STING agonist 8803 reprograms the immune microenvironment and increases survival in preclinical models of glioblastoma.

STING agonists can reprogram the tumor microenvironment to induce immunological clearance within the central nervous system. Using multiplexed sequential immunofluorescence (SeqIF) and the Ivy Glioblastoma Atlas, STING expression was found in myeloid populations and in the perivascular space. The STING agonist 8803 increased median survival in multiple preclinical models of glioblastoma, including QPP8, an immune checkpoint blockade-resistant model, where 100% of mice were cured. Ex vivo flow cytometry profiling during the therapeutic window demonstrated increases in myeloid tumor trafficking and activation, alongside enhancement of CD8+ T cell and NK effector responses. Treatment with 8803 reprogrammed microglia to express costimulatory CD80/CD86 and iNOS, while decreasing immunosuppressive CD206 and arginase. In humanized mice, where tumor cell STING is epigenetically silenced, 8803 therapeutic activity was maintained, further attesting to myeloid dependency and reprogramming. Although the combination with a STAT3 inhibitor did not further enhance STING agonist activity, the addition of anti-PD-1 antibodies to 8803 treatment enhanced survival in an immune checkpoint blockade-responsive glioma model. In summary, 8803 as a monotherapy demonstrates marked in vivo therapeutic activity, meriting consideration for clinical translation.

Perivascular NOTCH3+ stem cells drive meningioma tumorigenesis and resistance to radiotherapy.

Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors. Treatments for patients with meningiomas are limited to surgery and radiotherapy, and systemic therapies remain ineffective or experimental. Resistance to radiotherapy is common in high-grade meningiomas and the cell types and signaling mechanisms that drive meningioma tumorigenesis and resistance to radiotherapy are incompletely understood. Here we report NOTCH3 drives meningioma tumorigenesis and resistance to radiotherapy and find that perivascular NOTCH3+ stem cells are conserved across meningiomas from humans, dogs, and mice. Integrating single-cell transcriptomics with lineage tracing and imaging approaches in genetically engineered mouse models and xenografts, we show NOTCH3 drives tumor initiating capacity, cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and resistance to radiotherapy to increase meningioma growth and reduce survival. To translate these findings to patients, we show that an antibody stabilizing the extracellular negative regulatory region of NOTCH3 blocks meningioma tumorigenesis and sensitizes meningiomas to radiotherapy, reducing tumor growth and improving survival.

Protocol to quantify immune cell distribution from the vasculature to the glioma microenvironment on sequential immunofluorescence multiplex images.

Although myeloid-derived immune cells can be dispersed throughout the tumor microenvironment (TME), anti-tumor effector cells are confined to the perivascular space. Here, we present a protocol to quantify immune cell distribution from tumor vasculature to its glioma microenvironment on sequential immunofluorescence multiplex images. We describe steps for sequential immunofluorescence multiplex staining, image generation, and storage. We then detail the procedures for tissue, vessel, and nuclei segmentation; cell phenotyping; data extraction; and training using RStudio and Spyder.

Spatial genomic, biochemical and cellular mechanisms underlying meningioma heterogeneity and evolution.

Intratumor heterogeneity underlies cancer evolution and treatment resistance, but targetable mechanisms driving intratumor heterogeneity are poorly understood. Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors and are resistant to all medical therapies, and high-grade meningiomas have significant intratumor heterogeneity. Here we use spatial approaches to identify genomic, biochemical and cellular mechanisms linking intratumor heterogeneity to the molecular, temporal and spatial evolution of high-grade meningiomas. We show that divergent intratumor gene and protein expression programs distinguish high-grade meningiomas that are otherwise grouped together by current classification systems. Analyses of matched pairs of primary and recurrent meningiomas reveal spatial expansion of subclonal copy number variants associated with treatment resistance. Multiplexed sequential immunofluorescence and deconvolution of meningioma spatial transcriptomes using cell types from single-cell RNA sequencing show decreased immune infiltration, decreased MAPK signaling, increased PI3K-AKT signaling and increased cell proliferation, which are associated with meningioma recurrence. To translate these findings to preclinical models, we use CRISPR interference and lineage tracing approaches to identify combination therapies that target intratumor heterogeneity in meningioma cell co-cultures.

Glioblastoma Phagocytic Cell Death: Balancing the Opportunities for Therapeutic Manipulation.

