Project description:Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has shown remarkable efficacy, but in only a minority of cancer patients, suggesting the need to develop additional treatment strategies.We integrated transcriptional profiles of treatment-naïve human tumors and functional CRISPR screens to identify glycometabolism genes with immunomodulatory effects. We identified MAN2A1, encoding an enzyme in N-glycan maturation, as a key immunomodulatory gene. Analyses of public immune checkpoint blockade trial data also suggested a synergy between MAN2A1 inhibition and anti-PD-L1 treatment. Loss of Man2a1 in cancer cells increased their sensitivity to T cell-mediated killing. Man2a1 knockout enhanced response to anti-PD-L1 treatment and facilitated higher cytotoxic T cell infiltration in tumors under anti-PD-L1 treatment. Furthermore, a pharmacological inhibitor of MAN2A1, swainsonine, synergized with anti-PD-L1 in syngeneic melanoma tumor model, whereas each treatment alone had little effect.
Project description:Background: Previous studies have shown that EZH2 regulates tumor PD-L1 expression at the transcriptional level and has an impact on tumor immune environment and prognosis. However, whether EZH2 can regulate PD-L1 expression at the post-translational level remains unclear. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of EZH2 inhibition on PD-L1 expression and protein stability in colorectal cancer cells, uncover its underlying mechanisms, and provide new therapeutic strategies for anti-tumor immune therapy. Methods: Multiple colorectal cancer cell models were used to examine the effects of EZH2 inhibition on PD-L1 expression and protein stability at both the protein and transcriptional levels. Transcriptome analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed genes associated with EZH2 inhibition and potential effectors involved in EZH2-mediated regulation of PD-L1 protein stability. Validation of candidate genes was conducted through public database analysis and knockdown or overexpression models. Finally, the combined effects of EZH2 inhibitors and anti-PD-1 immune therapy were evaluated using a mouse xenograft model. Results: We observed that inhibition of EZH2 function upregulated PD-L1 expression and enhanced its protein stability in colorectal cancer cells. Transcriptome analysis revealed that ubiquitin-specific protease 22 (USP22) played a crucial role in mediating EZH2-regulated PD-L1 protein stability. EZH2 affected USP22 expression through its classical epigenetic regulatory function, thereby modulating PD-L1 expression stability and influencing the tumor immune microenvironment. Combination treatment with EZH2 inhibitors and anti-PD-1 immune therapy improved the tumor microenvironment, promoted immune cell infiltration, and exerted synergistic anti-cancer effects. Conclusion: This study elucidated the mechanisms by EZH2 regulate PD-L1 expression and stability, providing new insights into therapeutic strategies for colorectal cancer. The combination of EZH2 inhibitors and anti-PD-1 immune therapy can synergistically enhance anti-tumor effects. These findings offer a potential therapeutic approach to improve the effectiveness of EZH2 inhibitors in cancer treatment and contribute to a better understanding of the role of EZH2 in tumor immune regulation.
Project description:Antibodies and derivative drugs targeting immune checkpoints have been approved for the treatment of several malignancies, but there are fewer responses in patients with pancreatic cancer. Here, we designed a nanobody molecule with bi-targeting on PD-L1 and CXCR4, as both targets are overexpressed in many cancer cells and play important roles in tumorigenesis. The nanobody sequences targeting PD-L1 and CXCR4 were linked by the (G4S)3 flexible peptide to construct the anti-PD-L1/CXCR4 bispecific nanobody. The bispecific nanobody was expressed in E. coli cells and purified by affinity chromatography. The purified nanobody was biochemically characterized by mass spectrometry, Western blotting and flow cytometry to confirm the molecule and its association with both PD-L1 and CXCR4. The biological function of the nanobody and its anti-tumour effects were examined.
Project description:Purpose: To find out the patients who are most sensitive and effective to the anti-PD-L1 and TGF-β bifunctional fusion protein in the treatment of recurrent cervical cancer. Patients and methods: We report two cases of recurrent cervical cancer treated with the anti-PD-L1 and TGF-β bifunctional fusion protein. We described the clinical course, clinical characteristics, and genetic characteristics of the two patients, and analyzed the changes of gene expression in the two patients after treatment. Results: Although PD-L1 expression and HPV status were same in the two patients, the treatment effect of two patients with recurrent cervical cancer was different, according to the evaluation of enhanced computed tomography (CT), one was partial response (PR) and the other was progressive disease (PD), which may indicate that PD-L1 expression and HPV status of patients is not enough to predict the effectiveness of the anti-PD-L1 and TGF-β bifunctional fusion protein treatments. Then, we demonstrated that the changes of peripheral blood lymphocytes of two patients during the treatment had different trends. Moreover, number of alterable genes in PR patient is much greater than that in PD patient, indicating PR patient may be more sensible to the anti-PD-L1 and TGF-β bifunctional fusion protein treatments. Total 4844 genes changing-fate gene set selected which is believed conducting anti-cancer function during the anti-PD-L1 and TGF-β bifunctional fusion protein treatments. Furthermore, we identified that changing-fate genes were correlated with female reproductive organ cancer, infectious disease, inflammatory disease, immune system, indicating these genes may conducting anti-cancer, anti-inflammation and immune function. Conclusion: Anti-PD-L1 and TGF-β bifunctional fusion protein is feasible for the treatment of recurrent cervical cancer. Multi-center, large-sample prospective clinical studies are still needed to further explore the efficacy of anti-PD-L1 and TGF-β bifunctional fusion protein in recurrent cervical cancer and screen appropriate patients, so as to achieve the maximum survival benefit of patients.
