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Posts Tagged 'natural killer cells'
Bispecific and Trispecific Engagers: NK-T Cells and Cancer Therapy
Posted in Cancer and Current Therapeutics, CANCER BIOLOGY & Innovations in Cancer Therapy, Immuno-Oncology & Genomics, Immunology, Immunotherapy, tagged adoptive cell therapy, allogeneic, Cancer - General, Cancer immunotherapy, Clinical trial, expansion, Immunotherapy, Natural killer cell, natural killer cells, non-HLA-related donor on May 8, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Successful adoptive transfer and in vivo expansion of human haploidentical NK cells in patients with cancer
Jeffrey S. Miller, Yvette Soignier, Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari, …, Todd E. Defor, Linda J. Burns, Paul J. Orchard, Bruce R. Blazar, John E. Wagner, Arne Slungaard, Daniel J. Weisdorf, Ian J. Okazaki, and Philip B. McGlave
Blood. 2005;105:3051-3057 http://www.fortressbiotech.com/pdfs/Miller_NK%20adoptive%20immunotherapy.Blood.2005.pdf
We previously demonstrated that autologous natural killer (NK)–cell therapy after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is safe but does not provide an antitumor effect. We hypothesize that this is due to a lack of NK-cell inhibitory receptor mismatching with autologous tumor cells, which may be overcome by allogeneic NK-cell infusions. Here, we test haploidentical, related-donor NK-cell infusions in a nontransplantation setting to determine safety and in vivo NK-cell expansion. Two lower intensity outpatient immune suppressive regimens were tested: (1) lowdose cyclophosphamide and methylprednisolone and (2) fludarabine. A higher intensity inpatient regimen of high-dose cyclophosphamide and fludarabine (HiCy/Flu) was tested in patients with poorprognosis acute myeloid leukemia (AML). All patients received subcutaneous interleukin 2 (IL-2) after infusions. Patients who received lower intensity regimens showed transient persistence but no in vivo expansion of donor cells. In contrast, infusions after the more intense Hi-Cy/Flu resulted in a marked rise in endogenous IL-15, expansion of donor NK cells, and induction of complete hematologic remission in 5 of 19 poor-prognosis patients with AML. These findings suggest that haploidentical NK cells can persist and expand in vivo and may have a role in the treatment of selected malignancies used alone or as an adjunct to HCT.
Human natural killer (NK) cells are a subset of peripheral blood lymphocytes defined by the expression of CD56 or CD16 and the absence of the T-cell receptor (CD3).1 They recognize and kill transformed cell lines in a major histocompatibility complex (MHC)–unrestricted fashion and produce cytokines critical to the innate immune response. NK-cell function, distinct from the MHC-restricted cytolytic activity of T cells, may play a role in antitumor surveillance.2 The effects of NK-cell infusions have been studied in adoptive immunotherapy clinical trials. In these studies, autologous lymphokine-activated killer cells obtained from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were administered to patients along with exogenous high-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2). Up to 20% of patients responded to these infusions of NK-cell– containing populations.3
In contrast to NK cells, T cells recognize targets through an antigen-specific T-cell receptor (TCR) and interact with targets only if human leukocyte antigen (HLA) MHC antigens are also recognized. Although NK-cell killing is MHC-unrestricted, NK cells display a number of activating and inhibitory receptors that ligate MHC molecules to modulate the immune response.4,5 NK-cell receptors that recognize antigens at the HLA-A, -B, or -C loci are members of the immunoglobulin superfamily and are termed killer immunoglobulin receptors (KIRs).6,7 Other receptor families (natural killer group 2 [NKG2]/CD94) that recognize antigens of the nonclassical HLA-E, -F, or -G loci and other ligand specificities have also been described.8-10 Engagement of these NK-cell receptors results in stimulation or inhibition of NK-cell effector function depending on intracellular signaling mediated through the cytoplasmic tail or adaptor molecules associated with each receptor.11-13 The NK-cell response to a target thus depends on the net effect of activating and inhibitory receptors.
Clinical trials have assessed the effects of low-dose IL-2 administration on activation of NK cells in patients with cancer. We have demonstrated the safety and feasibility of daily subcutaneous IL-2 injections following high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Whereas IL-2 signifi- cantly expanded the number of circulating NK cells in vivo, these NK cells were not maximally cytotoxic as determined by in vitro assays.14 Subsequent studies tested infusion of IL-2–activated NK-cell–enriched populations or intravenous IL-2 infusions combined with subcutaneous IL-2. Although these approaches augmented in vivo NK-cell function, no consistent efficacy of autologous NK-cell therapy could be detected in cancer patients when compared with cohorts of matched controls.15
We then hypothesized that autologous NK cells may be suppressed by the physiologic response resulting from NK-cell recognition of "self" MHC molecules. This notion is supported by recent data from haploidentical T-cell–depleted transplantation studies. KIR mismatch with tumor MHC (ie, KIR ligand) may lead to greater tumor kill. In these studies, Ruggeri et al16 showed that stratifying patients by their KIR ligand mismatch would select for patients with alloreactive NK cells that protect against acute myeloid leukemia (AML) relapse. Although virtually untested in solid tumors, these clinical data strongly support a therapeutic role for allogeneic NK cells in myeloid leukemia.17 We present data on the biologic effects of haploidentical NK-cell infusions administered to cancer patients as cell-based immunotherapy with the goal of demonstrating a feasible and safe method that permits in vivo donor NK-cell expansion.
In this study, we demonstrate that adoptively transferred human NK cells derived from haploidentical related donors can be expanded in vivo. Of interest, in vivo NK-cell expansion occurs after preparation with a high dose (Hi-Cy/Flu) but not lower doses of immunosuppression (Lo-Cy/mPred or Flu). Successful lymphocyte adoptive transfer following intensive immunosuppresion is not surprising. Lymphopenia may change the competitive balance between transferred lymphocytes and endogenous lymphocytes. Alternatively, lymphopenia may induce survival factors or deplete cellular or soluble inhibitory factors.25,26 In murine studies, preparative regimens sufficient to induce lymphopenia allowed homeostatic T-cell expansion in vivo that potentiated effective antitumor immunity.27 This concept has been tested in human T-cell clinical trials by Rosenberg's group.28 T-cell lymphopenia was induced by Hi-Cy/Flu, similar to what was used here. Successful adoptive transfer and expansion of NK cells may also require intense immunosuppression. Prlic et al20 showed that mature NK cells proliferated only in an NK-cell–deficient host where the endogenous NK-cell pool was absent.
We also demonstrate that NK-cell adoptive therapy is associated with a striking rise in endogenous IL-15 levels, reminiscent of the role IL-7 plays in CD4 T-cell homeostasis.29 IL-15 is required for the final steps of in vitro NK-cell differentiation from CD34 progenitors.22-24 Cooper et al21 was the first to show that IL-15 was absolutely required for in vivo expansion and survival of NK cells, in mice, in part through bcl-2 expression. Transfer of NK cells into IL-15/ hosts resulted in loss of NK cells by 4 days after transfer. IL-15 receptor alpha knockout mice generate IL-15 but do not have NK cells and are unable to undergo successful adoptive transfer. This implies that IL-15 responsiveness by cells other than NK cells may be important in driving this response. IL-15 transgenic mice markedly expand their NK cells and CD8 T cells, ultimately resulting in an NK/T-lymphocytic leukemia.30 The endogenous origin of IL-15 in our patients was unclear. Our data support the notion that IL-15 levels increased only after an intensive lymphocyte-depleting preparative regimen as demonstrated by the inverse correlation between IL-15 concentrations and the absolute lymphocyte count. This does not exclude the possibility that IL-15 may be produced following chemotherapy-induced damage to gastrointestinal mucosa or other cells of epithelial origin.31-34 The effects of exogenous IL-2 administration in these patients needs to be explored as it does add toxicity to the regimen. Further clinical testing may demonstrate that expansion will occur in the presence of IL-15 alone.
Donor NK-cell infusions were feasible and tolerated without unexpected toxicity except for the umbilical cord blood transplantation patient who developed EBV reactivation after treatment. The risk of posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disease approached 10% when HCT is performed using a T-cell–depleted and mismatched graft.35 Although a single event, this finding is important to understand the possible consequences of allogeneic NK-cell therapy in heavily pretreated immunosuppressed patients. It also emphasizes that the CD3- depleted final product, enriched for NK cells but containing B cells, may need further purification to lessen the possibility of this complication. Clinical ex vivo selection methods to address this issue using CD3 depletion followed by CD56 selection are now in place36 and will be tested. We have previously shown that monocytes serve as accessory cells for NK-cell expansion in vitro18 but the role of accessory cells in vivo, if any, is unknown. We need to verify that removal of monocytes and B cells does not change the in vivo expansion potential of NK cells seen here before recommending a purified NK-cell product in all future studies.
In summary, this is the first study to demonstrate that adoptively transferred human NK cells can be expanded in vivo. Expansion was dependent on the more intense Hi-Cy/Flu preparative regimen, which induced lymphopenia, and the more potent immunosuppression that was associated with high endogenous concentrations of IL-15, none of which was observed following Lo-Cy/mPred and Flu alone. It is intriguing that this same regimen is the basis for many transplantation regimens and may help explain the robust NK-cell reconstitution seen in that setting. In this study, NKenriched cells were obtained from related haploidentical donors by efficient depletion of CD3 from PBMCs, although contaminating B cells and monocytes remained in the final product. A maximum tolerated dose was not reached and the largest cell dose administered was that obtained during a single lymphapheresis collection. Although tumor response was not a primary goal of this study, 5 of 19 poor-prognosis patients with AML achieved complete remission after haploidentical NK-cell therapy, with a significantly higher complete remission rate when KIR ligand mismatched donors were used, a strategy that predicts NK-cell alloreactivity.16,37 The precise role of the cells versus the high-intensity chemotherapy regimen in responding patients cannot be definitively determined in this current study. However, the benefit of alloreactivity and the preferential expansion of functional NK cells in responding patients is consistent with at least a partial effect from the NK cells. Our data suggest that prospective selection of KIR ligand– mismatched donors is warranted when possible, which will be assessed in subsequent larger clinical trails.
The biology of natural killer cells in cancer, infection, and pregnancy.
Miller JS1 Exp Hematol. 2001 Oct;29(10):1157-68. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11602317
OBJECTIVE: NK cells are important cells of the immune system. They are ultimately derived from pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells. NK cell cytotoxicity and other functions are tightly regulated by numerous activating and inhibitory receptors including newly discovered receptors that selectively recognize major histocompatibility complex class I alleles. Based on their defining function of spontaneous cytotoxicity without prior immunization, NK cells have been thought to play a critical role in immune surveillance and cancer therapy. However, new insights into NK cell biology have suggested major roles for NK cells in infection control and uterine function. The purpose of this review is to provide an update on NK cell function, ontogeny, and biology in order to better understand the role of NK cells in health and disease.
DATA SOURCES: In the Medline database, the major subject heading "Natural Killer Cells" was introduced in 1983, identifying 16,848 citations as of December 31, 2000. Since 1986, there have been approximately 1000 citations per year under this subject heading. In this database, 68% of manuscripts are limited to human NK cells; 40% of citations cross with the major sub-heading of cytotoxicity, 40% with cytokines, 36% with neoplasm, 5% with antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, 2.8% with pregnancy, and 1.3% with infection. Of references from the year 2000-2001, 46 were selected to combine with contributions from earlier literature.
CONCLUSIONS: NK cells should no longer be thought of as direct cytotoxic killers alone as they clearly serve a critical role in cytokine production which may be important to control cancer, infection, and fetal implantation. Understanding mechanisms of NK cell functions may lead to novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of human disease.
NK cell-based immunotherapy for malignant diseases
Min Cheng, Yongyan Chen, Weihua Xiao, Rui Sun and Zhigang Tian
Cellular & Molecular Immunology (2013) 10, 230–252; published online 22 April 2013 http://dx. doi.org:/10.1038/cmi.2013.10
Natural killer (NK) cells play critical roles in host immunity against cancer. In response, cancers develop mechanisms to escape NK cell attack or induce defective NK cells. Current NK cell-based cancer immunotherapy aims to overcome NK cell paralysis using several approaches. One approach uses expanded allogeneic NK cells, which are not inhibited by self histocompatibility antigens like autologous NK cells, for adoptive cellular immunotherapy. Another adoptive transfer approach uses stable allogeneic NK cell lines, which is more practical for quality control and large-scale production. A third approach is genetic modification of fresh NK cells or NK cell lines to highly express cytokines, Fc receptors and/or chimeric tumor-antigen receptors. Therapeutic NK cells can be derived from various sources, including peripheral or cord blood cells, stem cells or even induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and a variety of stimulators can be used for large-scale production in laboratories or good manufacturing practice (GMP) facilities, including soluble growth factors, immobilized molecules or antibodies, and other cellular activators. A list of NK cell therapies to treat several types of cancer in clinical trials is reviewed here. Several different approaches to NK-based immunotherapy, such as tissue-specific NK cells, killer receptor-oriented NK cells and chemically treated NK cells, are discussed. A few new techniques or strategies to monitor NK cell therapy by non-invasive imaging, predetermine the efficiency of NK cell therapy byin vivo experiments and evaluate NK cell therapy approaches in clinical trials are also introduced.
Surgery, chemotherapeutic agents and ionizing radiation have been used for decades as primary strategies to eliminate the tumors in patients; however, the development of resistance to drugs or radiation led to a significant incidence of tumor relapse. Therefore, investigating effective strategies to eliminate these resistant tumor cells is urgently needed. The importance of immune system in malignant diseases has been demonstrated by recent major scientific advances.
Both innate and adaptive immune cells actively prevent neoplastic development in a process called 'cancer immunosurveillance'. Innate immune cells, including monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells (DCs) and natural killer (NK) cells, mediate immediate, short-lived responses by releasing cytokines that directly lyse tumor cells or capture debris from dead tumor cells. Adaptive immune cells, including T and B cells, mediate long-lived, antigen-specific responses and effective memory.1 Despite these immune responses, malignant cells can develop mechanisms to evade immunosurveillance. Some tumors protect themselves by establishing an immune-privileged environment. For example, they can produce immunosuppressive cytokines IL-10 and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) to suppress the adaptive antitumor immune response, or skew the immune response toward a Th2 response with significantly less antitumor capacity.2,3,4 Some tumors alter their expressions of IL-6, IL-10, vascular epithelial growth factor or granulocyte monocyte-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), impairing DC functions via inactivation or suppressing maturation.5 In some cases, induced regulatory T cells suppress tumor-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses.6 Tumor cells also minimally express or shed tumor-associated antigens, shed the ligands of NK cell-activating receptor such as the NKG2D ligands UL16-binding protein 2, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I chain-related molecules A and B molecules (MICA/MICB) or alter MHC-I and costimulatory molecule expression to evade the immune responses.7,8,9 Malignant cells may also actively eliminate immune cells by activation-induced cell death or Fas ligand (FasL) expression.10,11 In addition, primary cancer treatments like chemotherapy and ionizing radiation can compromise antitumor immune responses by their immunosuppressive side effects.
Tumor cells can be eliminated when immune responses are adequate; when they are not, tumor growth and immunourveillance enter into a dynamic balance until tumor cells evade immunosurveillance, at which point neoplasms appear clinically as a consequence. Therapies designed to induce either a potent passive or active antitumor response against malignancies by harnessing the power of the immune system, known as tumor immunotherapy, is an appealing alternative strategy to control tumor growth. Until now, the cancer immunotherapy field has covered a vast array of therapeutic agents, including cytokines, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, adoptive cell transfers (T, NK and NKT) and Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists.1,12,13 Adoptive NK cell transfer in particular has held great promise for over three decades. With progress in the NK cell biology field and in understanding NK function, developing NK cells to be a powerful cancer immunotherapy tool has been achieved in recent years. In this article, we will review recent advances in NK cell-based cancer immunotherapy, focusing on potential approaches and large-scale NK cell expansion for clinical practice, as well as on the clinical trials and future perspectives to enhance the efficacy of NK cells.
