Loss of SETD2 Induces a Metabolic Switch in Renal Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines toward Enhanced Oxidative Phosphorylation.

SETD2, a histone H3 lysine trimethyltransferase, is frequently inactivated and associated with recurrence of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). However, the impact of SETD2 loss on metabolic alterations in ccRCC is still unclear. In this study, SETD2 null isogenic 38E/38F clones derived from 786-O cells were generated by zinc finger nucleases, and subsequent metabolic, genomic, and cellular phenotypic changes were analyzed by targeted metabolomics, RNA sequencing, and biological methods, respectively. Our results showed that compared with parental 786-O cells, 38E/38F cells had elevated levels of MTT/Alamar blue levels, ATP, glycolytic/mitochondrial respiratory capacity, citrate synthase (CS) activity, and TCA metabolites such as aspartate, malate, succinate, fumarate, and α-ketoglutarate. The 38E/38F cells also utilized alternative sources beyond pyruvate to generate acetyl-CoA for the TCA cycle. Moreover, 38E/38F cells showed disturbed gene networks mainly related to mitochondrial metabolism and the oxidation of fatty acids and glucose, which was associated with increased PGC1α, mitochondrial mass, and cellular size/complexity. Our results indicate that SETD2 deficiency induces a metabolic switch toward enhanced oxidative phosphorylation in ccRCC, which can be related to PGC1α-mediated metabolic networks. Therefore, this current study lays the foundation for the further development of a global metabolic analysis of cancer cells in individual patients, which ultimately will have significant potential for the discovery of novel therapeutics and precision medicine in SETD2-inactivated ccRCC.

Proteomic identification of an MHC-binding peptidome from pancreas and breast cancer cell lines.

Peptides bound to cell surface MHC class I molecules allow the immune system to recognize intracellular pathogens and tumor-derived peptides. Our goal was to learn what the immune system "sees" on the surfaces of tumor cells by acid-eluting peptides from HLA molecules for extended time periods. We determined how long peptides would continue to elute over time from a pancreatic tumor cell line, Panc-1, and a breast cancer cell line, MCF-7, at pH 3.0 in citrate buffer while monitoring viability. Both cell lines demonstrated greater than 90% viability after 25min at pH 3.0. Panc-1 remained >90% intact after 45min at pH 3.0. Acid eluted peptide sequences were identified using LC-MS/MS and searching the NCBI refseq database. The total number of peptides eluted peaked between 40 and 45min for Panc-1, but continued to increase over time from MCF-7. A total of 131 peptides were identified from Panc-1 while 101 peptides were identified from MCF-7 elutions. Two classes of peptides were eluted: (1) 8-10 amino acid peptides fitting the HLA-binding motifs of each cell line, and (2) peptides longer than 10 amino acids containing HLA-binding motifs of each cell line. W6/32 antibody affinity purification of intact MHC molecules after papain cleavage of MHC class I from tumor cell surfaces also indicated that peptides longer than 10 amino acids bind to class I proteins. A peptide-MHC-refolding assay further substantiated the binding of longer peptides to HLA-A*0201. Our findings provide sequences and gene names of peptides presented by MHC class I molecules from common pancreas and breast cancer cell lines. We utilized a novel refolding assay to demonstrate that peptides longer than the canonical 8-10 amino acids commonly bind in MHC class I cell surface molecules.

Spherules derived from Coccidioides posadasii promote human dendritic cell maturation and activation.

Previous studies have shown that dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with T27K, an antigenic preparation derived from spherules (of Coccidioides posadasii), activate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from nonimmune subjects as well as from patients with disseminated coccidioidomycosis. In this study, we have assessed the interaction between human DC and C. posadasii spherules in order to better understand the initial response between Coccidioides and the human host. Whole autoclaved spherules induced lymphocyte transformation in PBMC obtained from immune but not from nonimmune donors. Immature DC (iDC) bound fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled spherules in a time- and temperature-dependent manner. This binding was blocked by the addition of mannan, suggesting mannose receptor involvement in the DC-Coccidioides interaction. Binding was subsequently associated with ingestion and intracellular processing of spherules. Coculturing of spherules with iDC was associated with the development of mature DC that were morphologically, phenotypically, and functionally similar to those induced by tumor necrosis factor alpha and prostaglandin E2. Finally, spherules incubated with iDC induced activation of PBMC from nonimmune donors. These data indicate that human DC are capable of binding, internalizing, and presenting antigens from Coccidioides spherules and suggest that DC may play a critical early role in the formation of a cellular immune response in human coccidioidomycosis.

Generation of dendritic cell-tumor cell hybrids by electrofusion for clinical vaccine application.

Vaccination with hybrids comprising fused dendritic cells (DCs) and tumor cells is a novel cancer immunotherapy approach designed to combine tumor antigenicity with the antigen-presenting and immune-stimulatory capacities of DCs. For clinical purposes, we have incorporated a large-scale process for the generation of clinical-grade DCs together with novel electrofusion technology. The electrofusion system provides for ease and standardization of method, efficient DC-tumor cell hybrid formation, and large-quantity production of hybrids in a high-volume (6-ml) electrofusion chamber. In addition, we have evaluated DC electrofusion with a variety of allogeneic human tumor cell lines with the rationale that these tumor cell partners would prove a ready, suitable source for the generation of DC-tumor cell hybrid vaccines. The DC production process can generate 6x10(8) to 2x10(9) DCs from a single leukapheresis product (approximately 180 ml). As determined by FACS analysis, electrofusion of 6x10(7) total cells (1:1 ratio of DC and tumor cells) resulted in a consistent average of 8-10% DC-tumor cell hybrids, irrespective of the tumor type used. Hybrids were retained in the population for 48 h postfusion and following freezing and thawing. Upon pre-irradiation of the tumor cell partner for vaccine purposes, the overall fusion efficiency was not altered at doses up to 200 Gy. Evaluation of DC-tumor cell hybrid populations for their ability to stimulate T-cell responses demonstrated that electrofused populations are superior to mixed populations of DCs and tumor cells in generating a primary T-cell response, as indicated by IFN-gamma release. Moreover, hybrids comprising HLA-A*0201 DCs and allogeneic melanoma tumor cells (Colo 829 cell line) stimulated IFN-gamma secretion by antigen-specific CD8+ T cells, which are restricted for recognition of a melanoma gp100 peptide antigen (gp100(209-217)) within the context of the DC HLA haplotype. Maturation of the DC-Colo 829 cell hybrid population served to further improve this T-cell gp100-specific response. Overall, our results are promising for the large-scale generation of electrofused hybrids comprising DCs and allogeneic tumor cells, that may prove useful in human vaccine trials.