Peptide-based anticancer vaccination aims at stimulating an immune response against one or multiple tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) following immunization with purified, recombinant or synthetically engineered epitopes. Despite high expectations, the peptide-based vaccines that have been explored in the clinic so far had limited therapeutic activity, largely due to cancer cell-intrinsic alterations that minimize antigenicity and/or changes in the tumor microenvironment that foster immunosuppression. Several strategies have been developed to overcome such limitations, including the use of immunostimulatory adjuvants, the co-treatment with cytotoxic anticancer therapies that enable the coordinated release of damage-associated molecular patterns, and the concomitant blockade of immune checkpoints. Personalized peptide-based vaccines are also being explored for therapeutic activity in the clinic. Here, we review recent preclinical and clinical progress in the use of peptide-based vaccines as anticancer therapeutics.Abbreviations: CMP: carbohydrate-mimetic peptide; CMV: cytomegalovirus; DC: dendritic cell; FDA: Food and Drug Administration; HPV: human papillomavirus; MDS: myelodysplastic syndrome; MHP: melanoma helper vaccine; NSCLC: non-small cell lung carcinoma; ODD: orphan drug designation; PPV: personalized peptide vaccination; SLP: synthetic long peptide; TAA: tumor-associated antigen; TNA: tumor neoantigen.

• Klíčová slova
• CAR T cells, MAGEA3, NY-ESO-1, immune checkpoint blockers, mutational load, synthetic long peptides, tumor neoantigens,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Starvation is a strong physiological stimulus of macroautophagy/autophagy. In this study, we addressed the question as to whether it would be possible to measure autophagy in blood cells after nutrient deprivation. Fasting of mice for 48 h (which causes ∼20% weight loss) or starvation of human volunteers for up to 4 d (which causes <2% weight loss) provokes major changes in the plasma metabolome, yet induces only relatively minor alterations in the intracellular metabolome of circulating leukocytes. White blood cells from mice and human volunteers responded to fasting with a marked reduction in protein lysine acetylation, affecting both nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments. In circulating leukocytes from mice that underwent 48-h fasting, an increase in LC3B lipidation (as assessed by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence) only became detectable if the protease inhibitor leupeptin was injected 2 h before drawing blood. Consistently, measurement of an enhanced autophagic flux was only possible if white blood cells from starved human volunteers were cultured in the presence or absence of leupeptin. Whereas all murine leukocyte subpopulations significantly increased the number of LC3B+ puncta per cell in response to nutrient deprivation, only neutrophils from starved volunteers showed signs of activated autophagy (as determined by a combination of multi-color immunofluorescence, cytofluorometry and image analysis). Altogether, these results suggest that white blood cells are suitable for monitoring autophagic flux. In addition, we propose that the evaluation of protein acetylation in circulating leukocytes can be adopted as a biochemical marker of organismal energetic status.

• Klíčová slova
• IGF1, autophagy, caloric restriction, leukocytes, longevity, metabolome, p62, protein acetylation,
• MeSH
• acetylace MeSH
• autofagie MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• hladovění krev   metabolismus   MeSH
• kultivované buňky MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• lysin metabolismus   MeSH
• metabolom MeSH
• metabolomika MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• myši inbrední C57BL MeSH
• neutrofily metabolismus   MeSH
• omezení příjmu potravy krev   metabolismus   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• klinické zkoušky MeSH
• Názvy látek
• lysin MeSH

Cancer can be viewed in 2 rather distinct ways, namely (i) as a cell-autonomous disease in which malignant cells have escaped control from cell-intrinsic barriers against proliferation and dissemination or (ii) as a systemic disease that involves failing immune control of aberrant cells. Since macroautophagy/autophagy generally increases the fitness of cells as well as their resistance against endogenous or iatrogenic (i.e., relating to illness due to medical intervention) stress, it has been widely proposed that inhibition of autophagy would constitute a valid strategy for sensitizing cancer cells to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Colliding with this cell-autonomous vision, however, we found that immunosurveillance against transplantable, carcinogen-induced or genetically engineered cancers can be improved by pharmacologically inducing autophagy with caloric restriction mimetics. This positive effect depends on autophagy induction in cancer cells and is mediated by alterations in extracellular ATP metabolism, namely increased release of immunostimulatory ATP and reduced adenosine-dependent recruitment of immunosuppressive regulatory T cells into the tumor bed. The combination of autophagy inducers and chemotherapeutic agents is particularly efficient in reducing cancer growth through the stimulation of CD8+ T lymphocyte-dependent anticancer immune responses.