NK cells were first identified in 1975 as a unique lymphocyte subset that are larger in size than T and B lymphocytes and contain distinctive cytoplasmic granules.14,15 After more than 30 years, our understanding of NK cell biology and function lends important insights into their role in immunosurveillance. It has been known that NK cells develop in bone marrow (BM) from common lymphoid progenitor cells;16 however, NK cell precursors have still not been clearly characterized in humans.17 After development, NK cells distribute widely throughout lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues, including BM, lymph nodes (LN), spleen, peripheral blood, lung and liver.18
NK cells, defined as CD3−CD56+ lymphocytes, are distinguished as CD56bright and CD56dim subsets. Approximately 90% of peripheral blood and spleen NK cells belong to the CD56dimCD16+ subset with marked cytotoxic function upon interacting with target cells.19,20In contrast, most NK cells in lymph nodes and tonsils belong to the CD56brightCD16− subset and exhibit predominantly immune regulation properties by producing cytokines such as interferon (IFN)-γ in response to IL-12, IL-15 and IL-18 stimulation.19,21
NK cells rapidly kill certain target cells without prior immunization or MHC restriction, whose activation is dependent on the balance between inhibitory and activating signals from invariant receptors.22,23,24 The activating receptors include the cytotoxicity receptors (NCRs) (NKp46, NKp30 and NKp44), C-type lectin receptors (CD94/NKG2C, NKG2D, NKG2E/H and NKG2F) and killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) (KIR-2DS and KIR-3DS), while the inhibitory receptors include C-type lectin receptors (CD94/NKG2A/B) and KIRs (KIR-2DL and KIR-3DL). Since some structural families contain both activating and inhibitory receptors, trying to understand how NK cell activity is regulated is often complicated.25 At steady state, the inhibitory receptors (KIRs and CD94/NKG2A/B), which bind to various MHC-I molecules present on almost all cell types, inhibit NK cell activation and prevent NK cell-mediated killing. Under stress conditions, cells downregulate MHC-I expression, causing NK cells to lose inhibitory signaling and be activated in a process called 'missing-self recognition'. Additionally, the non-MHC self molecules Clr-b (mouse), LLT-1 (human) and CD48 (mouse) recognized by the inhibitory receptors NKR-P1B, NKR-P1A and 2B4, respectively, also perform this function.26,27 In contrast to the self-expressed inhibitory receptor ligands, NK cell-activating receptors can recognize either pathogen-encoded molecules that are not expressed by the host, called 'non-self recognition', or self-expressed proteins that are upregulated by transformed or infected cells, called 'stress-induced self recognition'. For example, mouse Ly49H recognizes cytomegalovirus-encoded m157, and NKG2D recognizes the self proteins human UL16-binding proteins and MICA/MICB.28,29 NK cells identify their targets by recognizing a set of receptors on target cells in an NK-target cell zipper formation; this results in the integration of multiple activating and inhibitory signals, the outcome of which depends on the nature of the interacting cells.26IFNs or DC/macrophage-derived cytokines, such as type I IFN, IL-12, IL-18 and IL-15, enhance the activation or promote the maturation of NK cells, which can also augment NK cell cytolytic activity against tumor cells.30,31,32 Cytotoxic activity of NK cells can increase approximately 20–200 fold after exposure to IFN-α/β or IL-12. Despite these known innate immune cell functions, accumulating evidence in both mice and humans demonstrates that NK cells are educated and selected during development, possess receptors with antigen specificity, undergo clonal expansion during infection and can generate long-lived memory cells.33,34
After over 30 years of researching NK cells, evidence supports that they play critical roles in the early control of viral infection, in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation (improved grafting, graft-vs.-host disease and graft-vs.-tumor), in tumor immunosurveillance and in reproduction (uterine spiral artery remodeling). The roles of NK cells in controlling organ transplantation, parasitic and HIV infections, autoimmunity and asthma have also been suggested, but remain to be explored further.26 In particular, therapeutic strategies harnessing the power of NK cells to target multiple malignancies have been designed.
NK cells originally described as large granular lymphocytes, exhibited natural cytotoxicity against certain tumor cells in the absence of preimmunization or stimulation.35,36,37 CD56dim NK cells, which make up the majority of circulating cells, are the most potent cytotoxic NK cells against tumor cells. Evidence gathered from a mouse xenograft tumor model testing functionally deficient NK cells or antibody-mediated NK cell depletion supports that NK cells can eradicate tumor cells.38,39,40,41 An 11-year follow-up study in patients indicated that low NK-like cytotoxicity was associated with increased cancer risk.42 High levels of tumor infiltrating NK cells (TINKs) are associated with a favorable tumor outcome in patients with colorectal carcinoma, gastric carcinoma and squamous cell lung cancer, suggesting that NK-cell infiltration into tumor tissues represents a positive prognostic marker.43,44,45 As described above, NK-cell recognition of tumor cells by inhibitory and activating receptors is complex, and the three recognition models—'missing-self', 'non-self' and 'stress-induced self'—might be used to sense missing- or altered-self cells. Activated NK cells are thus in a position to directly or indirectly exert their antitumor activity to control tumor growth and prevent the rapid dissemination of metastatic tumors by 'immunosurveillance' mechanisms (Figure 1).
NK cells in tumor immunosurveillance. The diagram shows the potential roles of NK cells in tumor immunosurveillance. NK cells initially recognize the tumor cells via stress or danger signals. Activated NK cells directly kill target tumor cells through at least four mechanisms: cytoplasmic granule release, death receptor-induced apoptosis, effector molecule production or ADCC. Additionally, NK cells act as regulatory cells when reciprocally interact with DCs to improve their antigen uptake and presentation, facilitating the generation of antigen-specific CTL responses. Also, by producing cytokines such as IFN-γ, activated NK cells induce CD8+ T cells to become CTLs. Activated NK cells can also promote differentiation of CD4+ T cells toward a Th1 response and promote CTL differentiation. Cytokines produced by NK cells might also regulate antitumor Ab production by B cells. Ab, antibody; ADCC, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity; CTL, cytotoxic T lymphocyte; DC, dendritic cell; IFN, interferon; NK, natural killer.
Direct tumor clearance by NK-mediated cytotoxicity
Upon cellular transformation, surface MHC-I expression on tumor cells is often reduced or lost to evade recognition by antitumor T cells. In parallel, cellular stress and DNA damage lead to upregulated expression of ligands on tumor cells for NK cell-activating receptors. Human tumor cells that have lost self MHC-I expression or bear 'altered-self' stress-inducible proteins are ideal NK cell targets, as NK cells are activated by initially recognizing certain 'stress' or 'danger' signals.46 The 'missing-self' model of tumor cell recognition by NK cells was first demonstrated by observing that MHC-I-deficient syngeneic tumor cells were selectively rejected by NK cells; additionally, NK cell inhibitory receptors were shown to detect this absence of MHC-I expression.47,48,49 NK cells can also kill certain MHC-I-sufficient tumor cells by detecting stress-induced self ligands through their activating receptors. Broad MICA/B expression has been detected on epithelial tumors, melanoma, hepatic carcinoma and some hematopoetic malignancies, representing a counter-measure by the immune system to combat tumor development.31 NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity is also important against tumor initiation and metastasis in vivo.50,51,52
NK cells directly kill target tumor cells through several mechanisms: (i) by releasing cytoplasmic granules containing perforin and granzymes that leads to tumor-cell apoptosis by caspase-dependent and -independent pathways.53,54 Cytotoxic granules reorient towards the tumor cell soon after NK–tumor cell interaction and are released into the intercellular space in a calcium-dependent manner; granzymes are allowed entry into tumor cells by perforin-induced membrane perforations, leading to apoptosis; (ii) by death receptor-mediated apoptosis. Some NK cells express tumor-necrosis factor (TNF) family members, such as FasL or TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), which can induce tumor-cell apoptosis by interacting with their respective receptors, Fas and TRAIL receptor (TRAILR), on tumor cells.55,56,57,58,59 TNF-α produced by activated NK cells can also induce tumor-cell apoptosis;60 (iii) by secreting various effector molecules, such as IFN-γ, that exert antitumor functions in various ways, including restricting tumor angiogenesis and stimulating adaptive immunity.61,62 Cytokine activation or exposure to tumor cells is also associated with nitric oxide (NO) production, where NK cells kill target tumor cells by NO signaling;63,64 (iv) through antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) by expressing CD16 to destroy tumor cells.40 The antitumor activity of NK cells can be further enhanced by cytokine stimulation, such as by IL-2, IL-12, IL-18, IL-15 or those that induce IFN production.40,65,66,67,68,69,70
Indirect NK-mediated antitumor immunity
NK cells act as regulatory cells when reciprocally interact with DCs, macrophages, T cells and endothelial cells by producing various cytokines (IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-10), as well as chemokines and growth factors.26,71 By producing IFN-γ, activated NK cells induce CD8+ T cells to become cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), and also help to differentiate CD4+ T cells toward a Th1 response to promote CTL differentiation.72,73 NK cell-derived cytokines might also regulate antitumor antibody (Ab) production by B cells.40 In addition, cancer cells killed by NK cells could provide tumor antigens for DCs, inducing them to mature and present antigen.74By lysing surrounding DCs that have phagocytosed and processed foreign antigens, activated NK cells also could provide additional antigenic cellular debris for other DCs. Thus, activated NK cells promote antitumor immunity by regulating DC activation and maturation,75 as these DCs can facilitate the generation of antigen-specific CTL responses through their ability to cross-present tumor-specific antigens (derived from NK cell-mediated tumor lysis) to CD8+ T cells.76,77
During tumor progression, tumor cells develop several mechanisms to either escape from NK-cell recognition and attack or to induce defective NK cells. These include losing expression of adhesion molecules, costimulatory ligands or ligands for activating receptors, upregulating MHC class I, soluble MIC, FasL or NO expression, secreting immunosuppressive factors such as IL-10, TGF-β and indoleam ine 2,3-d ioxygense (IDO) and resisting Fas- or perforin-mediated apoptosis.31,78,79 In cancer patients, NK cell abnormalities have been observed, including decreased cytotoxicity, defective expression of activating receptors or intracellular signaling molecules, overexpression of inhibitory receptors, defective proliferation, decreased numbers in peripheral blood and in tumor infiltrate, and defective cytokine production.60Given that NK cells play critical roles in the first-line of defense against malignancies by direct and indirect mechanisms, the therapeutic use of NK cells in human cancer immunotherapy has been proposed and followed in a clinical context (Table 1).
Table 1 – NK cells in tumor immunotherapy. Full table
For NK cell immunotherapy, obtaining a sufficient number of functional NK cells is critical in clinical protocols. Therefore, the number, purity and state of NK cell proliferation and activation are considered as the key factors.151 In Table 2, the purification/expansion of clinical-grade NK cells developed in recent years is summarized. They can be produced from cord blood, bone marrow, peripheral blood and embryonic stem cells. Overall, the summarized methods suggest that long-term ex vivoexpansion of NK cells may present a clinical benefit, but not the short-term activation which is not sufficient for augmenting the functions of NK cells.152
Table 2 – Expansion of NK cells in vitro for clinical practice*.Full table
Results from treating hematological malignancies demonstrated a critical role for NK cells in clinical immunotherapy, as alloreactive NK cells highlighted the graft-vs.-leukemia effect in AML patients.172 The graft-vs.-tumor effect of alloreactive NK cells was also strengthened by mismatched IL-2-activated lymphocytes in patients with solid tumors or hematological malignancies.173 As discussed above, autologous NK cells, allogeneic NK cells, NK cell lines and genetically modified NK cells were investigated for effectiveness as tumor immunotherapies. The clinical study designs evaluating the efficacy of these various NK cell-mediated tumor therapies are summarized in Table 3.
Table 3 – Clinical trials of tumor immunotherapy by using NK cells.Full table
NK cell-based immunotherapy holds great promise for cancer treatment. However, only modest clinical success has been achieved thus far using NK cell-based therapies in cancer patients. Progress in the field of understanding NK cell biology and function is therefore needed to assist in developing novel approaches to effectively manipulate NK cells for the ultimate benefit of treating cancer patients.
Present and Future of Allogeneic Natural Killer Cell Therapy
Okjae Lim,1 Mi Young Jung,1 Yu Kyeong Hwang,2 and Eui-Cheol Shin3,*
Front Immunol. 2015; 6: 286. Published online 2015 Jun 3. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2015.00286
Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphocytes that are capable of eliminating tumor cells and are therefore used for cancer therapy. Although many early investigators used autologous NK cells, including lymphokine-activated killer cells, the clinical efficacies were not satisfactory. Meanwhile, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation revealed the antitumor effect of allogeneic NK cells, and HLA-haploidentical, killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor ligand-mismatched allogeneic NK cells are currently used for many protocols requiring NK cells. Moreover, allogeneic NK cells from non-HLA-related healthy donors have been recently used in cancer therapy. The use of allogeneic NK cells from non-HLA-related healthy donors allows the selection of donor NK cells with higher flexibility and to prepare expanded, cryopreserved NK cells for instant administration without delay for ex vivo expansion. In cancer therapy with allogeneic NK cells, optimal matching of donors and recipients is important to maximize the efficacy of the therapy. In this review, we summarize the present state of allogeneic NK cell therapy and its future directions.
Cancer is a major threat for humans worldwide, with approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths in 2012 (1). Although most common cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, unsatisfactory cure rates require new therapeutic approaches, especially for refractory cancers. For this purpose, cancer immunotherapies with various cytokines, antibodies, and immune cells have been clinically applied to patients to encourage their own immune system to help fight the cancer (2).
Adoptive cellular immunotherapies have employed several types of immune cells, including dendritic cells (DCs), cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells, cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells, and natural killer (NK) cells. Although there has been recent progress in DC therapy and CTL therapy, clinical applications are somewhat limited because cancer antigens must first be characterized and autologous cells must be used. By contrast, LAK cells, CIK cells, and NK cells have antigen-independent cytolytic activity against tumor cells. In particular, NK cells can be used from not only autologous sources but also allogeneic sources and, recently, allogeneic NK cells have been employed more often in cancer treatment. Whereas autologous NK cells from cancer patients may have functional defects (3), allogeneic NK cells from healthy donors have normal function and can be safely administered to cancer patients (4). Allogeneic NK cell therapy is particularly beneficial because it can enhance the anti-cancer efficacy of NK cells via donor–recipient incompatibility in terms of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) on donor NK cells and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I on recipient tissues.
Natural killer cells are innate lymphocytes that provide a first line of defense against viral infections and cancer (5). Human NK cells are recognized as CD3−CD56+ lymphocytes. They can be further subdivided into two subsets based on the surface expression level of CD56. The CD56dim population with low-density expression of CD56 comprises approximately 90% of human blood NK cells and has a potent cytotoxic function, whereas the CD56bright population (approximately 10% of blood NK cells) with high-density expression of CD56 displays a potent cytokine producing capacity and has immunoregulatory functions (6). The CD56dim NK cell subset also expresses high levels of the Fc receptor for IgG (FcγRIII, CD16), which allows them to mediate antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) (7). NK cells comprise 5–15% of circulating lymphocytes and are also found in peripheral tissues, including the liver, peritoneal cavity, and placenta. Activated NK cells are capable of extravasation and infiltration into tissues that contain pathogens or malignant cells while resting NK cells circulate in the blood (8).
The NK cell activity is regulated by signals from activating and inhibitory receptors (9, 10). The activating signal is mediated by several NK receptors including NKG2D and natural cytotoxicity receptors (NCRs) (9–11). By contrast, NK cell activity is suppressed by inhibitory receptors, including KIRs, which bind to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecules on target cells (9, 10, 12). NKG2A is also an important inhibitory receptor binding to non-classical HLA molecule, HLA-E (13). If target cells lose or downregulate HLA expression (14), the NK inhibitory signal is abrogated, allowing NK cells to become activated and kill malignant targets. However, NK cell function is impaired in cancer patients by various mechanisms, particularly in tumor microenvironment (15).
Although NK cell activity is determined by the summation of signals from activating and inhibitory receptors, the inhibitory signal through KIRs is a main regulator of NK cell function particularly in allogeneic settings. Inhibitory KIRs have long cytoplasmic tails containing two immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motifs (ITIMs). Each KIR has its cognate ligand and consists of two (KIR2DL) or three (KIR3DL) extracellular Ig-domains. KIR2DL1 and KIR2DL2/3 recognize group 2 HLA-C (called C2, Lys80) and group 1 HLA-C (called C1, Asn80), respectively. KIR3DL1 recognizes HLA-Bw4 (16). The KIR repertoire on human NK cells is randomly determined and independent of the number and allotype of HLA class I ligands (17).
The antitumor activity of allogeneic NK cells has been demonstrated in the setting of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Allogeneic HSCT is an established curative treatment for hematologic malignancies. In allogeneic HSCT, donor T cells contribute to graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effects (18). In T cell-depleted HSCT, however, donor NK cells are the major effector cells responsible for controlling residual cancer cells before T cell reconstitution (19, 20).