Macrophages and microglia are professional phagocytes that sense and migrate toward "eat-me" signals. The role of phagocytic cells is to maintain homeostasis by engulfing senescent or apoptotic cells, debris, and abnormally aggregated macromolecules. Usually, dying cells send out "find-me" signals, facilitating the recruitment of phagocytes. Healthy cells can also promote or inhibit the phagocytosis phenomenon of macrophages and microglia by tuning the balance between "eat-me" and "don't-eat-me" signals at different stages in their lifespan, while the "don't-eat-me" signals are often hijacked by tumor cells as a mechanism of immune evasion. Using a combination of bioinformatic analysis and spatial profiling, we delineate the balance of the "don't-eat-me" CD47/SIRPα and "eat-me" CALR/STC1 ligand-receptor interactions to guide therapeutic strategies that are being developed for glioblastoma sequestered in the central nervous system (CNS).

Prohibitin Expression in Antigen-Presenting Cells: Implications for Inciting Trigger in CNS IgG4-Related Disease.

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a rare autoimmune disorder with an unknown etiology. Using orthogonal immune profiling and automated sequential multiplexing, we found an enhanced frequency of activated circulating B cells, antigen-presenting myeloid cells in peripheral blood, and a distinct distribution of immune cells within the CNS lesions. Prohibitin-expressing CD138+ plasma B cells and CD11c+ dendritic cells have been found interacting with T cells resulting in irmnune cell activation within the lesion. The data implicate prohibitin as a potential triggering antigen in the pathogenesis of IgG4-RD and shed light on the cellular dynamics and interactions driving IgG4-RD in the central nervous system, emphasizing the need for further studies corroborating these findings.

Super-enhancer hijacking drives ectopic expression of hedgehog pathway ligands in meningiomas.

Hedgehog signaling mediates embryologic development of the central nervous system and other tissues and is frequently hijacked by neoplasia to facilitate uncontrolled cellular proliferation. Meningiomas, the most common primary brain tumor, exhibit Hedgehog signaling activation in 6.5% of cases, triggered by recurrent mutations in pathway mediators such as SMO. In this study, we find 35.6% of meningiomas that lack previously known drivers acquired various types of somatic structural variations affecting chromosomes 2q35 and 7q36.3. These cases exhibit ectopic expression of Hedgehog ligands, IHH and SHH, respectively, resulting in Hedgehog signaling activation. Recurrent tandem duplications involving IHH permit de novo chromatin interactions between super-enhancers within DIRC3 and a locus containing IHH. Our work expands the landscape of meningioma molecular drivers and demonstrates enhancer hijacking of Hedgehog ligands as a route to activate this pathway  in neoplasia.

Immunobiology and Cytokine Modulation of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Microenvironment: A Scoping Review.

Utilizing a Scoping Review strategy in the domain of immune biology to identify immune therapeutic targets, knowledge gaps for implementing immune therapeutic strategies for pediatric brain tumors was assessed. The analysis demonstrated limited efforts to date to characterize and understand the immunological aspects of tumor biology with an over-reliance on observations from the adult glioma population. Foundational knowledge regarding the frequency and ubiquity of immune therapeutic targets is an area of unmet need along with the development of immune-competent pediatric tumor models to test therapeutics and especially combinatorial treatment. Opportunities arise in the evolution of pediatric tumor classification from histological to molecular with targeted immune therapeutics.

The Use of Targeted Cytokines as Cancer Therapeutics in Glioblastoma.

Cytokines play an important role in regulating the immune response. Although there is great interest in exploiting cytokines for cancer immunotherapy, their clinical potential is limited by their pleiotropic properties and instability. A variety of cancer cell-intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics pose a barrier to effective treatments including cytokines. Recent studies using gene and cell therapy offer new opportunities for targeting cytokines or their receptors, demonstrating that they are actionable targets. Current efforts such as virotherapy, systemic cytokine therapy, and cellular and gene therapy have provided novel strategies that incorporate cytokines as potential therapeutic strategies for glioblastoma. Ongoing research on characterizing the tumor microenvironment will be informative for prioritization and combinatorial strategies of cytokines for future clinical trials. Unique therapeutic opportunities exist at the convergence of cytokines that play a dual role in tumorigenesis and immune modulation. Here, we discuss the underlying strategies in pre- and clinical trials aiming to enhance treatment outcomes in glioblastoma patients.

