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HLA-E expression by gynecological cancers restrains tumor-infiltrating CD8? T lymphocytes.

ABSTRACT: HLA-E is a nonclassical HLA class I molecule, which differs from classical HLA molecules by its nonpolymorphic, conserved nature. Expression and function of HLA-E in normal tissues and solid tumors is not fully understood. We investigated HLA-E protein expression on tissue sections of 420 ovarian and cervical cancers and found equal or higher levels than normal counterpart epithelia in 80% of the tumors. Expression was strongly associated with components of the antigen presentation pathway, e.g., transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP), endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptide (ERAP), ?2 microglobulin (?2m), HLA classes I and II, and for ovarian cancer with tumor infiltrating CD8(+) T lymphocytes (CTLs). This association argues against the idea that HLA-E would compensate for the loss of classical HLA in tumors. In situ detection of HLA-E interacting receptors revealed a very low infiltrate of natural killer (NK) cells, but up to 50% of intraepithelial CTLs expressed the inhibiting CD94/NKG2A receptor. In cervical cancer, HLA-E expression did not alter the prognostic effect of CTLs, most likely due to very high infiltrating CTL numbers in this virus-induced tumor. Overall survival of ovarian cancer patients, however, was strongly influenced by HLA-E, because the beneficial effect of high CTL infiltration was completely neutralized in the subpopulation with strong HLA-E expression. Interestingly, these results indicate that CTL infiltration in ovarian cancer is associated with better survival only when HLA-E expression is low and that intratumoral CTLs are inhibited by CD94/NKG2A receptors on CTLs in the tumor microenvironment.

SUBMITTER: Gooden M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3127933 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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HLA-E expression by gynecological cancers restrains tumor-infiltrating CD8⁺ T lymphocytes.

Gooden Marloes M Lampen Margit M Jordanova Ekaterina S ES Jordanova Ekaterina S ES Leffers Ninke N Trimbos J Baptist JB van der Burg Sjoerd H SH Nijman Hans H van Hall Thorbald T

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20110613 26

HLA-E is a nonclassical HLA class I molecule, which differs from classical HLA molecules by its nonpolymorphic, conserved nature. Expression and function of HLA-E in normal tissues and solid tumors is not fully understood. We investigated HLA-E protein expression on tissue sections of 420 ovarian and cervical cancers and found equal or higher levels than normal counterpart epithelia in 80% of the tumors. Expression was strongly associated with components of the antigen presentation pathway, e.g. ...[more]

PMID: 21670276

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Immuno-oncology and cancer immunotherapies are areas of intense research. The numbers and locations of CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are important measures of the immune response to cancer with prognostic, pharmacodynamic, and predictive potential. We describe the development, validation, and application of advanced image analysis methods to characterize multiple immunohistochemistry-derived CD8 parameters in clinical and nonclinical tumor tissues. METHODS:Commercial resection tumors from nine cancer types, and paired screening/on-drug biopsies of non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients enrolled in a phase 1/2 clinical trial investigating the PD-L1 antibody therapy durvalumab (NCT01693562), were immunostained for CD8. Additional NCT01693562 samples were immunostained with a CD8/PD-L1 dual immunohistochemistry assay. Whole-slide scanning was performed, tumor regions were annotated by a pathologist, and images were analyzed with customized algorithms using Definiens Developer XD software. Validation of image analysis data used cell-by-cell comparison to pathologist scoring across a range of CD8+ TIL densities of all nine cancers, relying primarily on 95% confidence in having at least moderate agreement regarding Lin concordance correlation coefficient (CCC = 0.88-0.99, CCC_lower = 0.65-0.96). RESULTS:We found substantial variability in CD8+ TILs between individual patients and across the nine types of human cancer. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma had several-fold more CD8+ TILs than some other cancers. TIL densities were significantly higher in the invasive margin versus tumor center for carcinomas of head and neck, kidney and pancreas, and NSCLC; the reverse was true only for prostate cancer. In paired patient biopsies, there were significantly increased CD8+ TILs 6 weeks after onset of durvalumab therapy (mean of 365 cells/mm2 over baseline; P = 0.009), consistent with immune activation. Image analysis accurately enumerated CD8+ TILs in PD-L1+ regions of lung tumors using the dual assay and also measured elongate CD8+ lymphocytes which constituted a fraction of overall TILs. CONCLUSIONS:Validated image analysis accurately enumerates CD8+ TILs, permitting comparisons of CD8 parameters among tumor regions, individual patients, and cancer types. It also enables the more complex digital solutions needed to better understand cancer immunity, like analysis of multiplex immunohistochemistry and spatial evaluation of the various components comprising the tumor microenvironment. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01693562 . Study code: CD-ON-MEDI4736-1108. Interventional study (ongoing but not currently recruiting). Actual study start date: August 29, 2012. Primary completion date: June 23, 2017 (final data collection date for primary outcome measure).

Project description:There is a pressing need for novel immunotherapeutic targets in colorectal cancer (CRC). Cytotoxic T cell infiltration is well established as a key prognostic indicator in CRC, and it is known that these tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) target and kill tumor cells. However, the specific antigens that drive these CD8+ T cell responses have not been well characterized. Recently, phosphopeptides have emerged as strong candidates for tumor-specific antigens, as dysregulated signaling in cancer leads to increased and aberrant protein phosphorylation. Here, we identify 120 HLA-I phosphopeptides from primary CRC tumors, CRC liver metastases and CRC cell lines using mass spectrometry and assess the tumor-resident immunity against these posttranslationally modified tumor antigens. Several CRC tumor-specific phosphopeptides were presented by multiple patients' tumors in our cohort (21% to 40%), and many have previously been identified on other malignancies (58% of HLA-A*02 CRC phosphopeptides). These shared antigens derived from mitogenic signaling pathways, including p53, Wnt and MAPK, and are therefore markers of malignancy. The identification of public tumor antigens will allow for the development of broadly applicable targeted therapeutics. Through analysis of TIL cytokine responses to these phosphopeptides, we have established that they are already playing a key role in tumor-resident immunity. Multifunctional CD8+ TILs from primary and metastatic tumors recognized the HLA-I phosphopeptides presented by their originating tumor. Furthermore, TILs taken from other CRC patients' tumors targeted two of these phosphopeptides. In another cohort of CRC patients, the same HLA-I phosphopeptides induced higher peripheral T cell responses than they did in healthy donors, suggesting that these immune responses are specifically activated in CRC patients. Collectively, these results establish HLA-I phosphopeptides as targets of the tumor-resident immunity in CRC, and highlight their potential as candidates for future immunotherapeutic strategies.

Dataset Information

HLA-E expression by gynecological cancers restrains tumor-infiltrating CD8? T lymphocytes.

Publications

HLA-E expression by gynecological cancers restrains tumor-infiltrating CD8⁺ T lymphocytes.

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