Natural killer cells are the first lymphoid population to recover after allogeneic HSCT. In the first month of transplantation, reconstituted NK cells represent the predominant lymphoid cells and play a crucial role in controlling the host immune system. Allogeneic NK cells prevent viral infections and restrain residual cancer cells in the early phase of transplantation (21). Of note, the GVT activity of donor NK cells is significantly improved when KIRs of donor and HLA class I of the recipient are incompatible, and consequently when inhibitory signals are absent, as observed in HLA-haploidentical HSCT (22). Therefore, increased GVT activity of NK cells with KIR-HLA incompatibility is the underlying rationale for the development of allogeneic NK cell therapy.
Following the discovery of inhibitory KIRs and the understanding that they play a role in preventing NK cell killing of self MHC class I-expressing tumor cells, investigators began to research the possibility of using allogeneic donor NK cells instead of autologous NK cells for cancer therapy. Several groups have infused activated, expanded donor NK cells to patients early after allogeneic HSCT to provide antitumor effects (23). In Table Table1,1, clinical trials with allogeneic NK cells as therapeutics are summarized.
Table 1 Selected clinical trials with expanded allogeneic NK cells
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As summarized in Table Table2,2, two clinical trials are investigating the use of CAR-expressing allogeneic NK cells. The aim of both studies is to assess the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of expanded, activated, and CD19-redirected haploidentical NK cells in ALL patients who have persistent disease after intensive chemotherapy or HSCT (NCT00995137, NCT01974479). Further, other tumor antigens, such as CS1, CEA, CD138, and CD33, are targeted by CARs expressed by NK cells, although NK-92, YT, or NKL cell lines were used (48–51).
Table 2 Genetically modified, expanded allogeneic NK cells.
Therapeutic regimens
In allogeneic NK cell therapy, optimal therapeutic regimens for clinical applications should be considered because adoptively transferred NK cells not only target tumor cells but also interact with the immunological environment. To potentiate the therapeutic efficacy of allogeneic NK cells, proper strategies, including pre-conditioning or combination therapy, could be applied (34).
Upregulation of NKG2D ligands by spironolactone (63) or histone deacetylase inhibitors (64, 65) and upregulation of TRAIL-R2 by doxorubicin (66) result in enhanced antitumor efficacy of NK cells. Proteasome inhibitors also sensitize tumor cells to NK cell-mediated killing via TRAIL and FasL pathways. In addition, c-kit tyrosine kinase inhibitor (67) and JAK inhibitors (68) increase the susceptibility of tumor cells to NK cytotoxicity and enhance antitumor responses by increased IFN-γ production from NK cells. However, protein kinase inhibitors should be used cautiously because some protein kinase inhibitors, such as sorafenib, inhibit the effector function of NK cells (69).
Immunomodulatory drugs can augment NK cell function. Lenalidomide enhances rituximab-induced killing of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia through NK cell and monocyte-mediated ADCC mechanisms (70). Combination therapy using IL-2 and anti-CD25 shows anti-leukemic effects by depletion of regulatory T cells in addition to activation and expansion of NK cells (71). Alloferon, an immunomodulatory peptide, enhances the expression of NK-activating receptor 2B4 and granule exocytosis from NK cells against cancer cells (72).
Therapeutic antibodies can be combined with allogeneic NK cell therapy (73). Antibodies against tumor antigens (e.g., CD20 and CS1) can induce ADCC of NK cells (74, 75). Antibodies to activating NK receptors (e.g., 4-1BB, GITR, NKG2D, DNAM-1, and NCRs) can enhance NK activation (74, 76–79). In addition, inhibitory receptors (e.g., KIR2DL, PD-1, PD-L1, and NKG2A) can be blocked by antibodies (80–85). Bispecific and trispecific killer cell engagers directly activate NK cells through CD16 signaling and thus, induce cytotoxicity and cytokine production against tumor targets (86, 87).
Antitumor activity of allogeneic NK cells was first observed in a setting of HLA-haploidentical HSCT. Allogeneic NK cell therapy was tried mostly using HLA-haploidentical NK cells with or without allogeneic HSCT and, recently, allogeneic NK cells from unrelated, random donors have been used in a non-HSCT setting. The efficacy of allogeneic NK cell therapy can be enhanced by optimal donor selection in terms of the KIR genotype of donors and donor KIR-recipient MHC incompatibility. Furthermore, efficacy can be increased by genetic modification of NK cells and optimized therapeutic regimens. In the future, allogeneic NK cell therapy can be an effective therapeutic modality for cancer.
δγ T cells for immune therapy of patients with lymphoid malignancies
http://dx.doi.org:/10.1182/blood-2002-12-3665 Prepublished online Blood March 6, 2003; 2003 102: 200-206
Martin Wilhelm, Volker Kunzmann, Susanne Eckstein, Peter Reimer, Florian Weissinger, Thomas Ruediger and Hans-Peter Tony
There is increasing evidence that gammadelta T cells have potent innate antitumor activity. We described previously that synthetic aminobisphosphonates are potent gammadelta T cell stimulatory compounds that induce cytokine secretion (ie, interferon gamma [IFN-gamma]) and cell-mediated cytotoxicity against lymphoma and myeloma cell lines in vitro. To evaluate the antitumor activity of gammadelta T cells in vivo, we initiated a pilot study of low-dose interleukin 2 (IL-2) in combination with pamidronate in 19 patients with relapsed/refractory low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) or multiple myeloma (MM). The objectives of this trial were to determine toxicity, the most effective dose for in vivo activation/proliferation of gammadelta T cells, and antilymphoma efficacy of the combination of pamidronate and IL-2. The first 10 patients (cohort A) who entered the study received 90 mg pamidronate intravenously on day 1 followed by increasing dose levels of continuous 24-hour intravenous (IV) infusions of IL-2 (0.25 to 3 x 106 IU/m2) from day 3 to day 8. Even at the highest IL-2 dose level in vivo, gammadelta T-cell activation/proliferation and response to treatment were disappointing with only 1 patient achieving stable disease. Therefore, the next 9 patients were selected by positive in vitro proliferation of gammadelta T cells in response to pamidronate/IL-2 and received a modified treatment schedule (6-hour bolus IV IL-2 infusions from day 1-6). In this patient group (cohort B), significant in vivo activation/proliferation of gammadelta T cells was observed in 5 patients (55%), and objective responses (PR) were achieved in 3 patients (33%). Only patients with significant in vivo proliferation of gammadelta T cells responded to treatment, indicating that gammadelta T cells might contribute to this antilymphoma effect. Overall, administration of pamidronate and low-dose IL-2 was well tolerated. In conclusion, this clinical trial demonstrates, for the first time, that gammadelta T-cell-mediated immunotherapy is feasible and can induce objective tumor responses.
Despite significant improvement in the treatment of low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and multiple myeloma (MM), most patients relapse or become resistant to conventional treatment strategies such as chemotherapy or radiation. Therefore, there is need for alternative tumor therapies. One possibility is manipulating the immune system to target and eliminate neoplastic cells. Most current immunotherapeutic approaches aim at inducing antitumor response via stimulation of the adaptive immune system, which is dependent on major histocompatibility complex (MHC)– restricted T cells. Despite major advances in our understanding of the adaptive immunity toward tumors and the introduction of vaccine-based strategies, durable responses are rare, and active immunotherapy is still not an established treatment modality. Adaptive immunotherapeutic approaches have several disadvantages: T cells need specific tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and appropriate costimulatory molecules for activation. Failure or loss of TAAs, MHC molecules, and/or costimulatory molecules renders tumor cells resistant to T-cell–mediated cytotoxicity or induces anergy of specific T cells.1
Mice deficient in innate effector cells such as natural killer (NK) cells, NK T cells, or T cells show a significantly increased incidence of tumors and provide clear evidence for an immune surveillance function of the innate immune system.2-4 Recognition of transformed cells by the innate immune system seems to be dependent on expression of stress-induced ligands and/or loss of MHC class I molecules on tumor cells.5 Several studies have demonstrated a role for human T cells in recognition of transformed cells.6,7 T cells exhibit a potent MHC-unrestricted lytic activity against different tumor cells in vitro.8-10 In addition, T cells have been found with increased frequency in disease-free survivors of acute leukemia following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.11 Adoptive transfer of ex vivo–expanded human T cells in a mouse tumor model further supports the in vivo antitumor effects of T cells.12 V9V2 T cells, which represent most of the human circulating T cells, recognize small nonpeptide compounds with an essential phosphate residue (ie, microbial metabolites) or alkylamines.13-17 As we have shown previously, also synthetic aminobisphosphonates such as pamidronate are potent T-cell– stimulatory compounds.18 In addition, we could demonstrate that pamidronate-activated T cells produce cytokines (ie, interferon [IFN-]), exhibit specific cytotoxicity against lymphoma or myeloma cell lines, and lead to reduced survival of autologous myeloma cells.8
The aim of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility of activation and/or expansion of T cells in vivo using the combination of pamidronate and interleukin 2 (IL-2) in patients with refractory/relapsed lymphoma or myeloma, to determine the most effective IL-2 dose, to assess the toxicity of this regimen, and to evaluate its ability to exert antitumor effects. …..
There has been no study published so far on in vivo stimulation of T cells in humans, and the consequences of a selective activation of T cells in vivo were not known. Therefore, evaluation of toxicity was one major end point of this study. We started with a low IL-2 dose of 0.25 106 IU IL-2/m2 and subsequently increased the IL-2 dose to 3 106 IU IL-2/m2 in cohort A and to 2 106 IU IL-2/m2 in cohort B. Overall, the combination of pamidronate and IL-2 was well tolerated, and no dose-limiting toxicity was observed. Most of the patients developed self-limiting fever and thrombophlebitis at the infusion site. Local thrombophlebitis has been described as a rare side effect in
patients receiving pamidronate alone.20,21 The high frequency of local thrombophlebitis in patients receiving pamidronate in combination with IL-2 might reflect immune-mediated effects on endothelial cells. It has also been recently shown that aminobisphosphonates have dose-dependent effects on proliferation-inhibition and apoptosis-induction of human endothelial cells in vitro.22
Next we asked whether the combination of pamidronate and IL-2 induces activation and proliferation of T cells in vivo. None of the first 10 patients included in this pilot study (cohort A, Table 1) developed a measurable T-cell response in vivo. The inability to induce T-cell proliferative response in vivo correlated with the negative in vitro proliferation of T cells in response to pamidronate/IL-2 in 4 of 5 analyzable patients. Therefore, extensive prior in vitro testing was initiated for all further eligible patients. Using this strategy, we found that a much lower proportion of patients with hematologic malignancies showed positive in vitro proliferation of T cells in response to pamidronate/IL-2 compared with a control group of healthy donors (49% versus 88%). Although the exact mechanisms of this defect are currently under investigation, a severe immunodeficiency caused by extensive prior chemotherapy in these relapsed/ refractory patients and/or the underlying disease itself may account for this observation. Indeed, the type of underlying disease seems to influence the in vitro proliferative response to pamidronate/IL-2 (Table 2). The failure of patients with B-CLL to develop a measurable T-cell proliferative response may be a result of the very small number of T cells in peripheral blood, which were often below the detection limit in our series. However, a larger number of patients with distinct disease entities and at different disease stages (eg, untreated versus treated) need to be evaluated to support this observation and to identify additional clinical parameters influencing T-cell reactivity. Furthermore, extensive prior in vitro testing in eligible patients revealed that T-cell proliferation in response to pamidronate can be significantly enhanced by concomitant addition of IL-2 to PBMC cultures on day 1 instead of day 3 (as previously done).
Thus, for all further patients the treatment schedule was changed (concomitant administration of IL-2 on day 1), and only patients with significant in vitro proliferation of T cells in the presence of pamidronate and IL-2 were included (cohort B, Table 1). After these modifications, significant in vivo expansion of T cells could be observed in 5 of 9 patients (55%) (Table 1). In vivo proliferation of T cells was associated with a robust up-regulation of early (CD69) and late (HLA-DR) activation markers, whereas pamidronate and IL-2 failed to induce comparable effects on T cells and NK cells (Table 3). These data support in vitro findings that the action of pamidronate is highly specific and, except for V9V2 T cells, it does not activate other immune effector cells.8,23,24 However, at higher IL-2 doses unspecific stimulation effects of IL-2 became more evident because a proportion of patients showed a moderate up-regulation of activation markers on T cells and NK cells at the highest dose level of IL-2 tested in this study. On the basis of the analysis of activation marker expression and proliferation we conclude that 1 106 IU IL-2/m2 IL-2 per day seems to be the most effective dose with respect to specific and effective T-cell stimulation in vivo.
Another aim of our study was to assess the clinical response. None of the 9 analyzable patients of cohortA(Table 1) achieved an objective tumor response. After change of protocol and inclusion criteria (cohort B, Table 1) 3 of 9 patients (33%) achieved an objective tumor response (3 PR). Clinical response could be associated with T-cell proliferation in vivo, because all 4 patients from cohort B without T-cell proliferation in vivo did not experience an objective tumor response, and 4 of 5 patients with T-cell proliferation in vivo responded (3 PR, 1 stable disease [SD]). These results suggest that the observed tumor regression in our patients is dependent on T-cell activation and proliferation. The relevance of this correlation is underlined by the fact that pamidronate-stimulated T cells possess an increased capacity for killing tumor cells in vitro.8,10 It is still open which mechanisms may have been responsible for the clinical responses. Several other antitumor effects have been attributed to aminobisphosphonates. However, at pharmacologically achievable concentrations in vivo, only the specific stimulation of V9V2T cells can be observed.8 Alternatively, the occurrence of clinical remissions may be attributed to an IL-2–mediated effect on other immune effector cells. However, our immunologic monitoring indicates that the combination of pamidronate and low-dose IL-2 does not induce specific activation and expansion of T cells or NK cells compared with the effect on T cells. In addition, the concentrations of IL-2 used here are much lower than the doses required in other immunotherapeutic approaches for these malignancies.25-27
The important question of what precise mechanisms are involved in tumor recognition and eradication by T cells is out of the scope of this study and will require further in vitro and in vivo studies. However, tumor cell recognition by T cells seems to be modulated by a balance of positive and negative signals.28 Although killer inhibitory receptors (KIRs) are obviously involved in the mediation of negative signals, the positive signals are only incompletely understood. One example of such a positive signal is the NKG2D-DAP10 receptor complex, which is known to interact with stress-induced ligands on tumor cells such as MICA and Rae-1.29 The very slow response profiles of most of the patients in our series strongly argue for an indirect influence on lymphoma cells rather than a sole cytotoxic effect. One possible mechanism may be secretion of cytokines, which influence tumor cells or their microenvironment.30 We have already shown that IFN- is the major cytokine secreted by pamidronate-activated T cells.8,31 IFN- has multiple antitumor effects such as direct inhibition of tumor growth, blocking angiogenesis, or stimulation of macrophages.32 Recently, a significant negative correlation between angiogenetic factors (ie, VEGF) and IFN- serum levels was described in patients treated with pamidronate.33 Therefore, IFN- might be one of the key cytokines involved in the T-cell– mediated antitumor response.
In conclusion, this study indicates for the first time that in vivo T-cell stimulation by pamidronate and low-dose IL-2 is a safe and promising immunotherapy approach in the treatment of
patients with low-grade B-NHL and MM. Further studies are necessary to confirm the clinical efficacy of this novel strategy. Our immunologic and clinical monitoring data provide further insight into the capacity of T cells to induce an antitumor immune response. However, this study also reveals that the function of T cells can be impaired in some patients with lymphoid malignancies. Therefore, the results of this study provide principles relevant to the design of future trials, including appropriate prior in vitro testing.
