RAD54 and BLM helicase play pivotal roles during homologous recombination repair (HRR) ensuring genome maintenance. BLM amino acids (181-212) interacts with RAD54 and enhances its chromatin remodelling activity. Functionally, this interaction heightens HRR, leading to a decrease in residual DNA damage in colon cancer cells. This contributes to chemoresistance in colon cancer cells against cisplatin, camptothecin and oxaliplatin, eventually promoting tumorigenesis in preclinical colon cancer mouse models. ChIP-seq analysis and validation revealed increased BLM/RAD54 co-recruitment on MRP2 promoter in camptothecin resistant colon cancer cells, leading to BLM-dependent enhancement of RAD54-mediated chromatin remodelling. We screened Prestwick small molecule library intending to revert camptothecin and oxaliplatin induced chemoresistance by disrupting BLM-RAD54 interaction. Three FDA/EMA approved candidates were identified which could disrupt this interaction. These drugs bind to RAD54, alter its conformation and abrogate BLM-RAD54 dependent chromatin remodeling on G5E4 and MRP2 arrays. Notably, the small molecules also reduced HRR repair efficiency in resistant lines, diminished anchorage independent growth, hampered the proliferation of tumors generated using camptothecin and oxaliplatin resistant colon cancer cells in both xenograft and syngeneic mouse models in BLM dependent manner. Hence the three identified small molecules can serve as possible viable candidates for adjunct therapy in colon cancer treatment.
Ekjot Kaur, Ritu Agrawal, Rimpy Arun, Vinoth Madhavan, Vivek Srivastava, Dilip Kumar, Pragyan Parimita Rath, Nitin Kumar, Sreekanth Vedagopuram, Nishant Pandey, Swati Priya, Patrick Legembre, Samudrala Gourinath, Avinash Bajaj, Sagar Sengupta
Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of biofilm-associated prosthetic joint infection (PJI). A primary contributor to infection chronicity is an expansion of granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (G-MDSCs) that are critical for orchestrating the anti-inflammatory biofilm milieu. Single-cell sequencing and bioinformatic metabolic algorithms were used to explore the link between G-MDSC metabolism and S. aureus PJI outcome. Glycolysis and the hypoxia response through hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1a) were significantly enriched in G-MDSCs. Interfering with both pathways in vivo, using a 2-deoxyglucose nanopreparation and granulocyte-targeted HIF-1a conditional knockout mice, respectively, attenuated G-MDSC-mediated immunosuppression and reduced bacterial burden in a mouse model of S. aureus PJI. In addition, scRNA-seq analysis of granulocytes from PJI patients also showed an enrichment in glycolysis and hypoxia response genes. These findings support the importance of a glycolysis/HIF-1a axis in promoting G-MDSC anti-inflammatory activity and biofilm persistence during PJI.
Christopher M. Horn, Prabhakar Arumugam, Zachary Van Roy, Cortney E. Heim, Rachel W. Fallet, Blake P. Bertrand, Dhananjay Shinde, Vinai C. Thomas, Svetlana G. Romanova, Tatiana K. Bronich, Curtis W. Hartman, Kevin L. Garvin, Tammy Kielian
Adoptive transfer of T cell receptor-engineered T cells (TCR-T) is a promising strategy for immunotherapy against solid tumors. However, the potential of CD4+ T cells in mediating tumor regression has been neglected. Nasopharyngeal cancer is consistently associated with EBV. Here, to evaluate the therapeutic potential of CD4 TCR-T in nasopharyngeal cancer, we screened for CD4 TCRs recognizing EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) presented by HLA-DP5. Using mass spectrometry, we identified EBNA567-581, a peptide naturally processed and presented by HLA-DP5. We isolated TCR135, a CD4 TCR with high functional avidity, that can function in both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and recognizes HLA-DP5-restricted EBNA1567-581. TCR135-transduced T cells functioned in two ways: directly killing HLA-DP5+EBNA1+ tumor cells after recognizing EBNA1 presented by tumor cells and indirectly killing HLA-DP5-negative tumor cells after recognizing EBNA1 presented by antigen-presenting cells. TCR135-transduced T cells preferentially infiltrated into the tumor microenvironment and significantly inhibited tumor growth in xenograft nasopharyngeal tumor models. Additionally, we found that 62% of nasopharyngeal cancer patients showed 50%-100% expression of HLA-DP on tumor cells, indicating that nasopharyngeal cancer is well-suited for CD4 TCR-T therapy. These findings suggest that TCR135 may provide a new strategy for EBV-related nasopharyngeal cancer immunotherapy in HLA-DP5+ patients.
