Research and clinical progress of immunotherapy for gastric cancer / 临床外科杂志

Due to the limited treatment options of advanced gastric cancer and prone to chemoresistance,there is an urgent need for novel treatment methods to improve the prognosis of these patients.At present,immunotherapy including immune checkpoint inhibitor,adoptive cell therapy,tumor vaccine,nonspecific immune enhancer and cytokine therapy has shown good curative effect on gastric cancer.Additionally,carrier drugs and 3D printing technology have also achieved curative effects in preclinical experiments.Clinical trials used immunooncology monotherapy or combined immunochemotherapy to improve the overall survival time and objective response rate of patients with gastric cancer.Based on the preliminary evidence,we believe that immunotherapy can positively affect the natural history and improve the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.

The Application of Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles in Tumor Treatment / 生物化学与生物物理进展

Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are nanoscale vesicles secreted by Gram-negative bacteria. As a unique bacterial secretion, OMV secretion can help bacteria maintain the outer membrane stability or remove harmful substances. Studies have shown that local separation of outer membrane and peptidoglycan layers led by abnormalities in outer membrane protein function, abnormal structure or excessive accumulation of LPS, and erroneous accumulation of phospholipids in the outer leaflet, which can all lead to bacterial outer membrane protrusion and eventually bud formation of OMVs. Since OMVs are mainly composed of bacterial outer membrane and periplasmic components, the pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) on their surface can trigger strong immune responses. For example, OMVs can recruit and activate neutrophils, polarize macrophages to secrete large amounts of inflammatory factors. More importantly, OMVs can act as adjuvants to induce dendritic cell (DC) maturation to enhance adaptive immune response in the body. At the same time, OMVs are derived from bacteria, which make it easy to modify. The methods by genetic engineering and others can improve their tumor targeting, give them new functions, or reduce their immunotoxicity, which is conducive to their application in tumor therapy. OMVs not only induce apoptosis or pyroptosis of tumor cells, but also regulate the host immune system, which makes OMVs themselves have a certain killing effect on tumors. In addition, the tendency of neutrophils to inflammatory tumor sites and the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps enable OMVs to target tumor sites, and the suitable size and the characteristic that they are easily taken up by DCs give OMVs a certain lymphatic targeting ability. Therefore, OMVs are often employed as excellent drug or vaccine carriers in tumor therapy. This review mainly discusses the biological mechanism of OMVs, the regulatory effects of OMVs on immune cells, the functional modification strategies of OMVs, and their research progress in tumor therapy.

Screening of adjuvant for PD-L1 vaccine based on nitrated T cell epitope / 中国药科大学学报

@#Abstract: To enhance the anti-tumor activity of tumor vaccine targeting PD-L1 based on the nitrated T-epitope (PD-L1-NitraTh), this research compared several adjuvants with different mechanisms to screen out the adjuvant most suitable for PD-L1-NitraTh. The results showed that Poly(I:C), CPG1018, swollen knotted polysaccharide SGP2 and GM-CSF could enhance the immunogenicity of PD-L1-NitraTh when used as adjuvants, with the Poly(I:C) group inducing the highest antibody titer. The results of qPCR for T cell differentiation-related cytokines showed that Poly(I:C) reduced the expression of GATA3 and FoxP3, indicating a strong effect on CD4+ T cell differentiation. Besides, compared with other adjuvants, Poly(I:C) could assist PD-L1-NitraTh to increase the infiltration of T cells as well as CD11b+ cells within tumor, suggesting that Poly(I:C) may be the suitable adjuvant for tumor vaccines based on the nitrated T epitopes.

