Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, IDI-IRCCS, Via Monti di Creta 104, 00167, Rome, Italy.
Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133, Rome, Italy.
Pharmacol Res. 2020 Sep;159:104957. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.104957. Epub 2020 May 30.
The vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (VEGFR-1) is a membrane receptor for VEGF-A, placenta growth factor (PlGF) and VEGF-B that plays a crucial role in melanoma invasiveness, vasculogenic mimicry and tumor-associated angiogenesis. Furthermore, activation of VEGFR-1 is involved in the mobilization of myeloid progenitors from the bone marrow that infiltrate the tumor. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells and tumor-associated macrophages have been involved in tumor progression and resistance to cancer treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). We have recently demonstrated that the anti-VEGFR-1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) D16F7 developed in our laboratories is able to inhibit melanoma growth in preclinical in vivo models and to reduce monocyte/macrophage progenitor mobilization and tumor infiltration by myeloid cells. Aim of the study was to investigate whether the anti-VEGFR-1 mAb D16F7 affects the activity of protumoral M2 macrophages in vitro in response to PlGF and inhibits the recruitment of these cells to the melanoma site in vivo. Finally, we tested whether, through its multi-targeted action, D16F7 mAb might increase the efficacy of ICIs against melanoma. The results indicated that VEGFR-1 expression is up-regulated in human activated M2 macrophages compared to activated M1 cells and exposure to the D16F7 mAb decreases in vitro chemotaxis of activated M2 macrophages. In vivo treatment with the anti-VEGFR-1 mAb D16F7 of B6D2F1 mice injected with syngeneic B16F10 melanoma cells resulted in tumor growth inhibition associated with the modification of tumor microenvironment that involves a decrease of melanoma infiltration by M2 macrophages and PD-1+ and FoxP3+ cells. These alterations result in increased M1/M2 and CD8+/FoxP3+ ratios, which favor an antitumor and immunostimulating milieu. Accordingly, D16F7 mAb increased the antitumor activity of the ICIs anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 mAbs. Overall, these data reinforce the role of VEGFR-1-mediated-signalling as a valid target for reducing tumor infiltration by protumoral macrophages and for improving the efficacy of immunotherapy with ICIs.
血管内皮生长因子受体-1(VEGFR-1)是血管内皮生长因子-A(VEGF-A)、胎盘生长因子(PlGF)和 VEGF-B 的膜受体,在黑色素瘤侵袭性、血管生成拟态和肿瘤相关血管生成中发挥关键作用。此外,VEGFR-1 的激活参与了骨髓中髓样祖细胞的动员,这些细胞浸润肿瘤。髓源性抑制细胞和肿瘤相关巨噬细胞参与肿瘤的进展和对免疫检查点抑制剂(ICIs)的癌症治疗的耐药性。我们最近证明,我们实验室开发的抗 VEGFR-1 单克隆抗体(mAb)D16F7 能够抑制临床前体内模型中的黑色素瘤生长,并减少单核细胞/巨噬细胞祖细胞的动员和骨髓细胞向肿瘤的浸润。研究目的是研究抗 VEGFR-1 mAb D16F7 是否会影响体外 PlGF 对肿瘤促进性 M2 巨噬细胞的活性,并抑制这些细胞在体内向黑色素瘤部位的募集。最后,我们测试了 D16F7 mAb 是否通过其多靶向作用,可能增加 ICIs 对黑色素瘤的疗效。结果表明,与激活的 M1 细胞相比,人激活的 M2 巨噬细胞中 VEGFR-1 的表达上调,并且暴露于 D16F7 mAb 可降低体外激活的 M2 巨噬细胞的趋化性。用抗 VEGFR-1 mAb D16F7 对注射同源 B16F10 黑色素瘤细胞的 B6D2F1 小鼠进行体内治疗可导致肿瘤生长抑制,同时改变肿瘤微环境,导致 M2 巨噬细胞和 PD-1+和 FoxP3+细胞浸润黑色素瘤减少。这些改变导致 M1/M2 和 CD8+/FoxP3+ 比值增加,有利于抗肿瘤和免疫刺激环境。因此,D16F7 mAb 增加了 ICIs 抗 CTLA-4 和抗 PD-1 mAbs 的抗肿瘤活性。总体而言,这些数据加强了 VEGFR-1 介导的信号作为减少肿瘤浸润的促肿瘤巨噬细胞的有效靶点,并提高免疫治疗的疗效的作用。
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