The Role of Natural Killer T Cells in Cancer-A Phenotypical and Functional Approach

Surgical oncolog

A critical assessment of the association between HLA-G expression by carcinomas and clinical outcome

Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) conveys immunological tolerance at the maternal-foetal interface. HLA-G expression by tumour cells may also play such a role, resulting in tumour immune evasion, making HLA-G a potential target for immunotherapies. The aim of this review was to determine to what extent it is justified that HLA-G expression is considered as a target for immune checkpoint inhibiting therapy by critically assessing the association between HLA-G expression by carcinomas and clinical outcome of patients. The used HLA-G-detecting mAb, HLA-G quantification methods and statistically significant HLA-G-associated clinicopathological parameters are discussed. Tumour HLA-G expression correlated with poor clinical outcome in breast, esophageal, gastric and hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Tumour HLA-G expression was not associated with clinical outcome in ovarian and oral carcinoma patients. Cervical, colorectal, lung, and pancreatic carcinoma patients presented discrepant and therefore inconclusive results regarding the association between tumour HLA-G expression and clinical outcome. These disparities might partly be the result of differences in the methodological approach to quantify HLA-G expression between studies. Therefore, implementation of universal methodological procedures is strongly advised. Overall, HLA-G expression did not univocally result in poor clinical outcome of carcinoma patients. This implies that tumour HLA-G expression is not necessarily part of an inhibited tumour-immune response and tumour progression. Consequently, it remains elusive whether HLA-G expression by carcinomas functions as an immune checkpoint molecule affecting a tumour-immune response. It may also reflect derailed control of gene expression in tumours, with no real functional consequences.Surgical oncolog

Wacana Kritis Berita Online Kasus Penyadapan Pembicaraan Telepon Elit Indonesia oleh Agen Rahasia Australia

News on online portal has advantages over news on conventional media in constructing reality and affecting the audiences. This research aims to analyze online text news about Indonesian\u27s political elites phone-tapping by Australian intelligence agency in Indonesian and Australian online news portal. This research uses text analyzing technique with interpretative explanation application. Data collection were done by observation on four online news portals, and then continued by data selection in the form of related news text. This news text is acquaired by using search engine in the internet. Collected data then being analyzed using Van Dijk Critical Discourse Analysis to apprehend the social discourses constructed by the online news portals, ideologies behind it, and the impact of those news publication on Indonesia-Australia diplomatic relationship. The results of this research indicates that there is a difference in discourses between Australia and Indonesia\u27s online news portal regarding the phone-tapping of Indonesia\u27s political elites by the Australian intelligence agency. Reality construction which is built by those news portals shows some differences, caused by disparities of press system and communication cultures between the two nations. Besides that, media ideologies also affects that phone-tapping publication. Those news publication in the process inflicts reaction on the people of the two nations, which affects the diplomatic relations between the two country

Rat interleukin-2-activated natural killer (A-NK) cell-mediated lysis is determined by the presence of CD18 on A-NK cells and the absence of major histocompatibility complex class I on target cells

The precise mechanism by which target cells are recognized and subsequently lysed by interleukin-2-activated natural killer (A-NK) cells is poorly understood. In this study the role of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and adhesion molecules in the recognition and lysis of tumor cells was investigated in a syngeneic Wag rat model. Preincubation of tumor cells with F(ab′)2 fragments of anti-MHC class I monoclonal antibody (mAb) OX18 strongly enhanced the A-NK cell-mediated lysis. Also normal syngeneic cells such as T cells and A-NK cells became highly sensitive for lysis by A-NK cells after preincubation with mAb OX18. Two other mAb against MHC class I had no effect on lysis of target cells. These data indicate that masking of MHC class I on syngeneic tumor and normal cells by mAb OX18 is sufficient for A-NK cells to recognize target cells as non-self, resulting in lysis. In addition, we found that the presence of mAb against the β2 (CD18)-integrins blocked the lysis of all tumor cell lines by A-NK cells in 51Cr-release assays, also when target cells were preincubated with mAb OX18. Because of the absence of CD18 on most tumor cells we concluded that a CD18-associated integrin on A-NK cells is essential for lysis of target cells. These results show that in this syngeneic rat model CD18 on A-NK cells together with MHC class I on tumor cells determine A-NK cell-mediated lysis. Furthermore, we hypothesize that the anti-MHC class I OX18 recognizes an epitope on rat MHC class I which is, or is very close to, the restriction element determining A-NK cell-mediated lysis

Ativação de neutrófilos de indivíduos saudáveis e imunocomprometidos por promastigotas de Leishmania spp.