Immune effects of nano-tumor vaccine against melanoma in mice / 中国生物制品学杂志

@#Objective To investigate the anti-melanoma immune effects of nano-tumor vaccine based on nano-adjuvant[CpG-coated nanoparticles(CNP)] and melanoma cell lysate antigen.Methods The immunoregulatory effects of CNP and melanoma cell lysate antigens on bone marrow-derived dendritic cells(BMDCs) and the regulatory effects on expression and secretion of cytokines IL-6 and IL-12 were investigated.After the mice inoculated with melanoma cells formed tumor,40C57BL/6N fermale mice with similar size of tumor were randomly divided into 4 groups:control(PBS) group,adjuvant(CNP) group,lysate(Lysate) group and vaccine(CNP+Lysate) group,which were administered subcutaneously once a week for 3 weeks.The tumor size of mice was recorded every 3 d and the tumor growth curve was drawn.The peripheral blood of mice was collected to detect the contents of IFN_γ and TNF_α,and immunohistochemical method was used to detect the infiltration of CD8~+T lymphocytes in tumor tissues.Results Compared with PBS,CpG and tumor lysate antigen groups,nano-vaccine adjuvant CNP effectively stimulated BMDCs maturation and promoted IL-6 and IL-12 secretion;Nanotumor vaccine showed good anti-tumor activity in vivo, the tumor size of mice in vaccine group decreased significantly,and the secretion levels of IFN_γ and TNF-α in serum were significantly higher than those in other groups;The infiltration of CD8~+T lymphocytes in tumor tissues of mice in vaccine group was also significantly better than that in other groups.Conclusion Nano-tumor vaccine effectively activated BMDCs,highly expressed immune factors,and also effectively inhibited tumor growth,showing good application potential.

Converting bacteria into autologous tumor vaccine via surface biomineralization of calcium carbonate for enhanced immunotherapy

Autologous cancer vaccine that stimulates tumor-specific immune responses for personalized immunotherapy holds great potential for tumor therapy. However, its efficacy is still suboptimal due to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (ITM). Here, we report a new type of bacteria-based autologous cancer vaccine by employing calcium carbonate (CaCO3) biomineralized Salmonella (Sal) as an in-situ cancer vaccine producer and systematical ITM regulator. CaCO3 can be facilely coated on the Sal surface with calcium ionophore A23187 co-loading, and such biomineralization did not affect the bioactivities of the bacteria. Upon intratumoral accumulation, the CaCO3 shell was decomposed at an acidic microenvironment to attenuate tumor acidity, accompanied by the release of Sal and Ca2+/A23187. Specifically, Sal served as a cancer vaccine producer by inducing cancer cells' immunogenic cell death (ICD) and promoting the gap junction formation between tumor cells and dendritic cells (DCs) to promote antigen presentation. Ca2+, on the other hand, was internalized into various types of immune cells with the aid of A23187 and synergized with Sal to systematically regulate the immune system, including DCs maturation, macrophages polarization, and T cells activation. As a result, such bio-vaccine achieved remarkable efficacy against both primary and metastatic tumors by eliciting potent anti-tumor immunity with full biocompatibility. This work demonstrated the potential of bioengineered bacteria as bio-active vaccines for enhanced tumor immunotherapy.

Clinical research advance in immunotherapy of pancreatic cancer / 中华消化外科杂志

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most common tumors in digestive system, which is characterized by insidious clinical symptoms, strong invasion, easy metastasis and high mortality. In recent years, immunotherapy is a new direction to the treatment of solid tumors, but its applica-tion in pancreatic cancer is limited by tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer. The authors systematically analyze the tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer, summarize the clinical researches related to pancreatic cancer immunotherapy, and discuss the prospect of pancreatic cancer immunotherapy.

Research progress on therapeutic DC vaccine against melanoma / 药学实践与服务

Melanoma is the most aggressive skin malignant tumor, which is prone to early metastasis and relapse after treatment. Therapeutic tumor vaccines are new immunotherapies, which have the advantages of low toxicity and inhibiting tumor metastasis. Melanoma has a high mutation load and a large number of specific antigens. Currently, various types of tumor vaccines have been developed for melanoma, especially those based on dendritic cells (DC). Although the efficacy of therapeutic DC vaccines in melanoma has been confirmed by a number of studies, these vaccines still have problems such as insufficient immune effect and poor efficacy when used alone, and there is still a large room for improvement. In this paper, the current research status of therapeutic DC vaccines for melanoma was reviewed, and the research key points and optimization strategy of therapeutic DC tumor were prospected.

Advance progress and future trend of the natural origin adjuvants for tumor vaccines / 免疫学杂志

Tumor has become the major reasons cause of death,and its vaccine has become the effective tracts of treatment and prevention by enhancing the immune response of patients.However,most vaccines which are recombination subunit protein antigens are poorly immunogenic and difficult to induce a robust immune response in patients with compromised immune systems,resulting in poor marketing approval.The core component of the vaccine adjuvant can greatly enhance the strength,speed and duration of the immune response,thus becoming the key to the development of an ideal tumor vaccine.Most tumor vaccines are combined with tradition adjuvant such as aluminum,MF59 and AS adjuvant,but their products and patents are monopolized by large foreign companies.We found that natural adjuvants have many unique advantages,such as good biocompatibility and biodegradability,promoting the maturation of dendritic cell and the secretion of immune cytokines,significantly enhancing the tumor vaccine immune response,etc.In this paper,the application and future development of natural polysaccharides,saponins,flavonoid and plant virus-like particles in cancer vaccines were reviewed,which may lay a solid foundation for the development of the original and innovative adjuvants with domestic independent intellectual property rights.

