Tumor-derived mitochondrial formyl peptides suppress tumor immunity through modification of the tumor microenvironment.

Mitochondrial N-formylpeptides are released from damaged or dead cells to the extracellular spaces and cause inflammatory responses. The role of mitochondrial N-formylpeptides in aseptic systemic inflammatory response syndromes induced by trauma or cardiac surgery has been well investigated. However, there are no reports regarding the role of mitochondrial N-formylpeptides in cancer. In this study, we investigated the role of tumor cell-derived mitochondrial N-formylpeptides in anti-tumor immunity using knockout murine tumor cells of mitochondrial methionyl-tRNA formyltransferase (MTFMT), which catalyze N-formylation of mitochondrial DNA-encoded proteins. There was no apparent difference among the wild-type and MTFMT-knockout clones of E.G7-OVA cells with respect to morphology, mitochondrial dynamics, glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation, oxygen consumption rate, or in vitro cell growth. In contrast, in vivo tumor growth of MTFMT-knockout cells was slower than that of wild-type cells. A reduced number of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and an increase of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes in the tumor tissues were observed in the MTFMT-knockout tumors. These results suggested that tumor cell-derived mitochondrial N-formylpeptides had a negative role in the host anti-tumor immunity through modification of the tumor microenvironment.

Suppression of high mobility group box 1 in B16F10 tumor does not inhibit the induction of neoantigen-specific T cells.

Accumulated clinical data of immune checkpoint blockades have suggested the importance of neoantigens in cancer immunity. Tumor antigens are released from dead cancer cells together with cellular components, such as damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), into the tumor microenvironment. We recently reported that high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a representative DAMP molecule, showed a negative impact on anti-tumor immunity. However, a positive role of HMGB1 in the initiation of innate and subsequent adaptive immunity has also been demonstrated; thus, the effects of HMGB1 on anti-tumor immunity have not been well understood. In this study, we identified nine immunogenic neoantigen epitopes of B16F10 murine melanoma cells and subsequently investigated the effects of suppression of HMGB1 on the induction of neoantigen-specific immunity using HMGB1-knockout tumors. Neoantigen-reactive T cells were expanded in B16F10 tumor-bearing mice, and T cell receptor repertoire analysis suggested that neoantigen-reactive T cells were oligo-clonally increased in B16F10 tumor bearers. An increase of neoantigen-reactive T cells and oligoclonal expansion of the T cells were similarly detected in HMGB1-knockout tumor-bearing mice. The induction of neoantigen-specific immunity under the suppression of HMGB1 in the tumor microenvironment shown in this study supports further development of combination therapy of HMGB1 suppression with neoantigen-targeted cancer immunotherapies, including immune checkpoint blockade therapy.

Integrity of circulating cell-free DNA as a prognostic biomarker for vaccine therapy in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Many clinical trials of immune checkpoint blockade-based combination therapies are under way. Vaccine therapy is a promising partner of combination therapies. We have developed a personalized peptide vaccination and conducted clinical trials of it in patients with various cancers. At the present time, we have only a limited number of biomarkers related to the prognosis of vaccine-treated patients. Thus, new biomarkers are urgently needed. METHODS: In this study, we investigated the plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) integrity-a ratio of the necrotic tumor cell-derived long cfDNA fragments to the total dead cell-derived short cfDNA fragments from genomic Alu elements-in patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer during treatment with the personalized peptide vaccination. RESULTS: We found that (1) the cfDNA integrity was decreased after the first cycle of vaccination, and (2) the patients with high prevaccination cfDNA integrity survived longer than those with low prevaccination integrity (median survival time (MST): 17.9 versus 9.0 months, respectively; hazard ratio (HR): 0.58, p = .0049). A similar tendency was observed in postvaccination cfDNA integrity (MST: 16.4 vs 9.4 months; HR: 0.65, p = .024). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that cfDNA integrity is a possible prognostic biomarker in patients treated with the personalized peptide vaccine.

