Project description:Goal: determine how transcriptome of immune cells within the tumor microenvironment changes as a function of CD40 agonist and/or immune checkpoint blockade (anti-PD-1 AND anti-CTLA-4; "ICB") therapy
Project description:We performed scRNAseq analysis of CD45- cells sorted from murine brains on the presence or absence of a fluorescent reporter for complement component C3 at peak of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis to study the non-immune cellular sources of C3
Project description:Non-inflamed (cold) tumors such as leiomyosarcoma (LMS) do not benefit from immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) monotherapy. Combining ICB with angiogenesis-, or poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors may increase tumor immunogenicity by altering the immune cell composition of the tumor microenvironment (TME). The DAPPER phase II study evaluated the safety, immunologic, and clinical activity of ICB-based combinations in pre-treated LMS patients.
Project description:Exploration of proteome differences between CD45+ and CD45- cell types in renal cell carcinoma tumors and normal adjacent tissue patient samples.
Project description:Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is the current first-line treatment for metastatic melanoma. However, ICB fails in many patients and has dangerous side effects. Rigosertib (RGS), a non-ATP-competitive small molecule RAS mimetic, has the potential to block oncogenic RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK and/or PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathways. RGS treatment (300mg/kg) of melanoma tumor-bearing mice is well tolerated and results in ~50% inhibition of tumor growth as monotherapy and ~70% inhibition in combination with ICB. RGS-induced tumor inhibition depends on the induction of CD40 expression on melanoma cells, followed by immunogenic cell death, leading to an inflamed tumor microenvironment with enrichment of dendritic cells and activated CD8+ T cells. Highlights • RGS impairs melanoma tumor growth via direct killing and immunogenic cell death that promotes an inflamed tumor microenvironment. • RGS-induced tumor inhibition depends on the induction of CD40 expression on melanoma cells. • Combining RGS with αPD1+αCTLA4 improves tumor response. • Tumor CD40 levels are prognostic for therapeutic response to RGS and BRAF inhibitor. Significance: A high CD40 expression level correlates with CD80, ICOS-L, beneficial type I T cell responses, and better survival in melanoma patients (cBioPortal database). Tumor CD40 levels are prognostic for therapeutic response to RGS and BRAF inhibitor (DepMap and Oncomine databases), and RGS induces CD40 expression in melanoma tumor cells. Our preclinical data support the therapeutic use of RGS plus αPD1+αCTLA4 in RAS/RAF/MEK and/or PI3K pathway-activated melanoma tumors and point to the need for clinical trials to determine the clinical benefit of RGS plus ICB for metastatic melanoma patients who do not respond to ICB alone.
Project description:drugs targeting mitosis might affect the tumor microenvironment and sensitize cancer cells to immunotherapy. BAL101553 monotherapy increased survival in immune checkpoint blockade–resistant SB28 glioblastoma tumors and synergized with anti-CD40 antibody
Project description:Mice with an intestinal epithelial specific knockout of LSD1 have changes in the intestinal epithelium including loss of Paneth and Goblet cells along with a general status of epithelial immaturity. To assess the influence of these epithelial specific changes on the mucosal immune system we performed a scRNAseq on CD45+ immune cells from the small intestine of mice with an epithelial specific LSD1 deletion (Villin-Cre+; Lsd1f/f) and wild type mice (Villin-Cre -; Lsd1f/f). To rule out a possible influence of the bacterial microbiome in the observed changes in CD45+ cell types we performed the same experiment in mice treated with antibiotics. These data allowed us to pinpoint changes in the cell populations of the mucosal immune system upon loss of LSD1 in the intestinal epithelium such as IgA producing cells and ILCs.