An optimized IgG-based B7-H3xCD3 bispecific antibody for treatment of gastrointestinal cancers.

T cell-based immunotherapy has revolutionized oncological treatment. However, many patients do not respond to treatment, and long-term remissions remain rare, particularly in gastrointestinal cancers like colorectal cancer (CRC). B7-H3 is overexpressed in multiple cancer entities including CRC on both tumor cells and tumor vasculature, the latter facilitating influx of effector cells into the tumor site upon therapeutic targeting.

DNAM-1/CD226 is functionally expressed on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells and is associated with favorable prognosis.

DNAM-1 is reportedly expressed on cytotoxic T and NK cells and, upon interaction with its ligands CD112 and CD155, plays an important role in tumor immunosurveillance. It has also been reported to be functionally expressed by myeloid cells, but expression and function on malignant cells of the myeloid lineage have not been studied so far. Here we analyzed expression of DNAM-1 in leukemic cells of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients.

The endothelial basement membrane acts as a checkpoint for entry of pathogenic T cells into the brain.

The endothelial cell basement membrane (BM) is a barrier to migrating leukocytes and a rich source of signaling molecules that can influence extravasating cells. Using mice lacking the major endothelial BM components, laminin 411 or 511, in murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), we show here that loss of endothelial laminin 511 results in enhanced disease severity due to increased T cell infiltration and altered polarization and pathogenicity of infiltrating T cells. In vitro adhesion and migration assays reveal higher binding to laminin 511 than laminin 411 but faster migration across laminin 411.

Cellular sources of pathogenic and protective TNF and experimental strategies based on utilization of TNF humanized mice.

Over the years, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory conditions and TNF antagonists are highly efficient in treatment of multiple autoimmune diseases. However, it has been shown that various cellular sources of TNF exhibit distinct and non-redundant functions that can be either deleterious or beneficial. This suggests that systemic TNF blockade, in addition to neutralization of pathogenic TNF, may abrogate its protective functions, resulting in adverse effects.

IL-13 but not IL-4 signaling via IL-4Rα protects mice from papilloma formation during DMBA/TPA two-step skin carcinogenesis.

Interleukin 4 (IL-4) was shown to be tumor-promoting in full carcinogenesis studies using 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA). Because heretofore the role of IL-4 in DMBA/TPA (9,10-dimethyl-1,2-benz-anthracene/12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate) two-stage carcinogenesis was not studied, we performed such experiments using either IL-4(-/-) or IL-4Rα(-/-) mice. We found that IL-4Rα(-/-) but not IL-4(-/-) mice have enhanced papilloma formation, suggesting that IL-13 may be involved.