• Klíčová slova
• acetylation, caloric restriction mimetics, hydroxycitrate, immunosurveillance, regulatory T cells, spermidine,
• MeSH
• adenosintrifosfát metabolismus   MeSH
• autofagie * MeSH
• imunitní dozor MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• myši MeSH
• nádory imunologie   patologie   terapie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• myši MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• adenosintrifosfát MeSH

Caloric restriction mimetics (CRMs) mimic the biochemical effects of nutrient deprivation by reducing lysine acetylation of cellular proteins, thus triggering autophagy. Treatment with the CRM hydroxycitrate, an inhibitor of ATP citrate lyase, induced the depletion of regulatory T cells (which dampen anticancer immunity) from autophagy-competent, but not autophagy-deficient, mutant KRAS-induced lung cancers in mice, thereby improving anticancer immunosurveillance and reducing tumor mass. Short-term fasting or treatment with several chemically unrelated autophagy-inducing CRMs, including hydroxycitrate and spermidine, improved the inhibition of tumor growth by chemotherapy in vivo. This effect was only observed for autophagy-competent tumors, depended on the presence of T lymphocytes, and was accompanied by the depletion of regulatory T cells from the tumor bed.

• Klíčová slova
• cancer, chemotherapy, immunosurveillance, regulatory T cell,
• MeSH
• Atg5 genetika   MeSH
• autofagie MeSH
• citráty aplikace a dávkování   farmakologie   MeSH
• experimentální nádory dietoterapie   farmakoterapie   imunologie   MeSH
• kalorická restrikce metody   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• methotrexát aplikace a dávkování   farmakologie   MeSH
• monitorování imunologické MeSH
• mutace MeSH
• myši MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• protoonkogenní proteiny p21(ras) genetika   MeSH
• regulační T-lymfocyty účinky léků   MeSH
• spermidin aplikace a dávkování   farmakologie   MeSH
• transplantace nádorů MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• myši MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH
• Názvy látek
• Atg5 protein, mouse MeSH Prohlížeč
• Atg5 MeSH
• citráty MeSH
• Hras protein, mouse MeSH Prohlížeč
• hydroxycitric acid MeSH Prohlížeč
• methotrexát MeSH
• protoonkogenní proteiny p21(ras) MeSH
• spermidin MeSH

Oncolytic virotherapy relies on the administration of non-pathogenic viral strains that selectively infect and kill malignant cells while favoring the elicitation of a therapeutically relevant tumor-targeting immune response. During the past few years, great efforts have been dedicated to the development of oncolytic viruses with improved specificity and potency. Such an intense wave of investigation has culminated this year in the regulatory approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of a genetically engineered oncolytic viral strain for use in melanoma patients. Here, we summarize recent preclinical and clinical advances in oncolytic virotherapy.

• Klíčová slova
• Cavatak™, GM-CSF, JX-594, ONCOS-102, Reolysin®, talimogene laherparepvec,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

The term "immunogenic cell death" (ICD) is now employed to indicate a functionally peculiar form of apoptosis that is sufficient for immunocompetent hosts to mount an adaptive immune response against dead cell-associated antigens. Several drugs have been ascribed with the ability to provoke ICD when employed as standalone therapeutic interventions. These include various chemotherapeutics routinely employed in the clinic (e.g., doxorubicin, epirubicin, idarubicin, mitoxantrone, bleomycin, bortezomib, cyclophosphamide and oxaliplatin) as well as some anticancer agents that are still under preclinical or clinical development (e.g., some microtubular inhibitors of the epothilone family). In addition, a few drugs are able to convert otherwise non-immunogenic instances of cell death into bona fide ICD, and may therefore be employed as chemotherapeutic adjuvants within combinatorial regimens. This is the case of cardiac glycosides, like digoxin and digitoxin, and zoledronic acid. Here, we discuss recent developments on anticancer chemotherapy based on ICD inducers.

