Melanoma central nervous system metastases: An update to approaches,challenges, and opportunities

In February 2018, the Melanoma Research Foundation and the Moffitt Cancer Center hosted the Second Summit on Melanoma Central Nervous System (CNS) Metastases in Tampa, Florida. In this white paper, we outline the current status of basic science, translational, and clinical research into melanoma brain metastasis development and therapeutic management. We further outline the important challenges that remain for the field and the critical barriers that need to be overcome for continued progress to be made in this clinically difficult area.     

Skin‐resident memory T cells as a potential new therapeutic target in vitiligo and melanoma

Tissue‐resident memory T (T_RM) cells are abundant in the memory T cell pool and remain resident in peripheral tissues, such as the skin, where they act as alarm sensors or cytotoxic killers. T_RM cells persist long after the pathogen is eliminated and can respond rapidly upon reinfection with the same antigen. When aberrantly activated, skin‐located T_RM cells have a profound role in various skin disorders, including vitiligo and melanoma. Autoreactive T_RM cells are present in human lesional vitiligo skin and mouse models of vitiligo, which suggests that targeting these cells could be effective as a durable treatment strategy for vitiligo. Furthermore, emerging evidence indicates that induction of melanoma‐reactive T_RM cells is needed to achieve effective protection against tumor growth. This review highlights seminal reports about skin‐resident T cells, focusing mainly on their role in the context of vitiligo and melanoma, as well as their potential as therapeutic targets in both diseases.     

适合免疫治疗的大鼠抗肾小球基底膜肾炎模型的建立

以线性表位肽P14（a3_127-148）作为抗原建立适合免疫治疗的抗肾小球基底膜（anti-glomerular basement membrane,GBM）病大鼠模型。采用大鼠后脚垫三点注射P14（a3_127-148）与弗氏佐剂乳化物的方法进行单次免疫,免疫前后每周采集24 h尿样和血样,所有大鼠在免疫后7 w处死。大鼠免疫后,肾炎模型组在各时间点的24 h尿蛋白、尿蛋白肌酐比值（albumin/urine creatinine ratio,ACR）、血肌酐及血尿素氮均明显高于对照组（P<0.05）;循环抗P14（a3_127-148）IgG抗体水平明显高于对照组(P<0.001);PAS染色可见节段性纤维素样坏死,富于细胞型新月体;免疫组化染色可见肾小球有明显的中性粒细胞和巨噬细胞浸润;免疫荧光检测可见IgG沿GBM呈强线性沉积;电镜观察到GBM的断裂和收缩;而对照组均未见改变。HE染色在所有大鼠中均未观察到肺部病变。使用P14（a3_127-148）线性肽免疫WKY大鼠成功建立了大鼠抗GBM病模型,有助于开发更为特异的免疫疗法。     

Implication of the hepatokine,fibrinogen-like protein 1 in liver diseases,metabolic disorders and cancer: The need to harness its full potential

Fibrinogen-like protein 1 (FGL1) is a novel hepatokine that forms part of the fibrinogen superfamily. It is predominantly expressed in the liver under normal physiological conditions. When the liver is injured by external factors, such as chemical drugs and radiation, FGL1 acts as a protective factor to promote the growth of regenerated cells. However, elevated hepatic FGL1 under high fat conditions can cause lipid accumulation and inflammation, which in turn trigger the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetes, and obesity. FGL1 is also involved in the regulation of insulin resistance in adipose tissues and skeletal muscles as a means of communication between the liver and other tissues. In addition, the abnormally changed FGL1 levels in the plasma of cancer patients make it a potential predictor of cancer incidence in clinical practice. FGL1 was recently identified as a major functional ligand of the immune inhibitory receptor, lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG3), thus making it a promising target for cancer immunotherapy except for the classical programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) axis. Despite the potential of FGL1 as a new cancer biomarker and therapeutic target, there are few related studies and much of what has been reported are superficial and lack depth and particularity. Therefore, elucidating the role and underlying mechanisms of FGL1 could be crucial for the development of promising diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for related diseases. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the cellular mechanisms and clinical prospects of FGL1 in the prevention and treatment of liver diseases, metabolic disorders and cancer, and proffer suggestions for future studies.     

