Fabian Kellsye Paula L, Chi-Sabins Nina, Taylor Jennifer L, Fecek Ronald, Weinstein Aliyah, Storkus Walter J
Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine , Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Department of Dermatology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine , Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Oncoimmunology. 2017 Feb 10;6(3):e1290035. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2017.1290035. eCollection 2017.
When compared with vascular cells in normal tissues, pericytes and vascular endothelial cells (VEC) in tumor blood vessels exhibit altered morphology and epigenetic programming that leads to the expression of unique antigens that allow for differential recognition by CD8 T cells. We have previously shown that the Notch antagonist delta-like homolog 1 (DLK1) is a tumor pericyte-associated antigen expressed in setting of melanoma and a range of carcinomas. In this report, we show that therapeutic vaccination against DLK1 in murine models results in slowed tumor growth, but also to the compensatory expression of the DLK1 homolog, DLK2, by tumor-associated pericytes. Vaccines targeting both DLK1 and DLK2 resulted in superior antitumor benefits in association with improved activation and recruitment of antigen-specific Type 1 CD8 T cells, reduced presence of myeloid-derived suppressive cells, T regulatory cell and tumor vascular normalization. The antitumor efficacy of vaccines coordinately targeting DLK1 and DLK2 was further improved by inclusion of PD-L1 blockade, thus defining a combination immunotherapy theoretically suitable for the treatment of a broad range of solid (vascularized) cancers.
与正常组织中的血管细胞相比,肿瘤血管中的周细胞和血管内皮细胞(VEC)表现出形态和表观遗传编程的改变,这导致独特抗原的表达,使得CD8 T细胞能够进行差异性识别。我们之前已经表明,Notch拮抗剂类Delta同源物1(DLK1)是一种在黑色素瘤和一系列癌瘤中表达的肿瘤周细胞相关抗原。在本报告中,我们表明在小鼠模型中针对DLK1进行治疗性疫苗接种会导致肿瘤生长减缓,但肿瘤相关周细胞也会代偿性表达DLK1同源物DLK2。针对DLK1和DLK2的疫苗在改善抗原特异性1型CD8 T细胞的激活和募集、减少髓系来源抑制细胞、调节性T细胞的存在以及肿瘤血管正常化方面表现出更优的抗肿瘤效果。通过纳入PD-L1阻断进一步提高了协同靶向DLK1和DLK2的疫苗的抗肿瘤疗效,从而确定了一种理论上适用于治疗多种实体(血管化)癌症的联合免疫疗法。