CD4/CD8 ratio is a prognostic factor in IgG nonresponders among peptide vaccine-treated ovarian cancer patients.

The identification of useful biomarkers is an urgent issue in cancer treatment, particularly for immunotherapy, as only some patients experience benefits from this treatment. The early induction of the IgG response has been reported as a useful biomarker of favorable prognosis for cancer patients treated with a personalized peptide vaccination, but a portion of these patients (IgG nonresponders) fail to achieve an early induction of IgG response yet experience long-term survival. It is thus necessary to identify other biomarkers of favorable prognosis among these patients. Here we report the usefulness of classical T-cell markers (ie, the CD8 content and the CD4/CD8 ratio in peripheral blood) in IgG nonresponders among advanced or recurrent ovarian cancer patients treated with a personalized peptide vaccination. Among IgG nonresponders (n = 25), the overall survival (OS) of the increased-CD8 group (n = 7) was significantly longer than that of the decreased-CD8 group (n = 18; P = .018), and the OS of the patients with a decreased CD4/CD8 ratio (n = 10) was significantly longer than that of the patients with an increased ratio (n = 15; P = .0055). Thus, an increased content of CD8 and a decreased CD4/CD8 ratio are each favorable prognosis markers in IgG nonresponders treated with a personalized peptide vaccination.

Integrity of plasma DNA is inversely correlated with vaccine-induced antitumor immunity in ovarian cancer patients.

Cancer immunotherapy including vaccine therapy is a promising modality for cancer treatment, but few patients show its clinical benefits currently. The identification of biomarkers that can identify patients who will benefit from cancer immunotherapy is thus important. Here, we investigated the potential utility of the circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) integrity-a ratio of necrotic cell-derived, longer DNA fragments versus apoptotic cell-derived shorter fragments of Alu gene-as a biomarker of vaccine therapy for patients with ovarian cancer. We analyzed plasma samples from 39 patients with advanced or recurrent ovarian cancer enrolled in clinical trials for personalized peptide vaccinations. We observed that (1) the cfDNA integrity was decreased after the first cycle of vaccination, and (2) the decreased levels of cfDNA integrity were correlated with vaccine-induced immune responses; i.e., decreased cfDNA integrity was observed in 91.7% and 59.3% of the IgG-positive and negative patients, respectively (p = 0.0445). Similarly, decreased cfDNA integrity was observed in 92.9% and 56.0% of CTL response-positive and negative patients, respectively (p = 0.0283). These results suggest that the circulating cfDNA integrity is a possible biomarker for cancer vaccine therapy.

Immunological efficacy of herbal medicines in prostate cancer patients treated by personalized peptide vaccine.

This randomized phase II study investigated the immunological efficacy of herbal medicines (HM) using Hochu-ekki-to and Keishi-bukuryo-gan in combination with personalized peptide vaccination (PPV) for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Seventy patients with CRPC were assigned to two arms; PPV plus HM or PPV alone. Two to four peptides were chosen from 31 peptides derived from cancer antigens for a s.c. injection of PPV given eight times according to the patient's human leukocyte antigen type and levels of antigen-specific IgG titer before PPV treatment. Peptide-specific CTL, IgG, regulatory T cells (Treg), monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (Mo-MDSC), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) responses were measured before and at the eighth vaccination. Clinical outcomes were also analyzed. Combination therapy of PPV with HM was well tolerated without severe adverse events. There was no significant change in antigen-specific IgG, CTL, Treg or clinical outcomes. Combination therapy of PPV with HM stabilized the frequency of Mo-MDSC (1.91%-1.92%, P = 0.96) and serum levels of IL-6 (19.2 pg/mL to 16.1 pg/mL, P = 0.63) during the treatment. In contrast, the frequency of Mo-MDSC and levels of IL-6 in the PPV-alone group were significantly increased (0.91%-1.49% for Mo-MDSC and 9.2 pg/mL to 19.4 pg/mL for IL-6, respectively). These results suggest that the combined use of HM has the potential to prevent the immunosuppression induced by Mo-MDSC or IL-6 during immunotherapy. More research is needed to validate the findings of the present study.