Immune Checkpoint Blockade Augments Changes Within Oncolytic Virus-induced Cancer MHC-I Peptidome,Creating Novel Antitumor CD8 T Cell Reactivities

The combination cancer immunotherapies with oncolytic virus (OV) and immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) reinstate otherwise dysfunctional antitumor CD8 T cell responses. One major mechanism that aids such reinstatement of antitumor CD8 T cells involves the availability of new class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC-I)-bound tumor epitopes following therapeutic intervention. Thus, therapy-induced changes within the MHC-I peptidome hold the key to understanding the clinical implications for therapy-reinstated CD8 T cell responses. Here, using mass spectrometry–based immuno-affinity methods and tumor-bearing animals treated with OV and ICB (alone or in combination), we captured the therapy-induced alterations within the tumor MHC-I peptidome, which were then tested for their CD8 T cell response-stimulating activity. We found that the oncolytic reovirus monotherapy drives up- as well as downexpression of tumor MHC-I peptides in a cancer type and oncolysis susceptibility dependent manner. Interestingly, the combination of reovirus + ICB results in higher numbers of differentially expressed MHC-I-associated peptides (DEMHCPs) relative to either monotherapies. Most importantly, OV+ICB-driven DEMHCPs contain biologically active epitopes that stimulate interferon-gamma responses in cognate CD8 T cells, which may mediate clinically desired antitumor attack and cancer immunoediting. These findings highlight that the therapy-induced changes to the MHC-I peptidome contribute toward the reinstated antitumor CD8 T cell attack established following OV + ICB combination cancer immunotherapy.     

溶瘤病毒的免疫学机制及临床研究进展

溶瘤病毒（oncolytic virus,OVs）历经百年发展,应用于当前最具潜力的肿瘤免疫疗法。它主要是天然的或基因修饰的DNA病毒和RNA病毒。近年来随着基因工程技术的飞跃发展,经基因改造的溶瘤病毒在肿瘤治疗领域取得很大进展,很多不同类型的病毒（包括单纯疱疹病毒、腺病毒、痘病毒、麻疹病毒和呼肠孤病毒等）正处于临床前研究、临床试验阶段或已批准上市,显示了良好的安全性和临床疗效。普遍认为溶瘤病毒靶向杀伤肿瘤细胞是通过选择性在肿瘤细胞内自我复制,最终裂解肿瘤细胞,同时可激发机体的免疫应答反应,进而增强抗肿瘤免疫效果,靶向杀伤肿瘤细胞而对正常细胞无明显影响。运用基因重组技术将溶瘤病毒与免疫检查点相结合以及肿瘤免疫联合疗法的兴起和不断进步,使溶瘤病毒的应用更加广泛,但仍存在病毒靶向性、安全性、给药途径等瓶颈问题。本文综述了溶瘤病毒的发展史、病毒分类、不同类型溶瘤病毒产品的临床研究进展、溶瘤病毒靶向杀伤肿瘤的免疫学机制及未来发展面临的挑战与展望等。     

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.     

The combination therapy of oncolytic HSV-1 armed with anti-PD-1 antibody and IL-12 enhances anti-tumor efficacy

Cancer immunotherapy is a new therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment that targets tumors by improving or restoring immune system function. Therapies targeting immune checkpoint molecules have exerted potent anti-tumor effects and prolonged the overall survival rate of patients. However, only a small number of patients benefit from the treatment. Oncolytic viruses exert anti-tumor effects by regulating the tumor microenvironment and affecting multiple steps of tumor immune circulation. In this study, we engineered two oncolytic viruses that express mouse anti-PD-1 antibody (VT1093M) or mouse IL-12 (VT1092M). We found that both oncolytic viruses showed significant anti-tumor effects in a murine CT26 colon adenocarcinoma model. Importantly, the intratumoral combined injection with VT1092M and VT1093M inhibited growth of the primary tumor, prevented growth of the contralateral untreated tumor, produced a vaccine-like response, activated antigen-specific T cell responses and prolonged the overall survival rate of mice. These results indicate that combination therapy with the engineered oncolytic virus may represent a potent immunotherapy strategy for cancer patients, especially those resistant to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapy.     

阿霉素处理的肿瘤抗原致敏树突状细胞的抗肿瘤免疫研究

研究表明化疗药物作用于肿瘤细胞后可有效激发免疫应答,这与肿瘤细胞的性质和化疗药物有关。该研究主要探讨阿霉素（adriamycin,ADM）处理小鼠宫颈癌u14细胞获得的肿瘤抗原致敏树突状细胞（dendriticceils,DCs）的免疫应答及对肿瘤的杀伤效应。分别应用ADM和反复冻融法处理小鼠宫颈癌U14细胞,取其离心上清液,致敏小鼠骨髓来源的DC,观察DC诱导的淋巴细胞增殖反应和细胞毒性T淋巴细胞（cytotoxicTlymphocyte,CTL）对宫颈癌细胞的细胞毒效应。结果显示：ADM处理的U14细胞抗原致敏后的DC组所激发和扩增的T细胞数及对宫颈癌细胞的杀伤效果显著高于对照组（P〈0．05）。因而提示ADM处理的肿瘤抗原能有效地致敏DC并产生抗肿瘤免疫效应。