• Klíčová slova
• ALL, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, AML, acute myeloid leukemia, CML, chronic myeloid leukemia, DAMP, damage-associated molecular pattern, EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor, EOX, epirubicin plus oxaliplatin plus capecitabine, ER, endoplasmic reticulum, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, FOLFIRINOX, folinic acid plus 5-fluorouracil plus irinotecan plus oxaliplatin, FOLFOX, folinic acid plus 5-fluorouracil plus oxaliplatin, GEMOX, gemcitabine plus oxaliplatin, GM-CSF, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma, ICD, immunogenic cell death, MM, multiple myeloma, NHL, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, NSCLC, non-small cell lung carcinoma, TACE, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, XELOX, capecitabine plus oxaliplatin, antigen-presenting cell, autophagy, damage-associated molecular pattern, dendritic cell, endoplasmic reticulum stress, mAb, monoclonal antibody, type I interferon,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

The use of patient-derived dendritic cells (DCs) as a means to elicit therapeutically relevant immune responses in cancer patients has been extensively investigated throughout the past decade. In this context, DCs are generally expanded, exposed to autologous tumor cell lysates or loaded with specific tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), and then reintroduced into patients, often in combination with one or more immunostimulatory agents. As an alternative, TAAs are targeted to DCs in vivo by means of monoclonal antibodies, carbohydrate moieties or viral vectors specific for DC receptors. All these approaches have been shown to (re)activate tumor-specific immune responses in mice, often mediating robust therapeutic effects. In 2010, the first DC-based preparation (sipuleucel-T, also known as Provenge®) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in humans. Reflecting the central position occupied by DCs in the regulation of immunological tolerance and adaptive immunity, the interest in harnessing them for the development of novel immunotherapeutic anticancer regimens remains high. Here, we summarize recent advances in the preclinical and clinical development of DC-based anticancer therapeutics.

• Klíčová slova
• DC, dendritic cell, DC-based vaccination, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, IFN, interferon, MRC1, mannose receptor, C type 1, MUC1, mucin 1, TAA, tumor-associated antigen, TLR, Toll-like receptor, Toll-like receptor agonists, Treg, regulatory T cell, WT1, Wilms tumor 1, antigen cross-presentation, autophagy, iDC, immature DC, immunogenic cell death, mDC, mature DC, pDC, plasmacytoid DC, regulatory T cells,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Apoptotic cells have long been considered as intrinsically tolerogenic or unable to elicit immune responses specific for dead cell-associated antigens. However, multiple stimuli can trigger a functionally peculiar type of apoptotic demise that does not go unnoticed by the adaptive arm of the immune system, which we named "immunogenic cell death" (ICD). ICD is preceded or accompanied by the emission of a series of immunostimulatory damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) in a precise spatiotemporal configuration. Several anticancer agents that have been successfully employed in the clinic for decades, including various chemotherapeutics and radiotherapy, can elicit ICD. Moreover, defects in the components that underlie the capacity of the immune system to perceive cell death as immunogenic negatively influence disease outcome among cancer patients treated with ICD inducers. Thus, ICD has profound clinical and therapeutic implications. Unfortunately, the gold-standard approach to detect ICD relies on vaccination experiments involving immunocompetent murine models and syngeneic cancer cells, an approach that is incompatible with large screening campaigns. Here, we outline strategies conceived to detect surrogate markers of ICD in vitro and to screen large chemical libraries for putative ICD inducers, based on a high-content, high-throughput platform that we recently developed. Such a platform allows for the detection of multiple DAMPs, like cell surface-exposed calreticulin, extracellular ATP and high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), and/or the processes that underlie their emission, such as endoplasmic reticulum stress, autophagy and necrotic plasma membrane permeabilization. We surmise that this technology will facilitate the development of next-generation anticancer regimens, which kill malignant cells and simultaneously convert them into a cancer-specific therapeutic vaccine.

• Klíčová slova
• APC, antigen-presenting cell, ATF6, activating transcription factor 6, ATP release, BAK1, BCL2-antagonist/killer 1, BAX, BCL2-associated X protein, BCL2, B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2 protein, CALR, calreticulin, CTL, cytotoxic T lymphocyte, DAMP, damage-associated molecular pattern, DAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole, DiOC6(3), 3,3′-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodide, EIF2A, eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2A, ER, endoplasmic reticulum, FLT3LG, fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 ligand, G3BP1, GTPase activating protein (SH3 domain) binding protein 1, GFP, green fluorescent protein, H2B, histone 2B, HMGB1, HMGB1, high mobility group box 1, HSP, heat shock protein, HSV-1, herpes simplex virus type I, ICD, immunogenic cell death, IFN, interferon, IL, interleukin, MOMP, mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization, PDIA3, protein disulfide isomerase family A, PI, propidium iodide, RFP, red fluorescent protein, TLR, Toll-like receptor, XBP1, X-box binding protein 1, autophagy, calreticulin, endoplasmic reticulum stress, immunotherapy, member 3, Δψm, mitochondrial transmembrane potential,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH