| 1. |
- Ahlén Bergman, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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Epigenetic methylation profiles of CD4 T cell signature loci from patients with urinary bladder cancer
- 2017
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Immunology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0300-9475 .- 1365-3083. ; 86:4, s. 264-264
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Urinary bladder cancer (UBC) is one of the most frequent cancer diseases with 380 000 new cases diagnosed worldwide and about 150 000 deaths yearly. To dissect the role of T helper (Th) cell responses in UBC we investigate the T helper cell subpopulations; Th1, Th2, Th17 and T regulatory cells (Tregs) and their lineage commitment in draining (sentinel) and non-draining lymph nodes and blood from patients subjected to transurethral resection of the bladder (TUR-B) and/or Cystectomy. By analyzing methylation in signature genes IFNG, IL13, IL17a and FOXP3 we measure the epigenetic stability of these T helper cells.In most patients IFNG is more demethylated in sentinel nodes compared to non-sentinel nodes and blood, suggesting a Th1 activation in nodes in contact with the tumor. Aside from that, the distribution of subpopulations in all tissues investigated is highly variable in between patients. All subsets are represented, although there seem to be no or little Th17 cells in nodes. After neoadjuvant treatment (given in between the TUR-B and cystectomy) a temporary increase in methylation of IFNG locus is seen in blood, which could suggest a translocation of activated Th cells from the blood to the tumor area, but also de novo synthesis of Th cells.By analyzing the intra-patient variations in distribution and relative amount of Th cell subpopulations in blood and sentinel nodes we hope to draw conclusions on differences in outcome. The long-term goal is to be able to identify which patients could respond well to immune modulatory treatments.
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| 2. |
- Ahlén Bergman, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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Increased CD4+ T cell lineage commitment determined by CpG methylation correlates with better prognosis in urinary bladder cancer patients
- 2018
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Ingår i: Clinical Epigenetics. - : BMC. - 1868-7083 .- 1868-7075. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Urinary bladder cancer is a common malignancy worldwide. Environmental factors and chronic inflammation are correlated with the disease risk. Diagnosis is performed by transurethral resection of the bladder, and patients with muscle invasive disease preferably proceed to radical cystectomy, with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The anti-tumour immune responses, known to be initiated in the tumour and draining lymph nodes, may play a major role in future treatment strategies. Thus, increasing the knowledge of tumour-associated immunological processes is important. Activated CD4+ T cells differentiate into four main separate lineages: Th1, Th2, Th17 and Treg, and they are recognized by their effector molecules IFN-γ, IL-13, IL-17A, and the transcription factor Foxp3, respectively. We have previously demonstrated signature CpG sites predictive for lineage commitment of these four major CD4+ T cell lineages. Here, we investigate the lineage commitment specifically in tumour, lymph nodes and blood and relate them to the disease stage and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.RESULTS: Blood, tumour and regional lymph nodes were obtained from patients at time of transurethral resection of the bladder and at radical cystectomy. Tumour-infiltrating CD4+ lymphocytes were significantly hypomethylated in all four investigated lineage loci compared to CD4+ lymphocytes in lymph nodes and blood (lymph nodes vs tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes: IFNG -4229 bp p < 0.0001, IL13 -11 bp p < 0.05, IL17A -122 bp p < 0.01 and FOXP3 -77 bp p > 0.05). Examination of individual lymph nodes displayed different methylation signatures, suggesting possible correlation with future survival. More advanced post-cystectomy tumour stages correlated significantly with increased methylation at the IFNG -4229 bp locus. Patients with complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy displayed significant hypomethylation in CD4+ T cells for all four investigated loci, most prominently in IFNG p < 0.0001. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy seemed to result in a relocation of Th1-committed CD4+ T cells from blood, presumably to the tumour, indicated by shifts in the methylation patterns, whereas no such shifts were seen for lineages corresponding to IL13, IL17A and FOXP3.CONCLUSION: Increased lineage commitment in CD4+ T cells, as determined by demethylation in predictive CpG sites, is associated with lower post-cystectomy tumour stage, complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and overall better outcome, suggesting epigenetic profiling of CD4+ T cell lineages as a useful readout for clinical staging.