MicroRNA binding to the HIV-1 Gag protein inhibits Gag assembly and virus production.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, 18-22 nt long, noncoding RNAs that act as potent negative gene regulators in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. To repress gene expression, miRNAs are packaged into RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISCs) that target mRNAs for degradation and/or translational repression in a sequence-specific manner. Recently, miRNAs have been shown to also interact with proteins outside RISCs, impacting cellular processes through mechanisms not involving gene silencing. Here, we define a previously unappreciated activity of miRNAs in inhibiting RNA-protein interactions that in the context of HIV-1 biology blocks HIV virus budding and reduces virus infectivity. This occurs by miRNA binding to the nucleocapsid domain of the Gag protein, the main structural component of HIV-1 virions. The resulting miRNA-Gag complexes interfere with viral-RNA-mediated Gag assembly and viral budding at the plasma membrane, with imperfectly assembled Gag complexes endocytosed and delivered to lysosomes. The blockade of virus production by miRNA is reversed by adding the miRNA's target mRNA and stimulated by depleting Argonaute-2, suggesting that when miRNAs are not mediating gene silencing, they can block HIV-1 production through disruption of Gag assembly on membranes. Overall, our findings have significant implications for understanding how cells modulate HIV-1 infection by miRNA expression and raise the possibility that miRNAs can function to disrupt RNA-mediated protein assembly processes in other cellular contexts.

Personalized peptide vaccine for cancer treatment; now and its future.

Therapeutic cancer vaccines have been dramatically progressing in a variety of their forms for the last two decades. The CTIepitope peptide vaccines are one of them. We proposed the personalized peptide vaccine (PPV) therapy. Our PPV is different from the classical one in that a maximum of four peptides are selected based on the patient's HLA-A types and.their pre-existing immunity (=immunological memory), leading to the more rapid and stronger re- sponses to the vaccinated peptides. Since then, we have been conducting clinical studies for various types of advanced cancers. We summarized the clinical outcomes of the PPV studies and described its prospect for the clinical application.

Blockade of high mobility group box 1 augments antitumor T-cell response induced by peptide vaccination as a co-adjuvant.

High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a member of the family of damage-associated molecular patterns, which cause inflammation and trigger innate immunity through Toll-like receptors 2/4 and the receptor for advanced glycation end products. We examined the effect of glycyrrhizin, a selective inhibitor of HMGB1, on the induction of CTLs in mice. B6 mice, either OT-1 spleen cell-transferred or untransferred, were immunized with an s.c. injection of OVA257-264 peptide with topical imiquimod, and glycyrrhizin was mixed with the antigen peptide. Proliferation of OT-1 cells after immunization was enhanced by glycyrrhizin. The effect of glycyrrhizin was confirmed in other adjuvant systems, such as CpG oligonucleotide and monophosphoryl lipid A, but glycyrrhizin was not effective in Freund's incomplete adjuvant system. The augmenting effects of glycyrrhizin were also observed in other synthetic HMGB1 inhibitors, gabexate mesilate, nafamostat, and sivelestat. Thus, the effects are common to the HMGB1 inhibitors. Induction of CTLs detected by γ-interferon enzyme-linked immunospot assay was similarly augmented by glycyrrhizin. In a therapeutic vaccine model, glycyrrhizin inhibited the growth of s.c. transplanted EG.7 tumors. Expression of inflammatory cytokines in the skin inoculation site was downregulated by glycyrrhizin. These results suggest that HMGB1 inhibitors might be useful as a co-adjuvant for peptide vaccination with an innate immunity receptor-related adjuvant.

Personalized peptide vaccination for cervical cancer patients who have received prior platinum-based chemotherapy.

A feasibility study was performed to evaluate the immunological efficacy and safety of a personalized peptide vaccine (PPV) for cervical cancer patients who have received platinum-based chemotherapy. A total of 24 patients with standard chemotherapy-resistant cervical cancer, including 18 recurrent cases, were enrolled in this study and received a maximum of 4 peptides based on HLA-A types and IgG levels to the vaccine candidate peptides in pre-vaccination plasma. The parental protein expression of most of the vaccine peptides was confirmed in the cervical cancer tissues. No vaccine-related systemic grade 3 or 4 adverse events were observed in any patients. Due to disease progression, 2 patients failed to complete the first cycle of vaccinations (sixth vaccination). Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) or IgG responses specific for the peptides used for vaccination were augmented in half of cases after the first cycle. The median overall survival was 8.3 months. The clinical responses of the evaluable 18 cases consisted of 1 case with a partial response and 17 cases with disease progression; the remaining 6 cases were not evaluable. Performance status, injection site skin reaction and circulating PD-1(+) CD4(+) T-cells were significantly prognostic of overall survival, and multivariate analysis also indicated that the performance status and circulating PD-1(+) CD4(+) T-cells were prognostic. Because of the safety and immunological efficacy of PPV and the possible prolongation of overall survival, further clinical trials of PPV at a larger scale in advanced or recurrent cervical cancer patients who have received prior platinum-based chemotherapy are recommended.

PD-1 expression on peripheral blood T-cell subsets correlates with prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer.

PD-1 expression in peripheral blood T-cells has been reported in several kinds of cancers, including lung cancer. However, the relationship between PD-1 expression in peripheral blood T-cells and prognosis after treatment with a cancer vaccine has not been reported. To elucidate this relationship, we analyzed PD-1 expression in the peripheral blood T-cells of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The blood samples used in this study were obtained from patients enrolled in phase II clinical trials of a personalized peptide vaccine. Seventy-eight samples obtained before and after a single vaccination cycle (consisting of six or eight doses) were subjected to the analysis. PD-1 was expressed on lymphocytes in the majority of samples. The relative contents of PD1(+) CD4(+) T-cells against total lymphocytes before and after the vaccination cycle correlated with overall survival (OS) with a high degree of statistical significance (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.0014). A decrease in PD-1(+) CD8(+) T-cells after one cycle of vaccination also correlated with longer OS (P = 0.032). The IgG response to the non-vaccinated peptides suggested that the epitope spreading seemed to occur more frequently in high-PD-1(+) CD4(+) T-cell groups. Enrichment of CD45RA(-) CCR7(-) effector-memory phenotype cells in PD-1(+) T-cells in PBMCs was also shown. These results suggest that PD-1 expression on the peripheral blood T-cell subsets can become a new prognostic marker in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with personalized peptide vaccination.

A two-pronged structural analysis of retroviral maturation indicates that core formation proceeds by a disassembly-reassembly pathway rather than a displacive transition.

Retrovirus maturation involves sequential cleavages of the Gag polyprotein, initially arrayed in a spherical shell, leading to formation of capsids with polyhedral or conical morphology. Evidence suggests that capsids assemble de novo inside maturing virions from dissociated capsid (CA) protein, but the possibility persists of a displacive pathway in which the CA shell remains assembled but is remodeled. Inhibition of the final cleavage between CA and spacer peptide SP1/SP blocks the production of mature capsids. We investigated whether retention of SP might render CA assembly incompetent by testing the ability of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) CA-SP to assemble in vitro into icosahedral capsids. Capsids were indeed assembled and were indistinguishable from those formed by CA alone, indicating that SP was disordered. We also used cryo-electron tomography to characterize HIV-1 particles produced in the presence of maturation inhibitor PF-46396 or with the cleavage-blocking CA5 mutation. Inhibitor-treated virions have a shell that resembles the CA layer of the immature Gag shell but is less complete. Some CA protein is generated but usually not enough for a mature core to assemble. We propose that inhibitors like PF-46396 bind to the Gag lattice where they deny the protease access to the CA-SP1 cleavage site and prevent the release of CA. CA5 particles, which exhibit no cleavage at the CA-SP1 site, have spheroidal shells with relatively thin walls. It appears that this lattice progresses displacively toward a mature-like state but produces neither conical cores nor infectious virions. These observations support the disassembly-reassembly pathway for core formation.

Structural and functional insights into the HIV-1 maturation inhibitor binding pocket.

Processing of the Gag precursor protein by the viral protease during particle release triggers virion maturation, an essential step in the virus replication cycle. The first-in-class HIV-1 maturation inhibitor dimethylsuccinyl betulinic acid [PA-457 or bevirimat (BVM)] blocks HIV-1 maturation by inhibiting the cleavage of the capsid-spacer peptide 1 (CA-SP1) intermediate to mature CA. A structurally distinct molecule, PF-46396, was recently reported to have a similar mode of action to that of BVM. Because of the structural dissimilarity between BVM and PF-46396, we hypothesized that the two compounds might interact differentially with the putative maturation inhibitor-binding pocket in Gag. To test this hypothesis, PF-46396 resistance was selected for in vitro. Resistance mutations were identified in three regions of Gag: around the CA-SP1 cleavage site where BVM resistance maps, at CA amino acid 201, and in the CA major homology region (MHR). The MHR mutants are profoundly PF-46396-dependent in Gag assembly and release and virus replication. The severe defect exhibited by the inhibitor-dependent MHR mutants in the absence of the compound is also corrected by a second-site compensatory change far downstream in SP1, suggesting structural and functional cross-talk between the HIV-1 CA MHR and SP1. When PF-46396 and BVM were both present in infected cells they exhibited mutually antagonistic behavior. Together, these results identify Gag residues that line the maturation inhibitor-binding pocket and suggest that BVM and PF-46396 interact differentially with this putative pocket. These findings provide novel insights into the structure-function relationship between the CA MHR and SP1, two domains of Gag that are critical to both assembly and maturation. The highly conserved nature of the MHR across all orthoretroviridae suggests that these findings will be broadly relevant to retroviral assembly. Finally, the results presented here provide a framework for increased structural understanding of HIV-1 maturation inhibitor activity.

Knockout of high-mobility group box 1 in B16F10 melanoma cells induced host immunity-mediated suppression of in vivo tumor growth.

High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) has been reported as a damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) molecule that is released from damaged or dead cells and induces inflammation and subsequent innate immunity. However, the role of HMGB1 in the anti-tumor immunity is unclear since inflammation in the tumor microenvironment also contributes to tumor promotion and progression. In the present study, we established HMGB1-knockout clones from B16F10 and CT26 murine tumors by genome editing using the CRISPR/Cas9 system and investigated the role of HMGB1 in anti-tumor immunity. We found that (1) knockout of HMGB1 in the tumor cells suppressed in vivo, but not in vitro, tumor growth, (2) the suppression of the in vivo tumor growth was mediated by CD8 T cells, and (3) infiltration of CD8 T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells into the tumor tissues was accelerated in HMGB1-knockout tumors. These results demonstrated that knockout of HMGB1 in tumor cells converted tumors from poor infiltration of immune cells called "cold" to "immune-inflamed" or "hot" and inhibited in vivo tumor growth mediated by cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Infiltration of immune cells to the tumor microenvironment is an important step in the series known as the cancer immunity cycle. Thus, manipulation of tumor-derived HMGB1 might be applicable to improve the clinical outcomes of cancer immunotherapies, including immune checkpoint blockades and cancer vaccine therapies.

Integrity of plasma cell-free DNA as a prognostic factor for vaccine therapy in patients with endometrial cancer.

