Although natural killer cells (NK cells) were traditionally classified as members of the innate immune system, NK cells have recently been found also to be an important player in the adaptive immune systems. In this context, in vitro activation of NK cells by cytokines leads to generation of NK cells with memory-like properties characterized by increased interferon-γ (IFNγ) production. However, it remains to be defined whether these memory-like NK cells exist in vivo after cytokine activation. Furthermore, it is also unclear whether such memory-like NK cells induced in vivo by cytokines could have effective anti-leukemia response. To address these issues, we used an in vivo pre-activation and re-stimulation system that was able to produce NK cells with increased IFNγ secretion. It was found that after in vivo pre-activation and re-stimulation with interleukins (ILs), NK cells retained a state to produce increased amount of IFNγ. Of note, whereas this intrinsic capacity of enhanced IFNγ production after in vivo IL pre-activation and re-stimulation could be transferred to the next generation of NK cells and was associated with prolonged survival of the mice with acute lymphoid leukemia. Moreover, the anti-leukemia activity of these memory-like NK cells was associated with IFNγ production and up-regulation of NK cells activation receptor-NK Group 2 member D (NKG2D). Together, these findings argue strongly that in vivo IL pre-activation and re-stimulation is capable to induce memory-like NK cells as observed previously in vitro, which are effective against acute lymphoblastic leukemia, likely via NKG2D-dependent IFNγ production, in intact animals.

Graves' disease (GD) is a common autoimmune disorder with a genetic predisposition. There is strong evidence to suggest that both Th1 and Th2 circulating cytokines are involved in the development of GD. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the impact of seven variations of five IL-related genes on the susceptibility to GD. A total of 22 case-control studies involving 5338 GD patients and 6446 healthy controls were included. The results showed that only one SNP rs1800795 in IL-6 was significantly associated with GD in homozygous model (CC vs. GG: OR = 2.714, 95% CI = 1.047-7.039, p = 0.04), heterozygous model (CG vs. GG: OR = 1.295, 95% CI = 1.013-1.655, p = 0.039), dominant model (CC+CG vs. GG: OR = 1.418, 95% CI = 1.122-1.793, p = 0.003) and additive model (C vs. G: OR = 1.432, 95% CI = 1.087-1.886, p = 0.011).To explain the heterogeneity, we performed the subgroup analysis by ethnicity. The ethnicity stratification revealed that the association between rs1800795 and GD tended to be much stronger for Asian than European population in homozygous, dominant, recessive, and additive models. The remaining 6 SNPs in 4 genes did not show any significant association with GD in any genetic models. Together, our data support that rs1800795 within the IL-6 gene confers genetic susceptibility for GD. Future large-scale studies are required to validate the associations between IL-6 and others IL-related genes and GD.

To explore the relationship between innate immunity and hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in determining the risk of cirrhosis (CIR), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), mixed cryoglobulinemia syndrome (MCS) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), we investigated the impact of the toll-like receptor-2 (TLR2) and interleukin-28B (IL28B) genetic variants. TLR2 -174 del variant was associated with TLR2 expression and with specific downstream molecules that drive the expression of different interleukins; rs12979860 Il28B was important in response to interferon-treatment and in spontaneous clearance of HCV. The risk for liver and lymphoproliferative diseases in HCV progression was clarified by stratifying 862 HCV-positive patients into groups based on liver (CIR, HCC) and lymphoproliferative HCV-related diseases (MCS, NHL) and compared with chronic HCV (CHC) infection. Analysis of TLR2-IL28B haplotypes showed an association of wild type haplotype with the lymphoproliferative diseases (OR 1.77, p = 0.029) and a slight increase in HCV viral load (HR 1.38, p = 0.054). Wild type haplotype (TLR2 ins/ins- IL28B C/C) was also found associated with older age in patients with an hepatic diseases (in CIR and in HCC p = 0.038 and p = 0.020, respectively) supporting an effect of innate immunity in the liver disease progression. TLR2 and IL28B polymorphisms in combination showed a role in the control of HCV viral load and different HCV disease progression.

