Canonically, gasdermin D (GSDMD) cleavage by caspase-1 through inflammasome signaling triggers immune cell pyroptosis (ICP) as a host defense against pathogen infection. However, cancer cell pyroptosis (CCP) was recently discovered to be activated by distinct molecular mechanisms in which GSDMB, GSDMC, and GSDME, rather than GSDMD, are the executioners. Moreover, instead of inflammatory caspases, apoptotic caspases and granzymes are required for gasdermin protein cleavage to induce CCP. Sufficient accumulation of protease-cleaved gasdermin proteins is the prerequisite for CCP. Inflammation induced by ICP or CCP results in diametrically opposite effects on antitumor immunity because of the differential duration and released cellular contents, leading to contrary effects on therapeutic outcomes. Here, we focus on the distinct mechanisms of ICP and CCP and discuss the roles of ICP and CCP in inflammation and antitumor immunity, representing actionable targets.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2021.09.003 | DOI Listing |
Sci Transl Med
January 2025
College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Macrophages play a central role in antitumor immunity, making them an attractive target for gene therapy strategies. However, macrophages are difficult to transfect because of nucleic acid sensors that can trigger the degradation of foreign plasmid DNA. Here, we developed a macrophage-specific editing (MAGE) system by which compact plasmid DNA encoding a CasRx editor can be delivered to macrophages by a poly(β-amino ester) (PBAE) carrier to bypass the DNA sensor and enable RNA editing in vitro and in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Sci (Weinh)
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510080, P. R. China.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer with a poor prognosis. The natural compound pristimerin has shown promising anti-tumor effect. Here, it is found that pristimerin significantly triggered the activation of autophagy initiation and induced apoptosis in TNBC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiscov Oncol
January 2025
Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, No. 23, Youzheng Street, Nangang District, Harbin, 150001, China.
Cancer vaccines are promising as an effective means of stimulating the immune system to clear tumors as well as to establish immune surveillance. In this paper, we discuss the main platforms and current status of cancer vaccines and propose a new cancer vaccine platform, the cytosolic vesicle vaccine. This vaccine has a unique structure that can integrate antigen and adjuvant carriers to improve the delivery efficiency and immune activation ability, which brings new ideas for cancer vaccine design.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAngew Chem Int Ed Engl
January 2025
University of Macau, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, Avenida da Universidade, N22, Taipa, CHINA.
Engineered immune cell therapy has proven to be a transformative cancer treatment despite the challenges of its prohibitive costs and manufacturing complexity. In this study, we propose a concise "lipid droplet fusion" strategy for engineering macrophages. Because of the integration of hydrophobic alkyl chains and π-conjugated structures, the mildly synthesized sp2C-conjugated covalent organic framework (COF) UM-101 induced lipid droplet fusion and metabolic reprogramming of macrophages, thus promoting their antitumor classical activation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Mater
January 2025
Pancreas Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210029, China.
Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) process tumor vaccines and present tumor antigens as the first signals to T cells to activate anti-tumor immunity, which process requires the assistance of co-stimulatory second signals on APCs. The immune checkpoint programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) not only mediates the immune escape of tumor cells but also acts as a co-inhibitory second signal on APCs. The serious dysfunction of second signals due to the high expression of PD-L1 on APCs in the tumor body results in the inefficiency of tumor vaccines.
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