Objective To investigate the mechanism by which ginkgetin attenuates H9c2 cells injury.Methods H9c2 cells were divided into five groups:control,lipopolysaccharide(LPS),LPS+3-methyladenine(3-MA,an autophagy inhibitor),LPS+ginkgetin,and LPS+3-MA+ginkgetin.Cell viability and cytotoxicity were assessed using the cell CCK-8 and lactate dehydrogenase assays,respectively.Immunofluorescence staining for LC3,monodansylcadaverine staining for autophagosomes,and flow cytometry were used to measure apop-tosis rates.Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to measure the expression of NR4A2/p53/Bax pathway.Western blotting was used to detect the expression of NR4A2,p53,Bax,LC3,Beclin-1,p62,cleaved caspase-3,and Bcl-2 proteins.Results Compared to the LPS group,ginkgetin significantly increased LC3 fluorescence levels and monodansylcadaverine fluorescence intensity,decreased apoptosis,upregulated NR4A2,downregulated p53 and Bax,increased LC3,Beclin-1,and Bcl-2 proteins,and decreased p62 and cleaved caspase-3(P＜0.05).The autophagic inhibitor,3-MA,confirmed that ginkgetin protected H9c2 cells from LPS-induced apoptosis via autophagy regulation.Conclusion Ginkgetin mitigated cardiomyocyte injury by enhancing autophagic flux and alleviating LPS-induced H9c2 cells apoptosis by modulating the NR4A2/p53/Bax pathway.

Objective To investigate the mechanism by which ginkgetin attenuates H9c2 cells injury.Methods H9c2 cells were divided into five groups:control,lipopolysaccharide(LPS),LPS+3-methyladenine(3-MA,an autophagy inhibitor),LPS+ginkgetin,and LPS+3-MA+ginkgetin.Cell viability and cytotoxicity were assessed using the cell CCK-8 and lactate dehydrogenase assays,respectively.Immunofluorescence staining for LC3,monodansylcadaverine staining for autophagosomes,and flow cytometry were used to measure apop-tosis rates.Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to measure the expression of NR4A2/p53/Bax pathway.Western blotting was used to detect the expression of NR4A2,p53,Bax,LC3,Beclin-1,p62,cleaved caspase-3,and Bcl-2 proteins.Results Compared to the LPS group,ginkgetin significantly increased LC3 fluorescence levels and monodansylcadaverine fluorescence intensity,decreased apoptosis,upregulated NR4A2,downregulated p53 and Bax,increased LC3,Beclin-1,and Bcl-2 proteins,and decreased p62 and cleaved caspase-3(P＜0.05).The autophagic inhibitor,3-MA,confirmed that ginkgetin protected H9c2 cells from LPS-induced apoptosis via autophagy regulation.Conclusion Ginkgetin mitigated cardiomyocyte injury by enhancing autophagic flux and alleviating LPS-induced H9c2 cells apoptosis by modulating the NR4A2/p53/Bax pathway.

This phase I clinical trial (NCT01935843) is to evaluate the safety, feasibility, and activity of chimeric antigen receptor-engineered T cell (CART) immunotherapy targeting human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in patients with advanced biliary tract cancers (BTCs) and pancreatic cancers (PCs). Eligible patients with HER2-positive (>50%) BTCs and PCs were enrolled in the trial. Well cultured CART-HER2 cells were infused following the conditioning treatment composed of nab-paclitaxel (100-200 mg/m) and cyclophosphamide (15-35 mg/kg). CAR transgene copy number in the peripheral blood was serially measured to monitor the expansion and persistence of CART-HER2 cells in vivo. Eleven enrolled patients received 1 to 2-cycle CART-HER2 cell infusion (median CAR T cell 2.1 × 10/kg). The conditioning treatment resulted in mild-to-moderate fatigue, nausea/vomiting, myalgia/arthralgia, and lymphopenia. Except one grade-3 acute febrile syndrome and one abnormal elevation of transaminase (>9 ULN), adverse events related to the infusion of CART-HER2 cells were mild-to-moderate. Post-infusion toxicities included one case of reversible severe upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage which occurred in a patient with gastric antrum invaded by metastasis 11 days after the CART-HER2 cell infusion, and 2 cases of grade 1-2 delayed fever, accompanied by the release of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6. All patients were evaluable for assessment of clinical response, among which 1 obtained a 4.5-months partial response and 5 achieved stable disease. The median progression free survival was 4.8 months (range, 1.5-8.3 months). Finally, data from this study demonstrated the safety and feasibility of CART-HER2 immunotherapy, and showed encouraging signals of clinical activity.
Aged ; Biliary Tract Neoplasms ; immunology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Immunotherapy, Adoptive ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; immunology ; therapy ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; immunology ; Receptors, Chimeric Antigen ; immunology ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology

Cancer stem cells (CSCs), a subpopulation of tumor cells, have self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation abilities that play an important role in cancer initiation, maintenance, and metastasis. An accumulation of evidence indicates that CSCs can cause conventional therapy failure and cancer recurrence because of their treatment resistance and self-regeneration characteristics. Therefore, approaches that specifically and efficiently eliminate CSCs to achieve a durable clinical response are urgently needed. Currently, treatments with chimeric antigen receptor-modified T (CART) cells have shown successful clinical outcomes in patients with hematologic malignancies, and their safety and feasibility in solid tumors was confirmed. In this review, we will discuss in detail the possibility that CART cells inhibit CSCs by specifically targeting their cell surface markers, which will ultimately improve the clinical response for patients with various types of cancer. A number of viewpoints were summarized to promote the application of CSC-targeted CART cells in clinical cancer treatment. This review covers the key aspects of CSC-targeted CART cells against cancers in accordance with the premise of the model, from bench to bedside and back to bench.
Humans ; Molecular Targeted Therapy ; methods ; Neoplasms ; immunology ; pathology ; therapy ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; pathology ; Receptors, Chimeric Antigen ; metabolism ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; metabolism ; Translational Medical Research

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) proteins 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 targets for the clinical treatment of patients with HER2-positive GC. Despite improvements in survival, numerous HER2-positive patients fail treatment with trastuzumab, 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 CD3ζ moieties. Our findings show that the expanded CAR-T cells, expressing an increased central memory phenotype, were activated by the specific recognition of HER2 antigens in an MHC-independent manner, and effectively killed patient-derived HER2-positive GC cells. In HER2-positive xenograft tumors, CAR-T cells exhibited considerably enhanced tumor inhibition ability, long-term survival, and homing to targets, 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.
Animals ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasms, Experimental ; immunology ; pathology ; therapy ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; immunology ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell ; immunology ; Stomach Neoplasms ; immunology ; pathology ; therapy ; Tumor Cells, Cultured

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) is a recombinant immunoreceptor combining an antibody-derived targeting fragment with signaling domains capable of activating cells, which endows T cells with the ability to recognize tumor-associated surface antigens independent of the expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Recent early-phase clinical trials of CAR-modified T (CAR-T) cells for relapsed or refractory B cell malignancies have demonstrated promising results (that is, anti-CD19 CAR-T in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL)). Given this success, broadening the clinical experience of CAR-T cell therapy beyond hematological malignancies has been actively investigated. Here we discuss the basic design of CAR and review the clinical results from the studies of CAR-T cells in B cell leukemia and lymphoma, and several solid tumors. We additionally discuss the major challenges in the further development and strategies for increasing anti-tumor activity and safety, as well as for successful commercial translation.
Animals ; Humans ; Immunity, Cellular ; Immunotherapy ; Precursor B-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; immunology ; pathology ; therapy ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell ; immunology ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; immunology ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; transplantation

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.