Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0019204 (hepatocellular carcinoma)
 71,386 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We recently cloned a new member of cancer/testis antigen named HCA587, which was highly expressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues. To investigate it as a potential tumour-specific target for immunotherapy, the immunogenicity of this protein, especially the ability to induce specific cellular immune responses, was evaluated in the present study. As dendritic cells (DC) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells, DC-based vaccination has recently shown marked promise for the treatment of human malignancies by immunological intervention. Here, we demonstrate that autologous DC loaded with HCA587 protein could induce specific T-cell responses in healthy individuals by in vitro stimulations. Enzyme-linked immunospot analysis for interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) secretion demonstrated HCA587-specific CD8(+) T cells in the antigen-stimulated peripheral blood lymphocytes, and the analysis of CD4(+) T cells by proliferation assay also showed antigen-specific reactivities in normal donors. Two-colour flow cytometric analysis of surface markers and intracellular cytokine expression demonstrated that HCA587-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes exhibited a heterogeneous CD8(+)/CD56(+) expression, and a striking T-helper 1 cytokine bias (IFN-gamma(high)/IL-4(low)) was observed for both CD4(+) and CD8(+) HCA587-specific lymphocyte populations. We conclude that HCA587 is a potent immunogen that can induce CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell-mediated specific immune responses, and these findings propose HCA587 as a good candidate for the development of a therapeutic protein-based DC tumour vaccine for the treatment of HCC patients.
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PMID:Elicitation of both CD4 and CD8 T-cell-mediated specific immune responses to HCA587 protein by autologous dendritic cells. 1554 Oct 44

Alterations of cytokine responses are thought to favor the establishment of persistent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, enhancing the risk of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Here we demonstrate that the expression of the HCV core (C) protein in stably transfected T cells correlates with a selective reduction of interleukin-2 (IL-2) promoter activity and IL-2 production in response to T-cell receptor triggering, whereas the activation of IL-4, IL-10, gamma interferon, and tumor necrosis factor alpha was moderately increased. This altered cytokine expression profile was associated with a perturbation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase responses. Extracellular regulated kinase and p38 were constitutively phosphorylated in C-expressing cells, while triggering of the costimulatory c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling cascade and activation of the CD28 response element within the IL-2 promoter appeared to be impaired. The perturbations of MAP kinase phosphorylation could be eliminated by cyclosporine A-mediated inhibition of nuclear factor of activated T cells, suggesting that the inactivation of JNK signaling and hyporesponsiveness to IL-2 induction were downstream consequences of C-induced Ca(2+) flux in a manner that mimics the induction of clonal anergy.
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PMID:Hepatitis C virus core protein induces an anergic state characterized by decreased interleukin-2 production and perturbation of mitogen-activated protein kinase responses. 1568 25

Natural killer T (NKT) cells share features of both classical T cells and NK cells. NKT are heterogenous populations, and recognize glycolipids associated with CD1d molecule. We investigated Th1/Th2 cytokine production as well as frequency and phenotype of circulating NKT cells in 14 healthy subjects and in patients during therapy with type C chronic hepatitis (CH; 14 cases) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC; 13 cases). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were obtained before and 2 weeks later interferon (IFN)/ribavirin and radiofrequency ablation therapy for CH and HCC, respectively. PBMC were cultured for 10 days with alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer) and interleukin-2 (IL-2). Frequencies and IFN-gamma/IL-4 production of NKT cells were analyzed using flow cytometry. Intrahepatic lymphocytes were analyzed in seven CH patients with liver biopsy specimen. Prevalence of circulating Valpha24+CD3+ T cells was 0.9+/-0.9% of PBMC for controls and increased to 8.5+/-8.9% (p<0.001) in response to alpha-GalCel. Similar frequency and expansion were noted in CH. The frequency increased during therapy. The prevalence in HCC tended to be high compared to controls and response to alpha-GalCel was well. Although frequency of Valpha24+Vbeta11+CD3+ T cells was low in all groups, the distribution pattern was similar to Valpha24+Vbeta11-CD3+ T cells. Prevalence of CD56+CD3+ T cells was low independent of therapy in CH (2-3%) compared to 5.0+/-4.0% of controls, although response to alpha-GalCel was not impaired. IFN-gamma production of Valpha24+CD3+ T cells did not differ among groups, but became greater after treatment in contrast to lowered IL-4 production. Frequencies of NKT populations were higher in liver than in peripheral blood. Our study suggests that CD1d-reactive T cells have distinct distribution in different populations and therapy for patients alters cytokine response of NKT cells.
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PMID:Changes in natural killer T cells subsets during therapy in type C hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. 1590 21