Project description:Checkpoint inhibitors like anti-PD1/PD-L1 have demonstrated significant therapeutic efficacy in a subset of patients partly through reinvigoration of CD8 T cells. However, their impact on myeloid cells remains largely unknown. Here we report that anti-PD-L1 treatment favorably impacts the phenotype and function of tumor macrophages by polarizing the macrophage compartment towards a more pro-inflammatory phenotype. This phenotype was characterized by a decrease in Arginase-I (ARG1) expression and an increase in iNOS, MHCII, and CD40 expression. Whole-transcriptome profiling further confirmed extensive polarization of both tumor monocytes and macrophages from a suppressive to a pro-inflammatory, immuno-stimulatory phenotype. This polarization was driven mainly through IFNγ and was associated with enhanced T cell activity. Transfer of monocytes into anti-PD-L1-treated tumor-bearing mice led to macrophage differentiation into a more pro-inflammatory phenotype, with an increase in CD8 T cells expressing granzyme B and an increase in the CD8/Treg ratio compared to control-treated mice. While in responsive tumor models anti-PD-L1 treatment remodeled the macrophage compartment with beneficial effects on T cells, both macrophage reprogramming and depletion were needed to maximize anti-PD-L1 responses in a tumor immune contexture with high macrophage burden. Our results demonstrate that anti-PD-L1 treatment can favorably remodel the macrophage compartment in responsive tumor models towards a more pro-inflammatory phenotype, mainly through increased IFNγ levels. They also suggest that directly targeting these cells with reprogramming and depleting agents may further augment the breadth and depth of response to anti-PD-L1 treatment in less responsive or more macrophage-dense tumor microenvironments. The "SAMPLE_ID" sample characteristic is a sample identifier internal to Genentech. The ID of this project in Genentech's ExpressionPlot database is NGS1772.
Project description:To explore the mechanisms of the decreased testosterone after anti-PD-L1 treatment in mice, we performed RNAseq transcriptome analysis of the testes of male mice 7 days later post-treatment with anti-PD-L1 or control IgG. After quantified by TBS380, paired-end RNA-seq sequencing library was sequenced with the Illumina HiSeq xten. Our results show that pathways involved in both lipid transportation and inflammation were obviously affected by anti-PD-L1 treatment.
Project description:Blocking the PD-1/PD-L1 immunosuppressive pathway has shown promise in the treatment of certain cancers including melanoma. This study investigates differences in the gene expression profiles of human melanomas that do or do not display the immunosuppressive protein PD-L1. Further understanding of genes expressed within the tumor microenvironment of PD-L1+ tumors may lead to improved rationally designed treatments. Gene expression profiling was performed on total RNA extracted by laser capture microdissection from 11 archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) melanoma specimens, 5 of which were PD-L1 positive and 6 PD-L1 negative. Details of the design, and the gene signatures found are given in the paper associated with this GEO Series: Janis M. Taube, Geoffrey D. Young, Tracee L. McMiller, Shuming Chen, January T. Salas, Theresa S. Pritchard, Haiying Xu, Alan K. Meeker, Jinshui Fan, Chris Cheadle, Alan E. Berger, Drew M. Pardoll, and Suzanne L. Topalian, Differential expression of immune-regulatory genes associated with PD-L1 display in melanoma: implications for PD-1 pathway blockade, Clin Cancer Res 2015, in press.
Project description:Epigenetic regulators have emerged as exciting targets for cancer therapy. Additionally, restoration of antitumor immunity by blocking the PD-L1 signaling using antibodies has proven to be beneficial in cancer therapy. Here we show that BET bromodomain inhibition suppresses PD-L1 expression and restores antitumor immunity in ovarian cancer. CD274 (encoding PD-L1) is a direct target of BRD4-mediated gene transcription. In mouse models, treatment with the BET inhibitor JQ1 significantly reduced PD-L1 expression on tumor cells and tumor-associated dendritic cells and macrophages, which correlated with an increase in the activity of antitumor cytotoxic T cells. Together, these data demonstrate an epigenetic approach to block PD-L1 signaling to restore antitumor immunity. Given the fact that BET inhibitors have been proven safe with manageable reversible toxicity in clinical trials, our findings indicate that pharmacological BET inhibitors represent a novel treatment strategy for targeting PD-L1 expression.
Project description:Cancer immunotherapy has focused on inhibitors of checkpoint proteins, such as Programmed Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1). Unlike RAS-mutated lung cancers, EGFR mutant tumors have generally low response to immunotherapy. Because treatment outcomes vary by EGFR allele, we assumed that intrinsic and microenvironmental factors are involved. Among all non-immunological signaling pathways we surveyed in patients’ datasets, EGFR signaling best associated with high PD-L1. Correspondingly, active EGFRs stabilized PD-L1’s transcripts and depleting PD-L1 severely inhibited EGFR-driven tumorigenicity and metastasis in mice. The underlying mechanisms involve recruitment of phospholipase C-g1 (PLC-g1) to a cytoplasmic motif of PD-L1, which enhances PLC-g1 activation by EGFR. Once stimulated, PLC-g1 activates calcium flux, RHO GTPases and protein kinase C, which promotes an aggressive phenotype. Furthermore, anti-PD-L1 antibodies can inhibit these intrinsic functions of PD-L1. Our results portray PD-L1 as a molecular amplifier of EGFR signaling and lay the foundation for understanding resistance of EGFR+ tumors to immunotherapy.