NOTCH3 drives meningioma tumorigenesis and resistance to radiotherapy.

Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors1-3. Treatments for patients with meningiomas are limited to surgery and radiotherapy, and systemic therapies remain ineffective or experimental4,5. Resistance to radiotherapy is common in high-grade meningiomas6, and the cell types and signaling mechanisms driving meningioma tumorigenesis or resistance to radiotherapy are incompletely understood. Here we report NOTCH3 drives meningioma tumorigenesis and resistance to radiotherapy and find NOTCH3+ meningioma mural cells are conserved across meningiomas from humans, dogs, and mice. NOTCH3+ cells are restricted to the perivascular niche during meningeal development and homeostasis and in low-grade meningiomas but are expressed throughout high-grade meningiomas that are resistant to radiotherapy. Integrating single-cell transcriptomics with lineage tracing and imaging approaches across mouse genetic and xenograft models, we show NOTCH3 drives tumor initiating capacity, cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and resistance to radiotherapy to increase meningioma growth and reduce survival. An antibody stabilizing the extracellular negative regulatory region of NOTCH37,8 blocks meningioma tumorigenesis and sensitizes meningiomas to radiotherapy, reducing tumor growth and improving survival in preclinical models. In summary, our results identify a conserved cell type and signaling mechanism that underlie meningioma tumorigenesis and resistance to radiotherapy, revealing a new therapeutic vulnerability to treat meningiomas that are resistant to standard interventions.

Macrophage-endothelial cell crosstalk orchestrates neutrophil recruitment in inflamed mucosa.

Neutrophil (PMN) mobilization to sites of insult is critical for host defense and requires transendothelial migration (TEM). TEM involves several well-studied sequential adhesive interactions with vascular endothelial cells (ECs); however, what initiates or terminates this process is not well-understood. Here, we describe what we believe to be a new mechanism where vessel-associated macrophages through localized interactions primed EC responses to form ICAM-1 "hot spots" to support PMN TEM. Using real-time intravital microscopy of LPS-inflamed intestines in CX3CR1-EGFP macrophage-reporter mice, complemented by whole-mount tissue imaging and flow cytometry, we found that macrophage vessel association is critical for the initiation of PMN-EC adhesive interactions, PMN TEM, and subsequent accumulation in the intestinal mucosa. Anti-colony stimulating factor 1 receptor Ab-mediated macrophage depletion in the lamina propria and at the vessel wall resulted in elimination of ICAM-1 hot spots impeding PMN-EC interactions and TEM. Mechanistically, the use of human clinical specimens, TNF-α-KO macrophage chimeras, TNF-α/TNF receptor (TNF-α/TNFR) neutralization, and multicellular macrophage-EC-PMN cocultures revealed that macrophage-derived TNF-α and EC TNFR2 axis mediated this regulatory mechanism and was required for PMN TEM. As such, our findings identified clinically relevant mechanisms by which macrophages regulate PMN trafficking in inflamed mucosa.

Spatial genomic, biochemical, and cellular mechanisms drive meningioma heterogeneity and evolution.

Intratumor heterogeneity underlies cancer evolution and treatment resistance1-5, but targetable mechanisms driving intratumor heterogeneity are poorly understood. Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors and are resistant to all current medical therapies6,7. High-grade meningiomas cause significant neurological morbidity and mortality and are distinguished from low-grade meningiomas by increased intratumor heterogeneity arising from clonal evolution and divergence8. Here we integrate spatial transcriptomic and spatial protein profiling approaches across high-grade meningiomas to identify genomic, biochemical, and cellular mechanisms linking intratumor heterogeneity to the molecular, temporal, and spatial evolution of cancer. We show divergent intratumor gene and protein expression programs distinguish high-grade meningiomas that are otherwise grouped together by current clinical classification systems. Analyses of matched pairs of primary and recurrent meningiomas reveal spatial expansion of sub-clonal copy number variants underlies treatment resistance. Multiplexed sequential immunofluorescence (seqIF) and spatial deconvolution of meningioma single-cell RNA sequencing show decreased immune infiltration, decreased MAPK signaling, increased PI3K-AKT signaling, and increased cell proliferation drive meningioma recurrence. To translate these findings to clinical practice, we use epigenetic editing and lineage tracing approaches in meningioma organoid models to identify new molecular therapy combinations that target intratumor heterogeneity and block tumor growth. Our results establish a foundation for personalized medical therapy to treat patients with high-grade meningiomas and provide a framework for understanding therapeutic vulnerabilities driving intratumor heterogeneity and tumor evolution.