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| 3. |
- Bergman, Emma Ahlén
(författare)
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Locus specific DNA methylation in human immunological responses
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- All cells in the human body contains the same genome. Yet, there are hundreds of different cell types, with widely different phenotype, and function. The differential gene expression leading to this diversity is tightly regulated by epigenetics, i.e. modifications to the genome without interfering with the sequence. There are a number of epigenetic modifications. In this thesis, I have studied DNA methylation as a readout for lineage specificity or effector function in cells from the immune system, in clinical settings. In paper I we develop a method based on DNA methylation analysis to determine the lineage commitment of the CD4+ T helper cells. First, we establish a regulatory site in the promotor of the IL17A gene. Next, we use signature genes IFNG, IL13, IL17A and FOXP3, to determine lineage commitment towards corresponding T helper cell subsets Th1, Th2, Th17 and Tregs. We call this method EILA (Epigenetic immune lineage assay), and demonstrate that it is usable in clinical samples from rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. In paper II, we take advantage of the same CD4+ T cell specific loci to investigate the adaptive immune response in and around the tumour microenvironment in specimens derived from patients with urinary bladder cancer (UBC). By sorting and examining CD4+ T cells from blood, tumour and regional lymph nodes, we conclude that patients with higher degree of lineage commitment have a better prognosis. Furthermore, we demonstrate that patients responding to neoadjuvant chemotherapy have a larger proportion of commitment cells, post treatment, compared with the non-responders. In paper III we further examine the same patient material from UBC patients, but instead focus on the cytotoxic features of CD8+ T lymphocytes. We establish a methylation pattern in the perforin gene PRF1 predictive for protein expression and deploy this locus as a readout for cytotoxic functionality. We demonstrate that the tumour infiltrating CD8+ T cells are pre- dispositioned to be cytotoxic through PRF1 demethylation, but that they lack corresponding protein expression, and show signs of exhaustion. The cells demonstrating a TRM phenotype, can still be woken anew, upon in vitro re-stimulation, demonstrating that they are not terminally exhausted. In paper IV we investigate whole blood leucocytes and the DNA methylation status of the glucocorticoid gene NR3C1. In contrast to literature studies on healthy volunteers, our cohort of surgical patients demonstrate a homogeneous pattern of demethylation in the previously described CpG island of NR3C1. As opposed to our hypothesis, we found no correlation between methylation and clinical outcome post-surgery in this patient cohort. Nevertheless, when employing multifactorial analysis to investigating the impact of genotype we found four single nucleotide polymorphisms that influenced the outcome. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrate multiple ways in which DNA methylation analysis can be used to read the immune system, but also that the loci selected for investigation has to be carefully chosen following thorough functional investigations. The results presented herein can contribute to further development of treatments to a variety of clinical conditions.
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| 4. |
- Hartana, Ciputra Adijaya, et al.
(författare)
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Urothelial bladder cancer may suppress perforin expression in CD8+ T cells by an ICAM-1/TGFβ2 mediated pathway
- 2018
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library Science. - 1932-6203. ; 13:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The immune system plays a significant role in urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) progression, with CD8+ T cells being capable to directly kill tumor cells using perforin and granzymes. However, tumors avoid immune recognition by escape mechanisms. In this study, we aim to demonstrate tumor immune escape mechanisms that suppress CD8+ T cells cytotoxicity. 42 patients diagnosed with UBC were recruited. CD8+ T cells from peripheral blood (PB), sentinel nodes (SN), and tumor were analyzed in steady state and in vitro-stimulated conditions by flow cytometry, RT-qPCR, and ELISA. Mass spectrometry (MS) was used for identification of proteins from UBC cell line culture supernatants. Perforin was surprisingly found to be low in CD8+ T cells from SN, marked by 1.8-fold decrease of PRF1 expression, with maintained expression of granzyme B. The majority of perforin-deficient CD8+ T cells are effector memory T (TEM) cells with exhausted Tc2 cell phenotype, judged by the presence of PD-1 and GATA-3. Consequently, perforin-deficient CD8+ T cells from SN are low in T-bet expression. Supernatant from muscle invasive UBC induces perforin deficiency, a mechanism identified by MS where ICAM-1 and TGFβ2 signaling were causatively validated to decrease perforin expression in vitro. Thus, we demonstrate a novel tumor escape suppressing perforin expression in CD8+ T cells mediated by ICAM-1 and TGFβ2, which can be targeted in combination for cancer immunotherapy.
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| 5. |
- Zirakzadeh, A. Ali, et al.