Chenwei Wang, Jiewen Chen, Jingyao Li, Zhihong Xu, Lihong Huang, Qian Zhao, Lei Chen, Xiaolong Liang, Hai Hu, Gang Li, Chengjie Xiong, Bin Wu, Hua You, Danyi Du, Xiaoling Wang, Hongle Li, Zibing Wang, Lin Chen
Chromosomal instability is a prominent biological feature of Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS), with over 50% of MDS patients harboring chromosomal abnormalities or a complex karyotype. Despite this observation, the mechanisms underlying mitotic and chromosomal defects in MDS remain elusive. In this study, we identified a ectopic expression of transcription factor ONECUT3, associated with complex karyotypes and poorer survival outcomes in MDS. ONECUT3-overexpressing cell models exhibited enrichment of several notable pathways, including signatures of sister chromosome exchange separation and mitotic nuclear division with the upregulation of INCENP and CDCA8 genes. Notably, dysregulation of Chromosome Passenger Complex (CPC) accumulation besides the cell equator and midbody during mitotic phases consequently caused cytokinesis failure and defective chromosome segregation. Mechanistically, the Homeobox (HOX) domain of ONECUT3, serving as the DNA binding domain, occupied the unique genomic regions of INCENP and CDCA8, and transcriptionally activated these two genes. A novel lead compound C5484617, was identified that functionally targeted the HOX domain of ONECUT3 inhibiting its transcriptional activity on downstream genes, and synergistically resensitized MDS cells to hypomethylating agents. This study revealed that ONECUT3 promoted chromosomal instability by transcriptional activation of INCENP and CDCA8, suggesting potential prognosis and therapeutic roles for targeting high-risk MDS patients with complex karyotype.
Yingwan Luo, Xiaomin Feng, Wei Lang, Weihong Xu, Wei Wang, Chen Mei, Li Ye, Shuanghong Zhu, Lu Wang, Xinping Zhou, Huimin Zeng, Liya Ma, Yanling Ren, Jie Jin, Rongzhen Xu, Gang Huang, Hongyan Tong
Loss of arterial smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and abnormal accumulation of the extracellular domain of the NOTCH3 receptor (Notch3ECD) are the two core features of CADASIL, a common cerebral small vessel disease caused by highly stereotyped dominant mutations in NOTCH3. Yet, the relationship between NOTCH3 receptor activity, Notch3ECD accumulation and arterial SMC loss has remained elusive, hampering the development of disease-modifying therapies. Using dedicated histopathological and multiscale imaging modalities, we could detect and quantify previously undetectable CADASIL-driven arterial SMC loss in the central nervous system of mice expressing the archetypal Arg169Cys mutation. We found that arterial pathology was more severe and Notch3ECD accumulation greater in transgenic mice overexpressing the mutation on a wild-type Notch3 background (TgNotch3R169C) than in knock-in Notch3R170C/R170C mice expressing this mutation without a wild-type Notch3 copy. Notably, expression of Notch3-regulated genes was essentially unchanged in TgNotch3R169C arteries. We further showed that wild-type Notch3ECD co-aggregated with mutant Notch3ECD and that elimination of one copy of wild-type Notch3 in TgNotch3R169C was sufficient to attenuate Notch3ECD accumulation and arterial pathology. These findings suggest that Notch3ECD accumulation, involving mutant and wild-type NOTCH3, is a major driver of arterial SMC loss in CADASIL, paving the way for NOTCH3-lowering therapeutic strategies.
Nicolas Dupré, Florian Gueniot, Valérie Domenga-Denier, Virginie Dubosclard, Christelle Nilles, David Hill-Eubanks, Christelle Morgenthaler-Roth, Mark T. Nelson, Céline Keime, Lydia Danglot, Anne Joutel
Translocation Renal Cell Carcinoma (tRCC) most commonly involves an ASPSCR1-TFE3 fusion, but molecular mechanisms remain elusive and animal models are lacking. Here, we show that human ASPSCR1-TFE3 driven by Pax8-Cre (a credentialed ccRCC driver) disrupted nephrogenesis and glomerular development causing neonatal death, whilst the ccRCC failed driver, Sglt2-Cre, induced aggressive tRCC (as well as ASPS) with complete penetrance and short latency. However, in both contexts, ASPSCR1-TFE3 led to characteristic morphological cellular changes, loss of epithelial markers, and an EMT program. Electron microscopy of tRCC tumors showed lysosome expansion and functional studies revealed simultaneous activation of autophagy and mTORC1 pathways. Comparative genomic analyses encompassing an institutional human tRCC cohort (including a hitherto unreported SFPQ-TFEB fusion) and a variety of tumorgraft models (ASPSCR1-TFE3, PRCC-TFE3, SFPQ-TFE3, RBM10-TFE3, and MALAT1-TFEB) disclosed significant convergence in canonical (cell cycle, lysosome and mTORC1) and less established pathways such as Myc, E2F and inflammation (IL6/JAK/STAT3, interferon-γ, TLR signaling, systemic lupus, etc). Therapeutic trials (adjusted for human drug exposures) showed anti-tumor activity of cabozantinib. Overall, this study provides insight into MiT/TFE-driven tumorigenesis including the cell of origin and characterizes diverse mouse models available for research.