EXPANSION OF HIGHLY CYTOTOXIC HUMAN NATURAL KILLER CELLS FOR CANCER CELL THERAPY
Hiroyuki Fujisaki,1Harumi Kakuda,1Noriko Shimasaki,1Chihaya Imai,1Jing Ma,3Timothy Lockey,4Paul Eldridge,4Wing H. Leung,1,5 and Dario Campana1,2,5
Cancer Res. 2009 May 1; 69(9): 4010–4017. Published online 2009 Apr 21. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-3712
Infusions of natural killer (NK) cells are an emerging tool for cancer immunotherapy. The development of clinically applicable methods to produce large numbers of fully functional NK cells is a critical step to maximize the potential of this approach. We determined the capacity of the leukemia cell line K562 modified to express a membrane-bound form of interleukin-15 and 4-1BB ligand (K562-mb15-41BBL) to generate human NK cells with enhanced cytotoxicity. Seven-day coculture with irradiated K562-mb15-41BBL induced a median 21.6-fold expansion of CD56+CD3– NK cells from peripheral blood (range, 5.1-86.6-fold; n = 50), which was considerably superior to that produced by stimulation with interleukin (IL)-2, IL-12, IL-15 and/or IL-21 and caused no proliferation of CD3+ lymphocytes. Similar expansions could also be obtained from the peripheral blood of patients with acute leukemia undergoing therapy (n = 11). Comparisons of the gene expression profiles of the expanded NK cells and of their unstimulated or IL-2-stimulated counterparts demonstrated marked differences. The expanded NK cells were significantly more potent than unstimulated or IL-2-stimulated NK cells against acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells in vitro. They could be detected for more than one month when injected into immunodeficient mice and could eradicate leukemia in murine models of AML. We therefore adapted the K562-mb15-41BBL stimulation method to large-scale clinical-grade conditions, generating large numbers of highly cytotoxic NK cells. The results that we report here provide rationale and practical platform for clinical testing of expanded and activated NK cells for cell therapy of cancer.
Natural killer (NK) cells can kill cancer cells in the absence of prior stimulation and hold considerable potential for cell-based therapies targeting human malignancies (1–4). This notion is corroborated by the observation that, among patients with leukemia undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the antileukemic effect of the transplant was significantly greater when the donor NK cells exhibited a killer inhibitory receptor (KIR) profile that predicted a higher cytotoxicity against the leukemic cells of the recipient (3;5–7). Moreover, allogeneic NK cells might be beneficial when directly infused into patients, a procedure that was shown to induce clinical remission in patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (8). Infusions of NK cells have also been proposed as a means to improve the treatment of other cancers (9).
Because NK cells represent a small fraction of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, generating them in numbers sufficient to meet clinical requirements, especially if multiple infusions are planned, is problematic. Hence, NK cell-based therapies would greatly benefit from reliable methods to produce large numbers of fully functional NK cells ex vivo. Unlike T and B lymphocytes, which readily respond to a variety of stimuli, NK cells typically do not undergo sustained proliferation. Indeed, their reported proliferative responses to cytokines with or without coculture with other cells have generally been modest and of short duration in most studies (10–16).
We previously found that the K562 leukemia cell line genetically modified to express membrane-bound interleukin (IL)-15 and 41BB ligand specifically activates NK cells, drives them into the cell cycle and allows their genetic modification (17). In this study, we determined the capacity of NK cells stimulated by contact with K562-mb15-41BBL cells to exert anti-AML cytotoxicity.
We found that K562-mb15-41BBL cells induce sustained and specific proliferation of human NK cells. NK cell expansion was observed in all donors tested, including patients with acute leukemia undergoing therapy, with no apparent proliferative advantage of any particular NK cell subset. Gene expression of NKAES-NK cells was markedly different than that of unstimulated and IL-2-stimulated cells, not only in regards to their expression of cell proliferation-associated genes but also in that of molecules that might regulate NK-cell function and their interaction with other cell types. NKAES-NK cells had powerful cytotoxicity against AML cell lines and AML cells from patients, and were more potent than unstimulated or IL-2-activated NK cells from the same donors. Based on these findings, and on the effectiveness of NKAES-NK cells in murine models of AML, we developed a Master Cell Bank of K562-mb15-41BBL cells under cGMP guidelines, and demonstrated that large-scale expansion and activation of human NK cells for clinical studies was feasible, producing expansions of CD56+CD3– cells that were even higher than those observed in the initial small-scale experiments while maintaining high anti-AML cytotoxicity.
IL-2 can induce proliferative responses in human NK cells but only a minor fraction sustains continued growth (10;26;27). Conceivably, some NK-cell subsets might be more responsive, as suggested by early reports of up to 50-fold expansion after culture with IL-2 for 2 weeks of an NK subset that adheres to plastic (28–31). It is unclear, however, whether some CD3+ cells might have had, at least in part, contributed to the increased cell numbers (29;30). More recently, anti-CD3 and IL-2 reportedly induced 190-fold NK expansions after 21 days from the blood of healthy individuals (32) and, surprisingly, 1600-fold expansions after 20 days from that of patients with myeloma (25). However, these cells' cytotoxicity against K562 cells was <10% at 1 : 1 E : T (25), a ratio at which NKAES-NK cells from healthy donors or leukemia patients had a median cytotoxicity of 69% cells. Our results with IL-2 alone or in combination with other cytokines are in line with those of earlier reports (10;26;27;33). Indeed, most investigators have indicated that sustained expansions of CD56+CD3– cells require additional signals (14;16), such as the presence of B-lymphoblastoid cells (26;34;35). B-lymphoblastoid cells, however, also induce vigorous expansions of T lymphocytes, whereas NKAES cultures do not stimulate T-cell proliferation. In the setting of allogeneic NK-cell therapy, this could be an important practical advantage as it would facilitate the complete removal of residual T cells at the end of the cultures (to avoid the risk of graft-versus-host disease). Because K562-mb15-41BBL cells are lethally-irradiated before culture and they are lysed by the expanding NK cells, the risk of infusing viable K562-mb15-41BBL is negligible. Nevertheless, we have incorporated safeguards in our clinical protocol. We prepare cultures of irradiated K562-mb15-41BBL cells, and monitor their growth and DNA-synthesis rate. We also test for the presence of viable K562-mb15-41BBL cells at the end of the culture by flow cytometry, using GFP as a marker. The clinical product is released only if there is no cell growth and no viable of K562-mb15-41BBL cell at the end of the cultures.
Most patients with AML respond to initial treatment and achieve remission, but occult resistant leukemia persists in approximately half of the patients, leading to overt (and usually fatal) relapse (36;37). NK cell infusions have shown to be clinically effective in patients with high-risk AML (8); they are being considered for the therapy of other hematological malignancies (9;38). Conceivably, NK-cell therapy will be most powerful when the number of NK cells infused is sufficiently high to produce a high E : T ratio. In our murine models of AML, multiple injections of NKAES-derived cells were required to eradicate leukemia and achieve long-term remissions. The number of NK cells that can be generated with the method that we describe should meet the requirement for a high E : T ratio, particularly in the setting of minimal residual disease, and allow multiple NK cell infusions. We found that administration of IL-2 significantly prolonged the survival of NKAES-NK cells in immunodeficient mice. It is possible that other cytokines not yet available for clinical studies, such as IL-15, might prove to be superior for this purpose. Of note, it was shown in clinical studies that lymphodepletion of the recipients, a procedure essential to ensure prolonged engraftment of the infused cells (39), resulted in high levels of serum IL-15 (8).
Although infusion of allogeneic unstimulated or IL-2-stimulated NK cells has proven to be safe, with no significant graft-versus-host disease detected, the safety of NKAES-NK cell infusions must be established. To this end, we have begun a Phase I dose-escalation clinical study of haploidentical NKAES-NK cells in patients with refractory leukemia. In addition to AML and other hematologic malignancies, some solid tumors should also be susceptible to NK cell cytotoxicity (9). Therefore, patients with these malignancies could also be eligible for clinical studies of NK cell therapy.
ADOPTIVE T CELL THERAPY: HARNESSING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM TO FIGHT CANCER
August 15, 2014 | by Hiu Chung So http://www.cityofhope.org/blog/adoptive-t-cell-fight-cancer
Immunotherapy — using one's immune system to treat a disease — has been long lauded as the "magic bullet" of cancer treatments, one that can be more effective than the conventional therapies of surgery, radiation or chemotherapy. One specific type of immunotherapy, called adoptive T cell therapy, is demonstrating promising results for blood cancers and may have potential against other types of cancers, too.
In adoptive T cell therapy, T cells (in blue, above) are extracted from the patient and modified to recognize unique cancer markers and attack the cells carrying those markers. They are then reinfused back into the patient, where they can kill cancer cells throughout the body. (Photo credit: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory)
What is adoptive T cell therapy and how does it work to treat cancer?
Every day, our immune system works to recognize and destroy abnormal, mutated cells. But the abnormal cells that eventually become cancer are the ones that slip past this defense system. The idea behind this therapy is to make immune cells (specifically, T lymphocytes) sensitive to cancer-specific abnormalities so that malignant cells can be targeted and attacked throughout the body.
Who would be good candidates for this type of therapy?
Currently, adoptive T cell therapy is mostly used to treat lymphoma and lymphoid leukemia, because these cancer cells have unique surface markers that we can reprogram T cells to recognize and attack. However, we also studying how to adapt this approach to treat other cancers as well, including myeloid leukemia, multiple myeloma and solid tumors.
What happens to the patient during this therapy?
First, we collect the patient's own T cells from the bloodstream, which takes about four hours. The cells are then modified to recognize the patient's cancer; a two- to three-week process in our laboratories. They are then frozen for later use as needed.
While the T cells are being modified, the patient undergoes an autologous stem cell transplant. Afterward, the re-engineered T cells are infused back into the patient so that they can kill any residual cancer cells that remained after the transplant. Depending on the type of cancer, its stage, the patient's health and other factors, some patients may receive the modified T cell infusions shortly after their transplant; others may get their infusions later on, when tests showed that the cancer has relapsed.
The Application of Natural Killer Cell Immunotherapy for the Treatment of Cancer
Katayoun Rezvani1* and Rayne H. Rouce2,3
THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF THE RESEARCH TOPIC NK cell-based cancer immunotherapy
Front. Immunol., 17 November 2015 | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2015.00578
Natural killer (NK) cells are essential components of the innate immune system and play a critical role in host immunity against cancer. Recent progress in our understanding of NK cell immunobiology has paved the way for novel NK cell-based therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer. In this review, we will focus on recent advances in the field of NK cell immunotherapy, including augmentation of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, manipulation of receptor-mediated activation, and adoptive immunotherapy with ex vivo-expanded, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered, or engager-modified NK cells. In contrast to T lymphocytes, donor NK cells do not attack non-hematopoietic tissues, suggesting that an NK-mediated antitumor effect can be achieved in the absence of graft-vs.-host disease. Despite reports of clinical efficacy, a number of factors limit the application of NK cell immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer, such as the failure of infused NK cells to expand and persist in vivo. Therefore, efforts to enhance the therapeutic benefit of NK cell-based immunotherapy by developing strategies to manipulate the NK cell product, host factors, and tumor targets are the subject of intense research. In the preclinical setting, genetic engineering of NK cells to express CARs to redirect their antitumor specificity has shown significant promise. Given the short lifespan and potent cytolytic function of mature NK cells, they are attractive candidate effector cells to express CARs for adoptive immunotherapies. Another innovative approach to redirect NK cytotoxicity towards tumor cells is to create either bispecific or trispecific antibodies, thus augmenting cytotoxicity against tumor-associated antigens. These are exciting times for the study of NK cells; with recent advances in the field of NK cell biology and translational research, it is likely that NK cell immunotherapy will move to the forefront of cancer immunotherapy over the next few years.
Natural killer (NK) cell-mediated cytotoxicity contributes to the innate immune response against various malignancies, including leukemia (1, 2). The antitumor effect of NK cells is a subject of intense investigation in the field of cancer immunotherapy. In this review, we will focus on recent advances in NK cell immunotherapy, including
augmentation of antibody-dependent cytotoxicity,
manipulation of receptor-mediated activation, and
adoptive immunotherapy with ex vivo-expanded,
chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered, or
engager-modified NK cells.
Biology of NK Cells Relevant to Adoptive Immunotherapy
Natural killer cells are characterized by the lack of CD3/TCR molecules and by the expression of CD16 and CD56 surface antigens. Around 90% of circulating NK cells are CD56dim, characterized by their distinct ability to mediate cytotoxicity in response to target cell stimulation (3, 4). This subset includes the alloreactive NK cells that play a central role in targeting leukemia cells in the setting of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) (5). The remaining NK cells, predominantly housed in lymphoid organs, are CD56bright, and although less mature ("unlicensed") (3, 6, 7), they have a greater capability to secrete and respond to cytokines (8, 9). CD56bright and CD56dim NK cells are also distinguished by their differential expression of FcγRIII (CD16), an integral determinant of NK-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), with CD56dim NK cells expressing high levels of the receptor, while CD56bright NK cells are CD16 dim or negative (6). In contrast to T and B lymphocytes, NK cells do not express rearranged, antigen-specific receptors; rather, NK effector function is dictated by the integration of signals received through germ-line-encoded receptors that can recognize ligands on their cellular targets. Functionally, NK cell receptors are classified as activating or inhibitory. NK cell function, including cytotoxicity and cytokine release, is governed by a balance between signals received from inhibitory receptors, notably the killer Ig-like receptors (KIRs) and the heterodimeric C-type lectin receptor (NKG2A), and activating receptors, in particular the natural cytotoxicity receptors (NCRs) NKp46, NKp30, NKp44, and the C-type lectin-like activating immunoreceptor NKG2D (9).
The inhibitory KIRs (iKIRs) with known HLA ligands include KIR2DL2 and KIR2DL3, which recognize the HLA-C group 1-related alleles characterized by an asparagine residue at position 80 of the α-1 helix (HLA-CAsn80); KIR2DL1, which recognizes the HLA-C group 2-related alleles characterized by a lysine residue at position 80 (HLA-CLys80); and KIR3DL1, which recognizes the HLA-Bw4 alleles (9, 10). NK cells also express several activating receptors that are potentially specific for self-molecules. KIR2DS1 has been shown to interact with group 2 HLA-C molecules (HLA-C2), while KIR2DS2 was recently shown to recognize HLA-A*11 (10, 11). Hence, these receptors require mechanisms to prevent inadvertent activation against normal tissues, processes referred to as "tolerance to self." Engagement of iKIR receptors by HLA class I leads to signals that block NK-cell triggering during effector responses. These receptors explain the "missing self" hypothesis, which postulates that NK cells survey tissues for normal levels of the ubiquitously expressed MHC class I molecules (12, 13). Upon cellular transformation or viral infection, surface MHC class I expression on the cell surface is often reduced or lost to evade recognition by antitumor T cells. When a mature NK cell encounters transformed cells lacking MHC class I, their inhibitory receptors are not engaged, and the unsuppressed activating signals, in turn, can trigger cytokine secretion and targeted attack of the virus-infected or transformed cell (13, 14). In parallel, cellular stress and DNA damage (occurring in cells during viral or malignant transformation) results in upregulation of "stress ligands" that can be recognized by activating NK receptors. Thus, human tumor cells that have lost self-MHC class I expression or bear "altered-self" stress-inducible proteins are ideal targets for NK recognition and killing (14–16). NK cells directly kill tumor cells through several mechanisms, including release of cytoplasmic granules containing perforin and granzyme (16–18), expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family members, such as FasL or TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), which induce tumor cell apoptosis by interacting with their respective receptors Fas and TRAIL receptor (TRAILR) (16–19) as well as ADCC (9).
Interaction Between Natural Killer Cells and Other Immune Subsets
Increasing understanding of NK cell biology and their interaction with other cells of the immune system has led to several novel immunotherapeutic approaches as discussed in this review. NK cells produce cytokines that can exert regulatory control of downstream adaptive immune responses by influencing the magnitude of T cell responses, specifically T helper-1 (TH1) function (20). NK cell function, in turn, is regulated by cytokines, such as IL-2, IL-15, IL-12, and IL-18 (21), as well as by interactions with other cell types, such as dendritic cells, macrophages, and mesenchymal stromal cells (10, 22, 23). IL-15 has emerged as a pivotal cytokine required for NK cell development and maintenance. Whereas mice deficient in IL-2 (historically the cytokine of choice to expand and activate NK cells) have normal NK cells, IL-15-deficient mice lack NK cells (24).
Several cytokines are also known to inhibit NK cell activation and function, thus playing a crucial role in tumor escape from NK immune surveillance. Recently, considerable attention has been paid to the inhibitory effects of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) and IL-10 on NK cell cytotoxicity (12, 25, 26). Several groups have shown that secretion of TGF-β by tumor cells results in downregulation of activating receptors, such as NKp30 and NKG2D, with resultant NK dysfunction (25,26). Similarly, IL-10 production by acute myeloid leukemia (AML) blasts induces upregulation of NKG2A with significant impairment in NK function (3).
