Argonaute, Vault, and Ribosomal Proteins Targeted by Autoantibodies in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE: To expand, in an unbiased manner, our knowledge of autoantigens and autoantibodies in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and evaluate their associations with serological and clinical variables. METHODS: Human proteome arrays (> 21,000 proteins) were screened with serum from patients with SLE (n = 12) and healthy controls (n = 6) for IgG and IgA binding. Top hits were validated with 2 cohorts of patients with SLE (cohort 1, n = 49; cohort 2, n = 46) and other rheumatic diseases by ELISA. Clinical associations of the autoantibodies were tested. RESULTS: Ro60 was the top hit in the screen, and the 10 following proteins included 2 additional known SLE autoantigens plus 8 novel autoantigens involved in microRNA processing (Argonaute protein 1 [AGO1], AGO2, and AGO3), ribosomes (ribosomal protein lateral stalk subunit P2 and ovarian tumor deubiquitinase 5 [OTUD5]), RNA transport by the vault (major vault protein), and the immune proteasome (proteasome activator complex subunit 3). Patient serum contained IgG reactive with these proteins and IgA against the AGO proteins. Using the 95th percentile of healthy donor reactivity, 5-43% were positive for the novel antigens, with OTUD5 and AGO1 showing the highest percentages of positivity. Autoantibodies against AGO1 proteins were more prevalent in patients with oral ulcers in a statistically significant manner. IgG autoantibodies against AGO proteins were also seen in other rheumatic diseases. CONCLUSION: We discovered new autoantigens existing in cytosolic macromolecular protein assemblies containing RNA (except the proteasome) in cells. A more comprehensive list of autoantigens will allow for a better analysis of how proteins are targeted by the autoimmune response. Future research will also reveal whether specific autoantibodies have utility in the diagnosis or management of SLE.

Human virome profiling identified CMV as the major viral driver of a high accumulation of senescent CD8+ T cells in patients with advanced NSCLC.

Circulating senescent CD8+ T (T8sen) cells are characterized by a lack of proliferative capacities but retain cytotoxic activity and have been associated to resistance to immunotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC). We aimed to better characterize T8sen and to determine which factors were associated with their accumulation in patients with aNSCLC. Circulating T8sen cells were characterized by a higher expression of SA-ßgal and the transcription factor T-bet, confirming their senescent status. Using whole virome profiling, cytomegalovirus (CMV) was the only virus associated with T8sen. CMV was necessary but not sufficient to explain high accumulation of T8sen (T8senhigh status). In CMV+ patients, the proportion of T8sen cells increased with cancer progression. Last, CMV-induced T8senhigh phenotype but not CMV seropositivity itself was associated with worse progression-free and overall survival in patients treated with anti-PD-(L)1 therapy but not with chemotherapy. Overall, CMV is the unique viral driver of T8sen-driven resistance to anti-PD-(L)1 antibodies in patients with aNSCLC.

Development of a Novel Circulating Autoantibody Biomarker Panel for the Identification of Patients with 'Actionable' Pulmonary Nodules.

Due to poor compliance and uptake of LDCT screening among high-risk populations, lung cancer is often diagnosed in advanced stages where treatment is rarely curative. Based upon the American College of Radiology's Lung Imaging and Reporting Data System (Lung-RADS) 80-90% of patients screened will have clinically "non-actionable" nodules (Lung-RADS 1 or 2), and those harboring larger, clinically "actionable" nodules (Lung-RADS 3 or 4) have a significantly greater risk of lung cancer. The development of a companion diagnostic method capable of identifying patients likely to have a clinically actionable nodule identified during LDCT is anticipated to improve accessibility and uptake of the paradigm and improve early detection rates. Using protein microarrays, we identified 501 circulating targets with differential immunoreactivities against cohorts characterized as possessing either actionable (n = 42) or non-actionable (n = 20) solid pulmonary nodules, per Lung-RADS guidelines. Quantitative assays were assembled on the Luminex platform for the 26 most promising targets. These assays were used to measure serum autoantibody levels in 841 patients, consisting of benign (BN; n = 101), early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; n = 245), other early-stage malignancies within the lung (n = 29), and individuals meeting United States Preventative Screening Task Force (USPSTF) screening inclusion criteria with both actionable (n = 87) and non-actionable radiologic findings (n = 379). These 841 patients were randomly split into three cohorts: Training, Validation 1, and Validation 2. Of the 26 candidate biomarkers tested, 17 differentiated patients with actionable nodules from those with non-actionable nodules. A random forest model consisting of six autoantibody (Annexin 2, DCD, MID1IP1, PNMA1, TAF10, ZNF696) biomarkers was developed to optimize our classification performance; it possessed a positive predictive value (PPV) of 61.4%/61.0% and negative predictive value (NPV) of 95.7%/83.9% against Validation cohorts 1 and 2, respectively. This panel may improve patient selection methods for lung cancer screening, serving to greatly reduce the futile screening rate while also improving accessibility to the paradigm for underserved populations.

Future Research Goals in Immunotherapy.

