Human endogenous retrovirus type K antibodies and mRNA as serum biomarkers of early-stage breast cancer.

A simple and accurate test to detect early-stage breast cancer has not been developed. Previous studies indicate that the level of human endogenous retrovirus type K (group HERV-K(HML-2)) transcription may be increased in human breast tumors. We hypothesized that HERV-K(HML-2) reactivation can serve as a biomarker for early detection of breast cancer. Serum samples were collected from women without cancer (controls) and patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and invasive breast cancer. ELISA assays were used to detect serum anti-HERV-K(HML-2) antibody titers. RNA was extracted from sera and analyzed by real-time RT-PCR to quantitate the level of HERV-K(HML-2) mRNA. We measured significantly higher serum mRNA and serum antibody titers against HERV-K(HML-2) proteins in women with DCIS and stage I disease than in women without cancer. At optimized cutoffs for the antibody titers, the assay produced an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.89 (95% confidence interval 0.77-1.00) for DCIS and of 0.95 (95% confidence interval 0.89-1.00) for invasive breast cancer. These AUCs are comparable to those observed for mammograms. We also found that serum HERV-K(HML-2) mRNA tended to be higher in breast cancer patients with a primary tumor who later on developed the metastatic disease than in patients who did not develop cancer metastasis. Our results show that HERV-K(HML-2) antibodies and mRNA are already elevated in the blood at an early stage of breast cancer, and further increase in patients who are at risk of developing a metastatic disease.

UNG-RPA interaction governs the choice between high-fidelity and mutagenic uracil repair.

Mammalian Uracil DNA glycosylase (UNG) removes uracils and initiates high-fidelity base excision repair to maintain genomic stability. During B cell development, activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) creates uracils that UNG processes in an error-prone fashion to accomplish immunoglobulin (Ig) somatic hypermutation (SHM) or class switch recombination (CSR). The mechanism that governs high-fidelity versus mutagenic uracil repair is not understood. The B cell tropic gammaherpesvirus (GHV) encodes a functional homolog of UNG that can process AID induced genomic uracils. GHVUNG does not support hypermutation, suggesting intrinsic properties of UNG influence repair outcome. Noting the structural divergence between the UNGs, we define the RPA interacting motif as the determinant of mutation outcome. UNG or RPA mutants unable to interact with each other, only support high-fidelity repair. In B cells, transversions at the Ig variable region are abated while CSR is supported. Thus UNG-RPA governs the generation of mutations and has implications for locus specific mutagenesis in B cells and deamination associated mutational signatures in cancer.

Characterization of a mouse model of ICF syndrome reveals enhanced CD19 activation in inducing hypogammaglobulinemia.

Immunodeficiency, centromeric instability and facial anomalies (ICF) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by DNA hypomethylation and antibody deficiency. It is caused by mutations in DNMT3B, ZBTB24, CDCA7 or HELLS . While progress has been made in elucidating the roles of these genes in regulating DNA methylation, little is known about the pathogenesis of the life-threatening hypogammaglobulinemia phenotype. Here we show that mice deficient for Zbtb24 in the hematopoietic lineage recapitulate major clinical features of patients with ICF syndrome. Specifically, Vav-Cre-mediated ablation of Zbtb24 does not affect lymphocyte development but results in reduced plasma cells and low levels of IgM, IgG1 and IgA. Zbtb24 -deficient mice are hyper- and hypo-responsive to T-dependent and Tindependent type 2 antigens, respectively, and marginal zone B cell activation is impaired. B cells from Zbtb24 -deficient mice display elevated CD19 phosphorylation. Heterozygous disruption of Cd19 can revert the hypogammaglobulinemia phenotype in these mice. Mechanistically, Il5ra (interleukin-5 receptor subunit alpha) is derepressed in Zbtb24 -deficient B cells, and elevated IL-5 signaling enhances CD19 phosphorylation. Our results reveal a novel link between IL-5 signaling and CD19 activation and suggest that abnormal CD19 activity contributes to immunodeficiency in ICF syndrome. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: ICF syndrome is a rare immunodeficiency disorder first reported in the 1970s. The lack of appropriate animal models has hindered the investigation of the pathogenesis of antibody deficiency, the major cause of death in ICF syndrome. Here we show that, in mice, disruption of Zbtb24 , one of the ICF-related genes, in the hematopoietic lineage results in low levels of immunoglobulins. Characterization of these mice reveals abnormal B cell activation due to elevated CD19 phosphorylation. Mechanistically, Il5ra (interleukin-5 receptor subunit alpha) is derepressed in Zbtb24 -deficient B cells, and increased IL-5 signaling enhances CD19 phosphorylation.

