Ex vivo pleural effusion cultures to study chimeric antigen receptor T cell cytotoxicity in an immunocompetent environment.

Current in vitro and in vivo assays used to study immunotherapeutic interventions lack human immune components that mimic the tumor microenvironment to investigate drug potency and limitations of efficacy. Herein, we describe an ex vivo pleural effusion culture (ePEC) assay, using malignant pleural-effusion-derived soluble and cellular factors that differentially affected the cytotoxicity of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells. Following identification of CAR T cell-suppressive factors, blocking of individual factors reveals their contribution to compromising T cell efficacy. ePEC is a human component assay that can be utilized for developing next-generation cell and antibody therapies that counteract immunosuppression.

Tumor-Targeted Nonablative Radiation Promotes Solid Tumor CAR T-cell Therapy Efficacy.

Infiltration of tumor by T cells is a prerequisite for successful immunotherapy of solid tumors. In this study, we investigate the influence of tumor-targeted radiation on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy tumor infiltration, accumulation, and efficacy in clinically relevant models of pleural mesothelioma and non-small cell lung cancers. We use a nonablative dose of tumor-targeted radiation prior to systemic administration of mesothelin-targeted CAR T cells to assess infiltration, proliferation, antitumor efficacy, and functional persistence of CAR T cells at primary and distant sites of tumor. A tumor-targeted, nonablative dose of radiation promotes early and high infiltration, proliferation, and functional persistence of CAR T cells. Tumor-targeted radiation promotes tumor-chemokine expression and chemokine-receptor expression in infiltrating T cells and results in a subpopulation of higher-intensity CAR-expressing T cells with high coexpression of chemokine receptors that further infiltrate distant sites of disease, enhancing CAR T-cell antitumor efficacy. Enhanced CAR T-cell efficacy is evident in models of both high-mesothelin-expressing mesothelioma and mixed-mesothelin-expressing lung cancer-two thoracic cancers for which radiotherapy is part of the standard of care. Our results strongly suggest that the use of tumor-targeted radiation prior to systemic administration of CAR T cells may substantially improve CAR T-cell therapy efficacy for solid tumors. Building on our observations, we describe a translational strategy of "sandwich" cell therapy for solid tumors that combines sequential metastatic site-targeted radiation and CAR T cells-a regional solution to overcome barriers to systemic delivery of CAR T cells.

Next-generation immunotherapy for solid tumors: combination immunotherapy with crosstalk blockade of TGFß and PD-1/PD-L1.

INTRODUCTION: In solid tumor immunotherapy, less than 20% of patients respond to anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) agents. The role of transforming growth factor ß (TGFß) in diverse immunity is well-established; however, systemic blockade of TGFß is associated with toxicity. Accumulating evidence suggests the role of crosstalk between TGFß and PD-1/PD-L1 pathways. AREAS COVERED: We focus on TGFß and PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway crosstalk and the determinant role of TGFß in the resistance of immune checkpoint blockade. We provide the rationale for combination anti-TGFß and anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies for solid tumors and discuss the current status of dual blockade therapy in preclinical and clinical studies. EXPERT OPINION: The heterogeneity of tumor microenvironment across solid tumors complicates patient selection, treatment regimens, and response and toxicity assessment for investigation of dual blockade agents. However, clinical knowledge from single-agent studies provides infrastructure to translate dual blockade therapies. Dual TGFß and PD-1/PD-L1 blockade results in enhanced T-cell infiltration into tumors, a primary requisite for successful immunotherapy. A bifunctional fusion protein specifically targets TGFß in the tumor microenvironment, avoiding systemic toxicity, and prevents interaction of PD-1+ cytotoxic cells with PD-L1+ tumor cells.

Eudesmane-Type Sesquiterpene Lactones Inhibit Nuclear Translocation of the Nuclear Factor κB Subunit RelB in Response to a Lymphotoxin ß Stimulation.

The transcription factor nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) regulates various biological processes, including inflammatory responses. We previously reported that eudesmane-type sesquiterpene lactones inhibited multiple steps in the canonical NF-κB signaling pathway induced by tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1α. In contrast, the biological activities of eudesmane-type sesquiterpene lactones on the non-canonical NF-κB signaling pathway remain unclear. In the present study, we found that (11S)-2α-bromo-3-oxoeudesmano-12,6α-lactone, designated santonin-related compound 2 (SRC2), inhibited NF-κB luciferase reporter activity induced by lymphotoxin ß (LTß) in human lung carcinoma A549 cells. Although SRC2 did not prevent the processing of the NF-κB subunit p100 induced by LTß, it inhibited the nuclear translocation of RelB and p52 in response to the LTß stimulation. In contrast to (-)-dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin, SRC2 inhibited the LTß-induced nuclear translocation of the RelB (C144S) mutant in a manner similar to wild-type RelB. While eudesmane derivatives possessing an α-bromoketone moiety or α,ß-unsaturated carbonyl moieties inhibited LTß-induced NF-κB luciferase reporter activity, eudesmane derivatives possessing an α-bromoketone moiety exhibited stronger inhibitory activity on the LTß-induced nuclear translocation of RelB than those possessing a single α-methylene-γ-lactone moiety. The results of the present study revealed that SRC2 inhibits the nuclear translocation of RelB in the non-canonical NF-κB signaling pathway induced by LTß.

Allantopyrone A interferes with multiple components of the TNF receptor 1 complex and blocks RIP1 modifications in the TNF-α-induced signaling pathway.

Allantopyrone A is a fungal metabolite that uniquely possesses two α,ß-unsaturated carbonyl moieties. We recently reported that allantopyrone A inhibited the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway induced by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in human lung carcinoma A549 cells. In the present study, the mechanism by which allantopyrone A inhibits the TNF-α-induced signaling pathway was investigated in more detail. Allantopyrone A blocked extensive modifications to receptor-interacting protein 1 (RIP1) in the TNF receptor 1 (TNF-R1) complex. Allantopyrone A augmented the high-MW bands of TNF-R1, TNF receptor-associated factor 2, RIP1, the NF-κB subunit RelA and inhibitor of NF-κB kinase ß in A549 cells, suggesting that it binds to and promotes the crosslinking of these proteins. The extracellular cysteine-rich domains of TNF-R1 were crosslinked by allantopyrone A more preferentially than its intracellular portion. The present results demonstrate that allantopyrone A interferes with multiple components of the TNF-R1 complex and blocks RIP1 modifications in the TNF-α-induced NF-κB signaling pathway.

Irciniastatin A induces potent and sustained activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and thereby promotes ectodomain shedding of tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 in human lung carcinoma A549 cells.

Irciniastatin A is a pederin-type marine product that potently inhibits translation. We have recently shown that irciniastatin A induces ectodomain shedding of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor 1 with slower kinetics than other translation inhibitors. In human lung carcinoma A549 cells, irciniastatin A induced a marked and sustained activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and induced little activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Moreover, the TNF receptor 1 shedding induced by irciniastatin A was blocked by the MAP kinase/ERK kinase inhibitor U0126, but not by the p38 MAP kinase inhibitor SB203580 or the JNK inhibitor SP600125. Thus unlike other translation inhibitors that trigger ribotoxic stress response, our results show that irciniastatin A is a unique translation inhibitor that induces a potent and sustained activation of the ERK pathway, and thereby promotes the ectodomain shedding of TNF receptor 1 in A549 cells.