Activation of Wnt signaling pathway by AF1q enriches stem-like population and enhance mammosphere formation of breast cells.

Wnt signaling pathway is believed to be responsible for control over various types of stem cells and may act as a niche factor to maintain stem cells in a self-renewing state. Moreover, dysregulated Wnt signaling pathway is strongly associated with several diseases including cancer. Previously, we have shown that AF1q associates with a poor prognosis in leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, multiple myeloid, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer. Also, AF1q plays a pivotal role as an oncogene and metastasis enhancer in breast cancer via activation of Wnt signaling pathway. AF1q is highly expressed in stem cells, and this expression is diminished by differentiation. To understand the role of AF1q in stem-like population, we examined stem-like cells derived from breast cells which dysregulated Wnt signaling pathway by alteration of AF1q expression. The effect of Wnt signaling pathway by AF1q on EMT marker expression, stem cell marker expression, and sphere formation was determined. Activated Wnt signaling pathway by AF1q enriched stem-like population showed enhanced sphere formation ability. Interestingly, Wnt signaling pathway inhibitor, Quercetin, decreased the sphere formation in these cells. These results suggest that AF1q would have a role as an enhancer in generation of stem-like population through activation of Wnt signaling pathway.

Characterization of an Anti-CD5 Directed CAR T-Cell against T-Cell Malignancies.

T-cell malignancies often result in poor prognosis and outcome for patients. Immunotherapy has recently emerged as a revolutionary treatment against cancer, and the success seen in CD19 CAR clinical trials may extend to T cell diseases. However, a shared antigen pool coupled with the impact of T-cell depletion incurred by targeting T cell disease remain concepts to be clinically explored with caution. Here we report on the ability of T cells transduced with a CD5CAR to specifically and potently lyse malignant T-cell lines and primary tumors in vitro in addition to significantly improving in vivo control and survival of xenograft models of T-ALL. To extensively explore and investigate the biological properties of a CD5 CAR, we evaluated multiple CD5 CAR constructs and constructed 3 murine models to characterize the properties of CD5 down-regulation, the efficacy and specificity produced by different CD5 CAR construct designs, and the impact of incorporating a CD52 safety switch using CAMPATH to modulate the persistency and function of CAR cells. These data support the potential use of CD5CAR T cells in the treatment of T cell malignancies or refractory disease in clinical settings.