Enhanced CD19 activity in B cells contributes to immunodeficiency in mice deficient in the ICF syndrome gene Zbtb24.

Immunodeficiency, centromeric instability, and facial anomalies (ICF) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by DNA hypomethylation and antibody deficiency. It is caused by mutations in DNMT3B, ZBTB24, CDCA7, or HELLS. While progress has been made in elucidating the roles of these genes in regulating DNA methylation, little is known about the pathogenesis of the life-threatening hypogammaglobulinemia phenotype. Here, we show that mice deficient in Zbtb24 in the hematopoietic lineage recapitulate the major clinical features of patients with ICF syndrome. Specifically, Vav-Cre-mediated ablation of Zbtb24 does not affect lymphocyte development but results in reduced plasma cells and low levels of IgM, IgG1, and IgA. Zbtb24-deficient mice are hyper and hypo-responsive to T-dependent and T-independent type 2 antigens, respectively, and marginal zone B-cell activation is impaired. Mechanistically, Zbtb24-deficient B cells show severe loss of DNA methylation in the promoter region of Il5ra (interleukin-5 receptor subunit alpha), and Il5ra derepression leads to elevated CD19 phosphorylation. Heterozygous disruption of Cd19 can revert the hypogammaglobulinemia phenotype of Zbtb24-deficient mice. Our results suggest the potential role of enhanced CD19 activity in immunodeficiency in ICF syndrome.

A Recombinant Antibody For Tracking Murine Gammaherpesvirus 68 Uracil DNA Glycosylase Expression.

Antibodies are powerful tools to detect expressed proteins. However off-target recognition can confound their use. Therefore, careful characterization is needed to validate specificity in distinct applications. Here we report the sequence and characterization of a mouse recombinant antibody that specifically detects ORF46 of murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68). This ORF encodes the viral uracil DNA glycosylase (vUNG). The antibody does not recognize murine uracil DNA glycosylase and is useful in detecting vUNG expressed in virally infected cells. It can detect expressed vUNG in cells via immunostaining and microscopy or flow cytometry analysis. The antibody can detect vUNG from lysates of expressing cells via immunoblot under native conditions but not denaturing conditions. This suggests it recognizes a confirmational based epitope. Altogether this manuscript describes the utility of the anti-vUNG antibody and suitability for use in studies of MHV68 infected cells.

Divergent structures of Mammalian and gammaherpesvirus uracil DNA glycosylases confer distinct DNA binding and substrate activity.

Uracil DNA glycosylase (UNG) removes mutagenic uracil base from DNA to initiate base excision repair (BER). The result is an abasic site (AP site) that is further processed by the high-fidelity BER pathway to complete repair and maintain genome integrity. The gammaherpesviruses (GHVs), human Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) encode functional UNGs that have a role in viral genome replication. Mammalian and GHVs UNG share overall structure and sequence similarity except for a divergent amino-terminal domain and a leucine loop motif in the DNA binding domain that varies in sequence and length. To determine if divergent domains contribute to functional differences between GHV and mammalian UNGs, we analyzed their roles in DNA interaction and catalysis. By utilizing chimeric UNGs with swapped domains we found that the leucine loop in GHV, but not mammalian UNGs facilitates interaction with AP sites and that the amino-terminal domain modulates this interaction. We also found that the leucine loop structure contributes to differential UDGase activity on uracil in single- versus double-stranded DNA. Taken together we demonstrate that the GHV UNGs evolved divergent domains from their mammalian counterparts that contribute to differential biochemical properties from their mammalian counterparts.

