Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Affiliated Jiangning Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Front Immunol. 2024 Jul 30;15:1411490. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1411490. eCollection 2024.
Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment by leveraging the immune system's innate capabilities to combat malignancies. Despite the promise of tumor antigens in stimulating anti-tumor immune responses, their clinical utility is hampered by limitations in eliciting robust and durable immune reactions, exacerbated by tumor heterogeneity and immune evasion mechanisms. Recent insights into the immunogenic properties of host homologous microbial antigens have sparked interest in their potential for augmenting anti-tumor immunity while minimizing off-target effects. This review explores the therapeutic potential of microbial antigen peptides in tumor immunotherapy, beginning with an overview of tumor antigens and their challenges in clinical translation. We further explore the intricate relationship between microorganisms and tumor development, elucidating the concept of molecular mimicry and its implications for immune recognition of tumor-associated antigens. Finally, we discuss methodologies for identifying and characterizing microbial antigen peptides, highlighting their immunogenicity and prospects for therapeutic application.
免疫疗法通过利用免疫系统的固有能力来对抗恶性肿瘤，从而彻底改变了癌症治疗。尽管肿瘤抗原在刺激抗肿瘤免疫反应方面具有很大的潜力，但由于肿瘤异质性和免疫逃逸机制的限制，其临床应用受到了阻碍。最近对宿主同源微生物抗原的免疫原性的深入了解激发了人们对其增强抗肿瘤免疫的潜力的兴趣，同时最小化了脱靶效应。本综述探讨了微生物抗原肽在肿瘤免疫治疗中的治疗潜力，首先概述了肿瘤抗原及其在临床转化中的挑战。我们进一步探讨了微生物与肿瘤发生发展之间的复杂关系，阐明了分子模拟的概念及其对肿瘤相关抗原免疫识别的影响。最后，我们讨论了鉴定和表征微生物抗原肽的方法，强调了它们的免疫原性和治疗应用的前景。