Gopinath Prakasam, Akhilesh Mishra, Alana Christie, Jeffrey Miyata, Deyssy Carrillo, Vanina T. Tcheuyap, Hui Ye, Quyen N. Do, Yunguan Wang, Oscar Reig Torras, Ramesh Butti, Hua Zhong, Jeffrey Gagan, Kevin B. Jones, Thomas J. Carroll, Zora Modrusan, Steffen Durinck, Mai-Carmen Requena-Komuro, Noelle S. Williams, Ivan Pedrosa, Tao Wang, Dinesh Rakheja, Payal Kapur, James Brugarolas
Background: Persistent controllers (PC) maintain antiretroviral-free HIV-1 control indefinitely over time while transient controllers (TC) eventually lose virological control. It is essential to characterize the quality of the HIV reservoir of these phenotypes to identify the factors that lead to HIV progression and to open new avenues in HIV cure strategies. Methods: The characterization of HIV-1 reservoir, from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, was performed using next-generation sequencing techniques, such as full-length individual and matched integration site proviral sequencing (FLIP-seq; MIP-seq). Results: PC and TC before losing virological control, presented significantly lower total, intact and defective proviruses compared to participants on antiretroviral therapy (ART). No differences were found in total and defective proviruses between PC and TC. However, intact provirus levels were lower in PC compared to TC, being the intact/defective HIV-DNA ratio significantly higher in TC. Clonally expanded intact proviruses were found only in PC and located in centromeric satellite DNA or zinc-finger genes, both associated with heterochromatin features. In contrast, sampled intact proviruses were located in permissive genic euchromatic positions in TC. Conclusions: These results suggest the need for, and can give guidance to the design of, future research to identify a distinct proviral landscape that may be associated with the persistent control of HIV-1 without ART. Funding: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FI17/00186, FI19/00083, MV20/00057 PI18/01532, PI19/01127 and PI22/01796), Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad, Junta de Andalucía (PI20/1276), Gilead Fellowships (GLD22/00147) and I+D+iFEDER Andalucía 2014-2020 (US-1380938).
Carmen Gasca-Capote, Xiaodong Lian, Ce Gao, Isabelle C. Roseto, María Reyes Jiménez-León, Gregory Gladkov, María Inés Camacho-Sojo, Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Isabel Gallego, Luis E. Lopez-Cortes, Sara Bachiller, Joana Vitalle, Mohammed Rafii-El-Idrissi Benhnia, Francisco J. Ostos, Antonio R. Collado-Romacho, Jesús Santos, Rosario Palacios, Cristina Gomez-Ayerbe, Leopoldo Muñoz-Medina, Andrés Ruiz-Sancho, Mario Frias, Antonio Rivero-Juarez, Cristina Roca-Oporto, Carmen Hidalgo-Tenorio, Anna Rull, Julian Olalla, Miguel A. Lopez-Ruz, Francesc Vidal, Consuelo Viladés, Andrea Mastrangelo, Matthias Cavassini, Nuria Espinosa, Matthieu Perreau, Joaquin Peraire, Antonio Rivero, Luis F. López-Cortes, Mathias Lichterfeld, Xu G. Yu, Ezequiel Ruiz-Mateos
While therapies targeting CD19 by antibodies, CAR-T cells and T cell engagers have improved the response rates in B-cell malignancies; the emergence of resistant cell populations with low CD19 expression can lead to relapsed disease. We developed an in vitro model of adaptive resistance facilitated by chronic exposure of leukemia cells to a CD19-immunotoxin. Single-cell (sc) RNAseq showed increase in transcriptionally distinct CD19low populations in resistant cells. Mass cytometry demonstrated that CD22 was also decreased in these CD19low resistant cells. ATAC-seq showed decreased chromatin accessibility at promoters of both CD19 and CD22 during development of resistance. Combined loss of both CD19 and CD22 antigens was validated in samples from pediatric and young adult patients with ALL that relapsed after CD19 CAR-T targeted therapy. Functionally, resistant cells were characterized by slower growth and lower basal levels of MEK activation. CD19low resistant cells exhibited preserved B cell receptor signaling and were more sensitive to both BTK and MEK inhibition. These data demonstrate that resistance to CD19 immunotherapies can result in decreased expression of both CD19 and CD22 and can result in dependency on BTK pathways.