Modulation of Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity
The CD56dim subset of NK cells expresses the Fcγ receptor CD16, through which NK cells mount ADCC, providing opportunities for its modulation to augment NK effector function (27, 28). In fact, a number of clinically approved therapeutic antibodies targeting tumor-associated antigens (such as rituximab or cetuximab) function at least partially through triggering NK cell-mediated ADCC. Several studies using mouse tumor models have established that efficient antibody–Fc receptor (FcR) interactions are essential for the efficacy of monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy, a mainstay of cancer therapy (28, 29). Based on this premise, Romain et al. successfully engineered the Fc region of the IgG mAb, HuM195 targeting the AML leukemia antigen CD33, by introducing the triple mutation S293D/A330L/I332E (DLE). Using timelapse imaging microscopy in nanowell grids (TIMING, a method of analyzing kinetics of thousands of NK cells and mAb-coated targets), they demonstrated that the DLE-HuM195 antibody increased both the quality and quantity of NK cell-mediated ADCC by recruiting NK cells to participate in cytotoxicity via CD16-mediated signaling. NK cells encountering DLE-HuM195-coated targets induced rapid target cell apoptosis by promoting conjugation to multiple target cells (leading to increased "serial killing" of targets), thus inducing apoptosis in twice the number of targets as the wild-type mAb (27).
Additional approaches under investigation to enhance NK cell-mediated ADCC include antibody engineering and therapeutic combination of antibodies predicted to have synergistic activity. For example, mogamulizumab (an anti-CCR4 mAb recently approved in Japan) is defucosylated to increase binding by FcγRIIIA and thereby enhances ADCC. Mogamulizumab successfully induced ADCC activity against CCR4-positive cell lines and inhibited the growth of EBV-positive NK-cell lymphomas in a murine xenograft model (30). These findings suggest that mogamulizumab may be a therapeutic option against EBV-associated T and NK-lymphoproliferative diseases (30). Obinutuzumab (GA101) is a novel type II glycoengineered mAb against CD20 with increased FcγRIII binding and ADCC activity. In contrast to rituximab, GA101 induces activation of NK cells irrespective of their inhibitory KIR expression, and its activity is not negatively affected by KIR/HLA interactions (31). These data show that modification of the Fc fragment to enhance NK-mediated ADCC can be an effective strategy to augment the efficacy of therapeutic mAbs (31).
Although enhanced NK-mediated ADCC occurs in the presence of certain mAbs, in the case of non-engineered mAbs (such as rituximab), this NK-mediated cytotoxicity is typically still under the jurisdiction of KIR-mediated inhibition. However, ADCC responses can be potentiated in vitro in the presence of antibodies that block NK cell inhibitory receptor interaction with MHC class I ligands (32). These include the use of anti-KIR Abs to block the interaction of iKIRs with their cognate HLA class I ligands. To exploit this pathway pharmacologically, a fully humanized anti-KIR mAb 1-7F9 (IPH2101) (33) with the ability to block KIR2DL1/L2/L3 and KIR2DS1/S2 was generated. In vitro, anti-KIR mAbs can augment NK cell-mediated lysis of HLA-C-expressing tumor cells, including autologous AML blasts and autologous CD138+ multiple myeloma (MM) cells (34). Additionally, in a dose-escalation phase 1 clinical trial in elderly patients with AML, 1-7F9 mAb was reported to be safe and could block KIRs for prolonged periods (35). A recombinant version of this mAb with a stabilized hinge (lirilumab) was recently developed. Lirilumab is a fully humanized IgG4 anti-KIR2DL1, -L2, -L3, -S1, and -S2 mAb. The iKIRs targeted by lirilumab collectively recognize virtually all HLA-C alleles, and the blockade of the three KIR2DLs allows targeting of every patient without the need for prior HLA or KIR typing (33, 34). Furthermore, the combination of an anti-KIR mAb with the immunomodulatory drug lenalidomide was shown to potentiate ADCC and is being tested in a phase 1 clinical trial in patients with MM [NCT01217203 (35)]. A potential concern is related to how inhibitory KIR blockade may impact on the ability of NK cells to discriminate self, healthy cells from abnormal virally infected or cancerous cells. Preliminary in vitro data suggest that Ab blockade of iKIRs will preferentially augment the ADCC response, without increasing cytotoxicity against self healthy cells (32). It is reassuring that in the IPH2101 phase 1 studies, no alterations in the expression of major inhibitory or activating NK receptors or frequencies of circulating peripheral lymphocytes were reported, indicating that the Ab does not induce clinically significant targeting of normal cells by NK cells (35). Lin et al. recently reported on the application of an agonistic NK cell-targeted mAb to augment ADCC (36). Following FcR triggering during ADCC, expression of the activation marker CD137 is increased. Agonistic antibodies targeting CD137 have been reported to augment NK-cell function, including degranulation, secretion of IFN-γ, and antitumor cytotoxicity in in vitro and in vivo preclinical models of tumor (36–39). The combination of the agonistic anti-CD137 antibody with rituximab is currently being evaluated in a phase 1 trial in patients with lymphoma [NCT01307267 (35–37)].
Other factors, such as specific CD16 polymorphisms and NKG2D engagement, can also influence ADCC, with certain polymorphisms (such as FcγRIIIa-V158F polymorphism) resulting in a stronger IgG binding (40). These findings are clinically relevant, as supported by the observation that patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) with the FcγRIIIa-V158F polymorphism experienced improved clinical response to rituximab (41, 42). In summary, several antibody combinations designed to boost ADCC have shown promising results in preclinical and early clinical trials, thus warranting further study of this strategy to enhance NK cell activity against tumor cells.
Adoptive Transfer of Autologous NK Cells
The early studies of adoptive NK cell therapy focused on enhancing the antitumor activity of endogenous NK cells (43). Initial trials of adoptive NK therapy in the autologous setting involved using CD56 beads to select NK cells from a leukapheresis product and subsequently infusing the bead-selected autologous NK cells into patients (43, 44). Infusions were followed by administration of systemic cytokines (most commonly IL-2) to provide additional in vivo stimulation and support their expansion. This strategy met with limited success due to a combination of factors (44). Although cytokine stimulation promoted NK cell activation and resulted in greater cytotoxicity against malignant targets in vitro, only limited in vivoantitumor activity was observed (43–45). Similar findings were observed when autologous NK cells and systemic IL-2 were given as consolidation treatment to patients with lymphoma who underwent autologous BMT (46). The poor clinical outcomes observed with adoptive transfer of ex vivo activated autologous NK cells followed by systemic IL-2 were attributed to three factors: (1) development of severe life-threatening side effects, such as vascular leak syndrome as a result of IL-2 therapy; (2) IL-2-induced expansion of regulatory T cells known to directly inhibit NK cell function and induce activation-induced cell death (47–49); and (3) lack of antitumor effect related to the inhibition of autologous NK cells by self-HLA molecules. Strategies to overcome this autologous "checkpoint," thus redirecting autologous NK cells to target and kill leukemic blasts are the subject of intense investigation (33–35). These include the use of anti-KIR Abs (such as the aforementioned lirilumab) to block the interaction of inhibitory receptors on the surface of NK cells with their cognate HLA class I ligand.
Exploiting the Alloreactivity of Allogeneic NK Cells – Adoptive Immunotherapy and Beyond
An alternative strategy is to use allogeneic instead of autologous NK cells, thus taking advantage of the inherent alloreactivity afforded by the "missing self" concept (13). Over the past decade, adoptive transfer of ex vivo-activated or -expanded allogeneic NK cells has emerged as a promising immunotherapeutic strategy for cancer (24, 50–52). Allogeneic NK cells are less likely to be subject to the inhibitory response resulting from NK cell recognition of self-MHC molecules as seen with autologous NK cells. A number of studies have shown that infusion of haploidentical NK cells to exploit KIR/HLA alloreactivity is safe and can mediate impressive clinical activity in some patients with AML (50–52). In fact, algorithms have been developed to ensure selection of stem cell donors with the greatest potential for NK cell alloreactivity for allogeneic HSCT (50).
Promising results in the HSCT setting suggest that the application of this strategy in the non-transplant setting may be a plausible option. Miller et al. were among the first to show that adoptive transfer of ex vivo-expanded haploidentical NK cells after lymphodepleting chemotherapy is safe, and can result in expansion of NK cells in vivo without inducing graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) (50). In a phase I dose-escalation trial, 43 patients with either hematologic malignancies (poor prognosis AML or Hodgkin lymphoma) or solid tumor (metastatic melanoma or renal cell carcinoma) received up to 2 × 107cells/kg of haploidentical NK cells following either low intensity [low-dose cyclophosphamide (Cy) and methylprednisolone or fludarabine (Flu)] or high intensity regimens (Hi-Cy/Flu). All patients received subcutaneous IL-2 after NK cell infusion. Whereas adoptively infused NK cells persisted only transiently following low intensity regimens, AML patients who received the more intense Hi-Cy/Flu regimen had a marked rise in endogenous IL-15 associated with expansion of donor NK cells and induction of complete remission (CR) in five of 19 very high-risk patients. The superior NK expansion observed after high-dose compared to low-dose chemotherapy was attributed to a combination of factors including prevention of host T cell-mediated rejection and higher levels of cytokines, such as IL-15. These findings provided the first evidence that haploidentical NK cells are safe and can persist and expand in vivo, supporting the proof of concept that NK cells may be applied for the treatment of selected malignancies either alone or as an adjunct to HSCT (50).
Another pivotal pilot study, the NKAML trial (Pilot Study of Haploidentical NK Transplantation for AML), reported that infusion of KIR-HLA-mismatched donor NK cells can reduce the risk of relapse in childhood AML (51). Ten pediatric patients with favorable or intermediate risk AML in first CR were enrolled following completion of 4–5 cycles of chemotherapy. All patients received a low-dose conditioning regimen consisting of Cy/Flu prior to infusion of NK cells (median, 29 × 106/kg NK cells) from a haploidentical donor, followed by six doses of IL-2. NK infusions were well tolerated with limited non-hematologic toxicity. All patients had transient engraftment of NK cells for a median of 10 days (range 2–189 days) with significant expansion of KIR-mismatched NK cells. With a median follow-up of 964 days, all patients remained in remission, suggesting that donor-recipient HLA-mismatched NK cells may reduce the risk of relapse in childhood AML (51).
Other strategies currently under investigation include the infusion of KIR-ligand-mismatched haploidentical NK cells as part of the pre-HSCT conditioning regimen (NCT00402558), and NK cell infusion to prevent relapse or as therapy for minimal residual disease in patients after haploidentical HSCT (NCT01386619).
Human NK Cell Lines as a Source of NK Immunotherapy
The adoptive transfer of NK cell lines has several theoretical advantages over the use of patient- or donor-derived NK cells. These are primarily related to the lack of expression of iKIRs, presumed lack of immunogenicity, ease of expansion and availability as an "off-the-shelf" product (85). Several human NK cell lines, such as NK-92 and KHYG-1, have been documented to exert antitumor activity in both preclinical and clinical settings (86–88). NK-92, the most extensively characterized NK-cell line, was established in 1994 from the PB of a male Caucasian patient with NHL. NK-92 cells are IL-2-dependent, harbor a CD2+CD56+CD57+ phenotype and exert potent in vitro cytotoxicity (86). Infusion of up to 1010 cells/m2NK-92 cells into patients with advanced lung cancer and other advanced malignancies was well tolerated and the cells persisted for a minimum of 48 h with encouraging clinical responses (86, 88–91). However, potential limitations of using NK cell lines, such as NK-92 cells, include the requirement for irradiation to reduce the risk of engrafting cells with potential in vivo tumorigenicity, and the need for pre-infusion conditioning to avoid host rejection. Furthermore, infusion of allogeneic NK cell lines may induce T and B cell alloimmune responses, limiting their in vivo persistence and precluding multiple infusions. A number of studies are testing NK-92 cells (Neukoplast®) in patients with solid tumors, such as Merkel cell cancer and renal cell carcinoma, as well as in hematological malignancies (85).
While results from clinical studies of NK cell adoptive therapy are encouraging (48–52, 70), significant gaps remain in our understanding of the optimal conditions for NK cell infusion. Based on the pioneering work from Rosenberg et al. demonstrating the importance of lymphodepletion to support the expansion of tumor-infiltrating T cells (92) and given its emergence as a key determinant of efficacy with CAR therapy, several groups are actively investigating the ideal preparative regimen to promote the expansion and persistence of adoptively infused NK cells (53, 69, 70, 75). Available data support the use of high-dose Cy/Flu regimen as the frontrunner, considering it is reasonably well tolerated and shown to support the in vivo expansion of NK cells (51, 70). IL-15 is an ideal candidate cytokine for the expansion of NK cells in vivo, especially since it does not promote expansion of regulatory T cells (66), which have been shown to suppress NK cell effector function in IL-2-based trials (69, 70). In a recent phase 1 study in patients with metastatic melanoma or renal cell carcinoma, rhIL-15 was shown to activate NK cells, monocytes, γδ, and CD8 T cells (93). However, as an intravenous bolus dose, rhIL-15 proved too difficult to administer because of significant clinical toxicities (93). Based on these promising data, alternative dosing strategies are being investigated, including continuous intravenous infusions. To this effect, systemic IL-15 along with infusion of donor NK cells are currently being tested in a phase I clinical trial for AML (NCT01385423).
Bispecific and Trispecific Engagers
An innovative immunoglobulin-based strategy to redirect NK cytotoxicity towards tumor cells is to create either bispecific or trispecific antibodies (BiKE, TriKE) (113). BiKEs are constructed by joining a single-chain Fv against CD16 and a single-chain Fv against a tumor-associated antigen (BiKE), or two tumor-associated antigens (TriKE). Gleason et al. showed that bispecific (bscFv) CD16/CD19 and trispecific (tscFv) CD16/CD19/CD22 engagers directly trigger NK cell activation through CD16, significantly increasing NK cell cytolytic activity and cytokine production against various CD19-expressing B cell lines. The same group also developed and tested a CD16 × 33 BiKE in refractory AML and demonstrated that the potent killing by NK cells could overcome the inhibitory effect of KIR signaling (113, 114).
Notably, activated NK cells lose CD16 (FcRγIII) and CD62L through a metalloprotease called ADAM17, which is expressed on NK cells, which may in turn impact on the efficacy of Fc-mediated cytotoxicity (115). Romee et al. recently showed that selective inhibition of ADAM17 enhances CD16-mediated NK cell function by preserving CD16 on the NK cell surface, thus enhancing ADCC (115). Additionally, Fc-induced production of cytokines by NK cells exposed to rituximab-coated B cell targets can be further enhanced by ADAM17 inhibition. These findings support a role for targeting ADAM17 to prevent CD16 shedding and to improve the efficacy of therapeutic mAbs. The same group subsequently discovered that ADAM17 inhibition enhances CD16 × 33 BiKE responses against primary AML targets (114).
NK Cells – What Does the Future Hold?
Recent advances in the understanding of NK cell immunobiology have paved the way for novel and innovative anti-cancer therapies. Here, we have discussed a representation of these novel immunotherapeutic strategies to potentiate NK cell function and enhance antitumor activity including ADCC-inducing mAbs, ex vivo activated or genetically modified NK cells and bi- or trispecific engagers (Figure 1).
Issues Need to be Resolved With ImmunoModulatory Therapies: NK cells, mAbs, and adoptive T cells
Posted in Cancer and Current Therapeutics, CANCER BIOLOGY & Innovations in Cancer Therapy, Immunology, Immunotherapy, tagged adoptive T cell, Cancer immunology, cancer immunotherapeutics, cancer vaccine, immunomodulation, immunomodulatory, natural killer cells, vaccine on May 1, 2016| 1 Comment »
Issues Need to be Resolved With Immuno-Modulatory Therapies: NK cells, mAbs, and adoptive T cells
Curator: Stephen J. Williams, PhD
Immunotherapy. 2014;6(3):309-20. doi: 10.2217/imt.13.175.
Optimizing NKT cell ligands as vaccine adjuvants.
Carreño LJ1, Kharkwal SS, Porcelli SA.
NKT cells are a subpopulation of T lymphocytes with phenotypic properties of both T and NK cells and a wide range of immune effector properties. In particular, one subset of these cells, known as invariant NKT cells (iNKT cells), has attracted substantial attention because of their ability to be specifically activated by glycolipid antigens presented by a cell surface protein called CD1d. The development of synthetic α-galactosylceramides as a family of powerful glycolipid agonists for iNKT cells has led to approaches for augmenting a wide variety of immune responses, including those involved in vaccination against infections and cancers. Here, we review basic, preclinical and clinical observations supporting approaches to improving immune responses through the use of iNKT cell-activating glycolipids. Results from preclinical animal studies and preliminary clinical studies in humans identify many promising applications for this approach in the development of vaccines and novel immunotherapies.