Endometrial cancer is the most prevalent gynecological cancer in developed countries. Although the prognosis of endometrial cancer is better than that of other gynecological cancers, the prognosis of advanced endometrial cancer is still poor and thus new therapeutic modalities, such as immune therapies, are urgently required. For the further development of new modalities, exploration of new biomarkers is important. The present study investigated the circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) integrity as a ratio of the necrotic tumor cell-derived long cfDNA fragments to the total dead cell-derived short cfDNA fragments from genomic Alu elements in patients with advanced endometrial cancer during peptide vaccination treatment. The results demonstrated that: i) The plasma cfDNA integrity was decreased during the first cycle of vaccination in patients with endometrial cancer treated with the personalized peptide vaccination, and ii) the post-vaccination cfDNA integrity levels were correlated with good prognosis. Some of these findings have been confirmed in other cancers, and thus cfDNA integrity might be an important marker for future cancer vaccine therapies in general, and might also be applicable for other immune therapies.

Myristate exposure in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 matrix protein is modulated by pH.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) encodes a polypeptide called Gag that is capable of forming virus-like particles (VLPs) in vitro in the absence of other cellular or viral constituents. During the late phase of HIV-1 infection, Gag polyproteins are transported to the plasma membrane (PM) for assembly. A combination of in vivo, in vitro, and structural studies have shown that Gag targeting and assembly on the PM are mediated by specific interactions between the myristoylated matrix [myr(+)MA] domain of Gag and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2]. Exposure of the MA myristyl (myr) group is triggered by PI(4,5)P2 binding and is enhanced by factors that promote protein self-association. In the studies reported here, we demonstrate that myr exposure in MA is modulated by pH. Our data show that deprotonation of the His89 imidazole ring in myr(+)MA destabilizes the salt bridge formed between His89(Hδ2) and Glu12(COO-), leading to tight sequestration of the myr group and a shift in the equilibrium from trimer to monomer. Furthermore, we show that oligomerization of a Gag-like construct containing matrix-capsid is also pH-dependent. Disruption of the His−Glu salt bridge by single-amino acid substitutions greatly altered the myr-sequestered−myr-exposed equilibrium. In vivo intracellular localization data revealed that the H89G mutation retargets Gag to intracellular compartments and severely inhibits virus production. Our findings reveal that the MA domain acts as a "pH sensor" in vitro, suggesting that the effect of pH on HIV-1 Gag targeting and binding to the PM warrants investigation.

Impact of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 resistance to protease inhibitors on evolution of resistance to the maturation inhibitor bevirimat (PA-457).

The maturation inhibitor bevirimat [3-O-(3',3'dimethysuccinyl)betulinic acid; BVM; also known as PA-457 or DSB] potently inhibits human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication by blocking protease (PR)-mediated cleavage at the junction between capsid (CA) and spacer peptide 1 (SP1) in Gag. We previously isolated a panel of single-amino-acid substitutions that confer resistance to BVM in vitro (C. S. Adamson, S. D. Ablan, I. Boeras, R. Goila-Gaur, F. Soheilian, K. Nagashima, F. Li, K. Salzwedel, M. Sakalian, C. T. Wild, and E. O. Freed, J. Virol. 80:10957-10971, 2006). The BVM resistance mutations cluster at or near the CA-SP1 cleavage site. Because BVM likely will be used clinically in patients harboring viruses resistant to PR inhibitors (PIs), in this study we evaluated the interplay between a PI-resistant (PIR) PR and the BVM resistance mutations in Gag. As expected, the PIR mutations had no effect on inhibition by BVM; however, we observed general processing defects and a slight delay in viral replication in Jurkat T cells associated with the PIR mutations, even in the absence of compound. When combined, most BVM resistance and PIR mutations acted additively to impair viral replication, particularly in the presence of BVM. The BVM-resistant mutant SP1-A1V was an exception, as it supported robust replication in the context of either wild-type (WT) or PIR PR, even at high BVM concentrations. Significantly, the emergence of BVM resistance was delayed in the context of the PIR PR, and the SP1-A1V mutation was acquired most frequently with either WT or PIR PR. These results suggest that resistance to BVM is less likely to emerge in patients who have failed PIs than in patients who are PI naive. We predict that the SP1-A1V substitution is the most likely to emerge in vivo, as this mutant replicates robustly independently of PR mutations or BVM. These findings offer insights into the effect of PIR mutations on the evolution of BVM resistance in PI-experienced patients.

