| 1. |
- Adamson, R. E., et al.
(författare)
-
In Vitro Primary Cell Culture as a Physiologically Relevant Method for Preclinical Testing of Human Oncolytic Adenovirus
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Human Gene Therapy. - : Mary Ann Liebert Inc. - 1043-0342 .- 1557-7422. ; 23:2, s. 218-230
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ad[I/PPT-E1A] is an oncolytic adenovirus that specifically kills prostate cells via restricted replication by a prostate-specific regulatory element. Off-target replication of oncolytic adenoviruses would have serious clinical consequences. As a proposed ex vivo test, we describe the assessment of the specificity of Ad[I/PPT-E1A] viral cytotoxicity and replication in human nonprostate primary cells. Four primary nonprostate cell types were selected to mimic the effects of potential in vivo exposure to Ad[I/PPT-E1A] virus: bronchial epithelial cells, urothelial cells, vascular endothelial cells, and hepatocytes. Primary cells were analyzed for Ad[I/PPT-E1A] viral cytotoxicity in MTS assays, and viral replication was determined by hexon titer immunostaining assays to quantify viral hexon protein. The results revealed that at an extreme multiplicity of infection of 500, unlikely to be achieved in vivo, Ad[I/PPT-E1A] virus showed no significant cytotoxic effects in the nonprostate primary cell types apart from the hepatocytes. Transmission electron microscopy studies revealed high levels of Ad[I/PPT-E1A] sequestered in the cytoplasm of these cells. Adenoviral green fluorescent protein reporter studies showed no evidence for nuclear localization, suggesting that the cytotoxic effects of Ad[I/PPT-E1A] in human primary hepatocytes are related to viral sequestration. Also, hepatocytes had increased amounts of coxsackie adenovirus receptor surface protein. Active viral replication was only observed in the permissive primary prostate cells and LNCaP prostate cell line, and was not evident in any of the other nonprostate cells types tested, confirming the specificity of Ad[I/PPT-E1A]. Thus, using a relevant panel of primary human cells provides a convenient and alternative preclinical assay for examining the specificity of conditionally replicating oncolytic adenoviruses in vivo.
|
|
| 2. |
- Anagandula, Mahesh
(författare)
-
Studies of Enterovirus Infection and Induction of Innate Immunity in Human Pancreatic Cells
- 2016
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Several epidemiological and clinical studies have indicated a possible role of Enterovirus (EV) infection in type 1 diabetes (T1D) development. However, the exact casual mechanism of these viruses in T1D development is not known. The aim of this thesis is to study various EVs that have been shown to differ in their immune phenotype, lytic ability, association with induction of islet autoantibodies, ability to replicate, cause islet disintegration and induce innate antiviral pathways in infected pancreatic cells in vitro. Furthermore, EV presence and pathogenic process in pancreatic tissue and isolated islets of T1D patients was also studied.Studies in this thesis for first time show the detection of EV RNA and protein in recent onset live T1D patients supporting the EV hypothesis in T1D development. Further all EV serotypes studied were able to replicate in islets, causing variable amount of islet disintegration ranging from extensive islet disintegration to not affecting islet morphology at all. However, one of the EV serotype replicated in only two out of seven donors infected, highlighting the importance of individual variation between donors. Further, this serotype impaired the insulin response to glucose stimulation without causing any visible islet disintegration, suggesting that this serotype might impaired the insulin response by inducing a functional block. Infection of human islets with the EV serotypes that are differentially associated with the development of islet autoantibodies showed the islet cell disintegration that is comparable with their degree of islet autoantibody seroconversion. Suggesting that the extent of the epidemic-associated islet autoantibody induction may depend on the ability of the viral serotypes to damage islet cells. Furthermore, one of the EV strains showed unique ability to infect and replicate both in endo and exocrine cells of the pancreas. EV replication in both endo and exocrine cells affected the genes involved in innate and antiviral pathways and induction of certain genes with important antiviral activity significantly varied between different donors. Suggesting that the same EV infection could result in different outcome in different individuals. Finally, we compared the results obtained by lytic and non lytic EV strains in vitro with the findings reported in fulminant and slowly progressing autoimmune T1D and found some similarities. In conclusion the results presented in this thesis further support the role of EV in T1D development and provide more insights regarding viral and host variation. This will improve our understanding of the possible causative mechanism by EV in T1D development.
|
|
| 3. |
- Anwar, Mohiemen, et al.