Advances of metal nanoadjuvant for cancer immunotherapy / 药学学报

Immunotherapy has become another effective tumor treatment after surgical resection, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted therapy. However, due to the low immunogenicity of tumor cells and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, antigen-presenting cells inefficiently process and present tumor antigens, thus leading to insufficient activation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and tumor infiltration, which significantly affects the effectiveness of tumor immunotherapy. In recent years, it has been demonstrated that multiple metal ions exhibit distinguished modulatory effects in activating innate immune stimulation and conquering acquired immune tolerance. Based on this, scientists have designed a series of nano-adjuvant delivery systems with metal ions or metal nanoparticles to enhance the targeted accumulation of metal ions in tumor tissues or lymphoid organs for efficiently inducing immunogenic cell death or directly activating antigen-presenting cells to initiate anti-tumor specific immune response. This review briefly outlines the role of various metal ions in anti-tumor immunomodulation, summarizes the research progress in using metal nanoadjuvant delivery systems to achieve efficient anti-tumor immunotherapy, and provides foresight on the main challenges and potential directions in this field.

Evaluation of inhibitory effect of tumor vaccine in colon carcinoma model mice / 中国生物制品学杂志

Objective@#To evaluate the inhibitory effect of tumor vaccines in colon carcinoma model mice.@*Methods@# Mouse bone marrow⁃derived dendritic cells（BMDCs）were stimulated by using CpG β⁃glucan nanoparticles（CNP）in vitro. The BMDCs were divided into PBS group，NP group（without CpG nanoparticles），Lysate group（MC38 cell lysate）and CpG group（CpG1826），which were determined for the expression of marker molecules on the surface by flow cytometry and for the contents of interleukin⁃6（IL⁃6）and IL⁃12p40 in the culture supernatant by ELISA. The tumor lysate nano⁃vaccine was pre⁃ pared by mixing 50 mg／mL tumor lysate（MC38 cell lysate）with 200 mg／mL CNP in a volume ratio of 1∶1，with which mice were subcutaneously immunized as Vaccine group. Vaccine group，PBS group，CNP group and Lysate group were im⁃ munized once a week，for three times in total. Mice were subcutaneously inoculated with MC38 cells，2 × 105 cells for each， in the right lower limb 1 h after the last immunization，and measured for tumor volume once every three days to plot the tumor growth curve. The ratios of CD3+ CD4+ T and CD3+ CD8+ T cells in the blood were analyzed by flow cytometry and the levels of tumor necrosis factor⁃α（TNF⁃α）and interferon γ（IFNγ）in the blood and spleen of mice were determined by ELISA.@*Results@# CNP effectively increased the expression of CD11c+ CD80+，CD11c+ CD86+，CD11c+ MHC⁃Ⅱ+ and the secretion of IL⁃6 and IL⁃12p40 in BMDCs in vitro，which were significantly higher than those in other 4 groups（t = 4. 3 ~ 46. 2，each P < 0. 05）. Compared with that of the other three groups，the tumor volume of mice in Vaccine group decreased significantly（t =2.6~3.4，eachP <0. 05）；TherewasnosignificantdifferenceinCD3+ CD8+ TandCD3+ CD8+ Tcellratios（t = 0.5~ 1. 9，each P > 0. 05）；The content of IFNγ in blood increased significantly（t = 3. 8 ~ 4. 6，P < 0. 05），while thatof TNF⁃α showed no significant difference（t = 0. 4 ~ 2. 0，each P > 0. 05）；However，the contents of IFN γ and TNF⁃α in spleen increased significantly（t = 6. 3 ~ 13. 0，each P < 0. 001）.@*Conclusion@#The prepared nano⁃vaccine of tumor lysate improvedtheimmune level in mice and effectively inhibited the growth of colon carcinoma.

Cell-loaded hydrogel microspheres based on droplet microfluidics: a review / 生物工程学报

Droplet microfluidics technology offers refined control over the flows of multiple fluids in micro/nano-scale, enabling fabrication of micro/nano-droplets with precisely adjustable structures and compositions in a high-throughput manner. With the combination of proper hydrogel materials and preparation methods, single or multiple cells can be efficiently encapsulated into hydrogels to produce cell-loaded hydrogel microspheres. The cell-loaded hydrogel microspheres can provide a three-dimensional, relatively independent and controllable microenvironment for cell proliferation and differentiation, which is of great value for three-dimensional cell culture, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, stem cell research, single cell study and many other biological science fields. In this review, the preparation methods of cell-loaded hydrogel microspheres based on droplet microfluidics and its applications in biomedical field are summarized and future prospects are proposed.

