@article{DanhofRascheMottoketal.2021, author = {Danhof, Sophia and Rasche, Leo and Mottok, Anja and Steinm{\"u}ller, Tabea and Zhou, Xiang and Schreder, Martin and Kilian, Teresa and Strifler, Susanne and Rosenwald, Andreas and Hudecek, Michael and Einsele, Hermann and Gerhard-Hartmann, Elena}, title = {Elotuzumab for the treatment of extramedullary myeloma: a retrospective analysis of clinical efficacy and SLAMF7 expression patterns}, series = {Annals of Hematology}, volume = {100}, journal = {Annals of Hematology}, number = {6}, issn = {1432-0584}, doi = {10.1007/s00277-021-04447-6}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-266468}, pages = {1537-1546}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Extramedullary disease (EMD) represents a high-risk state of multiple myeloma (MM) associated with poor prognosis. While most anti-myeloma therapeutics demonstrate limited efficacy in this setting, some studies exploring the utility of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells reported promising results. We have recently designed SLAMF7-directed CAR T cells for the treatment of MM. SLAMF7 is a transmembrane receptor expressed on myeloma cells that plays a role in myeloma cell homing to the bone marrow. Currently, the only approved anti-SLAMF7 therapeutic is the monoclonal antibody elotuzumab, but its efficacy in EMD has not been investigated thoroughly. Thus, we retrospectively analyzed the efficacy of elotuzumab-based combination therapy in a cohort of 15 patients with EMD. Moreover, since the presence of the target antigen is an indispensable prerequisite for effective targeted therapy, we investigated the SLAMF7 expression on extramedullary located tumor cells before and after treatment. We observed limited efficacy of elotuzumab-based combination therapies, with an overall response rate of 40\% and a progression-free and overall survival of 3.8 and 12.9 months, respectively. Before treatment initiation, all available EMD tissue specimens (n = 3) demonstrated a strong and consistent SLAMF7 surface expression by immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, to investigate a potential antigen reduction under therapeutic selection pressure, we analyzed samples of de novo EMD (n = 3) outgrown during elotuzumab treatment. Again, immunohistochemistry documented strong and consistent SLAMF7 expression in all samples. In aggregate, our data point towards a retained expression of SLAMF7 in EMD and encourage the development of more potent SLAMF7-directed immunotherapies, such as CAR T cells.}, language = {en} } @article{SchmidtEbnerRosenetal.2020, author = {Schmidt, Stefanie and Ebner, Friederike and Rosen, Kerstin and Kniemeyer, Olaf and Brakhage, Axel A. and L{\"o}ffler, J{\"u}rgen and Seif, Michelle and Springer, Jan and Schlosser, Josephine and Scharek-Tedin, Lydia and Scheffold, Alexander and Bacher, Petra and K{\"u}hl, Anja A. and R{\"o}sler, Uwe and Hartmann, Susanne}, title = {The domestic pig as human-relevant large animal model to study adaptive antifungal immune responses against airborne Aspergillus fumigatus}, series = {European Journal of Immunology}, volume = {50}, journal = {European Journal of Immunology}, number = {11}, doi = {10.1002/eji.201948524}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-216085}, pages = {1712 -- 1728}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Pulmonary mucosal immune response is critical for preventing opportunistic Aspergillus fumigatus infections. Although fungus-specific CD4\(^{+}\) T cells in blood are described to reflect the actual host-pathogen interaction status, little is known about Aspergillus-specific pulmonary T-cell responses. Here, we exploit the domestic pig as human-relevant large animal model and introduce antigen-specific T-cell enrichment in pigs to address Aspergillus-specific T cells in the lung compared to peripheral blood. In healthy, environmentally Aspergillus-exposed pigs, the fungus-specific T cells are detectable in blood in similar frequencies as observed in healthy humans and exhibit a Th1 phenotype. Exposing pigs to 10\(^{6}\) cfu/m\(^{3}\) conidia induces a long-lasting accumulation of Aspergillus-specific Th1 cells locally in the lung and also systemically. Temporary immunosuppression during Aspergillus-exposure showed a drastic reduction in the lung-infiltrating antifungal T-cell responses more than 2 weeks after abrogation of the suppressive treatment. This was reflected in blood, but to a much lesser extent. In conclusion, by using the human-relevant large animal model the pig, this study highlights that the blood clearly reflects the mucosal fungal-specific T-cell reactivity in environmentally exposed as well as experimentally exposed healthy pigs. But, immunosuppression significantly impacts the mucosal site in contrast to the initial systemic immune response.}, language = {en} } @article{Prieto‐GarciaHartmannReisslandetal.2020, author = {Prieto-Garcia, Cristian and Hartmann, Oliver and Reissland, Michaela and Braun, Fabian and Fischer, Thomas and Walz, Susanne and Sch{\"u}lein-V{\"o}lk, Christina and Eilers, Ursula and Ade, Carsten P. and Calzado, Marco A. and Orian, Amir and Maric, Hans M. and M{\"u}nch, Christian and Rosenfeldt, Mathias and Eilers, Martin and Diefenbacher, Markus E.}, title = {Maintaining protein stability of ∆Np63 via USP28 is required by squamous cancer cells}, series = {EMBO Molecular Medicine}, volume = {12}, journal = {EMBO Molecular Medicine}, number = {4}, doi = {10.15252/emmm.201911101}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-218303}, year = {2020}, abstract = {The transcription factor ∆Np63 is a master regulator of epithelial cell identity and essential for the survival of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of lung, head and neck, oesophagus, cervix and skin. Here, we report that the deubiquitylase USP28 stabilizes ∆Np63 and maintains elevated ∆NP63 levels in SCC by counteracting its proteasome-mediated degradation. Impaired USP28 activity, either genetically or pharmacologically, abrogates the transcriptional identity and suppresses growth and survival of human SCC cells. CRISPR/Cas9-engineered in vivo mouse models establish that endogenous USP28 is strictly required for both induction and maintenance of lung SCC. Our data strongly suggest that targeting ∆Np63 abundance via inhibition of USP28 is a promising strategy for the treatment of SCC tumours.}, language = {en} }