Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, as well as targeted anticancer agents can induce clinically relevant tumor-targeting immune responses, which critically rely on the antigenicity of malignant cells ...and their capacity to generate adjuvant signals. In particular, immunogenic cell death (ICD) is accompanied by the exposure and release of numerous damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), which altogether confer a robust adjuvanticity to dying cancer cells, as they favor the recruitment and activation of antigen-presenting cells. ICD-associated DAMPs include surface-exposed calreticulin (CALR) as well as secreted ATP, annexin A1 (ANXA1), type I interferon, and high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1). Additional hallmarks of ICD encompass the phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 subunit-α (EIF2S1, better known as eIF2α), the activation of autophagy, and a global arrest in transcription and translation. Here, we outline methodological approaches for measuring ICD markers in vitro and ex vivo for the discovery of next-generation antineoplastic agents, the development of personalized anticancer regimens, and the identification of optimal therapeutic combinations for the clinical management of cancer.
Calreticulin and cancer Fucikova, Jitka; Spisek, Radek; Kroemer, Guido ...
Cell research,
01/2021, Volume:
31, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Calreticulin (CALR) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident protein involved in a spectrum of cellular processes. In healthy cells, CALR operates as a chaperone and Ca
buffer to assist correct ...protein folding within the ER. Besides favoring the maintenance of cellular proteostasis, these cell-intrinsic CALR functions support Ca
-dependent processes, such as adhesion and integrin signaling, and ensure normal antigen presentation on MHC Class I molecules. Moreover, cancer cells succumbing to immunogenic cell death (ICD) expose CALR on their surface, which promotes the uptake of cell corpses by professional phagocytes and ultimately supports the initiation of anticancer immunity. Thus, loss-of-function CALR mutations promote oncogenesis not only as they impair cellular homeostasis in healthy cells, but also as they compromise natural and therapy-driven immunosurveillance. However, the prognostic impact of total or membrane-exposed CALR levels appears to vary considerably with cancer type. For instance, while genetic CALR defects promote pre-neoplastic myeloproliferation, patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms bearing CALR mutations often experience improved overall survival as compared to patients bearing wild-type CALR. Here, we discuss the context-dependent impact of CALR on malignant transformation, tumor progression and response to cancer therapy.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Dendritic cells (DCs) are key regulators of immune responses that operate at the interface between innate and adaptive immunity, and defects in DC functions contribute to the pathogenesis of a ...variety of disorders. For instance, cancer evolves in the context of limited DC activity, and some autoimmune diseases are initiated by DC-dependent antigen presentation. Thus, correcting aberrant DC functions stands out as a promising therapeutic paradigm for a variety of diseases, as demonstrated by an abundant preclinical and clinical literature accumulating over the past two decades. However, the therapeutic potential of DC-targeting approaches remains to be fully exploited in the clinic. Here, we discuss the unique features of DCs that underlie the high therapeutic potential of DC-targeting strategies and critically analyze the obstacles that have prevented the full realization of this promising paradigm.
Hormone receptor (HR)
breast cancer (BC) causes most BC-related deaths, calling for improved therapeutic approaches. Despite expectations, immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs) are poorly active in ...patients with HR
BC, in part reflecting the lack of preclinical models that recapitulate disease progression in immunocompetent hosts. We demonstrate that mammary tumors driven by medroxyprogesterone acetate (M) and 7,12-dimethylbenzaanthracene (D) recapitulate several key features of human luminal B HR
HER2
BC, including limited immune infiltration and poor sensitivity to ICBs. M/D-driven oncogenesis is accelerated by immune defects, demonstrating that M/D-driven tumors are under immunosurveillance. Safe nutritional measures including nicotinamide (NAM) supplementation efficiently delay M/D-driven oncogenesis by reactivating immunosurveillance. NAM also mediates immunotherapeutic effects against established M/D-driven and transplantable BC, largely reflecting increased type I interferon secretion by malignant cells and direct stimulation of immune effector cells. Our findings identify NAM as a potential strategy for the prevention and treatment of HR
BC.
Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists demonstrate therapeutic promise as immunological adjuvants for anticancer immunotherapy. To date, three TLR agonists have been approved by US regulatory agencies for ...use in cancer patients. Additionally, the potential of hitherto experimental TLR ligands to mediate clinically useful immunostimulatory effects has been extensively investigated over the past few years. Here, we summarize recent preclinical and clinical advances in the development of TLR agonists for cancer therapy.