Senescence is a stress response characterized by an irreversible growth arrest and alterations in certain cell functions. It is believed that both double-strand DNA breaks (DSB) and increased ROS level are the main culprit of senescence. Excessive ROS production is also particularly important in the development of a number of cardiovascular disorders. In this context the involvement of professional ROS-producing enzymes, NADPH oxidases (NOX), was postulated. In contrary to the common knowledge, we have shown that not only increased ROS production but also diminished ROS level could be involved in the induction of senescence.Accordingly, our studies revealed that stress-induced premature senescence (SIPS) of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) induced by doxorubicin or H2O2, correlates with increased level of DSB and ROS. On the other hand, both SIPS and replicative senescence were accompanied by diminished expression of NOX4. Moreover, inhibition of NOX activity or decrease of NOX4 expression led to permanent growth arrest of VSMCs and secretion of interleukins and VEGF. Interestingly, cells undergoing senescence due to NOX4 depletion neither acquired DSB nor activated DNA damage response. Instead, transient induction of the p27, upregulation of HIF-1alpha, decreased expression of cyclin D1 and hypophosphorylated Rb was observed. Our results showed that lowering the level of ROS-producing enzyme - NOX4 oxidase below physiological level leads to cellular senescence of VSMCs which is correlated with secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Thus the use of specific NOX4 inhibitors for pharmacotherapy of vascular diseases should be carefully considered.

Adipose-derived stem cells are capable of differentiating into multiple cell types and thus considered useful for regenerative medicine. However, this differentiation feature seems to be associated with tumor initiation and metastasis raising safety concerns, which requires further investigation. In this study, we isolated adipose-derived stem cells from subcutaneous as well as from visceral adipose tissues of the same donor and systematically compared their features. Although being characteristic of mesenchymal stem cells, subcutaneous adipose-derived stem cells tend to be spindle form-like and are more able to home to cancer cells, whereas visceral adipose-derived stem cells incline to be "epithelial"-like and more competent to differentiate. Moreover, compared to subcutaneous adipose-derived stem cells, visceral adipose-derived stem cells are more capable of promoting proliferation, inducing the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, enhancing migration and invasion of breast cancer cells by cell-cell contact and by secreting interleukins such as IL-6 and IL-8. Importantly, ASCs affect the low malignant breast cancer cells MCF-7 more than the highly metastatic MDA-MB-231 cells. Induction of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is mediated by the activation of multiple pathways especially the PI3K/AKT signaling in breast cancer cells. BCL6, an important player in B-cell lymphoma and breast cancer progression, is crucial for this transition. Finally, this transition fuels malignant properties of breast cancer cells and render them resistant to ATP competitive Polo-like kinase 1 inhibitors BI 2535 and BI 6727.

