.2","term_id":"29165571","term_text":"AC138207.2"}}AC138207.2, {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"AC148477.2","term_id":"45504179","term_text":"AC148477.2"}}AC148477.2, {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"AL450270.1","term_id":"11244554","term_text":"AL450270.1"}}AL450270.1, HOXB-AS1 and SNHG8) were selected to build an IRL classifier. Importantly, results of qRT-PCR validated that higher expression levels of {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"AC138207.2","term_id":"29165571","term_text":"AC138207.2"}}AC138207.2, {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"AC148477.2","term_id":"45504179","term_text":"AC148477.2"}}AC148477.2, {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"AL450270.1","term_id":"11244554","term_text":"AL450270.1"}}AL450270.1 and SNHG8 as well as lower expression levels of AC004466.3, and HOXB-AS1 in TETs samples compared with normal controls. The IRL classifier could effectively classify patients into the low-risk and high-risk groups based on the different survival parameters. In terms of predictive ability and clinical utility, the IRL classifier was superior to Masaoka staging system. Additionally, IRL classifier is significantly associated with immune cells infiltration (dendritic cells, activated CD4 memory T cells and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL), T cell subsets in particular), immune microenvironment (immune score and immune checkpoint inhibitors) and immunogenicity (TMB) in TETs, which hints that IRL classifier is tightly correlated with immune characteristics and might guide more effective immunotherapy strategies for TETs patients. Encouragingly, according to TIDE algorithm, there were more immunotherapy responders in the low-risk IRL subgroup and the IRL score was robustly negatively linked to the immunotherapeutic response. To sum up, the IRL classifier was established, which can be used to predict the prognosis, immune infiltration status, immunotherapy response in TETs patients, and may facilitate personalized counseling for immunotherapy.