Sarah Aminov, Orsi Giricz, David T. Melnekoff, R. Alejandro Sica, Veronika Polishchuk, Cristian Papazoglu, Bonnie Yates, Hao-Wei Wang, Srabani Sahu, Yanhua Wang, Shanisha Gordon-Mitchell, Violetta V. Leshchenko, Carolina Schinke, Kith Pradhan, Srinivas Aluri, Moah Sohn, Stefan K. Barta, Beamon Agarwal, Mendel Goldfinger, Ioannis Mantzaris, Aditi Shastri, William Matsui, Ulrich Steidl, Joshua D. Brody, Nirali N. Shah, Samir Parekh, Amit Verma
Corticosteroid treatment (CST) failure is associated with poor outcomes for patients with gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease (GI GVHD). CST is intended to target the immune system, but the glucocorticoid receptor is widely expressed, including within the intestines, where its effects are poorly understood. Here, we report that corticosteroids directly target intestinal epithelium, potentially worsening immune-mediated GI damage. Corticosteroids administered to mice in vivo and intestinal organoid cultures ex vivo reduced epithelial proliferation. Following irradiation, immediate CST mitigated GI damage, but delayed treatment attenuated regeneration and exacerbated damage. In a murine steroid-refractory GVHD model, CST impaired epithelial regeneration, worsened crypt loss, and reduced intestinal stem cell (ISC) frequencies. CST also exacerbated immune-mediated damage in organoid cultures with “steroid-refractory” GR-deficient T cells or Interferon-γ. These findings correlated with corticosteroid-dependent changes in apoptosis-related gene expression and STAT3-related epithelial proliferation. Conversely, Interleukin-22 administration enhanced STAT3 activity and overcame corticosteroid-mediated attenuation of regeneration, reducing crypt loss and promoting ISC expansion in steroid-treated mice with GVHD. Therefore, CST has the potential to exacerbate GI damage if it fails to control the damage-inducing immune response, but this risk may be countered by strategies augmenting epithelial regeneration, thus providing rationale for clinical approaches combining such tissue-targeted therapies with immunosuppression.
Viktor Arnhold, Winston Y. Chang, Suze A. Jansen, Govindarajan Thangavelu, Marco Calafiore, Paola Vinci, Ya-Yuan Fu, Takahiro Ito, Shuichiro Takashima, Anastasiya Egorova, Jason Kuttiyara, Adam Perlstein, Marliek van Hoesel, Chen Liu, Bruce R. Blazar, Caroline A. Lindemans, Alan M. Hanash
Radiotherapy (RT) is considered immunogenic, but clinical data demonstrating RT-induced T-cell priming are scarce. Here, we show in a mouse tumor model representative of human lymphocyte-depleted cancer that RT enhances spontaneous priming of thymus-derived (FOXP3+ Helios+) regulatory T-cells (Tregs) by the tumor. These Tregs acquire an effector phenotype, populate the tumor and impede tumor control by a simultaneous, RT-induced CD8+ cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) response. Combination of RT with CTLA-4 or PD-1 blockade, which enables CD28 costimulation, further increased this Treg response and failed to improve tumor control. We discovered that upon RT, CD28-ligands CD86 and CD80 differentially affected the Treg response. CD86, but not CD80, blockade prevented the effector (e)Treg response, enriched the tumor-draining lymph node for PD-L1+CD80+ migratory, conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) and promoted CTL priming. Blockade of CD86 alone or in combination with PD-1, enhanced intra-tumoral CTL accumulation and the combination significantly increased RT-induced tumor regression and overall survival. We advise that combining RT with PD-1 and/or CTLA-4 blockade may be counterproductive in lymphocyte-depleted cancers, since they drive Treg responses in this context. However, combining RT with CD86 blockade may promote control of such tumors by enabling a CTL response.
Elselien Frijlink, Douwe M.T. Bosma, Julia Busselaar, Thomas W. Battaglia, Mo D. Staal, Inge Verbrugge, Jannie Borst
No posts were found with this tag.