(författare)
-
Ixovex-1, a novel oncolytic E1B-mutated adenovirus
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Cancer Gene Therapy. - : Springer Nature. - 0929-1903 .- 1476-5500. ; 29:11, s. 1628-1635
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a great demand for improved oncolytic viruses that selectively replicate within cancer cells while sparing normal cells. Here, we describe a novel oncolytic adenovirus, Ixovex-1, that obtains a cancer-selective replication phenotype by modulating the level of expression of the different, alternatively spliced E1B mRNA isoforms. Ixovex-1 is a recombinant adenovirus that carries a single point mutation in the E1B-93R 3' splice acceptor site that results in overexpression of the E1B-156R splice isoform. In this paper, we studied the characteristics of this novel oncolytic adenovirus by validating its in vitro behaviour in a panel of normal cells and cancer cells. We additionally studied its anti-tumour efficacy in vivo. Ixovex-1 significantly inhibited tumour growth and prolonged survival of mice in an immune-deficient lung carcinoma tumour implantation model. In complementation experiments, overexpression of E1B-156R was shown to increase the oncolytic index of both Ad5wt and ONYX-015. In contrast to prior viruses of similar type, Ixovex-1 includes a functional E3B region for better in vivo efficacy. Throughout this study, the Ixovex-1 virus has been proven to be superior in competency compared to a virus with multiple deletions.
|
|
| 4. |
- Čančer, Matko, et al.
(författare)
-
Humanized Stem Cell Models of Pediatric Medulloblastoma Reveal an Oct4/mTOR Axis that Promotes Malignancy
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Cell Stem Cell. - : CELL PRESS. - 1934-5909 .- 1875-9777. ; 25:6, s. 855-870
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Medulloblastoma (MB), the most frequent malignant childhood brain tumor, can arise from cellular malfunctions during hindbrain development. Here we generate humanized models for Sonic Hedgehog (SHH)-subgroup MB via MYCN overexpression in primary human hindbrain-derived neuroepithelial stem (hbNES) cells or iPSC-derived NES cells, which display a range of aggressive phenotypes upon xenografting. iPSC-derived NES tumors develop quickly with leptomeningeal dissemination, whereas hbNES-derived cells exhibit delayed tumor formation with less dissemination. Methylation and expression profiling show that tumors from both origins recapitulate hallmarks of infant SHH MB and reveal that mTOR activation, as a result of increased Oct4, promotes aggressiveness of human SHH tumors. Targeting mTOR decreases cell viability and prolongs survival, showing the utility of these varied models for dissecting mechanisms mediating tumor aggression and demonstrating the value of humanized models for a better understanding of pediatric cancers.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Carlsson, Björn, 1975-
(författare)
-
Adoptive T Cell Therapy of Viral Infection and Cancer : Ex vivo Expansion of Cytomegalovirus- and Prostate Antigen-specific T Cells
- 2005
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The main focus of my thesis has been to develop protocols for generating antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and T helper cells (TH) for adoptive transfer to treat cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease and prostate cancer. CMV viremia is a severe complication in immunocompromised stem cell transplanted patients. Prostate cancer is a leading cause of death for men in Western countries. Although different in nature, CMV-infected cells and prostate cancer cells can both be eliminated through specific activation of the adaptive immune system. To generate CMV pp65-specific T cells, I utilized dendritic cells (DCs) modified with an HLA-A*0201/pp65495-503 peptide, a recombinant adenovirus coding for pp65, in vitro transcribed pp65 mRNA and a recombinant pp65 protein. Peptide stimulation yielded large numbers of peptide-specific CD8+ T cells with high lytic activity while adenovirus or mRNA stimulation resulted in the expansion of CTLs against multiple pp65 epitopes. The recombinant protein activated primarily CD4+ TH cells. Stimulation with DCs co-modified with pp65 mRNA and pp65 protein simultaneously generated both pp65-specific CTLs and TH cells. Such T cells would cover all pp65 epitopes while avoiding potential virus related biohazards. The mRNA/protein combinatory approach can be used to stimulate T cells ex vivo from virtually all stem cell donors for adoptive T cell transfer. I have identified two immunogenic HLA-A*0201-restricted peptide epitopes from the prostate tissue antigen TARP. Repeated stimulations with TARP peptide-pulsed DCs yielded up to 20% TARP-directed CD8+ T cells even when starting from undetectable frequencies (<0.01%). The T cells could be sorted to 99% purity and expanded 1000-fold with retained specificity and activity. We also detected TARP-directed CD8+ T cells in the blood of prostate cancer patients. Therefore, TARP seems to have potential as antigen in DC vaccination or adoptive T cell therapy of prostate cancer.
|
|
| 7. |
- Carlsson, Björn, et al.