A variety of sulfone derivatives including three dimethyl arylsulfonyl malonates (1-3), two bis-(arylethenesulfonyl)-vinyl benzenes (4 and 5) and a sulfone triazole (6) were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory as well as tumor cells growth inhibitory activities in vitro. The sulfone derivatives 1, 2, 3 and 6 significantly and dose-dependently inhibited the production of inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide (NO), and cytokines (tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-12), in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon (IFN)-gamma activated murine peritoneal macrophages, without displaying cytotoxicity. The inhibitory mechanism is found through reducing iNOS protein expression. In addition, the derivatives 1-3 significantly arrest mitogen-stimulated spleen cells in G0/G1 stage, whereas compounds 4-6 blocked the same in the G2/M phase. Furthermore, the sulfone derivatives 3 and 6 showed dramatically reduction in the ratio of IFN-gamma to IL-4 production from mitogen-stimulated spleen cells. On the other hand, the novel compounds exhibited interesting cytotoxic activities against a panel of cell lines, particularly, 20 muM of compound 3 showed 50% cytotoxic effect on human hepatoma cell line, but has no effect on normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In conclusion, compound 3 showed interesting anti-inflammatory and tumor cells growth inhibitory functions.
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PMID:Biological evaluation of sulfone derivatives as anti-inflammatory and tumor cells growth inhibitory agents. 1697 24

Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells are ex vivo expanded T cells with natural killer cell phenotypes and functions. In this study, the anti-tumor activity of CIK cells against hepatocellular carcinoma was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. In the presence of anti-CD3 antibody and IL-2 for 14 days, human peripheral blood mononuclear cell population changed to heterogeneous CIK cell population, which comprised 96% CD3(+), 3% CD3( inverted exclamation mark(c))CD56(+), 32% CD3(+)CD56(+), 11% CD4(+), 75% CD8(+), and 30% CD8(+)CD56(+). CIK cells produced significant amounts of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha; however, produced only slight amounts of IL-2, IL-4, and IL-5. At an effector-target cell ratio of 30:1, CIK cells destroyed 33% of SNU-354 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells, which was determined by the (51)Cr-release assay. In addition, a dose of 1x10(6) CIK cells per mouse inhibited 60% of SNU-354 tumor growth in irradiated nude mice. This study suggests that CIK cells may be used as an adoptive immunotherapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
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PMID:Anti-tumor activity of ex vivo expanded cytokine-induced killer cells against human hepatocellular carcinoma. 1799 90

A major cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma is chronic infection by hepatitis C virus. Ethanol consumption is the most significant environmental factor that exacerbates the progression of chronic hepatitis C to liver cirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma, perhaps due to increased cytokine secretion together with increased lipid peroxidation. In this study, we compare the intensity of lipid peroxidation (estimated as malondialdehyde (MDA) serum levels), the antioxidant status, (measured as glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities in red blood cells), and levels of cytokines derived from Th1 cells (such as interferon gamma (IFNG)), Th2 cells (such as interleukin (IL)-4), Th3 cells (such as transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta)), and IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in patients affected by chronic hepatitis C virus infection, 26 drinkers of alcohol and 40 nondrinkers of alcohol. Patients showed significantly higher TNF-alpha (Z = 4.92, P < 0.001), IL-8 (Z = 4.95, P < 0.001), IFNG (Z = 2.81, P = 0.005), TGF-beta (t = 2.12, P = 0.037), MDA (Z = 5, P < 0.001), but lower IL-6 (Z = 3.61, P < 0.001) and GPX (F = 4.30, P < 0.05) than controls, whereas no differences were observed regarding IL-4 (Z = 0.35, P = 0.72), GPX and SOD activities. Alcoholics showed significantly higher TNF-alpha, but lower IL-4, MDA, and GPX, than nonalcoholics. TNF-alpha was significantly related to albumin and prothrombin activity, whereas TGF-beta was significantly related to MDA levels. Thus, cytokine secretion is altered in HCV infection. This alteration mainly consists of a stimulation of Th1 cytokines and an inhibition--or at least, no stimulation--of Th2 cytokines; these changes are especially marked among alcoholics with HCV infection, and are accompanied by raised TGF-beta.
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PMID:Cytokines and lipid peroxidation in alcoholics with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. 1821 80

In order to investigate the effect of replication-incompetent adenovirus vector expressing MDA-7/IL-24 on tumor growth and apoptosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line SMMC-7721 and normal liver cell line L02, the recombinant replication-incompetent Ad.mda-7 virus vector was constructed and infected into the HCC cell line SMMC-7721 and normal liver cell line L02. RT-PCR was performed to examine the expression of MDA-7 mRNA. The concentrations of MDA-7/IL-4 in culture supernatants were determined by using ELISA. MTT and Hoechst staining assay were applied to observe the inhibitory and killing effects of MDA-7 on the HCC cells. By using flow cytometry, the apoptosis, cell cycle and proliferation of SMMC-7721 and L02 cells were measured. The results showed recombinant replication-incompetent virus expressing MDA-7/IL-24 was constructed successfully, and RT-PCR revealed that it could mediate the high expression of the exogenous gene MDA-7/IL-24 in SMMC-7721 and L02 cells. The expression of MDA-7/IL-24 proteins in the culture supernatant was detectable by ELISA. Ad.mda-7 infection induced apoptosis and growth suppression in SMMC-7721 cells and an increased percentage of HCC cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle, but not in L02 cells. It was concluded that mda-7/IL-24 gene, mediated with replication-incompetent adenovirus vector, could selectively induce growth suppression and apoptosis in HCC cell line SMMC-7721 but without any toxic side-effect on normal liver line L02.
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PMID:Replication-incompetent adenovirus vector-mediated MDA-7/IL-24 selectively induces growth suppression and apoptosis of hepatoma cell Line SMMC-7721. 1827 64