Cancer Res. 2013 Jul 1;73(13):3842-51. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-1974. Epub 2013 May 23.
Avirulent Toxoplasma gondii generates therapeutic antitumor immunity by reversing immunosuppression in the ovarian cancer microenvironment.
Baird JR1, Fox BA, Sanders KL, Lizotte PH, Cubillos-Ruiz JR, Scarlett UK, Rutkowski MR, Conejo-Garcia JR, Fiering S, Bzik DJ.
Reversing tumor-associated immunosuppression seems necessary to stimulate effective therapeutic immunity against lethal epithelial tumors. Here, we show this goal can be addressed using cps, an avirulent, nonreplicating uracil auxotroph strain of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), which preferentially invades immunosuppressive CD11c(+) antigen-presenting cells in the ovarian carcinoma microenvironment. Tumor-associated CD11c(+) cells invaded by cps were converted to immunostimulatory phenotypes, which expressed increased levels of the T-cell receptor costimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86. In response to cps treatment of the immunosuppressive ovarian tumor environment, CD11c(+) cellsregained the ability to efficiently cross-present antigen and prime CD8(+) T-cell responses. Correspondingly, cps treatment markedly increased tumor antigen-specific responses by CD8(+) T cells. Adoptive transfer experiments showed that these antitumor T-cell responses were effective in suppressing solid tumor development. Indeed, intraperitoneal cps treatment triggered rejection of established ID8-VegfA tumors, an aggressive xenograft model of ovarian carcinoma, also conferring a survival benefit in a related aggressive model (ID8-Defb29/Vegf-A). The therapeutic benefit of cps treatment relied on expression of IL-12, but it was unexpectedly independent of MyD88 signaling as well as immune experience with T. gondii. Taken together, our results establish that cps preferentially invades tumor-associated antigen-presenting cells and restores their ability to trigger potent antitumor CD8(+) T-cell responses. Immunochemotherapeutic applications of cps might be broadly useful to reawaken natural immunity in the highly immunosuppressive microenvironment of most solid tumors.
Oncoimmunology. 2013 Jun 1;2(6):e24677. Epub 2013 Apr 29.
TLR3 agonists improve the immunostimulatory potential of cetuximab against EGFR+ head and neck cancer cells.
Ming Lim C1, Stephenson R, Salazar AM, Ferris RL.
Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) agonists have been extensively used as adjuvants for anticancer vaccines. However, their immunostimulatory effects and precise mechanisms of action in the presence of antineoplastic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have not yet been evaluated. We investigated the effect of TLR3 agonists on cetuximab-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) against head and neck cancer (HNC) cells, as well as on dendritic cell (DC) maturation and cross-priming of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-specific CD8+ T cells. The cytotoxic activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) or isolated natural killer (NK) cells expressing polymorphic variants (at codon 158) of the Fcγ receptor IIIa (FcγIIIa) was determined in 51Cr release assays upon incubation with the TLR3 agonist poly-ICLC. NK cell stimulation was measured based on activation and degranulation markers, while DC maturation in the presence of poly-ICLC was assessed using flow cytometry. The DC-mediated cross priming of EGFR-specific CD8+ T cells was monitored upon in vitro stimulation with tetramer-based flow cytometry. TLR3-stimulated, unfractionated PBMCs from HNC patients mediated robust cetuximab-dependent ADCC, which was abrogated by NK-cell depletion. The cytolytic activity of TLR3-stimulated NK cells differed among cells expressing different polymorphic variants of FcγRIIIa, and NK cells exposed to both poly-ICLC and cetuximab expressed higher levels of CD107a and granzyme B than their counterparts exposed to either stimulus alone. Poly-ICLC plus cetuximab also induced a robust upregulation of CD80, CD83 and CD86 on the surface of DCs, a process that was partially NK-cell dependent. Furthermore, DCs matured in these conditions exhibited improved cross-priming abilities, resulting in higher numbers of EGFR-specific CD8+ T cells. These findings suggest that TLR3 agonists may provide a convenient means to improve the efficacy of mAb-based anticancer regimens.
Ann Oncol. 2012 Sep; 23(Suppl 8): viii6–viii9.
doi: 10.1093/annonc/mds256
Immuno-oncology: understanding the function and dysfunction of the immune system in cancer
J. Finn*
Interactions between the Immune System and Cancer
Evidence has been accumulating since the middle of the last century, first from animal models and later from studies in cancer patients, that the immune system can recognise and reject tumours. The goal of tumour immunology has been to understand the components of the immune system that are important for tumour immunosurveillance and tumour rejection to understand how, when, and why they fail in cases of clinical disease. Immunotherapy, which involves strengthening the cancer patient's immune system by improving its ability to recognise the tumour or providing a missing immune effector function, is one treatment approach that holds promise of a life-long cure [4].
Studies of cancer–immune system interactions have revealed that every known innate and adaptive immune effector mechanism participates in tumour recognition and control [5]. The first few transformed cells are detected by NK cells through their encounter with specific ligands on tumour cells. This leads to the destruction of some transformed cells and the uptake and processing of their fragments by macrophages and dendritic cells. In turn, these macrophages and dendritic cells are activated to secrete many inflammatory cytokines and present tumour cell-derived molecules to T- and B cells. Activation of T- and B cells leads to the production of additional cytokines that further promote activation of innate immunity and support the expansion and production of tumour-specific T cells and antibodies, respectively. The full power of the adaptive immune system leads to the elimination of remaining tumour cells and, importantly, to the generation of immune memory to specific tumour components that will serve to prevent tumour recurrence.
Effectors of adaptive immunity, such as CD4+ helper T cells, CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, and antibodies, specifically target tumour antigens; i.e. molecules expressed in tumour cells, but not in normal cells. Tumour antigens are normal cellular proteins that are abnormally expressed as a result of genetic mutations, quantitative differences in expression, or differences in posttranslational modifications [5]. In tumour types that have a well-documented viral origin, such as cervical cancer, caused by the human papillomavirus [5], or hepatocellular carcinoma caused by the hepatitis B virus [6], viral proteins can also serve as tumour antigens and targets for antitumour immune response [7].
The first indication that tumours carried molecules distinct from those on the normal cell of origin was derived from immunising mice with human tumours and selecting antibodies that recognised human tumour cells but not their normal counterparts. The major question was whether some, or all, of these molecules would also be recognised by the human immune system. 2011 was an important anniversary for human tumour immunology, marking 20 years since the publication by van der Bruggen et al. [8] that described the cloning of MAGE-1, a gene that encodes a human melanoma antigen recognised by patient's antitumour T cells. This was not a mutant protein; its recognition by the immune system was due to the fact that it was only expressed by transformed, malignant cells and, with the exception of testicular germ cells, was not expressed in normal adult tissue. Many similar discoveries followed, with each new molecule providing a better understanding of what might be good targets for different forms of cancer immunotherapy. Tumour antigens have been tested as vaccines, as targets for monoclonal antibodies, and as targets for adoptively transferred cytotoxic T cells. There is a wealth of publications from preclinical studies targeting these antigens and results from phase I/II clinical trials. Recently, these studies were critically reviewed and a list of tumour antigens with the largest body of available data compiled [9]. The goal was to encourage faster progress in the design, testing, and approval of immunotherapeutic reagents that incorporate or target the most promising antigens.
As highlighted in the article two scenarios which present problems emerged:
In the past, immunotherapy was referred to as 'passive' (e.g. the infusion of preformed immune effectors, such as antibodies, cytokines, or activated T cells, NK cells, or lymphokine-activated killer cells), presumably acting directly on the tumour and independent of the immune system or 'active' (e.g. vaccines), designed to activate and therefore be dependent on the patient's immune system. it has since become clear that both passive and active immunotherapies depend on the patient's immune system for long-term tumour control or complete tumour elimination. anticancer monoclonal antibodies are a well-established class of immunotherapeutic agent. HOWEVER, The potential of these antibodies is drastically undermined by their administration relatively late in the disease course, when the patient's immune system is largely compromised. Under more optimal conditions, antibody treatment might result not only in the direct cytostatic or cytotoxic effect on the tumour cell, but also in the loading of antibody-bound tumour antigens onto antigen presenting cells (APC) in the tumour microenvironment. The resultant cross-presentation to antitumour T- and B cells could result in additional antibodies to these antigens being produced, and propagation of the immune response at the tumour site would maintain tumour elimination long after the infused monoclonal antibody is gone.
The same scenario could be predicted for adoptively transferred T cells. Unlike antibodies, transferred T cells persist longer and may provide a memory response [14]; however, as long as the memory response is restricted to one clone, or a limited number of clones, then antigen-negative tumours will be able to escape. In addition, cancer vaccines encounter large numbers of immunosuppressive Tregand MDSC in circulation, as well as immunosuppressive cell-derived soluble products that flood the lymph nodes, preventing maturation of APCs and activation of T cells. Even when vaccines are delivered in the context of ex vivo matured and activated dendritic cells, their ability to activate T cells is compromised by the high-level expression of various molecules on T cells that block this process.
The scenarios proposed above present a rather bleak picture of the potential of immunotherapy to achieve the cure for cancer that has eluded standard therapy [15]. Interestingly, failures of some standard therapies are beginning to be ascribed to their inability to activate the patient's immune system [16]. However, rather than seeing the picture as a deterrent, it should be considered as a road map, providing at least two major directions for new developments in immunotherapy.
The first direction is to continue using the old classes of immunotherapy that target the cancer directly, but to use them in combination with therapies that target the immune system in the tumour microenvironment, such as cytokines, suppressors of Treg or MDSC activity, or antibodies that modulate T-cell activity. The recently approved antibody, ipilimumab, which acts to sustain cytotoxic T-cell activity by augmenting T-cell activation and proliferation, is one example of such an immunomodulatory agent [17].
The other direction is to use immunotherapies, both old and new, for preventing cancer in individuals at high risk [18]. Studies of the tumour microenvironment are providing information about immunosurveillance of tumours from early premalignant lesions to more advanced dysplastic lesions to cancer. At each step, tumour-derived and immune system-derived components have a unique composition that will have distinct effects on immunotherapy. Because these premalignant microenvironments are less developed and immunosuppression is less entrenched, it should be easier to modulate towards the elimination of abnormal cells.
Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2011 Sep;60(9):1309-17. doi: 10.1007/s00262-011-1038-y. Epub 2011 May 28.
Tumor immunotherapy using adenovirus vaccines in combination with intratumoral doses of CpG ODN.
Geary SM1, Lemke CD, Lubaroff DM, Salem AK.
The combination of viral vaccination with intratumoral (IT) administration of CpG ODNs is yet to be investigated as an immunotherapeutic treatment for solid tumors. Here, we show that such a treatment regime can benefit survival of tumor-challenged mice. C57BL/6 mice bearing ovalbumin (OVA)-expressing EG.7 thymoma tumors were therapeutically vaccinated with adenovirus type 5 encoding OVA (Ad5-OVA), and the tumors subsequently injected with the immunostimulatory TLR9 agonist, CpG-B ODN 1826 (CpG), 4, 7, 10, and 13 days later. This therapeutic combination resulted in enhanced mean survival times that were more than 3.5× longer than naïve mice, and greater than 40% of mice were cured and capable of resisting subsequent tumor challenge. This suggests that an adaptive immune response was generated. Both Ad5-OVA and Ad5-OVA + CpG IT treatments led to significantly increased levels of H-2 K(b)-OVA-specific CD8+ lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and intratumorally. Lymphocyte depletion studies performed in vivo implicated both NK cells and CD8+ lymphocytes as co-contributors to the therapeutic effect. Analysis of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) on day 12 post-tumor challenge revealed that mice treated with Ad5-OVA + CpG IT possessed a significantly reduced percentage of regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs) within the CD4+ lymphocyte population, compared with TILs isolated from mice treated with Ad5-OVA only. In addition, the proportion of CD8+ TILs that were OVA-specific was reproducibly higher in the mice treated with Ad5-OVA + CpG IT compared with other treatment groups. These findings highlight the therapeutic potential of combining intratumoral CpG and vaccination with virus encoding tumor antigen.
Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2009 Mar 28;61(3):268-74. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2008.12.005. Epub 2009 Jan 7.
CpG oligonucleotide as an adjuvant for the treatment of prostate cancer.
Lubaroff DM1, Karan D.
The use of an adenovirus transduced to express a prostate cancer antigen (PSA) as a vaccine for the treatment of prostate cancer has been shown to be active in the destruction of antigen-expressing prostate tumor cells in a pre-clinical model, using Balb/C or PSA transgenic mice. The destruction of PSA-secreting mouse prostate tumors was observed in Ad/PSA immunized mice in a prophylaxis study with 70% of the mice surviving long term tumor free. This successful immunotherapy was not observed in therapeutic studies in which tumors were established before vaccination and the development of anti-PSA immune response was not as easily generated in PSA transgenic mice. Immunization of conventional and transgenic animals was enhanced by incorporating a collagen matrix into the immunizing injection. Therefore the need to strengthen anti-PSA and anti-prostate cancer immunity was an obvious next step in developing a successful prostate cancer immunotherapy. Because the use ofimmunostimulatory CpG motifs was shown to enhance immune responses to a wide variety of antigens, our studies incorporated CpG into the Ad/PSA vaccine experimental plans. The results of the subsequent studies demonstrated a dichotomy where Ad/PSA plus CpG enhanced the in vivo destruction of PSA-secreting tumors and the survival of experimental animals, but revealed that the number and in vitro activities of antigen specific CD8+ T cells was decreased as compared to the values observed when the vaccine alone was used for immunization. The dichotomous observations were confirmed using another antigen system, OVA also incorporated into a replication defective adenovirus. Despite the reduction in antigen-specific CD8+ cells after vaccine plus CpG immunization the enhanced destruction of sc and systemic tumors was shown to be mediated entirely by CD8+ T cells. Finally, the reduction of the CD8+ T cells was the result of an observed decrease in the proliferation of the antigen specific cell population.
J Invest Dermatol. 2004 Aug;123(2):371-9.
CpG motifs are efficient adjuvants for DNA cancer vaccines.
Schneeberger A1, Wagner C, Zemann A, Lührs P, Kutil R, Goos M, Stingl G, Wagner SN.
DNA vaccines can induce impressive specific cellular immune response (IR) when taking advantage of their recognition as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP) through Toll-like receptors (TLR) expressed on/in cells of the innate immune system. Among the many types of PAMP,immunostimulatory DNA, so-called CpG motifs, was shown to interact specifically with TLR9, which is expressed in plasmacytoid dendritic cells(pDC), a key regulatory cell for the activation of innate and adaptive IR. We now report that CpG motifs, when introduced into the backbone, are a useful adjuvant for plasmid-based DNA (pDNA) vaccines to induce melanoma antigen-specific protective T cell responses in the Cloudman M3/DBA/2 model. The CpG-enriched pDNA vaccine induced protection against subsequent challenge with melanoma cells at significantly higher levels than its parental unmodified vector. Preferential induction of an antigen-specific, protective T cell response could be demonstrated by (i) induction of antigen-dependent tumor cell protection, (ii) complete loss of protection by in vivo CD4+/CD8+T cell- but not NK cell-depletion, and (iii) the detection of antigen-specific T cell responses but not of relevant NK cell activity in vitro. These results demonstrate that employing PAMP in pDNA vaccines improves the induction of protective, antigen-specific, T cell-mediated IR.
J Biomed Sci. 2016 Jan 25;23(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s12929-016-0238-3.
Combination of the toll like receptor agonist and α-Galactosylceramide as an efficient adjuvant for cancer vaccine.
Gableh F1, Saeidi M2, Hemati S3, Hamdi K4, Soleimanjahi H5, Gorji A6,7,8, Ghaemi A9,10,11.
DNA vaccines have emerged as an attractive approach for the generation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). In our previous study, we found That Toll like receptor (TLR) ligands are promising candidates for the development of novel adjuvants for DNA vaccine. To improve the efficacy of DNA vaccine directed against human papillomavirus (HPV) tumors, we evaluated whether co-administration of a TLR4 ligand, monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL), and Natural Killer T Cell Ligand α-Galactosylceramide(α-GalCer) adjuvants with DNA vaccine would influence the anti-tumor efficacy of DNA vaccinations.
We investigated the effectiveness of α-GalCer and MPL combination as an adjuvant with an HPV-16 E7 DNA vaccine to enhance antitumor immune responses.