(författare)
-
Characterization of human prostate and breast cancer cell lines for experimental T cell-based immunotherapy
- 2007
-
Ingår i: The Prostate. - : Wiley. - 0270-4137 .- 1097-0045. ; 67:4, s. 389-395
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND. In order to develop experimental immunotherapy for prostate and breast cancer it is of outmost importance to have representative target cell lines that through human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecules present relevant levels of peptides from tumor-associated antigens for cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) recognition. METHODS. We sequenced the HLA-A and HLA-B loci of eight commonly used prostate and breast cancer cell lines and analyzed the surface expression of HLA-ABC, HLA-DR, CD40, CD80, CD86, and CD54 by flow cytometry. We also analyzed the cell lines for mRNA expression from 25 genes reported to be specifically or preferentially expressed by prostate cells. RESULTS. Among the analyzed cell lines we found that LNCaP, PC-346C and MCF-7 are HLA-A*0201 positive. However, the HLA-A2 expression level is low and only MCF-7 upregulates HLA-A2 in response to IFN-γ stimulation. MCF-7 also expresses high levels of CD54, which further improve its value as a CTL target cell line. On the other hand, LNCaP and PC-346C express 25 and 23 out of 25 prostate-related genes, respectively, while MCF-7 expresses 16 out of 25 genes. CONCLUSIONS. None of the analyzed prostate cancer cell lines are optimal CTL target cells. However, MCF-7 could in many cases be used as a complement to HLA-A*0201 positive prostate cancer cells. The LNCaP and PC-346C cell lines are rich sources of prostate-related antigens that may be valuable for cancer vaccine development.
|
|
| 8. |
- Carlsson, Björn, et al.
(författare)
-
Ex vivo stimulation of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific T cells using CMVpp65-modified dendritic cells as stimulators
- 2003
-
Ingår i: British Journal of Haematology. - : Wiley. - 0007-1048 .- 1365-2141. ; 121:3, s. 428-38
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a dangerous complication in immunosuppressed individuals such as allogeneic stem cell transplant patients. CMV disease can be prevented by the early post-transplant transfer of donor-derived, CMV-directed, T cells. Fast and cost efficient methods to generate CMV-specific T cells are, therefore, warranted. The current study utilized peptide-pulsed and adenovirus-transduced dendritic cells (DC) to generate CMV-restricted T cells. After one stimulation with CMV pp65495-503 peptide-pulsed DC and three re-stimulations with peptide-pulsed monocytes, virtually all T cells were CD8+, expressed the relevant T cell receptor and exhibited high peptide-specific lytic activity. After only one stimulation, pp65495-503-restricted T cells could be sorted to a purity of higher than 95% and expanded up to 1000-fold in 2 weeks. This technique may prove useful for the rapid generation of large quantities of specific cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) for cell therapy. DC transduced with an adenoviral vector encoding the full-length pp65 protein (Adpp65) were able to simultaneously expand CTL against multiple epitopes of pp65. In addition, they activated CMV-specific CD4+ T-helper cells. This approach would stimulate multiple-epitope populations of pp65-specific T cells and could be made available to patients of any human leucocyte antigen (HLA) haplotype. DC transduced with adenoviral vectors to express full-length antigens may prove to be potent vaccines against viral pathogens and cancer.
|
|
| 9. |
- Carlsson, Björn, et al.
(författare)
-
Generation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for the prostate and breast tissue antigen TARP
- 2004
-
Ingår i: The Prostate. - : Wiley. - 0270-4137 .- 1097-0045. ; 61:2, s. 161-170
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Expansion of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) directed against peptide epitopes from antigens that are specifically expressed by normal and neoplastic prostate epithelial cells has during the last years emerged as an interesting therapeutic approach to treat advanced prostate cancer. TCRgamma alternate reading frame protein (TARP) is a protein that in males is specifically expressed by normal prostate epithelial cells and prostate cancer cells. We have evaluated TARP for human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*0201-restricted peptides capable of triggering TARP-specific CTL. METHODS: Dendritic cells (DC) were pulsed either with synthetic peptides derived from the natural amino acid sequence of TARP or with cognate peptides having enhanced affinity for HLA-A*0201 due to an N-terminal anchor residue substitution. The peptide-pulsed DC were used to stimulate autologous T cells ex vivo. RESULTS: We were able to generate T cells against TARP(27-35) and TARP(4-13) and their mutated counterparts TARP(V28L)(27-35) and TARP(P5L)(4-13). The use of affinity-enhanced peptides resulted in the generation of T cells recognizing target cells displaying either wild-type or mutated peptide. We further show that TARP-specific T cells can be tetramer-sorted and subsequently expanded to large numbers by general T cell stimulation, with retained specificity and activity. Sorted and expanded T cells, obtained by stimulation with TARP(P5L)(4-13), exert moderate lysis of the TARP-expressing prostate cancer cell line, LNCaP, and breast cancer cell line, MCF-7, indicating that the TARP(4-13) epitope may be endogenously processed and presented by TARP-positive, HLA-A*0201-positive cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that synthetic TARP peptides, such as TARP(P5L)(4-13), may play a role in prostate and breast cancer immunotherapy.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