Radiofrequency thermal ablation represents an effective treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and it can also exert an "adjuvant" effect on spontaneous antitumor T-cell responses, as suggested by human and animal studies. The adjuvant effect is thought to depend on the huge amount of necrotic tumor antigen made available to the immune system by HCC thermal ablation. In addition, radiofrequency thermal ablation may result in the release of local stimuli responsible for activation and maturation of antigen-presenting cells (APCs). To test this hypothesis, we studied APC maturation and function in 19 patients undergoing thermal ablation for HCC. Patients' monocytes induced to differentiate with granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), or GM-CSF plus IL-4, were cocultured in vitro with tumor debris generated by radiofrequency thermal ablation. Expression of costimulatory molecules, lymphnode homing chemokine receptor, antigen presentation, and cytokine secretion were enhanced by incubation with HCC treated tissue as compared with untreated HCC and nontumor liver tissue. Moreover, HCC-specific T-cell responses could be induced by monocytes activated with GM-CSF and incubated with thermally ablated HCC tissue. HCC thermal ablation can create an antigenic source along with stimuli appropriate for maturation of APCs to induce HCC-specific T-cell responses. These results contribute to explain at least in part the adjuvant effect of HCC thermal ablation and suggest a novel strategy to induce maturation of APCs and their loading with HCC antigens for active immunotherapy protocols aimed at reducing HCC recurrence after thermal ablation.
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PMID:Increased immunostimulatory activity conferred to antigen-presenting cells by exposure to antigen extract from hepatocellular carcinoma after radiofrequency thermal ablation. 1831 60

Polymorphisms in cytokine genes responsible for inflammatory and immune responses are associated with risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in high-risk Chinese population. Similar data in low-risk populations are lacking. A population-based case-control study of HCC was conducted including 120 HCC patients and 230 matched control subjects of non-Asian residents in Los Angeles County, California. Genetic variants in the interferon gamma (IFNgamma), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha), interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12 and IL-18 genes were determined by Taqman assays. The logistic regression method was used to analyze the data. For T helper (Th) 1 genes (IFNgamma, IL-6 and IL-12), relative to the putative high-activity genotypes, individual low-activity genotypes were associated with statistically non-significant increases in HCC risk. The odds ratio (OR) was 1.53 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.53-4.39] for three versus zero low-activity genotypes. For Th2 cytokines (IL-4 and IL-10), low- versus high-activity genotypes were associated with statistically non-significant decreases in HCC risk. The OR was 0.64 (95% CI = 0.27-1.55) for two versus zero low-activity genotypes. When the Th1 and Th2 genotypes were examined simultaneously, the highest level of risk was observed in individuals jointly possessing the highest number of low-activity Th1 genotypes and the lowest number of low-activity Th2 genotypes. There was a roughly doubling of risk between these two extreme genetic profiles, which did not reach statistical significance (OR = 1.98, 95% CI = 0.50-7.84, P = 0.08). In contrast to high-risk Chinese, Th1 and Th2 genotypes did not impact in a major way on risk of HCC in USA non-Asians.
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PMID:Genetic polymorphisms in the cytokine genes and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in low-risk non-Asians of USA. 1912 46

Human tumors, including those of the hepatobiliary system, express a number of specific antigens that can be recognized by T cells, and may provide potential targets for cancer immunotherapy. Dendritic cells (DCs) are rare leucocytes that are uniquely potent in their ability to capture, process and present antigens to T cells. The ability to culture sufficient numbers of DCs from human bone marrow or blood progenitors has attracted a great deal of interest in their potential utilization in human tumor vaccination. CD34(+) peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) were obtained from a patient with a hepatocellular carcinoma. The PBSCs were cultured in the X-VIVO 20 medium supplemented with the Flt-3 Ligand (FL), GM-CSF, IL-4 and TNF-alpha for 12 days. The morphology and functions of the cells were examined. The generated cells had the typical morphology of DCs. When the DCs were reinjected into the same patient, an augmentation of the cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity was observed. Concomitantly, an increase in the natural killer (NK) cell activity was also detected in the patient. These results suggest that DCs-based cancer immunotherapy may become an important treatment option for cancer patients in the future.
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PMID:Dendritic Cells-based Vaccine and Immune Monitoring for Hepatocellular Carcinoma. 2022 Dec 74


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