Effect of DC vaccine sensitized with CpG ODN combined with tumor antigen on murine melanoma / 药学学报

The potential application of dendritic cells (DC) sensitized with cytosine-phosphoric acid-guanine (CpG) oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) and tumor antigen as a vaccine against murine melanoma was investigated with freshly isolated mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells. For the DC vaccine preparation, DC were sensitized with the B16 tumor antigen and CpG ODN was used to promote further maturation of the DC. The immunogenic activity of the vaccine was evaluated in vitro by determining the proliferation of T lymphocytes and the killing effect of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) on B16 tumor cells. The DC vaccine was injected intraperitoneally and tumor inhibition in mice bearing B16 xenografts was examined. All mice were cared for under an approved SIMM Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocol. In vitro, this DC vaccine promoted the proliferation of T lymphocytes and showed a potent killing effect on the target B16 cells. In vivo experiments showed that after treatment or pre-immunization both the tumor volume and weight were significantly decreased. The DC vaccine with CpG ODN and tumor antigen exhibited an inhibitory effect against melanoma, providing a potential method for melanoma cancer treatment.

The influence of bacterial outer membrane vesicles tumor vaccine on tumor cell proliferation and CD8 + T cell infiltration of mouse with pancreatic cancer / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective:To investigate the influence of bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) tumor vaccine on tumor cell proliferation and CD8 + T cell infiltration of mouse with pancreatic cancer. Methods:The experimental study was conducted. The ovalbumin (OVA) lentivirus vector plasmid pLV-EF1a-hluc-P2A-mNeongreen-CMV-OVA-3Xflag-P2A-puro was used to construct the mouse pancreatic cancer Pan02-OVA cells. The ClyA-Catchers-OMVs (CC-OMVs) originated from Escherichia coli and labeled antigenic peptide SpyTag-OVA were used to construct the OMVs tumor vaccine. Mouse CD8 + T cells were stimulated by OMVs tumor vaccine, and the effects of OMVs tumor vaccine on inhibiting pancreatic cancer cells proliferation and stimulating CD8 + T cell infiltration were analy-zed by in vitro cell killing assay, including the OMVs tumor vaccine stimulated T cell group and the control T cell group, subcutaneous pancreatic cancer model, including the OMVs tumor vaccine group and the control group, and immunohistochemical staining. Observation indicators: (1) identification of mouse pancreatic cancer Pan02-OVA cells; (2) morphological observation of CC-OMVs; (3) inhibi-tion of mouse pancreatic cancer Pan02-OVA cells by OMVs tumor vaccine specific T cells; (4) inhibi-tion of mouse pancreatic cancer by OMVs tumor vaccine; (5) CD8 + T cell infiltration in pancreatic cancer tissue of mouse stimulated by OMVs tumor vaccine. Measurement data with normal distribu-tion were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the t test. Count data were described as absolute numbers or percentages. Results:(1) Identification of mouse pancreatic cancer Pan02-OVA cells. Results of laser scanning confocal microscopy showed that the mNeongreen fluorescence was expressed in Pan02-OVA cells infected with the OVA lentivirus vector plasmid of pLV-EF1a-hluc-P2A-mNeongreen-CMV-OVA-3Xflag-P2A-puro. Results of Flow cytometry showed that using the mouse pancreatic cancer Pan02 cells as references, the protein expression rate of Flag on the Pan02-OVA cells was 90.7%. (2) Morphological observation of CC-OMVs. Results of transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that the CC-OMVs were in spherical shape, with a diameter <50 nm. (3) Inhibition of mouse pancreatic cancer Pan02-OVA cells by OMVs tumor vaccine specific T cells. Results of cell proliferation toxicity test showed that the absorbance at 450 nm of mouse pancreatic cancer Pan02-OVA cells was 0.41±0.12 and 1.05±0.15 in the OMVs tumor vaccine-stimulated T cell group and the control T cell group, respectively, showing a significant difference between the two groups ( t=9.54, P<0.05). (4) Inhibition of mouse pancreatic cancer by OMVs tumor vaccine. The weight of subcutaneous tumor tissue in the back of mouse was (81±10)g and (153±17)g in the OMVs tumor vaccine group and the control group, respectively, showing a significant difference between the two groups ( t=8.26, P<0.05). (5) CD8 + T cell infiltration in pancreatic cancer tissue of mouse stimulated by OMVs tumor vaccine. Results of immuno-histochemical staining showed that the numbers of CD8 + T cells staining in the mouse back subcu-taneous tumor tissues was 28.7±3.5 and 9.3±1.5 in the OMVs tumor vaccine group and the control group, respectively, showing a significant difference between the two groups ( t=8.74, P<0.05). Conclusion:Bacterial OMVs tumor vaccine can inhibit proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells and increase the numbers of CD8 + T cells infiltrated in pancreatic cancer tissue of mouse.