Gammaherpesvirus-infected germinal center cells express a distinct immunoglobulin repertoire.

The gammaherpesviruses (γHVs), human Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), EBV, and murine γHV68 are prevalent infections associated with lymphocyte pathologies. After primary infection, EBV and γHV68 undergo latent expansion in germinal center (GC) B cells and persists in memory cells. The GC reaction evolves and selects antigen-specific B cells for memory development but whether γHV passively transients or manipulates this process in vivo is unknown. Using the γHV68 infection model, we analyzed the Ig repertoire of infected and uninfected GC cells from individual mice. We found that infected cells displayed the hallmarks of affinity maturation, hypermutation, and isotype switching but underwent clonal expansion. Strikingly, infected cells displayed distinct repertoire, not found in uninfected cells, with recurrent utilization of certain Ig heavy V segments including Ighv10-1 In a manner observed with KSHV, γHV68 infected cells also displayed lambda light chain bias. Thus, γHV68 subverts GC selection to expand in a specific B cell subset during the process that develops long-lived immunologic memory.

Transcriptional Activation of MYC-Induced Genes by GCN5 Promotes B-cell Lymphomagenesis.

Overexpression of the MYC oncoprotein is an initiating step in the formation of several cancers. MYC frequently recruits chromatin-modifying complexes to DNA to amplify the expression of cancer-promoting genes, including those regulating cell cycle, proliferation, and metabolism, yet the roles of specific modifiers in different cancer types are not well defined. Here, we show that GCN5 is an essential coactivator of cell-cycle gene expression driven by MYC overexpression and that deletion of Gcn5 delays or abrogates tumorigenesis in the Eµ-Myc mouse model of B-cell lymphoma. Our results demonstrate that Gcn5 loss impacts both expression and downstream functions of Myc. SIGNIFICANCE: Our results provide important proof of principle for Gcn5 functions in formation and progression of Myc-driven cancers, suggesting that GCN5 may be a viable target for development of new cancer therapies.

Wwox Deletion in Mouse B Cells Leads to Genomic Instability, Neoplastic Transformation, and Monoclonal Gammopathies.

WWOX (WW domain containing oxidoreductase) expression loss is common in various cancers and characteristic of poor prognosis. Deletions, translocations, and loss of expression affecting the WWOX gene are a common feature of various B cell neoplasms such as certain B cell lymphomas and multiple myeloma. However, the role of this common abnormality in B cell tumor initiation and/or progression has not been defined. In this study, we conditionally deleted Wwox early in B cell development by means of breeding Cd19-Cre transgenic mice crossed to Wwox floxed mice (Cd19 Wwox KO). We observed a significant reduced survival in Cd19 Wwox KO mice and the development of B cell neoplasms including B cell lymphomas, plasma cell neoplasias characterized by increased numbers of CD138+ populations as well as monoclonal gammopathies detected by serum protein electrophoresis. To investigate whether Wwox loss could play a role in genomic instability, we analyzed DNA repair functions during immunoglobulin class switch joining between DNA segments in antibody genes. While class switch recombination (CSR) was only slightly impaired, Wwox deficiency resulted in a dramatic shift of double strand break (DSB) repair from normal classical-NHEJ toward the microhomology-mediated alternative-NHEJ pathway, a pathway associated with chromosome translocations and genome instability. Consistent with this, Wwox deficiency resulted in a marked increase of spontaneous translocations during CSR. This work defines for the first time a role for Wwox for maintaining B cell genome stability during a process that can promote neoplastic transformation and monoclonal gammopathies.

Combinatorial Loss of the Enzymatic Activities of Viral Uracil-DNA Glycosylase and Viral dUTPase Impairs Murine Gammaherpesvirus Pathogenesis and Leads to Increased Recombination-Based Deletion in the Viral Genome.

