The TLR9 Agonist Cobitolimod Induces IL10-Producing Wound Healing Macrophages and Regulatory T Cells in Ulcerative Colitis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The topically applied Toll-like receptor 9 [TLR9] agonist cobitolimod is a first-in-class DNA-based oligonucleotide with demonstrated therapeutic efficacy in clinical trials with ulcerative colitis [UC] patients. We here characterized its anti-inflammatory mechanism in UC. METHODS: Luminal cobitolimod administration was evaluated in an experimental dextran sodium sulfate [DSS]-induced colitis model. Cultured blood and mucosal cells from UC patients were treated with cobitolimod and analysed via microarray, quantitative real-time PCR, ELISA and flow cytometry. Intestinal slides of cobitolimod-treated UC patients were analysed by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Cobitolimod administration markedly suppressed experimental colitis activity, and microarray analyses demonstrated mucosal IL10 upregulation and suppression of IL17 signalling pathways. Cobitolimod treatment was associated with significant induction of mucosal IL10+Tr1 and Treg cells and suppression of Th17 cells. TLR9 knockout mice indicated that cobitolimod requires TLR9 signalling for IL10 induction. In UC patients, mucosal TLR9 levels correlated with severity of inflammation. Cobitolimod inhibited IL17A and IL17F, but increased IL10 and FoxP3 expression in cultured intestinal UC T cells. Cobitolimod-mediated suppression of intestinal IL17+T cells was abrogated by IL10 blockade. Furthermore, cobitolimod led to heightened IL10 production by wound healing macrophages. Immunohistochemistry in intestinal biopsies of cobitolimod-treated UC patients indicated increased presence of IL10+mononuclear and regulatory T cells, as well as reduction of IL17+cells. CONCLUSION: Activation of TLR9 via cobitolimod might represent a novel therapeutic approach in UC, as it suppresses Th17 cells and induces anti-inflammatory IL10+macrophages and regulatory T cells, thereby modifying the dysregulated intestinal cytokine balance. PODCAST: This article has an associated podcast which can be accessed at https://academic.oup.com/ecco-jcc/pages/podcast.

The role of SATB2 as a diagnostic marker for tumors of colorectal origin: Results of a pathology-based clinical prospective study.

OBJECTIVES: Immunohistochemistry is an important extension to clinical information and morphology, and prevails as an invaluable tool for establishing a correct cancer diagnosis in clinical diagnostic pathology. The applicability of immunohistochemistry is limited by the availability of validated cell- and cancer-type specific antibodies, rendering an unmet need to discover, test, and validate novel markers. The SATB2 protein is selectively expressed in glandular cells from the lower gastrointestinal tract and expression is retained in a large majority of primary and metastatic colorectal cancers. METHODS: We analyzed the expression of SATB2 in all clinical cases (n = 840), in which immunohistochemistry for detection of CK20 was deemed necessary for a final diagnosis. RESULTS: SATB2 showed a high sensitivity (93%) and specificity (77%) to determine a cancer of colorectal origin and in combination with CK7 and CK20, the specificity increased to 100%. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that SATB2 provides a new and advantageous supplement for clinical differential diagnostics.

A Comparison of Tumor Biology in Primary Ductal Carcinoma In Situ Recurring as Invasive Carcinoma versus a New In Situ.

Introduction. About half of all new ipsilateral events after a primary ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are invasive carcinoma. We studied tumor markers in the primary DCIS in relation to type of event (invasive versus in situ). Methods. Two hundred and sixty-six women with a primary DCIS from two source populations, all with a known ipsilateral event, were included. All new events were regarded as recurrences. Patient and primary tumor characteristics (estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER2, EGFR, and Ki67) were evaluated. Logistic regression was used to calculate odd ratios and 95% confidence intervals in univariate and multivariate analyses. Results. One hundred and thirty-six of the recurrences were invasive carcinoma and 130 were in situ. The recurrence was more often invasive if the primary DCIS was ER+ (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.2-5.1). Primary DCIS being HER2+ (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3-0.9), EGFR+ (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2-0.9), and ER95-/HER2+ (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1-0.6) had a lower risk of a recurrence being invasive. Conclusions. In this study, comparing type of recurrence after a DCIS showed that the ER-/HER2+ tumors were related to a recurrence being a new DCIS. And surprisingly, tumors being ER+, HER2-, and EGFR- were related to a recurrence being invasive cancer.

