TY - JOUR A1 - Oliveira-Ferrer, Leticia A1 - Schmalfeldt, Barbara A1 - Dietl, Johannes A1 - Bartmann, Catharina A1 - Schumacher, Udo A1 - Stürken, Christine T1 - Ovarian cancer-cell pericellular hyaluronan deposition negatively impacts prognosis of ovarian cancer patients JF - Biomedicines N2 - Background: Hyaluronan (HA), a component of the extracellular matrix, is frequently increased under pathological conditions including cancer. Not only stroma cells but also cancer cells themselves synthesize HA, and the interaction of HA with its cognate receptors promotes malignant progression and metastasis. Methods: In the present study, HA deposition in tissue sections was analyzed by hyaluronan-binding protein (HABP) ligand histochemistry in 17 borderline tumors and 102 primary and 20 recurrent ovarian cancer samples. The intensity and, particularly, localization of the HA deposition were recorded: for the localization, the pericellular deposition around the ovarian cancer cells was distinguished from the deposition within the stromal compartment. These histochemical data were correlated with clinical and pathological parameters. Additionally, within a reduced subgroup of ovarian cancer samples (n = 70), the RNA levels of several HA-associated genes were correlated with the HA localization and intensity. Results: Both stroma-localized and pericellular tumor-cell-associated HA deposition were observed. Cancer-cell pericellular HA deposition, irrespective of its staining intensity, was significantly associated with malignancy, and in the primary ovarian cancer cohort, it represents an independent unfavorable prognostic marker for overall survival. Furthermore, a significant association between high CD44, HAS2 and HAS3 mRNA levels and a cancer-cell pericellular HA-deposition pattern was noted. In contrast, stromal hyaluronan deposition had no impact on ovarian cancer prognosis. Conclusions: In conclusion, the site of HA deposition is of prognostic value, but the amount deposited is not. The significant association of only peritumoral cancer-cell HA deposition with high CD44 mRNA expression levels suggests a pivotal role of the CD44–HA signaling axis for malignant progression in ovarian cancer. KW - ovarian cancer KW - stromal hyaluronan KW - tumor-associated hyaluronan staining pattern KW - hyaluronan-related enzymes Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-297539 SN - 2227-9059 VL - 10 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Montalbán del Barrio, Itsaso A1 - Penski, Cornelia A1 - Schlahsa, Laura A1 - Stein, Roland G. A1 - Diessner, Joachim A1 - Wöckel, Achim A1 - Dietl, Johannes A1 - Lutz, Manfred B. A1 - Mittelbronn, Michel A1 - Wischhusen, Jörg A1 - Häusler, Sebastian F. M. T1 - Adenosine-generating ovarian cancer cells attract myeloid cells which differentiate into adenosine-generating tumor associated macrophages - a self-amplifying, CD39- and CD73-dependent mechanism for tumor immune escape JF - Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer N2 - Background Ovarian cancer (OvCA) tissues show abundant expression of the ectonucleotidases CD39 and CD73 which generate immunomodulatory adenosine, thereby inhibiting cytotoxic lymphocytes. Little, however, is known about the effect of adenosine on myeloid cells. Considering that tumor associated macrophages (TAM) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) constitute up to 20 % of OvCA tissue, we investigated the effect of adenosine on myeloid cells and explored a possible contribution of myeloid cells to adenosine generation in vitro and ex vivo. Methods Monocytes were used as human blood-derived myeloid cells. After co-incubation with SK-OV-3 or OAW-42 OvCA cells, monocyte migration was determined in transwell assays. For conversion into M2-polarized “TAM-like” macrophages, monocytes were co-incubated with OAW-42 cells. Ex vivo TAMs were obtained from OvCA ascites. Macrophage phenotypes were investigated by intracellular staining for IL-10 and IL-12. CD39 and CD73 expression were assessed by FACS analysis both on in vitro-induced TAM-like macrophages and on ascites-derived ex situ-TAMs. Myeloid cells in solid tumor tissue were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Generation of biologically active adenosine by TAM-like macrophages was measured in luciferase-based reporter assays. Functional effects of adenosine were investigated in proliferation-experiments with CD4+ T cells and specific inhibitors. Results When CD39 or CD73 activity on OvCA cells were blocked, the migration of monocytes towards OvCA cells was significantly decreased. In vivo, myeloid cells in solid ovarian cancer tissue were found to express CD39 whereas CD73 was mainly detected on stromal fibroblasts. Ex situ-TAMs and in vitro differentiated TAM-like cells, however, upregulated the expression of CD39 and CD73 compared to monocytes or M1 macrophages. Expression of ectonucleotidases also translated into increased levels of biologically active adenosine. Accordingly, co-incubation with these TAMs suppressed CD4+ T cell proliferation which could be rescued via blockade of CD39 or CD73. Conclusion Adenosine generated by OvCA cells likely contributes to the recruitment of TAMs which further amplify adenosine-dependent immunosuppression via additional ectonucleotidase activity. In solid ovarian cancer tissue, TAMs express CD39 while CD73 is found on stromal fibroblasts. Accordingly, small molecule inhibitors of CD39 or CD73 could improve immune responses in ovarian cancer. KW - ovarian cancer KW - adenosine KW - CD39 KW - tumor associated macrophages KW - immune escape KW - CD73 Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-146624 VL - 4 IS - 49 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Häusler, Sebastian F. M. A1 - del Barrio, Itsaso Montalbán A1 - Diessner, Joachim A1 - Stein, Roland G. A1 - Strohschein, Jenny A1 - Hönig, Arnd A1 - Dietl, Johannes A1 - Wischhusen, Jörg T1 - Anti-CD39 and anti-CD73 antibodies A1 and 7G2 improve targeted therapy in ovarian cancer by blocking adenosine-dependent immune evasion JF - American Journal of Translational Research N2 - The ectonucleotidases CD39 and CD73 degrade ATP to adenosine which inhibits immune responses via the \(A_{2A}\) adenosine receptor (ADORA2A) on T and NK cells. The current study investigates the potential therapeutic use of the specific anti CD39- and anti CD73-antibodies A1 (CD39) and 7G2 (CD73) as these two ectonucleotidases are overexpressed in ovarian cancer (OvCA). As expected, NK cell cytotoxicity against the human ovarian cancer cell lines OAW-42 or SK-OV-3 was significantly increased in the presence of A1 or 7G2 antibody. While this might partly be due to antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, a luciferase-dependent assay for quantifying biologically active adenosine further showed that A1 and 7G2 can inhibit CD39 and CD73-dependent adenosine-generation. In turn, the reduction in adenosine levels achieved by addition of A1 and 7G2 to OAW-42 or SK-OV-3 cells was found to de-inhibit the proliferation of \(CD4^+\) T cells in coculture with OvCA cells. Likewise, blocking of CD39 and CD73 on OvCA cells via A1 and 7G2 led to an increased cytotoxicity of alloreactive primed T cells. Thus, antibodies like A1 and 7G2 could improve targeted therapy in ovarian cancer not only by specifically labeling overexpressed antigens but also by blocking adenosine-dependent immune evasion in this immunogenic malignancy. KW - ovarian cancer KW - immune escape KW - adenosine KW - CD39 KW - CD73 Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-120016 SN - 1943-8141 VL - 6 IS - 2 ER -