Immunomodulatory drugs: a promising clinical ally for cancer immunotherapy.

While immunomodulatory imide drugs (IMiDs) have been authorised for treatment of haematological cancers for over two decades, the appreciation of their ability to stimulate antitumour T cell and natural killer (NK) cell responses is relatively recent. Clinical trial data increasingly show that targeted immunotherapies, such as antibodies, T cells, and vaccines, improve outcomes when delivered in combination with the IMiD derivatives lenalidomide or pomalidomide. Here, we review these clinical data to highlight the relevance of IMiDs in combinatorial immunotherapy for both haematological and solid tumours. Further research into the molecular mechanisms of IMiDs and an increased understanding of their immunomodulatory effects may refine the specific applications of IMiDs and improve the design of future clinical trials, moving IMiDs to the forefront of combinatorial cancer immunotherapy.

Imaging the injured beating heart intravitally and the vasculoprotection afforded by haematopoietic stem cells.

AIMS: Adequate microcirculatory perfusion, and not just opening of occluded arteries, is critical to salvage heart tissue following myocardial infarction. However, the degree of microvascular perfusion taking place is not known, limited primarily by an inability to directly image coronary microcirculation in a beating heart in vivo. Haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) offer a potential therapy but little is known about their homing dynamics at a cellular level and whether they protect coronary microvessels. This study used intravital microscopy to image the anaesthetized mouse beating heart microcirculation following stabilization. METHODS AND RESULTS: A 3D-printed stabilizer was attached to the ischaemia-reperfusion injured (IRI) beating heart. The kinetics of neutrophil, platelet and HSPC recruitment, as well as functional capillary density (FCD), was imaged post-reperfusion. Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) was used for the first time to monitor ventricular blood flow in beating hearts. Sustained hyperaemic responses were measured throughout reperfusion, initially indicating adequate flow resumption. Intravital microscopy confirmed large vessel perfusion but demonstrated poor transmission of flow to downstream coronary microvessels. Significant neutrophil adhesion and microthrombus formation occurred within capillaries with the latter occluding them, resulting in patchy perfusion and reduced FCD. Interestingly, 'patrolling' neutrophils were also observed in capillaries. Haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells readily trafficked through the heart but local retention was poor. Despite this, remarkable anti-thromboinflammatory effects were observed, consequently improving microvascular perfusion. CONCLUSION: We present a novel approach for imaging multiple microcirculatory perturbations in the beating heart with LSCI assessment of blood flow. Despite deceptive hyperaemic responses, increased microcirculatory flow heterogeneity was seen, with non-perfused areas interspersed with perfused areas. Microthrombi, rather than neutrophils, appeared to be the major causative factor. We further applied this technique to demonstrate local stem cell presence is not a pre-requisite to confer vasculoprotection. This is the first detailed in vivo characterization of coronary microcirculatory responses post-reperfusion injury.