Misincorporation of uracil or spontaneous cytidine deamination is a common mutagenic insult to DNA. Herpesviruses encode a viral uracil-DNA glycosylase (vUNG) and a viral dUTPase (vDUT), each with enzymatic and nonenzymatic functions. However, the coordinated roles of these enzymatic activities in gammaherpesvirus pathogenesis and viral genomic stability have not been defined. In addition, potential compensation by the host UNG has not been examined in vivo The genetic tractability of the murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) system enabled us to delineate the contribution of host and viral factors that prevent uracilated DNA. Recombinant MHV68 lacking vUNG (ORF46.stop) was not further impaired for acute replication in the lungs of UNG-/- mice compared to wild-type (WT) mice, indicating host UNG does not compensate for the absence of vUNG. Next, we investigated the separate and combinatorial consequences of mutating the catalytic residues of the vUNG (ORF46.CM) and vDUT (ORF54.CM). ORF46.CM was not impaired for replication, while ORF54.CM had a slight transient defect in replication in the lungs. However, disabling both vUNG and vDUT led to a significant defect in acute expansion in the lungs, followed by impaired establishment of latency in the splenic reservoir. Upon serial passage of the ORF46.CM/ORF54.CM mutant in either fibroblasts or the lungs of mice, we noted rapid loss of the nonessential yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) reporter gene from the viral genome, due to recombination at repetitive elements. Taken together, our data indicate that the vUNG and vDUT coordinate to promote viral genomic stability and enable viral expansion prior to colonization of latent reservoirs.IMPORTANCE Unrepaired uracils in DNA can lead to mutations and compromise genomic stability. Herpesviruses have hijacked host processes of DNA repair and nucleotide metabolism by encoding a viral UNG that excises uracils and a viral dUTPase that initiates conversion of dUTP to dTTP. To better understand the impact of these processes on gammaherpesvirus pathogenesis, we examined the separate and collaborative roles of vUNG and vDUT upon MHV68 infection of mice. Simultaneous disruption of the enzymatic activities of both vUNG and vDUT led to a severe defect in acute replication and establishment of latency, while also revealing a novel, combinatorial function in promoting viral genomic stability. We propose that herpesviruses require these enzymatic processes to protect the viral genome from damage, possibly triggered by misincorporated uracil. This reveals a novel point of therapeutic intervention to potentially block viral replication and reduce the fitness of multiple herpesviruses.

Sheep stromal-epithelial cell interactions and ovarian tumor progression.

Previous studies suggest that underlying ovarian stromal cues may regulate the ovarian surface epithelium. However, little is known about the interaction between ovarian stromal cells (OSC) and ovarian surface epithelial cells (OSE) under normal physiologic and pathologic conditions, largely because of the lack of a suitable model. In the current study, the OSC obtained from a sheep were immortalized with SV-40 T/t antigen (designated IOSC) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (designated IOSCH), followed by transfection with the oncogenic allele of the human H-Ras oncogene (designated IOSChR). IOSC cells transfected with H-Ras before immortalization with telomerase were designated IOSCRH. These sheep OSCs were used in both in vitro and in vivo model systems to evaluate mechanisms by which OSCs influence ovarian tumor progression. Normal sheep OSCs were found to inhibit the growth of SKOV3 and OVCAR3 human ovarian cancer cells, but not normal sheep OSE and human OSE cells (hOSE137 cells). In contrast, IOSChR and IOSCRH cells stimulated the growth of normal sheep and human OSE cells, as well as cancer cells. These findings were confirmed by in vivo studies. Our data provide compelling support for the importance of stromal-epithelial cell interactions during tumor progression, and show for the first time that immortalized and transformed OSCs promote growth of ovarian epithelial tumors.

Cytotoxicity of human endogenous retrovirus K-specific T cells toward autologous ovarian cancer cells.