By using adjuvant combination for a DNA vaccine, we found that the levels of lymphocyte proliferation, CTL activity, IFN- γ, IL-4 and IL-12 responses, and tumor protection against TC-1 cells were significantly increased compared to the DNA vaccine with individual adjuvants. In addition, inhibition of IL-18 signaling during vaccination decreased IFN-γ responses and tumor protection, and that this inhibition suggested stimulatory role of IL-18 in adjuvant effects of α-GalCer and MPL combination.
The strong adjuvanticity associated with α-GalCer/MPL combination may to be an important tool in the development of novel and strong cancer immunotherapy.
Cancer Sci. 2015 Dec;106(12):1659-68. doi: 10.1111/cas.12824. Epub 2015 Nov 18.
Adjuvant for vaccine immunotherapy of cancer – focusing on Toll-like receptor 2 and 3 agonists for safely enhancing antitumor immunity.
Seya T1, Shime H1, Takeda Y1, Tatematsu M1, Takashima K1, Matsumoto M1.
Immune-enhancing adjuvants usually targets antigen (Ag)-presenting cells to tune up cellular and humoral immunity. CD141(+) dendritic cells (DC) represent the professional Ag-presenting cells in humans. In response to microbial pattern molecules, these DCs upgrade the maturation stage sufficient to improve cross-presentation of exogenous Ag, and upregulation of MHC and costimulators, allowing CD4/CD8 T cells to proliferate and liberating cytokines/chemokines that support lymphocyte attraction and survival. These DCs also facilitate natural killer-mediated cell damage. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and their signaling pathways in DCs play a pivotal role in DC maturation. Therefore, providing adjuvants in addition to Ag is indispensable for successful vaccine immunotherapy for cancer, which has been approved in comparison with antimicrobial vaccines. Mouse CD8α(+) DCs express TLR7 and TLR9 in addition to the TLR2 family (TLR1, 2, and 6) and TLR3, whereas human CD141(+) DCs exclusively express the TLR2 family and TLR3. Although human and mouse plasmacytoid DCs commonly express TLR7/9 to respond to their agonists, the results on mouse adjuvant studies using TLR7/9 agonists cannot be simply extrapolated to human adjuvant immunotherapy. In contrast, TLR2 and TLR3 are similarly expressed in both human and mouse Ag-presenting DCs. Bacillus Calmette-Guerin peptidoglycan and polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid are representative agonists for TLR2 and TLR3, respectively, although they additionally stimulate cytoplasmic sensors: their functional specificities may not be limited to the relevant TLRs. These adjuvants have been posted up to a certain achievement in immunotherapy in some cancers. We herein summarize the history and perspectives of TLR2 and TLR3 agonists in vaccine-adjuvant immunotherapy for cancer.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2015;850:81-91. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-15774-0_7.
Molecular Programming of Immunological Memory in Natural Killer Cells.
Beaulieu AM1, Madera S, Sun JC.
Immunological memory is a hallmark of the adaptive immune system. Although natural killer (NK) cells have traditionally been classified as a component of the innate immune system, they have recently been shown in mice and humans to exhibit certain features of immunological memory, including an ability to undergo a clonal-like expansion during virus infection, generate long-lived progeny (i.e. memory cells), and mediate recall responses against previously encountered pathogens–all characteristics previously ascribed only to adaptive immune responses by B and T cells in mammals. To date, the molecular events that govern the generation of NK cell memory are not completely understood. Using a mouse model of cytomegalovirus infection, we demonstrate that individual pro-inflammatory IL-12, IL-18, and type I-IFN signaling pathways are indispensible and play non-redundant roles in the generation of virus-specific NK cell memory. Furthermore, we discovered that antigen-specific proliferation and protection by NK cells is mediated by the transcription factor Zbtb32, which is induced by pro-inflammatory cytokines and promotes a cell cycle program in activated NK cells. A greater understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling NK cell responses will provide novel strategies for tailoring vaccines to target infectious disease.
Natural Killer Cell Response: Treatment of Cancer
Posted in Gene Regulation, Human Immune System in Health and in Disease, Immunology, Inflammasome, Proteomics, Signaling & Cell Circuits, Stress Disorders, Translational Science, tagged Apoptosis, CD155 DNAM-1 ligand, cellular stress; NK cells; therapy; cancer; immunogenic, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, DNA-damage response, heat shock proteins, immunogenic cell death, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I, natural killer cells, NK cell-activating ligand expression, NKG2D ligands, oncogenes, p53, senescence, tumor suppressors on April 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Molecular mechanisms of natural killer cell activation in response to cellular stress
C J Chan1,2,3, M J Smyth1,2,3,4,5 and L Martinet1,2,4,5 Edited by M Piacentini
Cell Death and Differentiation (2014) 21, 5–14; http://www.nature.com/cdd/journal/v21/n1/full/cdd201326a.htm
Protection against cellular stress from various sources, such as nutritional, physical, pathogenic, or oncogenic, results in the induction of both intrinsic and extrinsic cellular protection mechanisms that collectively limit the damage these insults inflict on the host. The major extrinsic protection mechanism against cellular stress is the immune system. Indeed, it has been well described that cells that are stressed due to association with viral infection or early malignant transformation can be directly sensed by the immune system, particularly natural killer (NK) cells. Although the ability of NK cells to directly recognize and respond to stressed cells is well appreciated, the mechanisms and the breadth of cell-intrinsic responses that are intimately linked with their activation are only beginning to be uncovered. This review will provide a brief introduction to NK cells and the relevant receptors and ligands involved in direct responses to cellular stress. This will be followed by an in-depth discussion surrounding the various intrinsic responses to stress that can naturally engage NK cells, and how therapeutic agents may induce specific activation of NK cells and other innate immune cells by activating cellular responses to stress.
Stress induces specific intrinsic and extrinsic physiological mechanisms within cells that lead to their identification as functionally abnormal
Sources of cellular stress can be nutritional, physical, pathogenic, or oncogenic
Intrinsic responses to cellular stress include activation of the DNA-damage response, tumor-suppressor genes, and senescence
The extrinsic response to cellular stress is activation of the immune system, such as natural killer cells
Intrinsic responses to cellular stress can directly upregulate factors that can activate the immune system, and the immune system been shown to be indispensable for the efficacy of some chemotherapy
Further critical determinants of intrinsic responses to stress and cell death that can activate the immune system must be identified
Identification of the different cellular pathways and molecular determinants controlling the immunogenicity of different cancer therapies is required
How can we harness the ability of therapeutic agents to activate both the intrinsic and extrinsic responses to cellular stress to achieve more specific and safer approaches to cancer treatment?
Any insult to a cell that leads to its abnormal behavior or premature death can be defined as a source of stress. As the turnover and maintenance of cells in all multi-cellular organisms is tightly regulated, it is essential that stressed cells be rapidly identified to avoid widespread tissue damage and to maintain tissue homeostasis. Various intrinsic cellular mechanisms exist within cells that become activated when they are exposed to stress. These include activation of DNA-damage response proteins, senescence programs, and tumor-suppressor genes.1 Extrinsic mechanisms also exist that combat cellular stress, through the upregulation of mediators that can activate different components of the immune system.2 Although frequently discussed separately, much recent evidence has indicated that intrinsic and extrinsic responses to cellular stress are intimately linked.3
As the link between cell intrinsic and extrinsic responses to stress have been uncovered, these observations are now being harnessed therapeutically, particularly in the context of cancer.4 Indeed, various chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy are critically dependent on the immune system to elicit their full therapeutic benefit.5, 6 The mechanisms by which this occurs may be twofold: (i) the induction of intrinsic cellular stress mechanisms activates innate immunity and (ii) the release and presentation of tumor-specific antigens engages an inflammatory adaptive immune response.
NK cells are the major effector lymphocyte of innate immunity found in all the primary and secondary immune compartments as well as various mucosal tissues.7 Through their ability to induce direct cytotoxicity of target cells and produce pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interferon-gamma, NK cells are critically involved in the immune surveillance of tumors8, 9, 10 and microbial infections.11, 12 The major mechanism that regulates NK cell contact-dependent functions (such as cytotoxicity and recognition of targets) is the relative contribution of inhibitory and activating receptors that bind to cognate ligands.
Under normal physiological conditions, NK cell activity is inhibited through the interaction of their inhibitory receptors with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I.13, 14 However, upon instances of cellular stress that are frequently associated with viral infection and malignant transformation, ligands for activating receptors are often upregulated and MHC class I expression may be downregulated. The upregulation of these activating ligands and downregulation of MHC class I thus provides a signal for NK cells to become activated and display effector functions. Activating receptors are able to provide NK cells with a strong stimulus in the absence of co-stimulation due to the presence of adaptor molecules such as DAP10, DAP12, FcRγ, and CD3ζ that contain immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activating motifs (ITAMs).15, 16,17 By contrast, inhibitory receptors contain inhibitory motifs (ITIMs) within their cytoplasmic tails that can activate downstream targets such as SHP-1 and SHP-2 and directly antagonize those signaling pathways activated through ITAMs.18, 19, 20 The specific details of individual classes of inhibitory and activating receptors and their ligands are summarized in Figure 1 and have been extensively reviewed elsewhere.14, 21 Instead, this review will more focus on the relevant activating receptors that are primarily involved in the direct regulation of NK cell-mediated recognition of cellular stress: natural killer group 2D (NKG2D) and DNAX accessory molecule-1 (DNAM-1).
NK cell receptors and their cognate ligands. Major inhibitory and activating receptors on NK cells and their cognate ligands on targets are depicted. BAT3, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B-associated transcript 3; CRTAM, class I-restricted T-cell-associated molecule; HA, hemagglutinin; HLA-E, HLA class I histocompatibility antigen, alpha chain E; IgG, immunoglobulin G; LFA-1, leukocyte function-associated antigen-1; LLT1, lectin-like transcript 1; TIGIT, T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain
NK Cell-Mediated Recognition of Cellular Stress by NKG2D and DNAM-1
NKG2D is a lectin-like type 2 transmembrane receptor expressed as a homodimer in both mice and humans by virtually all NK cells.22, 23 Upon interaction with its ligands, NKG2D can trigger NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity against their targets. The ligands for NKG2D are self proteins related to MHC class I molecules.24 In humans, these ligands consist of the MHC class I chain-related protein (MIC) family (e.g., MICA and MICB) and the UL16-binding protein (ULBP1-6) family.25, 26 In mice, ligands for NKG2D include the retinoic acid early inducible (Rae) gene family, the H60 family, and mouse ULBP-like transcript-1 (MULT-1).27, 28, 29 NKG2D ligands are generally absent on the cell surface of healthy cells but are frequently upregulated upon cellular stress associated with viral infection and malignant transformation.3, 30 Indeed, NKG2D ligand expression has been found on many transformed cell lines, and NKG2D-dependent elimination of tumor cells expressing NKG2D ligands has been well documented in vitro and in tumor transplant experiments.25, 30, 31, 32, 33 In humans, NKG2D ligands have been described on different primary tumors34, 35 and specific NKG2D gene polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to cancer.36 Finally, blocking NKG2D through gene inactivation or monoclonal antibodies leads to an increased susceptibility to tumor development in mouse models,37, 38demonstrating the key role played by NKG2D in immune surveillance of tumors. NKG2D can also contribute to shape tumor immunogenicity, a process called immunoediting, as demonstrated by the frequent ability of tumor cells to avoid NKG2D-mediated recognition through NKG2D ligand shedding, as discussed later in this review.38, 39, 40
DNAM-1 is a transmembrane adhesion molecule constitutively expressed on T cells, NK cells, macrophages, and a small subset of B cells in mice and humans.41, 42, 43 DNAM-1 contains an extracellular region with two IgV-like domains, a transmembrane region and a cytoplasmic region containing tyrosine- and serine-phosphorylated sites that is able to initiate downstream activation cascades.41, 44 There is accumulating evidence showing that DNAM-1 not only promotes adhesion of NK cells and CTLs but also greatly enhances their cytotoxicity toward ligand-expressing targets.41, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 The ligands for DNAM-1 are the nectin/nectin-like family members CD155 (PVR, necl-5) and CD112 (PVRL2, nectin-2).45, 46 Like NKG2D ligands, DNAM-1 ligands are frequently expressed on virus-infected and transformed cells.51, 52DNAM-1 ligands, especially CD155, are overexpressed by many types of solid and hematological malignancies and blocking DNAM-1 interactions with its ligands reduces the ability of NK cells to kill tumor cells in vitro.41, 49, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57 Further evidence of the role of DNAM-1 in tumor immune surveillance is provided by studies using experimental and spontaneous models of cancer in vivo showing enhanced tumor spread in the absence of DNAM-1.47, 48, 49, 50, 58
As NKG2D and DNAM-1 ligands are frequently expressed on stressed cells, many studies have sought to determine the mechanisms that underpin these observations. The guiding hypothesis for these studies is that cell-intrinsic responses to stress are directly linked to cell-extrinsic responses that can trigger rapid NK cell surveillance and elimination of stressed cells. Indeed, major cell-intrinsic responses to cellular stress can directly lead to NK cell-activating ligand upregulation and are outlined in the following sections.
The DNA-Damage Response
Cellular stress caused by the activation of the DNA-damage response leads to downstream apoptosis or cell-cycle arrest. The activation of DNA-damage checkpoints occurs when there are excessive DNA strand breaks and replication errors, thereby representing an important tumorigenesis barrier that can slow or inhibit the progression of malignant transformation.59, 60 Two major transducers of the DNA-damage response are the PI3-kinase-related protein kinases ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated) and ATR (ATM and Rad3-related). ATM and ATR can modulate numerous signaling pathways such as checkpoint kinases (Chk1 and Chk2, which inhibit cell-cycle progression and promote DNA repair) and p53 (which mediates cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis).61
In addition to the induction of cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis, activation of the DNA-damage response has been shown to promote the expression of several activating ligands that are specific for NK cell receptors, primarily those of the NKG2D receptor. These findings have shown a critical direct link between cellular transformation, apoptosis, and surveillance by the immune system.62 The first evidence of this link between DNA damage and immune cell activation was provided by Raulet and colleagues who showed that NKG2D ligands were upregulated by genotoxic stress and stalled DNA replication conditions known to activate either ATM or ATR.63 These observations have now been extended by several other studies that have defined further DNA-damaging conditions (e.g., genotoxic drugs/chemotherapy, deregulated proliferation, or oxidative stress) that can promote NKG2D ligand upregulation.64, 65, 66, 67
The role of the DNA-damage response in controlling NKG2D ligand expression and subsequent NK cell activation has also been demonstrated in the context of anti-viral immunity, specifically in Abelson murine leukemia virus infection.68 This pathogen was shown to induce activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) expression outside the germinal center, resulting in generalized hypermutation, DNA-damage checkpoint activation, and Chk1 phosphorylation. The genotoxic activity of virally induced AID not only restricted the proliferation of infected cells but also induced the expression of NKG2D ligands. More recently, another member of APOBEC-AID family of cytidine deaminases, A3G, has been shown to promote the recognition of HIV-infected cells by NK cells after DNA-damage response activation.69 In this study, viral protein Vpr-mediated repair processes, which generate nicks, gaps, and breaks of DNA, activate an ATM/ATR DNA-damage response that leads to NKG2D ligand expression.
The DNA-damage sensors ATM and ATR have also been shown to regulate other key NK cell-activating ligands such as the DNAM-1 ligand, CD155.58, 65, 70 For example, in the Eμ-myc spontaneous B-cell lymphoma model, activation of the DNA-damage response leads to the upregulation of CD155 in the early-stage transformed B cells, subsequently activating spontaneous tumor regression in an NK cell- and T-cell-dependent manner.58 The DNA-damage response can also regulate the expression of the death receptor DR5.71 The engagement of DR5 by the effector molecule TRAIL, which is expressed by NK cells and T cells, can induce apoptosis of target cells and has been shown to have a key role in immune surveillance against tumors.72 Collectively, these results suggest that the detection of DNA damage, primarily through ATM and ATR, may represent a conserved protection mechanism governing the immunogenicity of infected or transformed cells, leading to direct recognition by NK cells (Figure 2).
