Therapeutic advances in treating patients with multiple myeloma (MM), including novel immunotherapies, have improved the disease control, but it remains incurable. Although traditional immune check point inhibitors have shown limited clinical benefit, targeting alternative immune-inhibitory pathways may offer a novel way to address relapsed disease. Blockade of the immune regulator TIGIT was shown to enhance anti-tumor immunity in preclinical MM models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancers that are poorly immune infiltrated pose a substantial challenge, with current immunotherapies yielding limited clinical success. Stem-like memory T cells (TSCM) have been identified as a subgroup of T cells that possess strong proliferative capacity and that can expand and differentiate following interactions with dendritic cells (DCs). In this study, we explored the pattern of expression of a recently discovered inhibitory receptor poliovirus receptor-related immunoglobulin domain protein (PVRIG) and its ligand, poliovirus receptor-related ligand 2 (PVRL2), in the human tumor microenvironment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecombinant cytokines have limited anticancer efficacy mostly due to a narrow therapeutic window and systemic adverse effects. IL18 is an inflammasome-induced proinflammatory cytokine, which enhances T- and NK-cell activity and stimulates IFNγ production. The activity of IL18 is naturally blocked by a high-affinity endogenous binding protein (IL18BP).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Current therapy for osteosarcoma pulmonary metastases (PMs) is ineffective. The mechanisms that prevent successful immunotherapy in osteosarcoma are incompletely understood. We investigated the tumor microenvironment of metastatic osteosarcoma with the goal of harnessing the immune system as a therapeutic strategy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have emerged as promising therapies for the treatment of cancer. However, existing ICIs, namely PD-(L)1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors, generate durable responses only in a subset of patients. TIGIT is a co-inhibitory receptor and member of the DNAM-1 family of immune modulating proteins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Clinical trials with immune checkpoint inhibition in sarcomas have demonstrated minimal response. Here, we interrogated the tumor microenvironment (TME) of two contrasting soft-tissue sarcomas (STS), rhabdomyosarcomas and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcomas (UPS), with differing genetic underpinnings and responses to immune checkpoint inhibition to understand the mechanisms that lead to response.
Experimental Design: Utilizing fresh and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue from patients diagnosed with UPS and rhabdomyosarcomas, we dissected the TME by using IHC, flow cytometry, and comparative transcriptomic studies.
The B7-like protein family members play critical immunomodulatory roles and constitute attractive targets for the development of novel therapies for human diseases. We identified Ig-like domain-containing receptor (ILDR)2 as a novel B7-like protein with robust T cell inhibitory activity, expressed in immune cells and in immune-privileged and inflamed tissues. A fusion protein, consisting of ILDR2 extracellular domain with an Fc fragment, that binds to a putative counterpart on activated T cells showed a beneficial effect in the collagen-induced arthritis model and abrogated the production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in autologous synovial-like cocultures of macrophages and cytokine-stimulated T cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCGEN-856S is a novel Mas agonist. Herein, we examined the effects of this peptide on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced cardiac remodeling and myocardial infarction (MI) injury. We also sought to determine whether CGEN-856S activates the underlying mechanisms related to Mas receptor activation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mature gut renews continuously and rapidly throughout adult life, often in a damage-inflicting micro-environment. The major driving force for self-renewal of the intestinal epithelium is the Wnt-mediated signalling pathway, and Wnt signalling is frequently hyperactivated in colorectal cancer. Here we show that casein kinase Iα (CKIα), a component of the β-catenin-destruction complex, is a critical regulator of the Wnt signalling pathway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFColonic homeostasis entails epithelium-lymphocyte cooperation, yet many participants in this process are unknown. We show here that epithelial microRNAs mediate the mucosa-immune system crosstalk necessary for mounting protective T helper type 2 (T(H)2) responses. Abolishing the induction of microRNA by gut-specific deletion of Dicer1 (Dicer1(Δgut)), which encodes an enzyme involved in microRNA biogenesis, deprived goblet cells of RELMβ, a key T(H)2 antiparasitic cytokine; this predisposed the host to parasite infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMas stimulation with angiotensin (Ang)-(1-7) produces cardioprotective effects and vasorelaxation. Using a computational discovery platform for predicting novel naturally occurring peptides that may activate G protein-coupled receptors, we discovered a novel Mas agonist peptide, CGEN-856S. An endothelium- and NO-dependent vasodilating effect was observed for CGEN-856S in thoracic aorta rings of rats (maximal value for the relaxant effect: 39.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFbeta-TrCP, the substrate recognition subunit of a Skp1-Cul1-F-box (SCF) ubiquitin ligase, is ubiquitously expressed from two distinct paralogs, targeting many regulatory proteins for proteasomal degradation. We generated inducible beta-TrCP hypomorphic mice and found that they are surprisingly healthy, yet have a severe testicular defect. We show that the two beta-TrCP paralogs have a nonredundant role in spermatogenesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prostate cancer is a common and heterogeneous disease, where androgen receptor (AR) signaling plays a pivotal role in development and progression. The initial treatment for advanced prostate cancer is suppression of androgen signaling. Later on, essentially all patients develop an androgen independent stage which does not respond to anti hormonal treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActivation of the formyl-peptide receptor-like (FPRL) 1 pathway has recently gained high recognition for its significance in therapy of inflammatory diseases. Agonism at FPRL1 affords a beneficial effect in animal models of acute inflammatory conditions, as well as in chronic inflammatory diseases. TIPMFVPESTSKLQKFTSWFM-amide (CGEN-855A) is a novel 21-amino acid peptide agonist for FPRL1 and also activates FPRL2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mechanisms by which commensal bacteria suppress inflammatory signalling in the gut are still unclear. Here, we present a cellular mechanism whereby the polarity of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) has a major role in colonic homeostasis. TLR9 activation through apical and basolateral surface domains have distinct transcriptional responses, evident by NF-kappaB activation and cDNA microarray analysis.
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