Project description:The discovery of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) has highlighted the clinical importance of immune evasion in cancer. However, only a fraction of cancer patients show response to ICI, raising a question on immune suppression mechanisms other than immune checkpoint. In this study, we examined the role of the lipid inflammatory mediator PGE2 in immune evasion of the ICI-insensitive Lewis Lung Carcinoma line 1 (LLC1) mouse model. Inhibition of PGE receptors, EP2 and EP4, significantly suppressed tumor growth through the modulation of host immune cells. Single cell RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that EP2/4 inhibition elicited anti-tumor immunity through the reprogramming of inflammatory myeloid cells by downregulating expression of genes in NFB signaling and actions and suppression of the mregDC-regulatory T cell axis by downregulating genes associated with regulatory T cell recruitment and activation. Taken together, our work suggests that PGE2-EP2/EP4 signaling induces proinflammatory myeloid and tolerogenic lymphoid environments in ICI-insensitive tumors, which is amenable to EP2 and EP4 inhibitors..
Project description:While the role of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in promoting malignant progression is well-established, how to optimally block the activity of PGE2 signaling remains to be demonstrated. Clinical trials with prostaglandin pathway targeted agents have shown activity but without sufficient significance or dose-limiting toxicities that have prevented approval. PGE2 signals through four receptors (EP1-4) to modulate tumor progression. EP2 and EP4 signaling exacerbates tumor pathology and is immunosuppressive through potentiating cAMP production. EP1 and EP3 signaling has the opposite effect through increasing IP3 and decreasing cAMP. Using available small molecule antagonists of single EP receptors, the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib, or a novel dual EP2/EP4 antagonist generated in this investigation, we tested which approach to block PGE2 signaling optimally restored immunologic activity in mouse and human immune cells and antitumor activity in syngeneic, spontaneous and xenograft tumor models. We found that dual antagonism of EP2 and EP4 together significantly enhanced the activation of PGE2-suppressed mouse and human monocytes and CD8+ T cells in vitro as compared to single EP antagonists. CD8+ T cell activation was dampened by single EP1 and EP3 antagonists. Dual EP2/EP4 PGE2 receptor antagonists increased TME lymphocyte infiltration and significantly reduced disease burden in multiple tumor models, including in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC)min+/- spontaneous colorectal tumor model, compared to celecoxib. These results support a hypothesis that redundancy of EP2 and EP4 receptor signaling necessitates a therapeutic strategy of dual blockade of EP2 and EP4. Here we describe TPST-1495, a first-in-class orally available small molecule dual EP2/EP4 antagonist.
Project description:IL-23 induces ptgs2 encoding cyclooxygenase 2 in Th17 cells and produces PGE2, which acts back on PGE2 receptors EP2 and EP4 in these cells and enhances IL-23-induced expression of an IL-23 receptor subunit gene, Il23r, by activating STAT3, CREB1 and NF-κB through cAMP-protein kinase A signaling. This PGE2 signaling also induces expression of various inflammation-related genes, which possibly function in Th17 cell-mediated pathology. Combined deletion of EP2 and EP4 selectively in T cells suppressed accumulation of IL-17A+ and IL-17A+IFN-γ+ pathogenic Th17 cells and abolished skin inflammation in IL-23-induced psoriasis mouse model. Analysis of human psoriatic skin biopsies shows positive correlation between PGE2 signaling and the IL-23/Th17 pathway.
Project description:A persistent and non-resolving inflammatory response to accumulating Aβ peptide species is a cardinal feature in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In response to accumulating Aβ peptide species, microglia, the innate immune cells of the brain, generate a toxic inflammatory response that accelerates synaptic and neuronal injury. Many pro-inflammatory signaling pathways are linked to progression of neurodegeneration. However, endogenous anti-inflammatory pathways capable of suppressing Aβ-induced inflammation represent a relatively unexplored area. Here we hypothesized that signaling through the prostaglandin-E2 (PGE2) EP4 receptor potently suppresses microglial inflammatory responses to Aβ42 peptides. In cultured microglial cells, EP4 stimulation attenuated levels of Aβ42-induced inflammatory factors and potentiated phagocytosis of Aβ42. Microarray analysis was performed and demonstrated that EP4 stimulation broadly opposed Aβ42-driven gene expression changes in microglia, with enrichment for targets of IRF1, IRF7, and NF-κB transcription factors.
