Limited transendothelial permeability across tumor microvessels represents a significant bottleneck in the development of tumor-specific diagnostic agents and theranostic drugs. Here, we show an approach to increase transendothelial permeability of macromolecular and nanoparticle-based contrast agents via inhibition of the type I TGF-β receptor, activin-like kinase 5 (Alk5), in tumors. Alk5 inhibition significantly increased tumor contrast agent delivery and enhancement on imaging studies, while healthy organs remained relatively unaffected. Imaging data correlated with significantly decreased tumor interstitial fluid pressure, while tumor vascular density remained unchanged. This immediately clinically translatable concept involving Alk5 inhibitor pretreatment prior to an imaging study could be leveraged for improved tumor delivery of macromolecular and nanoparticle-based imaging probes and, thereby, facilitate development of more sensitive imaging tests for cancer diagnosis, enhanced tumor characterization, and personalized, image-guided therapies.
Heike E. Daldrup-Link, Suchismita Mohanty, Celina Ansari, Olga Lenkov, Aubie Shaw, Ken Ito, Su Hyun Hong, Matthias Hoffmann, Laura Pisani, Nancy Boudreau, Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, Lisa M. Coussens
The phenotypic diversity of cancer results from genetic and nongenetic factors. Most studies of cancer heterogeneity have focused on DNA alterations, as technologies for proteomic measurements in clinical specimen are currently less advanced. Here, we used a multiplexed immunofluorescence staining platform to measure the expression of 27 proteins at the single-cell level in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded samples from treatment-naive stage II/III human breast cancer. Unsupervised clustering of protein expression data from 638,577 tumor cells in 26 breast cancers identified 8 clusters of protein coexpression. In about one-third of breast cancers, over 95% of all neoplastic cells expressed a single protein coexpression cluster. The remaining tumors harbored tumor cells representing multiple protein coexpression clusters, either in a regional distribution or intermingled throughout the tumor. Tumor uptake of the radiotracer 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose was associated with protein expression clusters characterized by hormone receptor loss,
Anup Sood, Alexandra M. Miller, Edi Brogi, Yunxia Sui, Joshua Armenia, Elizabeth McDonough, Alberto Santamaria-Pang, Sean Carlin, Aleksandra Stamper, Carl Campos, Zhengyu Pang, Qing Li, Elisa Port, Thomas G. Graeber, Nikolaus Schultz, Fiona Ginty, Steven M. Larson, Ingo K. Mellinghoff
Immune checkpoint therapy with PD-1 blockade has emerged as an effective therapy for many advanced cancers; however, only a small fraction of patients achieve durable responses. To date, there is no validated blood-based means of predicting the response to PD-1 blockade. We report that Bim is a downstream signaling molecule of the PD-1 pathway, and its detection in T cells is significantly associated with expression of PD-1 and effector T cell markers. High levels of Bim in circulating tumor-reactive (PD-1+CD11ahiCD8+) T cells were prognostic of poor survival in patients with metastatic melanoma who did not receive anti–PD-1 therapy and were also predictive of clinical benefit in patients with metastatic melanoma who were treated with anti–PD-1 therapy. Moreover, this circulating tumor-reactive T cell population significantly decreased after successful anti–PD-1 therapy. Our study supports a crucial role of Bim in both T cell activation and apoptosis as regulated by PD-1 and PD-L1 interactions in effector CD8+ T cells. Measurement of Bim levels in circulating T cells of patients with cancer may provide a less invasive strategy to predict and monitor responses to anti–PD-1 therapy, although future prospective analyses are needed to validate its utility.
