Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0017636 (glioblastoma)
 18,345 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The capacity of three different human glioblastoma cell lines to activate human T cells was analysed by measuring major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigen expression, monokine secretion and lectin, mAb OKT3 and antigen-driven T cell proliferation. All glioblastoma cells tested were able to induce PHA and concanavalin A (ConA)-driven T cell proliferation in a dose-dependent fashion, while all failed to induce T cell activation with mAb OKT3. In addition, the glioblastoma cell line 86HG39 was able to induce tetanus toxoid and toxoplasma lysate antigen-specific T cell proliferation. The responding T cell lines originated from only one out of five different donors. This foreign antigen-specific T cell proliferation induced by 86HG39 cells could be inhibited with mAb L243 directed against HLA-DR molecules. The study of monokine secretion by 86HG39 cells showed a strong interleukin (IL)-6 secretion after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment, whilst no IL-1 secretion was observed. Furthermore, only 86HG39 cells were positive for HLA-DR molecules, whereas interferon (IFN) gamma treatment of 87HG28 and 87HG31 cells was necessary for the induction of class II antigen expression. Thus, cell line 86HG39 shows many features of an antigen presenting cell and the interaction of these cells with MHC compatible human T cells might be a useful model to study cellular immune reactions within the central nervous system.
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PMID:Human glioblastoma cell line 86HG39 activates T cells in an antigen specific major histocompatibility complex class II-dependent manner. 146 90

A series of novel, synthetic compounds containing lipids linked to a phosphate-containing acyclic backbone are shown to have similar biological properties to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). These compounds showed intrinsic agonistic properties when tested for their ability to stimulate tumor necrosis factor-alpha in human whole blood and interleukin-6 in U373 human glioblastoma cells without added LPS coreceptor CD14. The presence of the LPS antagonist E5564 completely blocked responses, suggesting that the novel compounds and LPS share a common mechanism of cell activation. Stereoselectivity of the molecules was observed in vitro; compounds with an R,R,R,R-configuration were strongly agonistic, whereas compounds with an R,S,S,R-configuration were much weaker in their activity on human whole blood and U373 cells. We also tested the effect of the compounds in cells transfected with the LPS receptor Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), with similar results, further supporting a shared mechanism with LPS. This was confirmed in vivo where the agonists failed to elicit cytokine responses in C3H/HeJ mice lacking TLR4 signaling. Because LPS-like molecules enhance immune responses, the compounds were mixed with tetanus toxoid and administered to mice in an immunization protocol to test for adjuvant activity. They enhanced the generation of specific antibodies against tetanus toxoid. Our results indicate that these unique compounds behave as agonists of TLR4, resulting in responses similar to those elicited by LPS. They display adjuvant activity in vivo and may be useful for the development of vaccine therapies.
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PMID:A novel class of endotoxin receptor agonists with simplified structure, toll-like receptor 4-dependent immunostimulatory action, and adjuvant activity. 1180 29

After stimulation, dendritic cells (DCs) mature and migrate to draining lymph nodes to induce immune responses. As such, autologous DCs generated ex vivo have been pulsed with tumour antigens and injected back into patients as immunotherapy. While DC vaccines have shown limited promise in the treatment of patients with advanced cancers including glioblastoma, the factors dictating DC vaccine efficacy remain poorly understood. Here we show that pre-conditioning the vaccine site with a potent recall antigen such as tetanus/diphtheria (Td) toxoid can significantly improve the lymph node homing and efficacy of tumour-antigen-specific DCs. To assess the effect of vaccine site pre-conditioning in humans, we randomized patients with glioblastoma to pre-conditioning with either mature DCs or Td unilaterally before bilateral vaccination with DCs pulsed with Cytomegalovirus phosphoprotein 65 (pp65) RNA. We and other laboratories have shown that pp65 is expressed in more than 90% of glioblastoma specimens but not in surrounding normal brain, providing an unparalleled opportunity to subvert this viral protein as a tumour-specific target. Patients given Td had enhanced DC migration bilaterally and significantly improved survival. In mice, Td pre-conditioning also enhanced bilateral DC migration and suppressed tumour growth in a manner dependent on the chemokine CCL3. Our clinical studies and corroborating investigations in mice suggest that pre-conditioning with a potent recall antigen may represent a viable strategy to improve anti-tumour immunotherapy.
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PMID:Tetanus toxoid and CCL3 improve dendritic cell vaccines in mice and glioblastoma patients. 2590 40

Preconditioning the immune system with a tetanus/diphtheria toxoid significantly improved the effectiveness of dendritic cell immunotherapy and extended overall survival in a small, randomized study of patients with glioblastoma.
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PMID:Tetanus shot may improve glioblastoma treatment. 2576 41

Converging data indicate that the immune system is able to recognize cancer epitopes as non-self and mount an immune reaction that may erase, or temporarily block, tumor growth. The immune pressure supports the amplification of immune resistant tumor clones, creating an immune suppressive environment that leads to the formation of a clinically relevant tumor. These general observations also apply to brain tumors and specifically to gliomas. Cancer immunotherapy strategies are aimed at reverting such immune suppression. Two approaches are already used in the clinics. The first one, peptide immunotherapy, has been oriented to the most aggressive glioma, glioblastoma (GBM) where, in the context of EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) amplification, a large deletion arises and creates a novel, cancer-specific antigen, EGFRvIII. The second one is dendritic cell immunotherapy. Dendritic cells are potent antigen presenting cells that can be pulsed with autologous tumor lysate or peptide pp65 from cytomegalovirus (CMV) that is present in GBM but not in normal brain. Antigen presentation by dendritic cells is bolstered by preconditioning their injection site with the tetanus/diphtheria toxoid. The third approach is adoptive cell therapy (ACT) in which tumor-specific T cells can be amplified ex vivo and subsequently re-injected to the patient to lyse cells expressing tumor antigens, increasing survival durably in a fraction of melanoma patients. ACT may also be based on T cell transduction of tumor specific receptors or chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). CARs are powerful tools for immunotherapy but off-target toxicity may be an issue as they do not request MHC presentation for activation. Upcoming clinical trial results will clarify the most effective direction for cancer immunotherapy in gliomas and other cancers with poor prognosis.
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PMID:Novel mechanisms and approaches in immunotherapy for brain tumors. 2632 Oct 82