The accumulation of basic researches and clinical studies related to cytokine-induced killer(CIK) cells has confirmed their safety and feasibility in treating malignant diseases.This review summarizes the available published literature related to the biological characteristics and clinical applications of CIK cells in recent years.A number of clinical trials with CIK cells have been implemented during the progressive phases of cancer,presenting potential widespread applications of CIK cells for the future.Furthermore,this review briefly compares clinical applications of CIK cells with those of other adoptive immunotherapeutic cells.However,at present,there are no uniform criteria or large-scale preparations of CIK cells.The overall clinical response is difficult to evaluate because of the use of autologous CIK cells.Based on these observations,several suggestions regarding uniform criteria and universal sources for CIK cell preparations and the use of CIK cells either combined with chemotherapy or alone as a primary strategy are briefly proposed in this review.Large-scale,controlled,grouped,and multi-center clinical trials on CIK cell-based immunotherapy should be conducted under strict supervision.These interventions might help to improve future clinical applications and increase the clinical curative effects of CIK cells for a broad range of malignancies in the future.
The reasons why certain domains evolve much slower than others is unclear.The notion that functionally more important genes evolve more slowly than less important genes is one of the few commonly believed principles of molecular evolution.The macrodomain(also known as the X domain) is an ancient,slowly evolving and highly conserved structural domain found in proteins throughout all of the kingdoms and was first discovered nearly two decades ago with the isolation and cloning of macroH2A1.Macrodomains,which are functionally promiscuous,have been studied intensively for the past decade due to their importance in the regulation of cellular responses to DNA damage,chromatin remodeling,transcription and tumorigenesis.Recent structural,phylogenetic and biological analyses,however,suggest the need for some reconsideration of the evolutionary advantage of concentrating such a plethora of diverse functions into the macrodomain and of how macrodomains could perform so many functions.In this article,we focus on macrodomains that are evolving slowly and broadly discuss the potential relationship between the biological evolution and functional diversity of macrodomains.
The use of translational medicine in Chinese hospitals ap- pears to have become easier over the last decade. Products developed in the laboratory can sometimes be applied in the clinic under life-saving circumstances. Arteannuin is one of the most successful examples of translation during the past decade in China, having been used to treat more than one million patients with malaria. However, several approaches developed in the laboratory, with proven benefits to patients,
The successes achieved by chimeric antigen receptor-modified T （CAR-T） cells in hematological malignancies raised the pos- sibility of their use in non-small lung cancer （NSCLC）. In this phase I clinical study （NCT01869166）, patients with epidermal growth factor receptor （EGFR）-positive （〉50% expression）, relapsed/refractory NSCLC received escalating doses of EGFR-targeted CAR-T cell infusions. The EGFR-targeted CAR-T cells were generated from peripheral blood after a 10 to 13-day in vitro expansion. Serum cytokines in peripheral blood and copy numbers of CAR-EGFR transgene in peripheral blood and in tissue biopsy were monitored periodically. Clinical responses were evaluated with RECISTI.1 and im- mune-related response criteria, and adverse events were graded with CTCAE 4.0. The EGFR-targeted CAR-T cell infusions were well-tolerated without severe toxicity. Of 11 evaluable patients, two patients obtained partial response and five had stable disease for two to eight months. The median dose of transfused CAR＋ T cells was 0.97x 10^7 cells kg J （interquar- tile range （IQR）, 0.45 to 1.09x 10^7 cells kg 1）. Pathological eradication of EGFR positive tumor cells after EGFR-targeted CAR-T cell treatment can be observed in tumor biopsies, along with the CAR-EGFR gene detected in tumor-infiltrating T cells in all four biopsied patients. The EGFR-targeted CAR-T cell therapy is safe and feasible for EGFR-positive advanced re- lapsed/refractory NSCLC.