In our opinion the most urgent needs to improve patient outcomes are: 1) a deeper ability to measure cancer immunobiology, and 2) increased availability of agents that, coupled with predictive biomarkers, will be used to tailor anti-cancer immunity. Tailoring effective immunotherapy will entail combinations of immunotherapeutics that augment priming of anti-cancer immunity, boost expansion of effector and memory cells of the T, B and NK lineage, amplify innate immunity and relieve checkpoint inhibition. Alternatives to inducing adaptive immunity to cancer include synthetic immunology that incorporate bi-specifics that target T cells to cancer or adoptive immunotherapy with gene-modified immune cells.

Coordinated responses to individual tumor antigens by IgG antibody and CD8+ T cells following cancer vaccination.

BACKGROUND: One of today's greatest hurdles for cancer immunotherapy is the absence of information regarding which tumor antigens are already recognized by patients receiving immunotherapies, and whether those therapies then boost or generate an immune response against tumor proteins. For CD8+ T cells in particular, patient-specific immune recognition and responses at the level of individual tumor antigens are rarely characterized. Because of this, some immunologists have turned to serum antibodies as an alternative measure of antigen-specific anti-tumor immunity. In this work, we sought to simultaneously interrogate serum IgG and CD8+ T cell recognition of individual tumor antigens to determine whether antigen-specific serum IgG antibodies provide a window into the behavior of antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses. Using antibody-based assays to evaluate immune response repertoires and focus T cell antigen exploration could afford substantial advantages for discovering and monitoring the anti-cancer immune responses of patients enrolled on clinical trials. METHODS: We vaccinated female BALB/c mice with a novel combination of an autophagosome-enriched vaccine derived from 4T1 mammary carcinoma along with poly-I:C adjuvant, then screened serum for IgG binding to arrays of 15mer peptides containing known mutation sites in 4T1. Simultaneously, we primed CD8+ T cell cultures from these same animals with 8-11mer peptides derived from these antigens. These primed T cells were then stimulated to measure recognition of the peptides or live 4T1 cells by IFNγ release. RESULTS: Vaccinated animals demonstrate increases in antigen-specific CD8+ T cell recognition of 4T1 tumor cells and peptides. For proteins confirmed in 4T1 cells and vaccine by mass spectrometry, there is a correlation between this increased CD8+ T cell IFNγ release and serum IgG binding to individual peptide antigens. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest it is possible to observe some features of a patient's antigen-specific T cell repertoire via an antibody surrogate, which has implications for tumor antigen discovery and clinical monitoring of antigen-specific anti-tumor immunity.

Glimpse into the future: harnessing autophagy to promote anti-tumor immunity with the DRibbles vaccine.

Because the benefits of immune checkpoint blockade may be restricted to tumors with pre-existing immune recognition, novel therapies that facilitate de novo immune activation are needed. DRibbles is a novel multi-valent vaccine that is created by disrupting degradation of intracellular proteins by the ubiquitin proteasome system. The DRibbles vaccine is comprised of autophagosome vesicles that are enriched with defective ribosomal products and short-lived proteins, known tumor-associated antigens, mediators of innate immunity, and surface markers that encourage phagocytosis and cross-presentation by antigen presenting cells. Here we summarize the rationale and preclinical development of DRibbles, translational evidence in support of DRibbles as a therapeutic strategy in humans, as well as recent developments and expected future directions of the DRibbles vaccine in the clinic.

Quantitative comparison of the efficacy of various compounds in lowering intracellular cholesterol levels in Niemann-Pick type C fibroblasts.

Niemann-Pick Type C disease (NPC) is a lethal, autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the NPC1 and NPC2 cholesterol transport proteins. NPC's hallmark symptoms include an accumulation of unesterified cholesterol and other lipids in the late endosomal and lysosomal cellular compartments, causing progressive neurodegeneration and death. Although the age of onset may vary in those affected, NPC most often manifests in juveniles, and is usually fatal before adolescence. In this study, we investigated the effects of various drugs, many of which modify the epigenetic control of NPC1/NPC2 gene expression, in lowering the otherwise harmful elevated intracellular cholesterol levels in NPC cells. Our studies utilized a previously described image analysis technique, which allowed us to make quantitative comparisons of the efficacy of these drugs in lowering cholesterol levels in a common NPC1 mutant model. Of the drugs analyzed, several that have been previously studied (vorinostat, panobinostat, and ß-cyclodextrin) significantly lowered the relative amount of unesterified cellular cholesterol, consistent with earlier observations. In addition, a novel potential treatment, rapamycin, likewise alleviated the NPC phenotype. We also studied combinations of effective compounds with ß-cyclodextrin; the addition of ß-cyclodextrin significantly enhanced the cholesterol-lowering activity of vorinostat and panobinostat, but had mixed effects with rapamycin. Collectively, these results may provide a basis for the eventual development of improved NPC therapies.

An efficient synthesis of (+/-)-trichostatic Acid and analogues: a new route to (+/-)-trichostatin A.

An efficient synthesis of rac-trichostatic acid (1) and its analogues is reported starting from a commercially available aldehyde. Further manipulations of rac-1 led to rac-trichostatin A (TSA). Construction of the desired molecular architecture entails a two-component union, achieved through an in situ hydroboration followed by a Suzuki-Miyaura coupling with 2. The requisite homopropargyl alcohol was synthesized by exploiting allenylindium chemistry. This new protocol paved the way for the synthesis of analogues of trichostatic acid and hence TSA.