Os neutrófilos são as primeiras células polimorfonucleares do sistema imunitário inato a chegar ao local de infeção, constituindo a primeira linha de defesa contra agentes invasores, como no caso do parasita Leishmania. Este parasita é causador da leishmaniose que tem sido reportada em mais de 98 países e que pode afetar animais e seres humanos. As diferentes espécies do parasita podem causar leishmaniose com diferentes apresentações clinicas, das quais salientamos a leishmaniose visceral e a leishmaniose cutânea. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a resposta imunitária de células polimórficas nucleares (PMN) de indivíduos com diferentes competências imunitárias quando expostas a parasitas de espécies viscerais (L. infantum) e cutâneas (L. amazonensis, L. shawi e L. guyanensis). A internalização parasitária foi confirmada por microscopia optica. A ativação celular foi avaliada através de técnicas laboratoriais que permitaram analisar os mecanismos oxidativos, nomeadamente a produção de ião superóxido, a exocitose de grânulos ricos em enzimas proteolíticas, como é o caso específico da elastase neutrofilica (NE) e da catepsina G (CatG) e a libertação de armadilhas extracelulares (NET). Verificou-se que as espécies de Leishmania induzem a exocitose de CatG e a libertação de NET, independentemente da competência imunitária dos indivíduos estudados. Contudo, idêntica situação não se verifica no caso do stress oxidativo ou da libertação de NE. Leishmania spp. estimulou o stress oxidativo, com produção do ião superóxido, nos PMN de indivíduos saudáveis enquanto os PMN de indivíduos imunocomprometidos apenas parece ficar ativado na presença de L. infantum e de L. amazonensis apontando para mecanismos de ativação diversos decorrentes quer da espécie do parasita quer do nível imunitário do hospedeiro. Situação similar ocorreu na exocitose de grânulos ricos em NE. L. infantum e L. shawi estimularam a libertação de NE por PMN de indivíduos saudáveis e imunocomprometidos. Porém, os PMN de indivíduos com comprometimento da imunidade também responderam aos parasitas da espécie L. amazonensis enquanto que L. guyanensis unicamente induziu a exocitose de NE nos PMN de indivíduos saudáveis. Estes resultados apontam para a existência de especificidades próprias na ativação destes mecanismos relativamente às espécies de Leishmania e ao estado imunitário do hospedeiro. Estudos complementares são necessários para esclarecer o processo de ativação, bem como identificar os eventuais antigénios parasitários (ou até ilhas CpG) que conduzem a ativação de PMN humanos.Neutrophils are the first polymorphonuclear cells of the innate immune system to reach the infection site, providing the first line of defense against invading pathogens, such as the Leishmania parasite. This parasite causes leishmaniasis that has been reported over 98 countries, affecting both animals and human beings. Different species of the parasite can cause leishmaniasis with diverse clinical presentations, as is the case of visceral leishmaniasis and cutaneous leishmaniasis. The present study aimed to evaluate the immune response of polymorphic nuclear cells (PMN) of individuals with different immune competence when exposed to visceral (L. infantum) and cutaneous parasitic species (L. amazonensis, L. guyanensis and L. shawi). Uptake of parasites by PMN was confirmed by optical microscopy. Laboratory techniques were used to evaluate the PMN activation by assessing oxidative mechanisms, namely the production of ion superoxide exocytosis, exocytosis of granules rich in proteolytic enzymes, as is the specific case of neutrophil elastase (NE) and cathepsin G (CatG) and the release of extracellular traps (NET). It was found that the species of Leishmania induce CatG exocytosis and NET release, regardless of the immune competence of the studied subjects. On the contrary, in the case of oxidative stress or the release of NE some differences were observed between PMN from healthy and immuncompromised individuals. All species of Leishmania induced oxidative stress, with production of superoxide ion in PMN of healthy individuals. However, PMN of immunocompromised individuals just seems to be activated in the presence of L. infantum and L. amazonensis parasites, pointing to the possible existence of more than one activation mechanism in association with the immune competence of the host that can be specifically primed by a particular parasite species. A similar situation was observed in the exocytosis of granules rich in NE. L. infantum and L. shawi stimulated the release of NE by PMN isolated from healthy and immunocompromised individuals. However, PMN from individuals with impaired immunity also appeared to respond to L. amazonensis parasites while L. guyanensis only induced PMN from healthy individuals to exocytosis NE. These findings suggest that the presence of specific features in the activation of these particular mechanisms might be related to the species of Leishmania and also to the immune status of the host. Additional studies are needed to clarify the activation process and identify parasitic antigens (or even CpG islands) that direct cell activation