Kaichao FengYelei GuoHanren DaiYao WangXiang LiHejin JiaWeidong Han
Micro sate Hite instability（MSI） defines a subtype of colorectal cancer（CRC） with typical clinicopathologic characteristics. CRCs with MSI（MSI CRCs） frequently acquire accelerated carcinogenesis and 5-FU resistance, and the exact underlying mechanism remains incompletely understood. Our previous study has identified the microRNA（miRNA） expression profile in MSI CRCs. In this study, three miRNAs（miR-181 a, miR-135 a and miR-302 c） were validated by qRT-PCR to be dramatically decreased in 67 CRC samples. Proliferation and apoptosis assays demonstrated that miR-181 a/135 a/302 c function as tumor suppressors via repressing PLAG1/IGF2 signaling. Moreover, we presented compelling evidence that restoration of miR-181 a/135 a/302 c expression promoted sensitivity of MSI CRC cells to 5-FU treatment. miR-181 a/135 a/302 c exerted their effect on chemoresistance through attenuating PLAG1 expression. Notably, the hypermethylation status of MSI CRC accounts for the decrements of miR-181 a/135 a/302 c. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the mechanism of chemo？resistance in MSI CRCs, and provide a clue for digging the bio markers and therapeutic targets for CRC patients.
Lu ShiXiang LiZhiqiang WuXiaolei LiJing NieMingzhou GuoQian MeiWeidong Han
Patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma have a dismal prognosis.Chimeric Antigen Receptor(CAR)-modified T cells(CART cells)that targeted CD20 were effective in a phase I clinical trial for patients with advanced B-cell lymphomas.We performed a phase IIa trial to further assess the safety and efficacy of administering autologous anti-CD20 CART(CART-20)cells to patients with refractory or relapsed CD20^(+)B-cell lymphoma.Eleven patients were enrolled,and seven patients underwent cytoreductive chemotherapy to debulk the tumors and deplete the lymphocytes before receiving T-cell infusions.The overall objective response rate was 9 of 11(81.8%),with 6 complete remissions(CRs)and 3 partial remissions;no severe toxicity was observed.The median progression-free survival lasted for 46 months,and 1 patient had a 27-month continuous CR.A significant inverse correlation between the levels of the CAR gene and disease recurrence or progression was observed.Clinically,the lesions in special sites,specifically the spleen and testicle,were refractory to CART-20 treatment.Collectively,these results together with our data from phase I strongly demonstrated the feasibility and efficacy of CART-20 treatment in lymphomas and suggest large-scale patient recruitment in a future study.This study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.org as NCT01735604.
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 （HER2） pro- teins are overexpressed in a high proportion of gastric cancer （GC） cases and affect the maintenance of cancer stem cell （CSC） subpopulations, which are used as tar- gets for the clinical treatment of patients with HER2- positive GC. Despite improvements in survival, numer- ous HER2-positive patients fail treatment with trastuzu- mab, highlighting the need for more effective therapies. In this study, we generated a novel type of genetically modified human T cells, expressing a chimeric antigen receptor （CAR）, and targeting the GC cell antigen HER2, which harbors the CD137 and CD3/; moieties. Our findings show that the expanded CART cells, expressing an increased central memory phenotype, were activated by the specific recognition of HER2 antigens in an MHC-in- dependent manner, and effectively killed patient-derived HER2-positive GC cells. In HER2-positive xenograft tumors, CART cells exhibited considerably enhanced tumor inhibition ability, long-term survival, and homing totargets, compared with those of non-transduced T cells. The sphere-forming ability and in vivo tumorigenicity of patient-derived gastric cancer stem-like cells, expressing HER2 and the CD44 protein, were also inhibited. Our results support the future development and clinical application of this adoptive immunotherapy in patients with HER2-positive advanced GC.
Myofibroblasts,recognized classically by-smooth muscle actin(-SMA)expression,play a key role in the wound-healing process,promoting wound closure and matrix deposition.Although a body of evidence shows that keratinocytes explanted onto a wound bed promote closure of a skin injury,the underlying mechanisms are not well understood.The basal layer of epidermis is rich in undifferentiated keratinocytes(UKs).We showed that UKs injected into granulation tissue could switch into-SMA positive cells,and accelerate the rate of skin wound healing.In addition,when the epidermis sheets isolated from foreskin cover up the wound bed or are induced in vitro,keratinocytes located at the basal layers or adjacent sites were observed to convert into myofibroblast-like cells.Thus,UKs have a potential for myofibroblastic transition,which provides a novel mechanism by which keratinocyte explants accelerate skin wound healing.