Overview of the molecular pathways leading to NK cell recognition of intrinsic cellular stress. Oncogenic transformation and viral infection can activate intrinsic cellular responses to stress. These responses include activation of the DNA-damage response, senescence, tumor suppressors, and the presentation and/or release of HSPs that, in turn, can activate NK cells through various receptor–ligand interactions. Senescent cells can also release pro-inflammatory cytokines that can recruit NK cells and other innate immunity, such as macrophages. CCL2, C-C motif chemokine ligand 2; CXCL11, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 11; DR, death receptor 5; IFN, interferon; IL, interleukin; LFA-1, leukocyte function-associated antigen-1; TRAIL, tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand
As a result of these studies, many therapeutic agents known to induce DNA damage have been evaluated for their ability to increase the immunogenicity of cancer cells for a more targeted therapeutic approach using NK cells.64, 65 For example, treatment of multiple myeloma cells with doxorubicin, melphalan, or bortezomib can lead to DNAM-1 and NKG2D ligand upregulation.65Indeed, many chemotherapeutic agents commonly used, especially in hematological malignancies, can trigger the DNA-damage pathway. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that there is a general role of ATM and ATR in the induction of NK cell activation as a therapeutic effect of these agents.
Senescence
Cellular senescence is generally defined as a growth-arrest program in mammalian cells that limits their lifespan.73 The major type of cellular senescence is replicative senescence that occurs due to telomere shortening. However, it is now generally accepted that premature senescence can also occur due to oncogene activation (oncogene-induced senescence) and/or the loss/gain of tumor-suppressor gene function, in the absence of telomere shortening.74 Thus, premature senescence is an important barrier against malignant transformation.59 Upon engagement of the senescence program, although cells are in growth arrest, they remain metabolically active and can produce many pro-inflammatory cytokines, as well as upregulate adhesion molecules and activating ligands to alert the immune system.75, 76, 77Activation of the immune system, in particular innate immunity, has a critical role in the clearance of senescent cells.78, 79, 80, 81More specifically, in a model of hepatocellular carcinoma, it has been shown that reactivation of p53 can induce a senescence program, resulting in tumor regression through the activation of NK cells, macrophages, and neutrophils. Of note, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, which can trigger both adhesion and cytotoxicity of NK cells,82 and interleukin-15, a cytokine that can promote NK cell effector function,83 were both upregulated in senescent tumors. More recently, the potential contribution of NK cells was also shown in the clearance of senescent hepatic stellate cells, a mechanism important in limiting liver fibrosis in response to a fibrogenic agent.80 ICAM-1, NKG2D ligands (MICA and ULPB2), and DNAM-1 ligands (CD155) were all upregulated on senescent hepatic stellate cells.
The specific mechanisms linking the senescence program to immune activation are not yet fully understood. However, the intracellular molecular mechanisms that govern induction of senescence may provide possible indications. Both replicative senescence and premature senescence (e.g., oncogene-induced senescence) have been shown to have common molecular determinants, such as the activation of the DNA-damage response pathway (e.g., ATM and ATR) and downstream activation of p53 and p16INK4A.1, 59, 84, 85, 86 Activation of the DNA-damage response would presumably initiate the upregulation of NK cell-activating ligands as previously discussed. However, how senescence may be linked to the induction of pro-inflammatory cytokine release is a more compelling question and requires further investigation (Figure 2). Nevertheless, induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines is an important protective mechanism in order to recruit immune cells that can rapidly recognize and remove senescent cells. Interestingly, activation of NK cells by senescent cells has been observed in a clinical context when multiple myeloma cells were treated with chemotherapy and genotoxic agents.65 In this setting, NKG2D and DNAM-1 ligands were both upregulated through a mechanism that required activation of the DNA-damage pathway initiated by ATM and ATR.65
Tumor Suppressors: p53
p53 is a potent tumor suppressor and central regulator of apoptosis, DNA repair, and cell proliferation, that is activated in response to DNA damage, oncogene activation, and other cellular stress.87 The number of identified cellular functions that p53 regulates has greatly increased over the past few years, and there is now a vast array of evidence that shows that p53 can be induced by viral infection88 to limit pathogen spread by inducing apoptosis.89, 90 Furthermore, p53 not only acts as an intrinsic barrier against tumorigenesis or pathogenic spread but can also lead to increased cellular immunogenicity. For example, p53 reactivation in a hepatocellular carcinoma can promote tumor regression mediated by innate immunity.78 A direct link between p53 expression and immune cell recognition was recently provided by Textor et al.91 where expression of p53 in lung cancer cell lines strongly upregulated the NKG2D ligands ULBP1 and 2, resulting in NK cell activation. Subsequently, p53-responsive elements were found to directly regulate ULBP1 and 2 expression, the deletion of which abolished the capacity of p53 to mediate ULBP1 and 2 upregulation. Another recent report that used a pharmacological activator of p53 confirmed the ability of p53 to directly induce ULBP2 expression that was independent of ATM/ATR.92 However, it has also been shown that miR34a and miR34C microRNAs (miRNAs) induced by p53 can target ULBP2 mRNA and reduce its cell-surface expression, suggesting that p53 may have a dual role in regulating ULBP2 expression.93 Finally, early work showed that NKG2D ligands can be upregulated by ATR/ATM in the total absence of p53 in tumor cell lines,62, 63 suggesting the existence of ATM/ATR-dependent and p53-independent pathways that regulate NKG2D ligand expression in response to cellular stress.
In addition to regulating NK cell ligand expression, genetic reactivation of p53 in tumors can also induce a wide array of pro-inflammatory mediators ranging from adhesion receptor (ICAM-1) expression to the production of various chemokines (CXCL11 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) and cytokines (interleukin-15).78 Furthermore, recent studies in anti-viral immunity indicate that several interferon-inducible genes and Toll-like receptor-3 expression are direct transcriptional targets of p53 and that p53 contributes to production of type I interferon by virally infected cells.94, 95, 96 All together, these studies suggest that p53 accumulation could represent a key determinant of the immunogenicity of stressed cells that are infected or undergoing malignant transformation through its ability to regulate innate immune activation.
Oncogenes
Malignant transformation is a complex process that frequently involves the activation of one or more oncogenes in addition to the inactivation or mutation of tumor-suppressor genes (e.g., p53). Oncogene activation is a powerful inducer of cellular stress that is able to activate intrinsic cellular programs that lead to cell apoptosis or senescence (e.g., activation of the DNA-damage response and p53).1 In addition, many recent reports have also shown that major oncogenes can activate extrinsic responses to cellular stress through inducing the upregulation of NK cell-activating ligands.63, 97, 98 This suggests that oncogene activation can represent a key cellular event in alerting the immune system to ongoing cellular transformation (Figure 3).
Molecular mechanisms that regulate the cell surface expression of NKG2D ligands. The major group of NK cell-activating ligands that are upregulated by intrinsic cellular responses to stress are those that bind the NKG2D receptor. Activation of the DNA-damage response, senescence, oncogenes, tumor suppressors, or sensing of deregulated proliferation can induce NKG2D ligand gene transcription and increase mRNA translation, leading to extracellular protein expression. MMP, matrix metalloproteases
The enhanced expression of the proto-oncogene Myc has been described as a critical event leading to cellular transformation and is a frequently found genetic alteration in cancer.99 In a recent study, again using the Eμ-myc model, Medzhitov and colleagues demonstrated the ability of c-Myc to alert NK cells to early oncogenic transformation through the upregulation of Rae-1.97 In this study, the induction of Rae-1 was dependent on the direct regulation of Rae-1 transcription by Myc through its interaction with the Raet1 epsilon gene. Collectively, these results provide a possible direct molecular mechanism to explain the increased susceptibility of NKG2D gene-targeted mice to lymphoma development in the Eμ-myc model.38
Recent evidence suggests that several oncogenic mutations of Ras (H-Ras, N-Ras, and K-Ras) can also regulate NKG2D ligand expression in both mice and humans.98 Interestingly, in this case, NKG2D ligands were regulated through MAPK/MEK and PI3K pathways downstream of oncogenic H-RasV12. The activation of PI3K pathways, and more particularly the p110α subunits by virus-encoded proteins, has also been shown to induce the Rae-1 family of ligands.100 As many viruses can manipulate the PI3K pathway101 and tumors often bear Ras and p110α oncogene mutations,102 collectively, this data suggests that there is the existence of a common molecular mechanism by which NK cells sense cellular stress mediated by PI3K-dependent regulation of NKG2D ligands.
Interestingly, whereas Myc was involved in the transcriptional regulation of NKG2D ligands, PI3K can increase NKG2D ligand expression by increasing the translation of Rae-1 mRNA.98 This involved the induction of eIF4E, a protein that enhances the translation of mRNA.103 As number of tumors and viruses can upregulate host translation initiation machinery through the overexpression of eIF4E,104, 105 this may represent an important means by which NK cells can discriminate tumor- and virus-infected cells from normal cells.
Heat-Shock Proteins (HSPs)
HSPs are highly conserved intracellular chaperone molecules that are present in most prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells that mediate protection against cellular damage under conditions of stress. HSPs are distributed in most intracellular compartments of cells where they support the correct folding of nascent polypeptides, prevent protein aggregation, and assist in protein transport across membranes.106 Many tumors display overexpression of HSPs as a response to cellular stress induced by oncogenic transformation.107, 108 HSPs can also be mobilized to the plasma membrane, or even released from cells, under conditions of stress.109
Although intracellular HSPs can promote cell survival by interfering with different apoptosis components, many studies have reported that membrane-bound or soluble HSPs can directly stimulate innate immunity.110 A major immunostimulatory function of HSPs is to promote the presentation of tumor-specific antigens by MHC class I to CD8 T cells.111, 112, 113 Soluble and membrane-bound HSPs can also induce antigen-presenting cell maturation and the resultant secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines.114, 115, 116Finally, HSPs may directly activate NK cells as HSP70, when overexpressed on tumor cells, can induce a selective dose-dependent increase in NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity in vitro.117 NK cells may directly recognize HSP70 through a 14-amino-acid oligomer (TKD) that is localized in the C-terminal domain of the protein through CD94.118, 119 Tumor-specific HSP70 that is either presented at the cell surface or secreted on exosomes can also enhance NK cell activity against diverse types of cancer in vivo.120, 121 Most importantly, hepatocellular carcinoma cells that are treated with various chemotherapeutic agents can become more susceptible to NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity through their release of HSP-containing exosomes, giving the aforementioned findings a therapeutic context.122 Collectively, these results suggest that HSP translocation to the plasma membrane or secretion during cellular stress may represent a potent danger signal that can stimulate NK cell activity, particularly in the context of cancer.
Emerging Links Between Cellular Stress and NK Cell Activation
Deregulated proliferation
Deregulated proliferation is a critical determinant of cellular transformation and pathogenic infection.123, 124 Interestingly, recent results indicate that the Rae-1 family of ligands is a transcriptional target for E2F transcription factors, which control cell-cycle progression.125 Cellular stress induced by deregulated proliferation may therefore activate NKG2D-bearing lymphocytes, including NK cells, as an early barrier to tumorigenesis. Future studies will have to address whether E2F transcription factors or indeed other cell-cycle regulators can also modulate other NK cell-activating ligands and whether these mechanisms can promote NK cell-tumor immunosurveillance in vivo.
MiRNAs
MiRNAs are an abundant class of small non-coding RNAs that are approximately 22 nucleotides in length. The functions of miRNAs are to directly regulate protein-encoding mRNAs to suppress gene expression.126 Owing to their ability to regulate gene expression, miRNAs have been implicated in many biological and pathological processes.127 Recent studies demonstrate that several miRNAs can regulate the cell-surface expression of NKG2D ligands (MICA, MICB, and ULBP2), therefore implicating miRNAs as a link between intrinsic and extrinsic responses to oncogenic transformation.93,128, 129 Indeed, in the context of cancer, many miRNAs (designated oncomiRs) are activated and are involved in the initiation and progression of disease.130 As such, several oncomiRs have been implicated in the suppression of NKG2D ligand upregulation in various types of cancer, leading to their ability to facilitate tumor escape from NK cell-mediated immunosurveillance.93, 129
Regulation of cell-surface expression
In addition to transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of NK cell receptor ligand expression by intrinsic cellular pathways, recent evidence suggest that stress-induced mechanisms can affect cell-surface expression of such ligands. For example, the expression of MULT-1 NKG2D ligand is repressed at the protein level on normal cells by polyubiquitination of its cytoplasmic tail leading to its degradation. By contrast, upon cellular stress induced by UV irradiation or heat shock, MULT-1 is less ubiquitinated resulting in an increase in cell-surface expression.131
NKG2D ligand shedding, secretion, or excretion in vesicles such as exosomes also seems to regulate their level of expression at the cell surface. For example, cleavage of the extracellular domain of NKG2D ligands by matrix metalloproteases results in their shedding from the cell surface, a common escape mechanism used by tumor cells to avoid NK cell recognition.39, 40, 132, 133 Indeed, soluble NKG2D ligands have been described in many cancer types in humans and usually correlates with a negative prognosis.40, 133,134, 135 Therefore, a better understanding of the intrinsic and extrinsic molecular pathways implicated in NKG2D ligand shedding could have direct therapeutic implications.
Cellular hyperploidy
Cellular hyperploidy occurs when there is an acquisition of more than two sets of chromosomes. For example, tetraploidy (or tetraploidization), where there is the presence of four sets of chromosomes, has been associated with early tumorigenesis due the acquisition of extra genetic material inherently making cells more susceptible to genetic abnormalities. As a barrier to potential oncogenic transformation from cellular hyperploidy, this event can be intrinsically sensed, leading to the inhibition of cell-cycle progression.136 In a recent report, it has also been shown that cellular hyperploidy can be extrinsically sensed by the immune system.137 Hyperploid cells were shown to become immunogenic as a result of a constitutive endoplasmic reticulum stress response that leads to the cell-surface exposure of calreticulin, a potent phagocytic signal for antigen-presenting cells, such as macrophages.138 Interestingly, in this study, it was also shown that ex vivo tumors from Eμ-myc mice crossed to a DNAM-1−/−background exhibited a larger nuclear diameter and P-eIF2αphosphorylation (as surrogate markers for cellular hyperploidy) than tumors from a wild-type background. This suggests that DNAM-1 on NK cells (and T cells) may participate in the immunoselection of hyperploid cells.
Immunogenic cell death
There is now clear evidence that demonstrates that the full clinical efficacy of some conventional chemo- and radiotherapy requires the activation of several immune components.139, 140 A common determinant of this requirement is the ability of these therapies to induce immunogenic cancer cell death. More specifically, it has been shown that cell-surface exposure of calreticulin and the release of high mobility group box-1 and adenosine triphosphate can activate dendritic cells leading to engulfment of dying cells, tumor-specific antigen presentation, and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β6, 141, 142 (Figure 4). Interestingly, although CD8 T cells were the main effectors responsible for the therapeutic effects of chemotherapy in these settings, the efficient priming of these cells required the presence of upstream innate immunity, such as γδ T cells.143 As the phenotype and function of NK cells are modulated in humans during chemotherapy144, 145 and many cellular stress pathways activated by chemotherapy can increase tumor cell sensitivity to NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity and recognition (as discussed in the previous sections), it will be important to determine whether NK cells can also contribute to the efficacy of chemotherapy.
The role of NK cells during immunogenic cell death induced by cancer therapy. (1) Immunogenic cell death induced by various cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy involves the cell surface exposure of calreticulin (CRT), and the release of high mobility group box (HMGB)-1 and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) that triggers dendritic cell engulfment of dying cells, antigen presentation, and production of interleukin (IL)-1β, ultimately leading to activation of CD8 T cells. The efficient priming of tumor-specific CD8 T cells may require the presence of innate immunity such as γδ T cells that produce IL-17 in response to IL-1β. (2) Various cancer therapies can also activate intrinsic cellular responses to stress in tumor cells that can result in the upregulation of NKG2D ligands and the DNAM-1 ligand, CD155. This subsequently leads to the recognition and destruction of tumors by NK cells and CD8 T cells. HDAC, histone deacetylases; IFN, interferon
NK cells provide an important primary defense mechanism against stressed cells. This is due to their ability to respond rapidly to the upregulation of multiple activating ligands. Although frequently documented on stressed cells, the mechanisms that govern the regulation of NK cell-activating ligand expression have only recently become apparent, particularly in the context of cancer. These mechanisms include multiple intrinsic cellular responses, such as
the activation of the DNA-damage response, senescence,
the activation of tumor suppressors and
oncogenes, and
the sensing of deregulated cell proliferation.
Indeed, many forms of chemo- and radiotherapy that are currently used in the clinic that aim to engage these intrinsic cellular responses have been shown to require the immune system, including NK cells for their full efficacy. Thus, formulating specific therapies that can concurrently engage intrinsic and extrinsic responses to cellular stress will hopefully lead to more targeted, effective, and safer approaches for the treatment of cancer.