Henrich Ian C, Billingsley Margaret M, Jain Kanika, Mondal Shreya, Quick Laura N, Young Robert, Nguyen Ngan, Oliveira Andre M, Blobel Gerd A, Mitchell Michael J, Chou Margaret M
Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
MIT Koch Institute, Cambridge, MA, United States.
Mol Cancer Ther. 2025 Jun 25. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-24-0173.
Ewing sarcoma (ES) is an aggressive pediatric cancer that has remained refractory to current therapeutics. Immunotherapy has been unsuccessful in ES, largely due to poor understanding of how its immune tumor microenvironment (TME) is regulated. We recently demonstrated that ubiquitin-specific protease 6 (USP6) can remodel the ES immune landscape to engender an anti-tumorigenic TME. USP6 expression in ES cells enhances surface expression of immunostimulatory ligands and receptors, and induces production of multiple chemokines, driving recruitment and activation of tumor-suppressive immune lineages, including natural killer (NK) cells. We sought to harness this multi-faceted immunostimulatory function into a novel therapeutic by delivering in vitro transcribed USP6 mRNA via ionizable lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Treatment of ES cells with USP6 mRNA in vitro is capable of inducing the aforementioned anti-tumorigenic and immunostimulatory responses. In addition, USP6 mRNA-treated ES cells elicit cytolytic activation of primary human CD8+ and CD4+ T lymphocytes and NK cells in vitro. Intratumoral (IT) delivery of USP6 mRNA LNPs suppresses growth of ES xenografts, coincident with increased immune infiltration and activation. We further demonstrate that USP6 mRNA is capable of igniting an immunostimulatory program in other cancer types (including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), melanoma, prostate cancer, head and neck cancer, and osteosarcoma) in vitro, and suppressing AML xenograft growth in vivo. Treatment with USP6 mRNA LNPs was well-tolerated, with no observed gross toxicity. Together, these pre-clinical studies provide proof-of-concept for the immunogenic and anti-tumorigenic efficacy of USP6 mRNA LNPs, and support its promise as a novel immunotherapeutic in diverse cancer types.
尤因肉瘤(ES)是一种侵袭性儿科癌症,目前的治疗方法对其仍然无效。免疫疗法在ES中未取得成功,主要原因是对其免疫肿瘤微环境(TME)的调节机制了解不足。我们最近证明,泛素特异性蛋白酶6(USP6)可以重塑ES免疫格局,从而产生抗肿瘤的TME。ES细胞中USP6的表达增强了免疫刺激配体和受体的表面表达,并诱导多种趋化因子的产生,从而驱动包括自然杀伤(NK)细胞在内的肿瘤抑制性免疫谱系的募集和激活。我们试图通过可电离脂质纳米颗粒(LNPs)递送体外转录的USP6 mRNA,将这种多方面的免疫刺激功能转化为一种新型疗法。在体外,用USP6 mRNA处理ES细胞能够诱导上述抗肿瘤和免疫刺激反应。此外,经USP6 mRNA处理的ES细胞在体外可引发原代人CD8+和CD4+ T淋巴细胞以及NK细胞的溶细胞激活。瘤内(IT)递送USP6 mRNA LNPs可抑制ES异种移植瘤的生长,同时免疫浸润和激活增加。我们进一步证明,USP6 mRNA能够在体外激发其他癌症类型(包括急性髓系白血病(AML)、黑色素瘤、前列腺癌、头颈癌和骨肉瘤)中的免疫刺激程序,并在体内抑制AML异种移植瘤的生长。用USP6 mRNA LNPs进行治疗耐受性良好,未观察到明显毒性。总之,这些临床前研究为USP6 mRNA LNPs的免疫原性和抗肿瘤疗效提供了概念验证,并支持其作为多种癌症类型新型免疫疗法的前景。
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