Project description:A persistent and non-resolving inflammatory response to accumulating A? peptide species is a cardinal feature in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In response to accumulating A? peptide species, microglia, the innate immune cells of the brain, generate a toxic inflammatory response that accelerates synaptic and neuronal injury. Many pro-inflammatory signaling pathways are linked to progression of neurodegeneration. However, endogenous anti-inflammatory pathways capable of suppressing A?-induced inflammation represent a relatively unexplored area. Here we hypothesized that signaling through the prostaglandin-E2 (PGE2) EP4 receptor potently suppresses microglial inflammatory responses to A?42 peptides. In cultured microglial cells, EP4 stimulation attenuated levels of A?42-induced inflammatory factors and potentiated phagocytosis of A?42. Microarray analysis was performed and demonstrated that EP4 stimulation broadly opposed A?42-driven gene expression changes in microglia, with enrichment for targets of IRF1, IRF7, and NF-?B transcription factors. Primary microglia were isolated from the brains of postnatal day 7 C57BL/6J mouse pups using the Neural Tissue Dissociation Kit (P), MACS Separation Columns (LS), and magnetic CD11b Microbeads from Miltenyi Biotec (Auburn, CA). Microglia from three separate litters of pups were maintained as three independent biological replicates for each treatment. After being cultured for three days, microglia were treated with oligomeric A?42 (10uM) and/or the specific EP4 agonist AE1-329 (100nM) for 6 hours. These 4 treatment conditions (A? + AE1, A? alone, AE1 alone, and vehicle alone) and 3 independent biological replicates per treatment gave us 12 total samples. After 6 hours of treatment, RNA was isolated from the microglia for microarray analysis.
Project description:The EP4 receptor is known to mediate the protective effect of prostaglandin (PG) E2 in the gastrointestinal tract; however, the exact role of epithelial EP4 in intestinal pathophysiology remains unknown. We investigated the role of epithelial EP4 in maintaining colonic homeostasis by characterizing the intestinal epithelial cell-specific EP4 knockout (EP4 cKO) mice. We found a significant enrichment of genes involved in apoptosis-related pathways in the EP4 cKO colons. Moreover, inflammation-associated pathways were highly enriched and revealed more than half of the top 20 pathways related to immune response.
Project description:PGE2 is a major mediator of inflammation and is present at high concentrations in the synovial fluid of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. PGE2, acting through the EP4 receptor, has both pro- and anti-inflammatory roles in vivo. To shed light on this dual role of PGE2, we investigated its effects in whole blood and in primary human fibroblast-like synoviocytes. Gene expression analysis in human leukocytes, confirmed at the protein level, revealed an EP4-dependent inhibition of the expression of genes involved in the IFN-gamma activation pathway, including IFN-gamma itself. This effect of the PGE2/EP4 axis on IFN-gamma is a reciprocal phenomenon since IFN-gamma blocks PGE2 release and blocks EP receptor expression. The mutually antagonistic relationship between IFN-gamma and PGE2 extends to downstream cytokine- and chemokine-release; PGE2 counters the effects of IFN-gamma, on the release of IP-10, IL-8, TNFalpha and IL-1beta. To gain further insight into IFN-gamma-mediated cellular events in rheumatoid arthritis, we assessed the effects of IFN-gamma on gene expression in fibroblast-like synoviocytes. We observed an IFN-gamma-dependent up-regulation of macrophage-attracting chemokines, and down-regulation of metalloprotease expression. These results suggest the existence of a mutually antagonistic relationship between PGE2 and IFN-gamma which may represent a fundamental mechanism of immune control in diseases such as RA. For details, see Mathieu MC et al, EJI, issue 7, 2008
Project description:Loss of contractility and acquisition of an epithelial phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are key events in proliferative vascular pathologies such as atherosclerosis and post-angioplastic restenosis. There is no proper cell culture system allowing VSMC differentiation so that it is difficult to delineate the molecular mechanism responsible for proliferative vasculopathy. We investigated whether a micro-patterned substrate could restore the contractile phenotype of VSMCs in vitro. To induce and maintain the differentiated VSMC phenotype in vitro, we introduced a micro-patterned groove substrate to modulate the morphology and function of VSMCs.