Research progress of nano delivery system in mRNA tumor vaccines / 药学学报

Tumor vaccine is one of the most promising therapeutic strategies in tumor immunotherapy. It promotes the antigen presentation process by delivering tumor antigen and then activates the anti-tumor immune response. As a new class of vaccines, messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines can activate the immune system to achieve the purpose of immunotherapy by delivering the mRNA sequence of a specific antigen into the body and expressing the corresponding antigen protein. Compared with traditional vaccines, mRNA vaccines have the advantages of a short production cycle, high effectiveness, and strong immunogenicity. In recent years, the application of mRNA vaccines in tumor immunotherapy has attracted widespread attention, but the instability and low delivery efficiency of mRNA limit its application. Nano delivery system can effectively solve the problem of mRNA vaccine delivery, greatly promote the research process and clinical application of mRNA tumor vaccines, and has become a hot spot in the research of mRNA vaccines. In this review, we introduced the mRNA tumor vaccines, focusing on the application of nano delivery system in mRNA tumor vaccines, in order to provide new ideas and new methods for the efficient delivery of mRNA tumor vaccines and tumor immunotherapy.

Current status and prospect of immunotherapy for cholangiocarcinoma / 中华消化外科杂志

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a category of highly heterogeneous and aggressive malignancy mainly originating from bile duct epithelial cells. The median survival time of untreated CCA patients is approximately 12?24 months, and the effectiveness and durability of surgical resection and neoadjuvant chemotherapy are limited. Results of the next-generation sequencing show that dysregulation of the immune system plays an important role in the pathogenesis of CCA. It has opened up new possibilities for the study of therapies targeting the natural course of aggressive CCA, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive cell therapy, and tumor vaccines. Based on the current status of immunotherapy for CCA, the authors review the efficacy and dilemmas of current CCA immunotherapy strategies and look forward to the future treatment prospects of CCA.

The black phosphorus quantum dots-based photothermal effect on dendritic cells activation / 药学学报

Immunotherapy is the most active research area for cancer treatment. Tumor vaccine is one of the most developed aspects of cancer immunotherapy. Though tumor vaccine has made many breakthrough, it still faces many challenges. In this study, we coated the black phosphorus quantum dots (BPQDs) with cancer cell membrane to create a nanoparticle named BPQD-CCNVs. The BPQD-CCNVs were incubated with bone marrow-derived dendritic cells and irradiated with 808 nm infrared light. We tested the expression level of CD80, CD86 and MHC II of dendritic cells by flow cytometry after irradiation. All animal experiments approved by the Animal Experiments Ethical Committee of Tsinghua University. The results showed that the rise of medium's temperature caused by the photothermal effect of BPQDs could upregulate the expression of CD80, CD86 and MHC-II on dendritic cell surface. Based on these, we conclude that near infrared irradiation can stimulate the activation of dendritic cells. Our study may have provided a new strategy for tumor vaccine development.