Generation of monospecific antibodies based on affinity capture of polyclonal antibodies.

A method is described to generate and validate antibodies based on mapping the linear epitopes of a polyclonal antibody followed by sequential epitope-specific capture using synthetic peptides. Polyclonal antibodies directed towards four proteins RBM3, SATB2, ANLN, and CNDP1, potentially involved in human cancers, were selected and antibodies to several non-overlapping epitopes were generated and subsequently validated by Western blot, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence. For all four proteins, a dramatic difference in functionality could be observed for these monospecific antibodies directed to the different epitopes. In each case, at least one antibody was obtained with full functionality across all applications, while other epitope-specific fractions showed no or little functionality. These results present a path forward to use the mapped binding sites of polyclonal antibodies to generate epitope-specific antibodies, providing an attractive approach for large-scale efforts to characterize the human proteome by antibodies.

Long-term survival of women with basal-like ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast: a population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Microarray gene-profiling of invasive breast cancer has identified different subtypes including luminal A, luminal B, HER2-overexpressing and basal-like groups. Basal-like invasive breast cancer is associated with a worse prognosis. However, the prognosis of basal-like ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is still unknown. Our aim was to study the prognosis of basal-like DCIS in a large population-based cohort. METHODS: All 458 women with a primary DCIS diagnosed between 1986 and 2004, in Uppland and Västmanland, Sweden were included. TMA blocks were constructed. To classify the DCIS tumors, we used immunohistochemical (IHC) markers (estrogen-, progesterone-, HER2, cytokeratin 5/6 and epidermal growth factor receptor) as a surrogate for the gene expression profiling. The association with prognosis was examined for basal-like DCIS and other subtypes using Kaplan-Meier survival analyses and Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS: IHC data were complete for 392 women. Thirty-two were basal-like (8.2%), 351 were luminal or HER2-positive (89.5%) and 9 unclassified (2.3%). Seventy-six women had a local recurrence of which 34 were invasive. Another 3 women had general metastases as first event. Basal-like DCIS showed a higher risk of local recurrence and invasive recurrence 1.8 (Confidence interval (CI) 95%, 0.8-4.2) and 1.9 (0.7-5.1), respectively. However, the difference was not statistically significant. Also, no statistically significant increased risk was seen for triple-negative or high grade DCIS. CONCLUSIONS: Basal-like DCIS showed about a doubled, however not statistically significant risk for local recurrence and developing invasive cancer compared with the other molecular subtypes. Molecular subtyping was a better prognostic parameter than histopathological grade.

Production of milligram quantities of affinity tagged-proteins using automated multistep chromatographic purification.

A new chromatography system, AKTAxpress (GE Healthcare, Amersham Biosciences, Uppsala, Sweden) has been designed to meet the demand for high-throughput purification of proteins in structural genomics and drug discovery. The system offers a number of automated multistep purification protocols for affinity-tagged proteins. All protocols start with affinity chromatography followed by combinations of desalting, ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration. As an option, tag removal can be included in the purification protocols. Up to 16 proteins can be purified per day and the yield can be as high as 50 mg of each protein at > 90% purity. To highlight the versatility of the system, this paper presents several case studies; purifications of hexahistidine- and glutathione S-transferase-tagged proteins using different protocols, automated on-column tag cleavage and optimization studies for a hexahistidine-tagged kinase.

Automated multi-dimensional purification of tagged proteins.

The capacity for high throughput purification (HTP) is essential in fields such as structural genomics where large numbers of protein samples are routinely characterized in, for example, studies of structural determination, functionality and drug development. Proteins required for such analysis must be pure and homogenous and available in relatively large amounts. AKTA 3D system is a powerful automated protein purification system, which minimizes preparation, run-time and repetitive manual tasks. It has the capacity to purify up to 6 different His6- or GST-tagged proteins per day and can produce 1-50 mg protein per run at >90% purity. The success of automated protein purification increases with careful experimental planning. Protocol, columns and buffers need to be chosen with the final application area for the purified protein in mind.