Roxana S. Dronca, Xin Liu, Susan M. Harrington, Lingling Chen, Siyu Cao, Lisa A. Kottschade, Robert R. McWilliams, Matthew S. Block, Wendy K. Nevala, Michael A. Thompson, Aaron S. Mansfield, Sean S. Park, Svetomir N. Markovic, Haidong Dong
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a relapsed and refractory disease, one that highlights the need for developing new molecular therapies for overcoming of drug resistance. Addition of panobinostat, a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, to bortezomib and dexamethasone improved progression-free survival (PFS) in relapsed and refractory MM patients. Here, we demonstrate how calcineurin, when inhibited by immunosuppressive drugs like FK506, is involved in myeloma cell growth and targeted by panobinostat. mRNA expression of
Yoichi Imai, Eri Ohta, Shu Takeda, Satoko Sunamura, Mariko Ishibashi, Hideto Tamura, Yan-hua Wang, Atsuko Deguchi, Junji Tanaka, Yoshiro Maru, Toshiko Motoji
Immunotherapies targeting the immune checkpoint receptor programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) have shown remarkable efficacy in treating cancer. CD4+CD25hiFoxP3+ Tregs are critical regulators of immune responses in autoimmunity and malignancies, but the functional status of human Tregs expressing PD-1 remains unclear. We examined functional and molecular features of PD-1hi Tregs in healthy subjects and patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), combining functional assays, RNA sequencing, and cytometry by time of flight (CyTOF). In both patients with GBM and healthy subjects, circulating PD-1hi Tregs displayed reduced suppression of CD4+ effector T cells, production of IFN-γ, and molecular signatures of exhaustion. Transcriptional profiling of tumor-resident Tregs revealed that several genes coexpressed with PD-1 and associated with IFN-γ production and exhaustion as well as enrichment in exhaustion signatures compared with circulating PD-1hi Tregs. CyTOF analysis of circulating and tumor-infiltrating Tregs from patients with GBM treated with PD-1-blocking antibodies revealed that treatment shifts the profile of circulating Tregs toward a more exhausted phenotype reminiscent of that of tumor-infiltrating Tregs, further increasing IFN-γ production. Thus, high PD-1 expression on human Tregs identifies dysfunctional, exhausted Tregs secreting IFN-γ that exist in healthy individuals and are enriched in tumor infiltrates, possibly losing function as they attempt to modulate the antitumoral immune responses.
Daniel E. Lowther, Brittany A. Goods, Liliana E. Lucca, Benjamin A. Lerner, Khadir Raddassi, David van Dijk, Amanda L. Hernandez, Xiangguo Duan, Murat Gunel, Vlad Coric, Smita Krishnaswamy, J. Christopher Love, David A. Hafler
Posttransplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) effectively prevents graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), but its immunologic impact is poorly understood. We assessed lymphocyte reconstitution via flow cytometry (
Christopher G. Kanakry, David G. Coffey, Andrea M.H. Towlerton, Ante Vulic, Barry E. Storer, Jeffrey Chou, Cecilia C.S. Yeung, Christopher D. Gocke, Harlan S. Robins, Paul V. O’Donnell, Leo Luznik, Edus H. Warren
We report the discovery of a claudin-low molecular subtype of high-grade bladder cancer that shares characteristics with the homonymous subtype of breast cancer. Claudin-low bladder tumors were enriched for multiple genetic features including increased rates of
Jordan Kardos, Shengjie Chai, Lisle E. Mose, Sara R. Selitsky, Bhavani Krishnan, Ryoichi Saito, Michael D. Iglesia, Matthew I. Milowsky, Joel S. Parker, William Y. Kim, Benjamin G. Vincent
FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3–targeted (FLT3-targeted) therapies have shown initial promise for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) expressing FLT3-activating mutations; however, resistance emerges rapidly. Furthermore, limited options exist for the treatment of FLT3-independent AML, demonstrating the need for novel therapies that reduce toxicity and improve survival. MERTK receptor tyrosine kinase is overexpressed in 80% to 90% of AMLs and contributes to leukemogenesis. Here, we describe MRX-2843, a type 1 small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor that abrogates activation of both MERTK and FLT3 and their downstream effectors. MRX-2843 treatment induces apoptosis and inhibits colony formation in AML cell lines and primary patient samples expressing MERTK and/or FLT3-ITD, with a wide therapeutic window compared with that of normal human cord blood cells. In murine orthotopic xenograft models, once-daily oral therapy prolonged survival 2- to 3-fold over that of vehicle-treated controls. Additionally, MRX-2843 retained activity against quizartinib-resistant FLT3-ITD–mutant proteins with clinically relevant alterations at the D835 or F691 loci and prolonged survival in xenograft models of quizartinib-resistant AML. Together, these observations validate MRX-2843 as a translational agent and support its clinical development for the treatment of AML.
Katherine A. Minson, Catherine C. Smith, Deborah DeRyckere, Clara Libbrecht, Alisa B. Lee-Sherick, Madeline G. Huey, Elisabeth A. Lasater, Gregory D. Kirkpatrick, Michael A. Stashko, Weihe Zhang, Craig T. Jordan, Dmitri Kireev, Xiaodong Wang, Stephen V. Frye, H. Shelton Earp, Neil P. Shah, Douglas K. Graham
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