Metformin inhibits proliferation and functions of regulatory T cells in acidic environment / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the regulatory effect of metformin on regulatory T cells (Treg) in acidic environment.@*METHODS@#CD4 CD25 Treg cells were obtained by magnetic bead sorting. Treg and conventional T cells (Tcon) cells were cultured for 24-72 h in pH 7.4 or pH 6.7 medium, and the cell proliferation, apoptosis and Foxp3 expression were detected by flow cytometry. Real-time PCR was used to detect the expression levels of the genes related with glucose metabolism. Thirty-two C57BL/6 male mouse models bearing subcutaneous prostate cancer xenograft derived from RM-1 cells were randomized into 4 equal groups for treatment with PBS, metformin, tumor vaccine, or both metformin and the vaccine. The treatment started on the 4th day following tumor cell injection, and metformin (100 mg/kg) or PBS was administered by intraperitoneal injection on a daily basis; the vaccine was intramuscularly injected every 4 days. The tumor size was continuously monitored, and the mice were euthanized on day 25 after tumor implantation to obtain tumor and blood samples. Flow cytometry was used to detect the changes in CD4, CD8, CD4Foxp3 cell subsets in the tumor tissue and peripheral blood.@*RESULTS@#Treg cells showed significantly enhanced proliferation ( < 0.05) while the proliferation of Tcon cells was suppressed in acidic medium ( < 0.001). Treg cells cultured in acidic medium showed significantly increased expressions of OXPHOS-related genes pgc1a ( < 0.001) and cox5b ( < 0.01), which did not vary significantly in Tcon cells in acidic medium. Treg cells exhibited significantly decreased apoptosis in acidic medium ( < 0.01) with increased Foxp3 cells ( < 0.001) and intracellular alkaline levels ( < 0.01). Metformin obviously reversed the acid tolerance of Treg cells without producing significant effect on Tcon cells. In the animal experiment, both metformin ( < 0.05) and vaccine ( < 0.01) alone reduced the tumor volume, but their combined treatment more potently reduced the tumor volume ( < 0.001). Metformin alone did not obviously affect CD4 cells or CD8 cells but significantly decreased the percentage of CD4Foxp3 ( < 0.05); the vaccine alone significantly increased CD4 cells and CD8 cells ( < 0.001) and also the percentage of CD4Foxp3 cells ( < 0.05). The combined treatment, while reducing the percentage of CD4Foxp3cells to a level lower than that in the vaccine group ( < 0.01), produced the strongest effect to increase CD4 cells and CD8 cells ( < 0.01).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Metformin can inhibit the proliferation and function of regulatory T cells in an acidic environment and enhance the effect of tumor vaccine by reducing the proportion of Treg cells to achieve the anti-tumor effect.

Progress in immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma / 生物工程学报

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the malignant tumors with the highest morbidity and mortality in the world. The morbidity and mortality of HCC are increasing every year. Liver cancer is a serious threat to public health in China and the death rate of patients with liver cancer in China is the highest in the world. Beyond surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, immunotherapy is an emerging treatment for cancer, which could control and kill tumor cells by relieving the inhibitory status of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and activating the immune function of the body. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive immunotherapy and tumor vaccine are the major treatments of immunotherapy. Compared with traditional therapy methods, immunotherapy could enhance immune function, delay tumor progression, prolong the survival time of patients, and becomes a hotspot in the basic and clinical cancer research. This article reviews the research progress of immunotherapy for liver cancer.

Application of mRNA in tumor immunotherapy / 中国肿瘤临床

mRNA therapy, which involves the use of mRNAs as drugs for disease treatment, is a new kind of gene therapy. It can either treat diseases caused by gene deficiency or repair tissue through the expression of functional proteins, or be applied to immunothera-py through the expression of antigens, antibodies, or receptors, and is thus, of great value for various clinical applications. In tumor im-munotherapy, mRNA that encodes tumor-related antigens, or specific antigens, antibodies, or receptors enters the cytoplasm and is translated into proteins, which then induce specific immune responses, thereby enabling disease prevention and treatment. With the development of immunotherapy and mRNA technologies, mRNA therapy for malignant tumors and infectious diseases has entered the stage of clinical applications. This review briefly introduces the synthesis, purification, and modification of mRNA, with emphasis on mRNA-based tumor immunotherapy, clinical trial results, and key opportunities and challenges in the development of new drugs.

Design and antitumor effect of nitrated T helper cell epitope vaccine CD47-NitraTh / 中国药科大学学报

@#Using the genetic code extension technology, the immunogenic amino acid, p-nitrophenylalanine, was introduced into the universal T cell epitope and then fused with the fragment of the extracellular region of the immune checkpoint molecular CD47(19-140)to construct a vaccine targeting CD47. The CD47-NitraTh vaccine elicited high titer antibody in BALB/c mice, significantly inhibited CT26 colon cancer cells growth, and increased the ratio of spleen CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells. Meanwhile, it promoted the polarization of naï ve T cells to Th1 cells. Notably, CD47-NitraTh not only increased the proportion of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes but also reduced the proportion of Treg cells in tumour tissues, which means that CD47-NitraTh vaccine can remodel the tumour immunosuppressive microenvironment. The results of this study suggested that CD47-NitraTh can be used as an effective tumour vaccine candidate.