(författare)
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B cells in tumor draining lymph nodes act asefficient antigen presenting cells in cancer patients
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. - : BioMed Central. - 2051-1426. ; 3:Suppl 2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Overall Survival of patients with muscle invasive urothelial bladder cancer MIBC remains around 50% (5 years), albeit some improvements by combining neoadjuvant chemotherapy with radical surgery. Our previous work has demonstrated that in vitro expansions of sentinel node-acquired autologous tumor specific CD4+ T cells are promising for adoptive immunotherapy [1]. In order for naive T helper cells to become activated, they need effective APCs, presenting tumor antigens. In another study, we observed that B cells in cancer patients were tumor antigen experienced and from their phenotypes we suggested a CD4+ T cell dependent anti-tumoral response [2]. In this study, we report a flow cytometric investigation of tumor draining lymph node (sentinel node) derived B cell activation by autologous tumor extract in patients with MIBC.Methods: Sentinel nodes (SNs) from 28 patients with MIBC were detected by a Geiger meter at cystectomy after peritumoral injection with radioactive isotope. Lymphocytes were isolated from freshly received SNs where they were stimulated with autologous tumor extract in a sterile environment. After cultivation for 7 days, the cells were analyzed by multi-color flow cytometry using FASCIA (Flow cytometric Assay of Specific Cell-mediated Immune response in Activated whole blood).Results: Patients displayed an increased B cell activation in SNs after stimulation with autologous tumor extract compared to when SN acquired lymphocytes were stimulated with autologous extract of macroscopically non-malignant bladder. CD4+ T cells from SNs were activated and formed blasts after co-culture with SN acquired B cells in the presence of tumor antigen. However, CD4+ T cells were not activated and did not blast when co-cultured with B cells incubated with HLA-DR-blocking antibodies. This indicates antigen presenting ability of SN acquired B cells.Conclusions: We demonstrate sentinel node acquired B lymphocytes can be activated in culture upon stimulation with autologous tumor extract but not with extract of non-malignant epithelium of the bladder, after 7 days. Lower number of sentinel node acquired CD4+ T cells cultured with HLA-DR blocked CD19+ cells in presence of tumor antigen, indicate functional antigen presenting ability of B cells in sentinel nodes. The role of B cells as APCs in human T cell anti-tumoral response should be further explored, as well as their usefulness in adoptive immunotherapy.
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| 6. |
- Zirakzadeh, A. Ali, et al.
(författare)
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Doxorubicin enhances the capacity of B cells to activate T cells in urothelial urinary bladder cancer
- 2017
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Ingår i: Clinical Immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1521-6616 .- 1521-7035. ; 176, s. 63-70
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cancer is currently treated by a combination of therapies, including chemotherapy which is believed to suppress the immune system. Combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy correlates with improved survival but needs careful planning in order to achieve a synergistic effect. In this study, we have demonstrated that doxorubicin treatment of B cells resulted in increased expression of CD86 and concordantly increased CD4(+) T cell activation in the presence of superantigen, an effect that was inhibited by the addition of a CD86 blocking antibody. Furthermore, doxorubicin resulted in decreased expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and TNF-alpha. Finally, B cells from urinary bladder cancer patients, treated with a neoadjuvant regiment containing doxorubicin, displayed increased CD86-expression. We conclude that doxorubicin induces CD86 expression on B cells and hence enhances their antigen-presenting ability in vitro, a finding verified in patients. Development of tailored time and dose schedules may increase the effectiveness of combining chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
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| 7. |
- Zirakzadeh, A. Ali, et al.
(författare)
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Tumour-associated B cells in urothelial urinary bladder cancer
- 2020
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Immunology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0300-9475 .- 1365-3083. ; 91:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tumour infiltrating B cells and CD38+ plasma cells have been correlated with survival in different malignancies but their role in urinary bladder cancer is unclear. IL-10 is a multifunctional cytokine with both anti-inflammatory and immunostimulatory properties, that can be released by regulatory B cells (Bregs). We have stained paraffin-embedded tumour sections from 31 patients with invasive urothelial urinary bladder cancer with respect to CD20+ B cells, CD38+ cells, IL-10-expressing cells, IgG, C1q and C3a and analysed the impact of these markers on survival. Interestingly, we observe tumour-associated CD20+ B cells forming follicle-like structures in tumours of some patients. We demonstrate that follicle-like structures, tumour-associated CD38+ cells, IL-10 produced by non-B cells, tumour infiltrating IgG and activation of the complement system, may associate to longer survival of urinary bladder cancer patients. IL-10 expression by tumour-associated Bregs may instead negatively affect prognosis. More research is needed to fully understand the role of B cells and IL-10 in urinary bladder cancer.
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