Project description:To investigate the effects of external beam radiation therapy on androgen receptor pathway transcriptomic expression in prostate cancer, we performed RNAseq on EBRT-treated LNCAP xenograft tumors.
Project description:Radiation therapy is a mainstay of cancer treatment, with more than 50% of all cancer patients receiving radiation during the course of their disease. Tumor irradiation can activate both innate and adaptive immune responses, and these responses can be pro- or anti-tumor growth . These observations have led to the search for antitumor approaches combining radiotherapy and specific immunotherapies, most commonly strategies promoting the systemic activation of T cells. Thus far, however, many cancer patients still suffer from local recurrence and/or untreatable metastatic disease after radiotherapy. Here we combine radiotherapy with activation of macrophage-mediated phagocytosis via blockade of the ?don?t-eat-me? cell surface molecule CD47 in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), a highly metastatic form of lung cancer for which treatment options remain limited. We found that irradiation of SCLC cells in culture results in the secretion of inflammatory cytokines that results in increased migration and phagocytosis by macrophages. In vivo, CD47 blockade potently enhances the local antitumor effects of radiation therapy in murine and human pre-clinical models of SCLC. Strikingly, CD47 blockade also stimulates abscopal antitumor effects inhibiting the growth of non-irradiated SCLC tumors in mice receiving radiation. Similar abscopal antitumor effects were observed in colon cancer and lymphoma models. Surprisingly, these abscopal effects are completely independent of T cells but require macrophages that migrate into the non-irradiated tumor sites in response to inflammatory signals mediated by radiation and are locally activated by CD47 blockade to eliminate cancer cells. The systemic activation of antitumor macrophages following radiotherapy and CD47 blockade may be particularly important in cancer patients who suffer from metastatic disease.
Project description:Different DIPG tumor models have different responses to radiation therapy, which can be identified by quantitative proteomics/phospho-proteomics approach
Project description:Background and Purpose: Cardiotoxicity is a well-known adverse effect of radiation therapy. Measurable abnormalities in the heart function indicate advanced and often irreversible heart damage. Therefore, early detection of cardiac toxicity is necessary to delay and alleviate the development of the disease. The present study investigated long-term serum proteome alterations following local heart irradiation using a mouse model with the aim to detect biomarkers of radiation-induced cardiac toxicity. Materials and Methods: Serum samples from C57BL/6J mice were collected 20 weeks after local heart irradiation with 8 Gy or 16 Gy X-ray; the controls were sham-irradiated. The samples were analyzed by quantitative proteomics based on data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry. The proteomics data were further investigated using bioinformatics and ELISA. Results: The analysis showed radiation-induced changes in the level of several serum proteins involved in the acute phase response, inflammation and cholesterol metabolism. We found significantly enhanced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-, TGF-, IL-1 and IL-6) in the serum of the irradiated mice. The level of free fatty acids, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) and oxidized LDL was increased whereas that of high density lipoprotein was decreased by irradiation. Conclusions: This study provides information on systemic effects of heart irradiation. It elucidates a radiation fingerprint in the serum that may be used to elucidate adverse cardiac effects after radiation therapy.
Project description:In this study, radiation therapy was performed on mouse breast cancer spontaneous gene mice (MMTV-PyMT) to obtain radiation therapy model of breast cancer mice. To simulate clinical breast cancer radiotherapy and study the differential proteins of breast cancer radiotherapy resistance. MMTV-PyMT mice were randomly divided into two groups, and the radiotherapy group was given the same dose 5 times (3GY, once every 2 days) when the breast cancer tumor grew to an appropriate size (200mm3). The protein extracted from mouse tumor was analyzed by mass spectrometry.
Project description:In patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), we show that response to radiation therapy (RT) is characterized by increased IL2R and IL2R expression, decreased ILR2 and exhaustion markers. The bispecific PD-1-targeted IL-2 variant (IL2v) immunocytokine with engineered IL-2 cis-targeted to PD-1 and abolished IL2R binding targets the activation of tumor-antigen specific T cells while rescuing them from Treg suppression. Using aPD1-IL2v in orthotopic PDAC KPC-driven tumor models, we show marked improvement in local and metastatic survival along with profound increase in tumor-infiltrating polyfunctional CD8 T cell subsets with a transcriptionally and metabolically active phenotype, and preferential activation of antigen-specific CD8 T cells. In combination with single dose RT, aPD1-IL2v treatment results in a robust, durable expansion of polyfunctional CD8 T cells, T cell stemness, tumor-specific memory immune response, NK cell activation, and decreased Tregs. These data show that the novel aPD1-IL2v, leads to profound local and distant response in PDAC.
Project description:Radiation therapy induces immunogenic cell death in cancer cells, whereby apoptotic cells release endogenous adjuvants that are sensed by immune cells to direct adaptive immune responses. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) expressed on several immune subtypes recognize these products to direct downstream responses in part via the adapter protein MyD88. Here we use lineage specific deletion of Myd88 to interrogate its contribution to the immune response to radiation therapy in distinct immune populations in pancreatic cancer. While Myd88 deletion in Itgax- and Lck-expressing immune populations had little discernable effects on response to radiation therapy, Lyz2-specific loss of Myd88 rendered tumors more susceptible to radiation therapy dependent on CD8+ T cells. scRNAseq revealed gene signatures in myeloid and dendritic cells indicative of enhanced type I and II interferon responses. Together, these data implicate MyD88 signaling in myeloid cells as a critical source of immunosuppression that hinders adaptive immune tumor control following radiation therapy.