PURPOSE: To determine whether HERV-K envelope (ENV) protein could function as a tumor-associated antigen and elicit specific T-cell responses against autologous ovarian cancer cells. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: The expression of HERV-K transcripts and ENV protein, the presence of serum antibodies against HERV-K, reverse transcriptase (RT) activities, and cellular immune responses in primary ovarian cancer tissues and patient blood samples were analyzed and compared with samples from patients with benign ovarian diseases and normal female donors. RESULTS: Ovarian cancer cells in primary tumors and ascites expressed markers of cancer stem cells and markers of both mesenchymal and epithelial cells. Expression of HERV transcripts and HERV-K ENV protein and reverse transcriptase activities were higher in ovarian cancer compared with adjacent normal and benign tissues. The ovarian cancer patient plasma also had high reverse transcriptase activities and the ovarian cancer patient sera contained HERV-K immunoreactive antibodies. HERV-K-specific T cells generated from autologous dendritic cells pulsed with HERV-K ENV antigens exhibited phenotypes and functions consistent with a cellular immune response including T-cell proliferation, IFNγ production, and HERV-K-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity. Significantly higher CTL lysis of autologous tumor cells than of uninvolved normal cells was demonstrated in patients with ovarian cancer than patients with benign diseases and further enhanced lysis was observed if T regulatory cells were depleted. CONCLUSION: Endogenous retroviral gene products in ovarian cancer may represent a potentially valuable new pool of tumor-associated antigens for targeting of therapeutic vaccines to ovarian cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 21(2); 471-83. ©2014 AACR.

Genetic Engineering of T Cells to Target HERV-K, an Ancient Retrovirus on Melanoma.

PURPOSE: The human endogenous retrovirus (HERV-K) envelope (env) protein is a tumor-associated antigen (TAA) expressed on melanoma but not normal cells. This study was designed to engineer a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) on T-cell surface, such that they target tumors in advanced stages of melanoma. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Expression of HERV-K protein was analyzed in 220 melanoma samples (with various stages of disease) and 139 normal organ donor tissues using immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. HERV-K env-specific CAR derived from mouse monoclonal antibody was introduced into T cells using the transposon-based Sleeping Beauty (SB) system. HERV-K env-specific CAR(+) T cells were expanded ex vivo on activating and propagating cells (AaPC) and characterized for CAR expression and specificity. This includes evaluating the HERV-K-specific CAR(+) T cells for their ability to kill A375-SM metastasized tumors in a mouse xenograft model. RESULTS: We detected HERV-K env protein on melanoma but not in normal tissues. After electroporation of T cells and selection on HERV-K(+) AaPC, more than 95% of genetically modified T cells expressed the CAR with an effector memory phenotype and lysed HERV-K env(+) tumor targets in an antigen-specific manner. Even though there is apparent shedding of this TAA from tumor cells that can be recognized by HERV-K env-specific CAR(+) T cells, we observed a significant antitumor effect. CONCLUSIONS: Adoptive cellular immunotherapy with HERV-K env-specific CAR(+) T cells represents a clinically appealing treatment strategy for advanced-stage melanoma and provides an approach for targeting this TAA on other solid tumors.

Immunotherapeutic potential of anti-human endogenous retrovirus-K envelope protein antibodies in targeting breast tumors.

BACKGROUND: The envelope (env) protein of the human endogenous retrovirus type K (HERV-K) family is commonly expressed on the surface of breast cancer cells. We assessed whether HERV-K env is a potential target for antibody-based immunotherapy of breast cancer. METHODS: We examined the expression of HERV-K env protein in various malignant (MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, SKBR3, MDA-MB-453, T47D, and ZR-75-1) and nonmalignant (MCF-10A and MCF-10AT) human breast cell lines by immunoblot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunofluorescence staining, and flow cytometry. Anti-HERV-K env monoclonal antibodies (mAbs; 6H5, 4D1, 4E11, 6E11, and 4E6) were used to target expression of HERV-K, and antitumor effects were assessed by quantifying growth and apoptosis of breast cancer cells in vitro, and tumor growth in vivo in mice (n = 5 per group) bearing xenograft tumors. The mechanisms responsible for 6H5 mAb-mediated effects were investigated by microarray assays, flow cytometry, immunoblot, and immunofluorescence staining. The expression of HERV-K env protein was assessed in primary breast tumors (n = 223) by immunohistochemistry. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: The expression of HERV-K env protein in malignant breast cancer cell lines was substantially higher than nonmalignant breast cells. Anti-HERV-K-specific mAbs inhibited growth and induced apoptosis of breast cancer cells in vitro. Mice treated with 6H5 mAb showed statistically significantly reduced growth of xenograft tumors compared with mice treated with control immunoglobulin (control [mIgG] vs 6H5 mAb, for tumors originating from MDA-MB-231 cells, mean size = 1448.33 vs 475.44 mm(3); difference = 972.89 mm(3), 95% CI = 470.17 to 1475.61 mm(3); P < .001). Several proteins involved in the apoptotic signaling pathways were overexpressed in vitro in 6H5 mAb-treated malignant breast cells compared with mIgG-treated control. HERV-K expression was detected in 148 (66%) of 223 primary breast tumors, and a higher rate of lymph node metastasis was associated with HERV-K-positive compared with HERV-K-negative tumors (43% vs 23%, P = .003). CONCLUSION: Monoclonal antibodies against HERV-K env protein show potential as novel immunotherapeutic agents for breast cancer therapy.