Here, we found that ING5 overexpression increased autophagy, differentiation, and decreased proliferation, apoptosis, migration, invasion and lamellipodia formation in gastric cancer cells, while ING5 knockdown had the opposite effects. In SGC-7901 transfectants, ING5 overexpression caused G1 arrest, which was positively associated with 14-3-3 overexpression, Cdk4 and c-jun hypoexpression. The induction of Bax hypoexpression, Bcl-2, survivin, 14-3-3, PI3K, p-Akt and p70S6K overexpression by ING5 decreased apoptosis in SGC-7901 cells. The hypoexpression of MMP-9, MAP1B and flotillin 2 contributed to the inhibitory effects of ING5 on migration and invasion of SGC-7901 cells. ING5 overexpression might activate both β-catenin and NF-κB pathways in SGC-7901 cells, and promote the expression of down-stream genes (c-myc, VEGF, Cyclin D1, survivin, and interleukins). Compared with the control, ING5 transfectants displayed drug resistance to triciribine, paclitaxel, cisplatin, SAHA, MG132 and parthenolide, which was positively related to their apoptotic induction and the overexpression of chemoresistance-related genes (MDR1, GRP78, GRP94, IRE, CD147, FBXW7, TOP1, TOP2, MLH1, MRP1, BRCP1 and GST-π). ING5 expression was higher in gastric cancer than matched mucosa. It was inversely associated with tumor size, dedifferentiation, lymph node metastasis and clinicopathological staging of cancer. ING5 overexpression suppressed growth, blood supply and lung metastasis of SGC-7901 cells by inhibiting proliferation, enhancing autophagy and apoptosis in xenograft models. It was suggested that ING5 expression might be employed as a good marker for gastric carcinogenesis and subsequent progression by inhibiting proliferation, growth, migration, invasion and metastasis. ING5 might induce apoptotic and chemotherapeutic resistances of gastric cancer cells by activating β-catenin, NF-κB and Akt pathways.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are associated with cancer recurrence and metastasis. Prostate cancer cells often metastasize to the bone with a complex microenvironment of cytokines favoring cell survival. In this study, the cell stemness influence of a group of interleukins including IL-3, 6, 10, 11 and 24 on human prostate cancer cell lines LNCaP and PC-3 was explored in vitro. Sulforhodamine B(SRB) and 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assays were applied to examine the effect on cell proliferation, and wound healing and transwell assays were used for migration and invasion studies, in addition to colony formation, Western blotting and flowcytometry for the expression of stemness factors and chemotherapy sensitivity. We observed that ILs-3, 6 and 11 stimulated while ILs-10 and 24 inhibited the growth, invasion and migration of both cell lines. Interestingly, ILs-3, 6 and 11 significantly promoted colony formation and increased the expression of SOX2, CD44 and ABCG2 in both prostate cancer cell lines. However, ILs-10 and 24 showed the opposite effect on the expression of these factors. In line with the above findings, treatment with either IL-3 or IL-6 or IL-11 decreased the chemosensitivity to docetaxel while treatment with either IL-10 or IL-24 increased the sensitivity of docetaxel chemotherapy. In conclusion, our results suggest that ILs-3, 6 and 11 function as tumor promoters while ILs-10 and 24 function as tumor suppressors in the prostate cancer cell lines PC-3 and LNCaP in vitro, and such differences may attribute to their different effect on the stemness of PCa cells.

Sorafenib, a multi-targeted kinase inhibitor, is the current standard systemic treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Sorafenib has anti-angiogenic and anti-proliferative properties and is also known to favor anti-tumor T cell responses by reducing the population of immunosuppressive cells such as Treg and MDSC. Anti-tumor immune responses, especially mediated by CD4+ T-cells, are critical for tumor cells eradication and therapies modulating those responses are appealing in a growing number of cancers. Here, we report and investigate the case of a patient diagnosed with an advanced HCC treated by sorafenib who experienced a complete histological response. We aimed to identify immunogenic peptides derived from tumor mutated proteins that stimulated CD4+ T cells responses thus favoring the exceptional recovery process of this patient. Tumor neoantigens were identified using whole exome sequencing of normal and tumor tissue and peptide MHC binding prediction algorithms. Among 442 tumor-specific somatic variants, 50 missense mutations and 20 neoepitopes predicted to bind MHC-II were identified. Candidate neoepitopes immunogenicity was assessed by IFN-γ ELISpot after culture of patient's PBMCs in presence of synthetic neopeptides. CD4+ memory T cell responses were detected against a mutated IL-1βS230F peptide and two additional neoepitopes from HELZ2V241M and MLL2A4458V suggesting that efficient anti-tumor immune response occurred in this patient. These results showed that T cells can recognize neoantigens and may lead to the cancer elimination after immunomodulation in the tumor-microenvironment induced by sorafenib. This observation indicates that other immunotherapies in combination with sorafenib could potentially increase the response rate in HCC at advanced stage.