CD163 as a biomarker in colorectal cancer: the expression on circulating monocytes and tumor-associated macrophages, and the soluble form in the blood

The macrophage-associated molecule CD163 has been reported as a prognostic biomarker in different cancer types, but its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) is unclear. We studied CD163 in the tumor microenvironment and circulation of patients with CRC in relation to clinicopathological parameters. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the serum sCD163 levels and multiparameter flow cytometry was used to study the peripheral blood monocytes and their CD163 expression in CRC patients (N= 78) and healthy donors (N= 50). The distribution of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) was studied in primary colorectal tumors with multiplex immunofluorescence. We showed that CRC patients with above-median sCD163 level had a shorter overall survival (OS,p= 0.035) as well as disease-free survival (DFS,p= 0.005). The above-median sCD163 remained significantly associated with a shorter DFS in the multivariate analysis (p= 0.049). Moreover, a shorter OS was observed in CRC patients with an above-median total monocyte percentage (p= 0.007). The number and phenotype of the stromal and intraepithelial TAMs in colorectal tumors were not associated with clinical outcome. In conclusion, sCD163 and monocytes in the circulation may be potential prognostic biomarkers in CRC patients, whereas TAMs in the tumor showed no association with clinical outcome. Thus, our results emphasize the importance of the innate systemic immune response in CRC disease progression.Surgical oncolog

Targeting glycans and heavily glycosylated proteins for tumor imaging

Simple SummaryDistinguishing malignancy from healthy tissue is essential for oncologic surgery. Targeted imaging during an operation aids the surgeon to operate better. The present tracers for detecting cancer are directed against proteins that are overexpressed on the membrane of tumor cells. This review evaluates the use of tumor-associated sugar molecules as an alternative for proteins to image cancer tissue. These sugar molecules are present as glycans on glycosylated membrane proteins and glycolipids. Due to their location and large numbers per cell, these sugar molecules might be better targets for tumor imaging than proteins.Real-time tumor imaging techniques are increasingly used in oncological surgery, but still need to be supplemented with novel targeted tracers, providing specific tumor tissue detection based on intra-tumoral processes or protein expression. To maximize tumor/non-tumor contrast, targets should be highly and homogenously expressed on tumor tissue only, preferably from the earliest developmental stage onward. Unfortunately, most evaluated tumor-associated proteins appear not to meet all of these criteria. Thus, the quest for ideal targets continues. Aberrant glycosylation of proteins and lipids is a fundamental hallmark of almost all cancer types and contributes to tumor progression. Additionally, overexpression of glycoproteins that carry aberrant glycans, such as mucins and proteoglycans, is observed. Selected tumor-associated glyco-antigens are abundantly expressed and could, thus, be ideal candidates for targeted tumor imaging. Nevertheless, glycan-based tumor imaging is still in its infancy. In this review, we highlight the potential of glycans, and heavily glycosylated proteoglycans and mucins as targets for multimodal tumor imaging by discussing the preclinical and clinical accomplishments within this field. Additionally, we describe the major advantages and limitations of targeting glycans compared to cancer-associated proteins. Lastly, by providing a brief overview of the most attractive tumor-associated glycans and glycosylated proteins in association with their respective tumor types, we set out the way for implementing glycan-based imaging in a clinical practice.Surgical oncolog