Expression and Significance of PD-1, TIM-3 and VISTA on T Cell of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To study the expression of multiple negative costimulatory molecules on peripheral blood T cells in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and its affection on prognosis.@*METHODS@#The peripheral blood samples from patients with newly diagnosed AML, complete remission (CR), and no-remission (NR) were collected, the expression levels PD-1、VISTA and TIM-3 in CD4 and CD8 T cells were detected by flow cytometry , and the clinical data of patients were analyzed.@*RESULTS@#The expression levels of PD-1、VISTA and TIM-3 of CD4 and CD8 T cells in the newly diagnosed AML patients were significantly higher than those in control group (P＜0.05). The expression levels of PD-1、TIM-3 and VISTA of CD4 and CD8 T cells in the CR group were significantly lower than those in newly diagnosed and the NR group (P＜0.05). The TIM-3 expression level positively correlated with VISTA expression level of CD4 and CD8 T cells in newly diagnosed AML patients (r=0.85 and 0.73). The VISTA and PD-1 expression level of CD4 T cells in newly diagnosed AML, NR after first induction chemotherapy and high risk patients significantly increased (P＜0.05), the TIM-3 expression level of CD8 T cells in high risk group significantly increased (P＜0.05), and the VISTA expression level of CD8 T cells in CBFβ-MYH11 mutation-positive group significantly decreased (P＜0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#The expression of PD-1、TIM-3 and VISTA in AML peripheral blood T cells may be involved in the immune escape of AML and can be the targets of treatment for acute myeloid leukemia patients.

miR-195/miR-497 Regulate CD274 Expression of Immune Regulatory Ligands in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: Immune suppression is common in patients with advanced breast cancer but the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have not been sufficiently studied. In this study, we aimed to identify B7 family members that were able to predict the immune status of patients, and which may serve as potential targets for the treatment of breast cancer. We also aimed to identify microRNAs that may regulate the expression of B7 family members. METHODS: The Cancer Genome Atlas data from 1,092 patients with breast cancer, including gene expression, microRNA expression and survival data, were used for statistical and survival analyses. Polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were used to measure messenger RNA and protein expression, respectively. Luciferase assay was used to investigate direct microRNA target. RESULTS: Bioinformatic analysis predicted that microRNA (miR)-93, miR-195, miR-497, and miR-340 are potential regulators of the immune evasion of breast cancer cells, and that they exert this function by targeting CD274, PDCD1LG2, and NCR3LG1. We chose CD274 for further investigations. We found that miR-195, miR-497, and CD274 expression levels were inversely correlated in MDA-MB-231 cells, and miR-195 and miR-497 expressions mimic inhibited CD274 expression in vitro. Mechanistic investigations demonstrated that miR-195 and miR-497 directly target CD274 3′ untranslated region. CONCLUSION: Our data indicated that the level of B7 family members can predict the prognosis of breast cancer patients, and miR-195/miR-497 regulate CD274 expression in triple negative breast cancer. This regulation may further influence tumor progression and the immune tolerance mechanism in breast cancer and may be able to predict the effect of immunotherapy on patients.

Research Advances of A New Co-stimulatory Molecule-B7 Homolog 6--Review / 中国实验血液学杂志

B7-H6 is a co-stimulatory molecule discoveried recently. B7-H6 is not expressed on normal cells, but specially expressed on tumor cells. It can also be expressed on antigen presenting cells (APC) by the induction. The B7-H6 expression can be downregulated by HDACi. NK cells can be activated to release TNFα and IFNγ through B7H6-NKp30 pathway. The B7-H6 molecules expressed on the cell surface can be shedded to form soluble molecules. In the meantime, the B7-H6/NKp30 pathway may be involved in the pathogenesis of primary Sjogren syndrome. B7-H6/NKp30 may become a new therapeutic target for tumor, inflammation and autoimmune diseases. This review discusses the B7-H6 and receptor sructure, the expression and significance of B7-H6, the function and regulating mechanism of B7-H6 and the soluble molecules of B7-H6.

Research Progress on Co-stimulating Molecule B7-H3 in Hematological Malignancies / 中国实验血液学杂志

Costimulatory molecule B7-H3 is a new member of the B7 immunoregulatory family identified in 2001. Although B7-H3 mRNA is widely detected in a variety of lymphoid and nonlymphoid organs, but the B7-H3 protein is distributed limitedly, generally absent or low expressed in normal tissues. The triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cell (TREM)-like transcript 2 (TLT-2) is a possible receptor for B7-H3, but it is not confirmed. B7-H3 has an important immunologic function having costimulatory or coinhibitory immunoregulatory effects in adaptive immune responses, but its exact mechanism remains contentious. The recent studies reported that aberrant overexpression of B7-H3 was found in a wide range of solid cancer tissues and cells, and associated with more advanced disease and poor prognosis, and directly performed nonimmunological functions in oncogenesis. However, more and more studies demonstrate that B7-H3 also plays an important role in progression of hematologic malignancies. The overexpression of B7-H3 is significantly associated with the malignant degree, relapse, progression and prognosis in haematological malignancies. Thus, B7-H3 represents a novel diagnostic marker and potential therapeutic target for cancers. The immunotherapy targeting to B7-H3 become one of the hotspots of recent researches, and some monoclonal antibodies have already entered into clinical trials. This review summarizes the available data on the relationship between B7-H3 and hematologic malignancies, and further focusing on B7-H3 as a potential therapeutic target in these tumors.

Correlation of Plasma Co-stimulatory Molecules B7-H2 and B7-H3 with Platelet Auto-antibodies in Patients with Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura / 中国实验血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate whether the plasma level of platelet auto- antibodies in ITP patients is related to that of co-stimulatory molecules sB7-H2 and sB7-H3.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 61 ITP patients and 25 healthy controls from the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from June 2012 to August 2013 were enrolled in this study. The expression levels of platelet auto-antibodies against 5 glycoproteins (GPIX, GP Ib, GP IIIa, GPIIb and P-selectin) in plasma were detected by flow cytometric immuno-beads array, and the expression of soluable co-stimulatory molecules sB7-H2 and sB7-H3 was measured by ELISA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The plasma levels of 5 auto-antibodies against platelet membrance glycoproteins significantly increased in ITP patiens (P < 0.01). Compared with healthy controls, sB7-H2 levels increased (P < 0.05), while the sB7-H3 level did not significantly change (r = 0.13, P > 0.05). However, the correlation analysis showed that sB7-H3 negatively correlated with platelet P-selectin auto-antibody (r = -0.46, P < 0.05), and sB7-H2 and sB7-H3 significantly reduced in ITP patients with positive P-selectin auto-antibody (P < 0.01). In ITP patients, platelet counts negatively correlated with sB7-H2 (r = -0.3907, P < 0.01), but did not correlate with sB7-H3.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Soluble costimulatory molecule sB7-H2 elevates in ITP patients, and the level of sB7-H3 is associated with auto-antibodies against P-selectin, suggesting that costimulatory molecules B7-H2 and B7-H3 may be involved in the pathogenesis of immune regulation abnormality in ITP.</p>

Effects of blocking co-stimulatory signals on immunotolerance rejection of sensitized recipient after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation / 中国实验血液学杂志

This research was aimed to explore the effects of blocking B7/CD28 and CD40/CD154 co-stimulatory signals on engraftment of hematopoietic stem cell in the sensitized recipient so as to provide the experimental evidence for the treatment of sensitized recipient's immune rejection after clinical allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The BALB/c mice were divided into 4 groups: (1)mice sensitized on 7 day before transplant; (2)mice were sensitized on 7 day before transplant, and injected CTLA4Ig+anti-CD154 applied; (3)normal mice injected by corresponding isotype control IgG of CTLA4Ig and anti-CD154; (4)normal blank control mice. Each group had 15 mice. On day 0, mice of each group were irradiated lethally 8 Gy by linear accelerator, and the bone marrow cells of C57BL/6 labeled by fluorescence staining were injected via the tail vein. The fluorescent cell level in peripheral blood and organ tissue at different time points were detected by flow cytometry (FCM) for homing assessment. Survival rates and hematopoietic reconstitution were also monitored and recorded. The results showed that application of CTLA4Ig anti-CD154 could promote implantation of allogeneic HSC in sensitized recipients, induce the immune tolerance, prolong their survival time and accelerate the hematopoietic reconstitution within 28 days, compared with the sensitized group. It is concluded that applying CTLA4Ig and anti-CD154 can enhance the engraftment of HSCT and induce immune tolerance in the sensitized recipient after allogeneic HSCT and accelerate the hematopoietic reconstitution.

The CD28-B7 Family in Anti-Tumor Immunity: Emerging Concepts in Cancer Immunotherapy

The interactions between B7 molecules and CD28-family receptors are crucial in the regulation of adaptive cellular immunity. In cancer, the aberrant expression of co-inhibitory B7 molecules has been attributed to reduced anti-tumor immunity and cancer immune evasion, prompting the development of cancer therapeutics that can restore T cell function. Murine tumor models have provided significant support for the targeting of multiple immune checkpoints involving CTLA-4, PD-1, ICOS, B7-H3 and B7-H4 during tumor growth, and clinical studies investigating the therapeutic effects of CTLA-4 and PD-1 blockade have shown exceptionally promising results in patients with advanced melanoma and other cancers. The expression pattern of co-inhibitory B7 ligands in the tumor microenvironment has also been largely correlated with poor patient prognosis, and recent evidence suggests that the presence of several B7 molecules may predict the responsiveness of immunotherapies that rely on pre-existing tumor-associated immune responses. While monotherapies blocking T cell co-inhibition have beneficial effects in reducing tumor burden, combinatorial immunotherapy targeting multiple immune checkpoints involved in various stages of the anti-tumor response has led to the most substantial impact on tumor reduction. In this review, we will examine the contributions of B7- and CD28-family members in the context of cancer development, and discuss the implications of current human findings in cancer immunotherapy.

Effect of tanshinone II A to B7H3 expression in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE1 cell lines / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the proliferation of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE1 cell and B7H3 expiration after treating by Tanshinone II A (Tan II A).@*METHOD@#The CNE1 cell was cultured in vitro and treated by Tan II A with different concentrations; Cell proliferation was valuated by MTT; Apoptotic rate and cell cycle were investigated by flow cytometry; Bcl2 and B7H3 expiration were detected by direct immunofluorescence assay.@*RESULT@#The CNE1 cell's proliferation has been significantly inhibited by Tan II A, the inhibition was in dose and time effect with Tan II A, with significant difference (P<0.01); IC50 value in 24, 48 and 72 hours was respective 12.5 micromol/L, 4.8 micromol/L and 3.0 micromol/L; Comparing with the control group, Tan II A group increased apoptosis rate (P<0.01); Cell cycle was blocked in G2/M phase; Bcl2 and B7H3 expression were more decreased in Tan II A group than in control group with significant difference (P<0.05);@*CONCLUSION@#Tan II A caused obviously growth inhibitory effect and induced apoptosis in CNE1 cells and the mechanisms might be related to down regulation of Bcl2 and B7H3.

Relation of B7-H3 molecule expression in multiple myeloma with poor prognosis and bone destruction / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was purpose to investigate the B7-H3 expression in multiple myeloma cell lines and CD138 cells of patients with multiple myeloma, and explore its clinical significance. Three myeloma cell lines (RPMI8226, U266 and H929) were used. Forty-five patients with multiple myeloma were enrolled in the study. The expression of B7-H3 was detected by flow cytometry and RT-PCR. The relationship between B7-H3 and clinical prognostic factor was analyzed. The results showed that (1)In myeloma cell lines, high expression of B7-H3 was seen in RPMI8226 (92.30 ± 1.1)% and U266 (79.03 ± 1.2)% but not in H929 cell line (4.26 ± 0.2)%. (2) Exogenous IL-6 had no effect on upregulation of B7-H3 in myeloma cell lines. (3) In multiple myeloma patients, the proportions of B7-H3 positive cells in newly diagnosed, remission and relapsed patients were (48.58 ± 33.593)%, (22.16 ± 18.853)%, and (57.65 ± 28.296)%, respectively. The difference between the newly diagnosed and remission patients, and remission and relapsed patients was significant (P = 0.023, P = 0.004). (4)High B7-H3 expression was correlated with high numbers of bone destruction and high levels of serum calcium (P = 0.027, P = 0.046, respectively). It is concluded that the relation of B7-H3 molecule expression with prognosis of multiple myeloma may be negative, but with degree of bone destruction is positive, thus the high expression of B7-H3 may correlated with disease progression and bone destruction of patients with multiple myeloma.

Clinical significance of costimulatory molecule B7-H3 expression on CD3(+) T cells in colorectal carcinoma / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>B7-H3 has been widely studied in the context of tumor progression in recent years, and behaves as a tumor cell marker in a variety of tumors including colorectal carcinoma. The mechanism of B7-H3 in tumor progression is complicated and not clear yet. Studies have revealed that B7 family molecules are expressed on infiltrated lymphocytes as well as tumor cells in tumor microenvironment, which indicates that different expression pattern may lead to different clinical outcomes.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of B7-H3 was detected in tissues of 98 colorectal carcinoma patients by using immunohistochemistry. Then the expression of B7-H3 on CD3(+) T lymphocytes isolated from fresh cancer tissues of 12 colorectal carcinoma patients was analyzed by flow cytometry assay. The relationship between the expression of B7-H3 on CD3(+) T lymphocytes and patients' clinical pathological parameters was demonstrated with statistical analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Patients with more CD3(+) T cell infiltration survived much longer than patients with less CD3(+) T cell infiltration (P < 0.05); B7-H3 was highly expressed by infiltrating CD3(+) T lymphocytes in colorectal carcinoma tissues. The expression of B7-H3 was found to be significantly related with lymph node metastasis status (P < 0.05), but not with the patient's gender, age, tumor size, differentiation degree, depth of tumor invasion, Dukes' stage, distant metastasis and whether or not mucinous adenocarcinoma was present (P > 0.05). Moreover, the survival time of patients with low expression of B7-H3 was obviously longer than those of high B7-H3 expression patients, but the seven-year survival rate showed no difference between the high and low B7-H3 expression patients (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The negative costimulatory molecule B7-H3 on infiltrating CD3(+) T lymphocytes in colorectal carcinoma bears importance in the clinical pathological progress and prognosis of colorectal carcinoma.</p>

Prolonged expression of MHC class I - peptide expression in bone marrow derived retrovirus transfected matured dendritic cells by continuous centrifugation in the presence of IL-4.

Background & objectives: Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen presenting cells which proceed from immature to a mature stage during their differentiation. There are several methods of obtaining long lasting mature antigen expressing DCs and different methods show different levels of antigen expressions. We investigated bone marrow derived DCs for the degree of maturation and genetically engineered antigen presentation in the presence of interleukin-4 (IL-4) as a maturity enhancer. Methods: DCs and transfected retrovirus were cultured together in the presence of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GMCSF)-IL4, GMCSF +IL4, lipopolysaccharide (LPS). B 7.1, B7.2 and CD11c were measured by the degree of immune fluorescence using enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) shuttled retrovirus transfected antigen. Degree of MHC class I molecule with antigen presentation of antigen was also evaluated by fluorescence activated cell sorting. The antigen presenting capacity of transfected DCs was investigated. Bone marrow DCs were generated in the presence of GMCSF and IL-4 in vitro. Dividing bone marrow cells were infected with EGFP shuttled retrovirus expressing SSP2 by prolonged centrifugation for three consecutive days from day 5, 6 and 7 and continued to culture in the presence of GMSCF and IL-4 until day 8. Results: IL-4 as a cytokine increased the maturation of retrovirus transfected DCs by high expression of B 7-1 and B 7-2. Also, IL-4 induced DC enhanced by the prolonged centrifugation and it was shown by increased antigen presentation of these dendric cells as antigen presenting cell (APC). Cytolytic effects were significantly higher in cytotoxic T cell response (CTLs) mixed with transfected DCs than CTLs mixed with pulsed DCs. Interpretation & conclusions: There was an enhanced antigen presentation by prolonged expression of antigen loaded MHC class I receptors in DCs in the presence of IL-4 by prolonged centrifugation.

Expression and clinical significance of costimulatory molecule B7-H3 mRNA and B7-H3 protein in gastric carcinoma / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the expression of B7-H3 mRNA and B7-H3 protein in gastric carcinoma and their clinical significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of B7-H3 mRNA and B7-H3 protein in gastric carcinoma and the nearby normal tissue of 38 patients was detected by real-time RT-PCR and immunohistochemical assay respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>B7-H3 mRNA was expressed both in gastric carcinoma and nearby normal tissue, but the expression level in gastric carcinoma was much lower than that in nearby normal tissue. There were no significant differences of B7-H3 mRNA expression among gender, age, histological type, tumor size, lymph node metastasis and invasive depth (all P >0.05). The positive rate of B7-H3 protein expressed in gastric carcinoma was 39.5%. There were no significant differences of B7-H3 protein expression among gender, age, histological type, tumor size, lymph node metastasis and invasive depth (all P >0.05), but there were significant differences among groups of clinical stage (P=0.022) and pathological grade (P=0.039). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that disease-free survival or overall survival of the patients with positive B7-H3 expression were significantly longer than those with negative B7-H3 expression (P=0.009 and P=0.010 respectively).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Detection of B7-H3 expression in gastric carcinoma will be beneficial to the judgment of the prognosis of gastric carcinoma and the choice of individualized treatment.</p>