A Case Study of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Function: Donor Therapeutic Differences in Activity and Modulation with Verteporfin.

BACKGROUND: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have recently been demonstrated to extract and express cognate tumor antigens through trogocytosis. This process may contribute to tumor antigen escape, T cell exhaustion, and fratricide, which plays a central role in CAR dysfunction. We sought to evaluate the importance of this effect in epidermal growth factor receptor variant III (EGFRvIII) specific CAR T cells targeting glioma. METHODS: EGFRvIII-specific CAR T cells were generated from various donors and analyzed for cytotoxicity, trogocytosis, and in vivo therapeutic activity against intracranial glioma. Tumor autophagy resulting from CAR T cell activity was evaluated in combination with an autophagy inducer (verteporfin) or inhibitor (bafilomycin A1). RESULTS: CAR T cell products derived from different donors induced markedly divergent levels of trogocytosis of tumor antigen as well as PD-L1 upon engaging target tumor cells correlating with variability in efficacy in mice. Pharmacological facilitation of CAR induced-autophagy with verteporfin inhibits trogocytic expression of tumor antigen on CARs and increases CAR persistence and efficacy in mice. CONCLUSION: These data propose CAR-induced autophagy as a mechanism counteracting CAR-induced trogocytosis and provide a new strategy to innovate high-performance CARs through pharmacological facilitation of T cell-induced tumor death.

Antigen-presenting B cells promote TCF-1+ PD1- stem-like CD8+ T-cell proliferation in glioblastoma.

Understanding the spatial relationship and functional interaction of immune cells in glioblastoma (GBM) is critical for developing new therapeutics that overcome the highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Our study showed that B and T cells form clusters within the GBM microenvironment within a 15-µm radius, suggesting that B and T cells could form immune synapses within the GBM. However, GBM-infiltrating B cells suppress the activation of CD8+ T cells. To overcome this immunosuppression, we leveraged B-cell functions by activating them with CD40 agonism, IFNγ, and BAFF to generate a potent antigen-presenting B cells named BVax. BVax had improved antigen cross-presentation potential compared to naïve B cells and were primed to use the IL15-IL15Ra mechanism to enhance T cell activation. Compared to naïve B cells, BVax could improve CD8 T cell activation and proliferation. Compared to dendritic cells (DCs), which are the current gold standard professional antigen-presenting cell, BVax promoted highly proliferative T cells in-vitro that had a stem-like memory T cell phenotype characterized by CD62L+CD44- expression, high TCF-1 expression, and low PD-1 and granzyme B expression. Adoptive transfer of BVax-activated CD8+ T cells into tumor-bearing brains led to T cell reactivation with higher TCF-1 expression and elevated granzyme B production compared to DC-activated CD8+ T cells. Adoptive transfer of BVax into an irradiated immunocompetent tumor-bearing host promoted more CD8+ T cell proliferation than adoptive transfer of DCs. Moreover, highly proliferative CD8+ T cells in the BVax group had less PD-1 expression than those highly proliferative CD8+ T cells in the DC group. The findings of this study suggest that BVax and DC could generate distinctive CD8+ T cells, which potentially serve multiple purposes in cellular vaccine development.

Clinical Management of Supratentorial Non-Skull Base Meningiomas.

Supratentorial non-skull base meningiomas are the most common primary central nervous system tumor subtype. An understanding of their pathophysiology, imaging characteristics, and clinical management options will prove of substantial value to the multi-disciplinary team which may be involved in their care. Extensive review of the broad literature on the topic is conducted. Narrowing the scope to meningiomas located in the supratentorial non-skull base anatomic location highlights nuances specific to this tumor subtype. Advances in our understanding of the natural history of the disease and how findings from both molecular pathology and neuroimaging have impacted our understanding are discussed. Clinical management and the rationale underlying specific approaches including observation, surgery, radiation, and investigational systemic therapies is covered in detail. Future directions for probable advances in the near and intermediate term are reviewed.

cGAS-STING pathway targeted therapies and their applications in the treatment of high-grade glioma.

