TY - JOUR A1 - Haake, Markus A1 - Haack, Beatrice A1 - Schäfer, Tina A1 - Harter, Patrick N. A1 - Mattavelli, Greta A1 - Eiring, Patrick A1 - Vashist, Neha A1 - Wedekink, Florian A1 - Genssler, Sabrina A1 - Fischer, Birgitt A1 - Dahlhoff, Julia A1 - Mokhtari, Fatemeh A1 - Kuzkina, Anastasia A1 - Welters, Marij J. P. A1 - Benz, Tamara M. A1 - Sorger, Lena A1 - Thiemann, Vincent A1 - Almanzar, Giovanni A1 - Selle, Martina A1 - Thein, Klara A1 - Späth, Jacob A1 - Gonzalez, Maria Cecilia A1 - Reitinger, Carmen A1 - Ipsen-Escobedo, Andrea A1 - Wistuba-Hamprecht, Kilian A1 - Eichler, Kristin A1 - Filipski, Katharina A1 - Zeiner, Pia S. A1 - Beschorner, Rudi A1 - Goedemans, Renske A1 - Gogolla, Falk Hagen A1 - Hackl, Hubert A1 - Rooswinkel, Rogier W. A1 - Thiem, Alexander A1 - Romer Roche, Paula A1 - Joshi, Hemant A1 - Pühringer, Dirk A1 - Wöckel, Achim A1 - Diessner, Joachim E. A1 - Rüdiger, Manfred A1 - Leo, Eugen A1 - Cheng, Phil F. A1 - Levesque, Mitchell P. A1 - Goebeler, Matthias A1 - Sauer, Markus A1 - Nimmerjahn, Falk A1 - Schuberth-Wagner, Christine A1 - Felten, Stefanie von A1 - Mittelbronn, Michel A1 - Mehling, Matthias A1 - Beilhack, Andreas A1 - van der Burg, Sjoerd H. A1 - Riedel, Angela A1 - Weide, Benjamin A1 - Dummer, Reinhard A1 - Wischhusen, Jörg T1 - Tumor-derived GDF-15 blocks LFA-1 dependent T cell recruitment and suppresses responses to anti-PD-1 treatment JF - Nature Communications N2 - Immune checkpoint blockade therapy is beneficial and even curative for some cancer patients. However, the majority don’t respond to immune therapy. Across different tumor types, pre-existing T cell infiltrates predict response to checkpoint-based immunotherapy. Based on in vitro pharmacological studies, mouse models and analyses of human melanoma patients, we show that the cytokine GDF-15 impairs LFA-1/β2-integrin-mediated adhesion of T cells to activated endothelial cells, which is a pre-requisite of T cell extravasation. In melanoma patients, GDF-15 serum levels strongly correlate with failure of PD-1-based immune checkpoint blockade therapy. Neutralization of GDF-15 improves both T cell trafficking and therapy efficiency in murine tumor models. Thus GDF-15, beside its known role in cancer-related anorexia and cachexia, emerges as a regulator of T cell extravasation into the tumor microenvironment, which provides an even stronger rationale for therapeutic anti-GDF-15 antibody development. KW - cancer microenvironment KW - immunotherapy KW - T cells KW - tumour immunology Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-357333 VL - 14 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Harter, Patrick N. A1 - Bernatz, Simon A1 - Scholz, Alexander A1 - Zeiner, Pia S. A1 - Zinke, Jenny A1 - Kiyose, Makoto A1 - Blasel, Stella A1 - Beschorner, Rudi A1 - Senft, Christian A1 - Bender, Benjamin A1 - Ronellenfitsch, Michael W. A1 - Wikman, Harriet A1 - Glatzel, Markus A1 - Meinhardt, Matthias A1 - Juratli, Tareq A. A1 - Steinbach, Joachim P. A1 - Plate, Karl H. A1 - Wischhusen, Jörg A1 - Weide, Benjamin A1 - Mittelbronn, Michel T1 - Distribution and prognostic relevance of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoints in human brain metastases JF - Oncotarget N2 - The activation of immune cells by targeting checkpoint inhibitors showed promising results with increased patient survival in distinct primary cancers. Since only limited data exist for human brain metastases, we aimed at characterizing tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and expression of immune checkpoints in the respective tumors. Two brain metastases cohorts, a mixed entity cohort (n = 252) and a breast carcinoma validation cohort (n = 96) were analyzed for CD3+, CD8+, FOXP3+, PD-1+ lymphocytes and PD-L1+ tumor cells by immunohistochemistry. Analyses for association with clinico-epidemiological and neuroradiological parameters such as patient survival or tumor size were performed. TILs infiltrated brain metastases in three different patterns (stromal, peritumoral, diffuse). While carcinomas often show a strong stromal infiltration, TILs in melanomas often diffusely infiltrate the tumors. Highest levels of CD3+ and CD8+ lymphocytes were seen in renal cell carcinomas (RCC) and strongest PD-1 levels on RCCs and melanomas. High amounts of TILs, high ratios of PD-1+/CD8+ cells and high levels of PD-L1 were negatively correlated with brain metastases size, indicating that in smaller brain metastases CD8+ immune response might get blocked. PD-L1 expression strongly correlated with TILs and FOXP3 expression. No significant association of patient survival with TILs was observed, while high levels of PD-L1 showed a strong trend towards better survival in melanoma brain metastases (Log-Rank p = 0.0537). In summary, melanomas and RCCs seem to be the most immunogenic entities. Differences in immunotherapeutic response between tumor entities regarding brain metastases might be attributable to this finding and need further investigation in larger patient cohorts. KW - B7-H1 KW - PD-L1 KW - immunoresistance KW - immunosurveillance KW - safety KW - survival KW - expression KW - melanoma KW - breast cancer KW - PC-1 blockade KW - cell lung cancer KW - tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes KW - brain metastases KW - PD-1 Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-137107 VL - 6 IS - 38 SP - 40836 EP - 40849 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 -