Immunotherapeutic Effects of CTLA4Ig Fusion Protein on Murine EAE and GVHD

BACKGROUND: CTLA4 (CD152), which is expressed on the surface of T cells following activation, has a much higher affinity for B7 molecules comparing to CD28, and is a negative regulator of T cell activation. In contrast to stimulating and agonistic capabilities of monoclonal antibodies specific to CTLA-4, CTLA4Ig fusion protein appears to act as CD28 antagonist and inhibits in vitro and in vivo T cell priming in variety of immunological conditions. We've set out to confirm whether inhibition of the CD28-B7 costimulatory response using a soluble form of human CTLA4Ig fusion protein would lead to persistent inhibition of alloreactive T cell activation. METHODS: We have used CHO-dhfr cell-line to produce CTLA4Ig fusion protein. After serum free culture of transfected cell line we purified this recombinant molecule by using protein A column. To confirm characterization of fusion protein, we carried out a series of Western blot, SDS-PAGE and silver staining analyses. We have also investigated the efficacy of CTLA4Ig in vitro such as mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) & cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response and in vivo such as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), graft versus host disease (GVHD) and skin-graft whether this fusion protein could inhibit alloreactive T cell activation and lead to immunosuppression of activated T cell. RESULTS: In vitro assay, CTLA4Ig fusion protein inhibited immune response in T cell-specific manner: 1) Human CTLA4Ig inhibited allogeneic stimulation in murine MLR; 2) CTLA4Ig prevented the specific killing activity of CTL. In vivo assay, human CTLA4Ig revealed the capacities to induce alloantigen-specific hyporesponsiveness in mouse model: 1) GVHD was efficiently blocked by dose-dependent manner; 2) Clinical score of EAE was significantly decreased compared to nomal control; 3) The time of skin-graft rejection was not different between CTLA4Ig treated and control group. CONCLUSION: Human CTLA4Ig suppress the T cell-mediated immune response and efficiently inhibit the EAE, GVHD in mouse model. The mechanism of T cell suppression by human CTLA4Ig fusion protein may be originated from the suppression of activity of cytotoxic T cell. Human CTLA4Ig could not suppress the rejection in mouse skin-graft, this finding suggests that other mechanism except the suppression of cytotoxic T cell may exist on the suppression of graft rejection.

The role of B7 molecules in T cell anergy / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the role and mechanism of B7 molecules in T cell anergy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Anti-B7-1 (CD(80)) and anti-B7-2 (CD(86)) monoclonal antibodies were used to induce T cell anergy. T cell proliferation were assayed by mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) with (3)H-TdR incorporation, and cytokine mRNA transcripts were analyzed with reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). B7-transfected-CHO cells were used as artificial antigen presentation cells (APCs) in MLR to exclude the effects of other costimulatory molecules.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>MLR results showed that the proliferation of T cells was inhibited to various extents by anti-CD(80) or anti-CD(86) monoclonal antibody, the effect of anti-CD(86) antibody was greater than that of anti-CD(80) antibody, and the proliferation was totally blocked when the two were used together. The results of RT-PCR demonstrated that IL-2 and IFN-gamma mRNA transcripts decreased whereas IL-4 mRNA transcripts increased in T cell after treatment with anti-B7 antibo-dies for 24 hours. In MLR with artificial APC, signal one (DR7) alone could stimulate T cell proliferation at a certain threshold intensity. Costimulator B7-1 molecule could help signal one in T cell proliferation. This effect was blocked by anti-CD(80).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>B7 molecules play an important role in T cell immune response. Blockade of B7 family resulted in T cell anergy. The role of CD(86) may be more important than that of CD(80). The conversion of cytokine profile from Th1's to Th2's reflected that anergetic T cells were differentiated into Th2 cells by anti-B7 suggesting that anergetic blockade of costimulator molecules may be one of the mechanisms of T cell.</p>