Median survival of patients with glioblastoma (GBM) treated with standard of care which consists of maximal safe resection of the contrast-enhancing portion of the tumor followed by radiation therapy with concomitant adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) remains 15 months. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is known to contain immune suppressive myeloid cells with minimal effector T cell infiltration. Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is an important activator of immune response and results in production of Type 1 interferon and antigen presentation by myeloid cells. This review will discuss important developments in STING agonists, potential biomarkers for STING response, and new combinatorial therapeutic approaches in gliomas.

Myeloid Cell Classification and Therapeutic Opportunities Within the Glioblastoma Tumor Microenvironment in the Single Cell-Omics Era.

The glioma tumor microenvironment (TME) is complex and heterogeneous, and multiple emerging and current technologies are being utilized for an improved comprehension and understanding of these tumors. Single cell analysis techniques such as single cell genomic and transcriptomic sequencing analysis are on the rise and play an important role in elucidating the glioma TME. These large datasets will prove useful for patient tumor characterization, including immune configuration that will ultimately influence therapeutic choices and especially immune therapies. In this review we discuss the advantages and drawbacks of these techniques while debating their role in the domain of glioma-infiltrating myeloid cells characterization and function.

A first-in-human Phase I trial of the oral p-STAT3 inhibitor WP1066 in patients with recurrent malignant glioma.

Aim: To ascertain the maximum tolerated dose (MTD)/maximum feasible dose (MFD) of WP1066 and p-STAT3 target engagement within recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) patients. Patients & methods: In a first-in-human open-label, single-center, single-arm 3 + 3 design Phase I clinical trial, eight patients were treated with WP1066 until disease progression or unacceptable toxicities. Results: In the absence of significant toxicity, the MFD was identified to be 8 mg/kg. The most common adverse event was grade 1 nausea and diarrhea in 50% of patients. No treatment-related deaths occurred; 6 of 8 patients died from disease progression and one was lost to follow-up. Of 8 patients with radiographic follow-up, all had progressive disease. The longest response duration exceeded 3.25 months. The median progression-free survival (PFS) time was 2.3 months (95% CI: 1.7 months-NA months), and 6-month PFS (PFS6) rate was 0%. The median overall survival (OS) rate was 25 months (95% CI: 22.5 months-NA months), with an estimated 1-year OS rate of 100%. Pharmacokinetic (PK) data demonstrated that at 8 mg/kg, the T1/2 was 2-3 h with a dose dependent increase in the Cmax. Immune monitoring of the peripheral blood demonstrated that there was p-STAT3 suppression starting at a dose of 1 mg/kg. Conclusion: Immune analyses indicated that WP1066 inhibited systemic immune p-STAT3. WP1066 had an MFD identified at 8 mg/kg which is the target allometric dose based on prior preclinical modeling in combination with radiation therapy and a Phase II study is being planned for newly diagnosed MGMT promoter unmethylated glioblastoma patients.

Cell-directed aptamer therapeutic targeting for cancers including those within the central nervous system.

Osteopontin (OPN) is produced by tumor cells as well as by myeloid cells and is enriched in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of many cancers. Given the roles of OPN in tumor progression and immune suppression, we hypothesized that targeting OPN with aptamers that have high affinity and specificity could be a promising therapeutic strategy. Bi-specific aptamers targeting ligands for cellular internalization were conjugated to siRNAs to suppress OPN were created, and therapeutic leads were selected based on target engagement and in vivo activity. Aptamers as carriers for siRNA approaches were created including a cancer targeting nucleolin aptamer Ncl-OPN siRNA and a myeloid targeting CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN)-OPN siRNA conjugate. These aptamers were selected as therapeutic leads based on 70-90% OPN inhibition in cancer (GL261, 344SQ, 4T1B2b) and myeloid (DC2.4) cells relative to scramble controls. In established immune competent 344SQ lung cancer and 4T1B2b breast cancer models, these aptamers, including in combination, demonstrate therapeutic activity by inhibiting tumor growth. The Ncl-OPN siRNA aptamer demonstrated efficacy in an immune competent orthotopic glioma model administered systemically secondary to the ability of the aptamer to access the glioma TME. Therapeutic activity was demonstrated using both aptamers in a breast cancer brain metastasis model. Targeted inhibition of OPN in tumor cells and myeloid cells using bifunctional aptamers that are internalized by specific cell types and suppress OPN expression once internalized may have clinical potential in cancer treatment.