Expression of Human Endogenous Retrovirus Type K Envelope Protein is a Novel Candidate Prognostic Marker for Human Breast Cancer.

We previously observed that the HERV type K (HERV-K) envelope (env) protein was expressed in the majority of human breast tumors from a U.S. cohort of women from Texas. We also made the preliminary observation that the expression of HERV-K env transcripts was associated with markers of disease progression. In this follow-up study, env protein expression was evaluated immunohistochemically in an additional 195 paraffin-embedded breast tumors from a second U.S. patient cohort (Baltimore, Maryland) and in 110 tumors from Chinese patients. Moreover, we compared env transcript expression between fresh-frozen normal and cancerous breast tissues. We observed that while env mRNA and protein expression was undetectable in normal breast tissue and in a subset of uninvolved normal-appearing tissue adjacent to the tumor epithelium, it was overexpressed in most tumors. Furthermore, env expression was associated with breast cancer progression. In Baltimore cohort women, HERV-K tumor positivity was significantly associated with disease stage and lymph node metastasis. In Chinese women, HERV-K env positivity was significantly associated with tumor size, TNM stage, and lymph node metastases, which is consistent with the observations in the U.S. cohort. We also found that Chinese breast cancer patients with a high expression of HERV-K had a decreased overall survival compared with patients who had either a moderate or low HERV-K expression in their tumors (P = 0.049, χ(2) log rank test). In conclusion, the HERV-K env gene is expressed in the majority of breast cancers from U.S. or Chinese women but not in normal breast tissue. High expression of HERV-K env protein in breast cancer patients is associated with markers of disease progression and poor disease outcome, indicating that HERV-K env protein is a novel candidate prognostic marker for breast cancer.

Human endogenous retrovirus K triggers an antigen-specific immune response in breast cancer patients.

Recent evidence indicates that human cancer cells reactivate the expression of latent human endogenous retroviral (HERV) proteins. However, the extent to which cancer patients mount de novo immune responses against expressed HERV elements is unclear. In this study, we determined the extent of HERV-K env expression in human breast cancer (BC) and whether both humoral and cell-mediated immunity against HERV-K can be found in BC patients. We found HERV-K env protein expression in 88% of BC (n = 119) but not in normal breast (n = 76) tissues. ELISA screening assays detected significant titers of anti-HERV-K env IgG in a large proportion of BC patients. T-cell responses against HERV-K were also detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from BC patients stimulated with autologous dendritic cells pulsed with HERV-K env SU antigens. These responses included induction of T-cell proliferation (P = 0.0043), IFN-gamma production measured by enzyme-linked immunospot (P < 0.0001), and multiplex cytokine secretion (P = 0.0033). Multiplex cytokine analysis found a T-helper 1 cytokine response, including interleukin (IL)-2 (P = 0.0109), IL-6 (P = 0.0396), IL-8 (P = 0.0169), and IP-10 (P = 0.0045) secretion during in vitro stimulation of BC PBMC with HERV-K antigen. We also found HERV-K-specific CTLs that were capable of lysing target cells expressing HERV-K env protein in BC patients but not in normal female controls without cancer. These findings suggest that retroviral gene products are capable of acting as tumor-associated antigens activating both T-cell and B-cell responses in BC patients.