Immunogenic cell death is characterized by the early surface exposure of chaperones including calreticulin and HSPs, which affect dendritic cell (DC) maturation and the uptake and presentation of ...tumor antigens. It has also been shown that it is characterized by the late release of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), which acts through Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and augments the presentation of antigens from dying tumor cells to DCs. Most of the data on immunogenic tumor cell death were obtained using mouse models. In this study, we investigated the capacity of clinically used chemotherapeutics to induce immunogenic cell death in human tumor cell lines and primary tumor cells. We found that only anthracyclines induced a rapid translocation of calreticulin, HSP70, and HSP90 to the cell surface and the release of HMGB1 12 hours after the treatment. The interaction of immature DCs with immunogenic tumor cells led to an increased tumor cell uptake and induces moderate phenotypic maturation of DCs. Killed tumor cell-loaded DCs efficiently stimulated tumor-specific IFN-γ-producing T cells. DCs pulsed with killed immunogenic tumor cells also induced significantly lower numbers of regulatory T cells than those pulsed with nonimmunogenic tumor cells. These data indicate that human prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells share the key features of immunogenic cell death with mice tumor cells. These data also identify anthracyclines as anticancer drugs capable of inducing immunogenic cell death in sensitive human tumor cells.
The term 'immunogenic cell death' (ICD) denotes an immunologically unique type of regulated cell death that enables, rather than suppresses, T cell-driven immune responses that are specific for ...antigens derived from the dying cells. The ability of ICD to elicit adaptive immunity heavily relies on the immunogenicity of dying cells, implying that such cells must encode and present antigens not covered by central tolerance (antigenicity), and deliver immunostimulatory molecules such as damage-associated molecular patterns and cytokines (adjuvanticity). Moreover, the host immune system must be equipped to detect the antigenicity and adjuvanticity of dying cells. As cancer (but not normal) cells express several antigens not covered by central tolerance, they can be driven into ICD by some therapeutic agents, including (but not limited to) chemotherapeutics of the anthracycline family, oxaliplatin and bortezomib, as well as radiation therapy. In this Trial Watch, we describe current trends in the preclinical and clinical development of ICD-eliciting chemotherapy as partner for immunotherapy, with a focus on trials assessing efficacy in the context of immunomonitoring.
Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is among the top five causes of cancer-related death in women, largely reflecting early, prediagnosis dissemination of malignant cells to the peritoneum. Despite ...improvements in medical therapies, particularly with the implementation of novel drugs targeting homologous recombination deficiency, the survival rates of patients with EOC remain low. Unlike other neoplasms, EOC remains relatively insensitive to immune checkpoint inhibitors, which is correlated with a tumor microenvironment (TME) characterized by poor infiltration by immune cells and active immunosuppression dominated by immune components with tumor-promoting properties, especially tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). In recent years, TAMs have attracted interest as potential therapeutic targets by seeking to reverse the immunosuppression in the TME and enhance the clinical efficacy of immunotherapy. Here, we review the key biological features of TAMs that affect tumor progression and their relevance as potential targets for treating EOC. We especially focus on the therapies that might modulate the recruitment, polarization, survival, and functional properties of TAMs in the TME of EOC that can be harnessed to develop superior combinatorial regimens with immunotherapy for the clinical care of patients with EOC.
Peptide-based anticancer vaccination aims at stimulating an immune response against one or multiple tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) following immunization with purified, recombinant or synthetically ...engineered epitopes. Despite high expectations, the peptide-based vaccines that have been explored in the clinic so far had limited therapeutic activity, largely due to cancer cell-intrinsic alterations that minimize antigenicity and/or changes in the tumor microenvironment that foster immunosuppression. Several strategies have been developed to overcome such limitations, including the use of immunostimulatory adjuvants, the co-treatment with cytotoxic anticancer therapies that enable the coordinated release of damage-associated molecular patterns, and the concomitant blockade of immune checkpoints. Personalized peptide-based vaccines are also being explored for therapeutic activity in the clinic. Here, we review recent preclinical and clinical progress in the use of peptide-based vaccines as anticancer therapeutics.Abbreviations: CMP: carbohydrate-mimetic peptide; CMV: cytomegalovirus; DC: dendritic cell; FDA: Food and Drug Administration; HPV: human papillomavirus; MDS: myelodysplastic syndrome; MHP: melanoma helper vaccine; NSCLC: non-small cell lung carcinoma; ODD: orphan drug designation; PPV: personalized peptide vaccination; SLP: synthetic long peptide; TAA: tumor-associated antigen; TNA: tumor neoantigen
The term "immunogenic cell death" (ICD) is commonly employed to indicate a peculiar instance of regulated cell death (RCD) that engages the adaptive arm of the immune system. The inoculation of ...cancer cells undergoing ICD into immunocompetent animals elicits a specific immune response associated with the establishment of immunological memory. Only a few agents are intrinsically endowed with the ability to trigger ICD. These include a few chemotherapeutics that are routinely employed in the clinic, like doxorubicin, mitoxantrone, oxaliplatin, and cyclophosphamide, as well as some agents that have not yet been approved for use in humans. Accumulating clinical data indicate that the activation of adaptive immune responses against dying cancer cells is associated with improved disease outcome in patients affected by various neoplasms. Thus, novel therapeutic regimens that trigger ICD are urgently awaited. Here, we discuss current combinatorial approaches to convert otherwise non-immunogenic instances of RCD into bona fide ICD.
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