Consistence of miniexon polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and single-copy gene sequence analyses in discriminating Leishmania genotypes.

Recently, a new polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)-based assay had been developed using the miniexon sequences for genotyping Leishmania isolates. We had used this method for rapid diagnosis and genotyping of visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis with the combination of microcapillary cultivation. In this study, we have evaluated this approach by examining genomic DNAs from 47 independent isolates, which were grouped into 19 genotypes of Leishmania subgenus complexes by sequence polymorphism of single-copy genes. Results obtained provide miniexon RFLP configurations specific to Leishmania enriettii, Leishmania tarentolae, and Leishmania gerbilli for the first time. Altogether, 92% of the results from miniexon PCR-RFLP are in agreement with those based on the sequence database of single-copy genes from the same isolates. The miniexon PCR-RFLP method is simple, sensitive, and specific method useful for routine diagnosis of different Leishmania.

Plasma Levels of High-Mobility Group Box 1 during Peptide Vaccination in Patients with Recurrent Ovarian Cancer.

High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a nuclear protein that is known to be secreted into extracellular fluids from injured cells, activated macrophages, and tumor cells. The clinical correlation of circulating HMGB1 levels with various diseases including cancer has been reported. However, there is no information on HMGB1 levels in cancer patients treated with peptide vaccination. In the present study, we investigated the plasma levels of HMGB1 during personalized peptide vaccination in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. Frozen plasma samples of 39 patients from previously conducted clinical trials were used in this study. HMGB1 levels were decreased after the 1st cycle of vaccination from their prevaccination levels. However, no correlation was observed between HMGB1 and overall survival (OS). The correlation between plasma HMGB1 levels and other biomarker levels was further analyzed by scatter plot, revealing that HMGB1 levels after the 1st cycle of vaccination were significantly correlated with myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) frequency after the 1st cycle of vaccination (r = 0.357, p = 0.032). Chi-square test showed that epitope spreading was significantly related with changes of HMGB1 (p = 0.030). These results suggest that plasma HMGB1 is a possible biomarker for cancer vaccine therapy, although direct correlation with OS has not been obtained. This trial is registered with Clinical Trial Registry under trial numbers UMIN000003083 and UMIN000001482.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms of the haptoglobin gene in non-small cell lung cancer treated with personalized peptide vaccination.

The present study analyzed polymorphisms of the 5' flanking region (from nt -840 to +151) of the haptoglobin gene in 120 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving personalized peptide vaccinations. In the region, six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were confirmed, of which two, rs5472 and rs9927981, were completely linked to each other. The minor allele frequencies of rs5472/rs9927981 and rs4788458 were higher than those of the other three SNPs. The genotype frequencies of rs5472 or rs9927981 were A/A or C/C (42.5%, n=51), A/G or C/T (40.8%, n=49), and G/G or T/T (16.7%, n=20), respectively; and those of rs4788458 were T/T (34.2%, n=41), T/C (40.0%, n=48), and C/C (25.8%, n=31). The association between polymorphism rs5472/rs9927981 and prognosis, or between rs4788458 and prognosis, was analyzed further. However, no correlation was found between these SNPs and overall survival, regardless of subgroup analysis of gender, histology or concurrent therapy. These results suggest that the polymorphisms rs5472/rs9927981 and rs4788458 are not useful prognostic tools for patients with NSCLC treated with personalized peptide vaccination.