Yu-Pei Liao

A sense of danger from radiation.

Abstract McBride, W. H., Chiang, C-S., Olson, J. L., Wang, C-C., Hong, J-H., Pajonk, F., Dougherty, G. J., Iwamoto, K. S., Pervan, M. and Liao, Y-P. A Sense of Danger from Radiation. Radiat. Res. 162, 1–19 (2004). Tissue damage caused by exposure to pathogens, chemicals and physical agents such as ionizing radiation triggers production of generic “danger” signals that mobilize the innate and acquired immune system to deal with the intrusion and effect tissue repair with the goal of maintaining the integrity of the tissue and the body. Ionizing radiation appears to do the same, but less is known about the role of “danger” signals in tissue responses to this agent. This review deals with the nature of putative “danger” signals that may be generated by exposure to ionizing radiation and their significance. There are a number of potential consequences of “danger” signaling in response to radiation exposure. “Danger” signals could mediate the pathogenesis of, or recovery from, radiation damage. They could alter intrinsic cellular radiosensitivity or initiate radioadaptive responses to subsequent exposure. They may spread outside the locally damaged site and mediate bystander or “out-of-field” radiation effects. Finally, an important aspect of classical “danger” signals is that they link initial nonspecific immune responses in a pathological site to the development of specific adaptive immunity. Interestingly, in the case of radiation, there is little evidence that “danger” signals efficiently translate radiation-induced tumor cell death into the generation of tumor-specific immunity or normal tissue damage into autoimmunity. The suggestion is that radiation-induced “danger” signals may be inadequate in this respect or that radiation interferes with the generation of specific immunity. There are many issues that need to be resolved regarding “danger” signaling after exposure to ionizing radiation. Evidence of their importance is, in some areas, scant, but the issues are worthy of consideration, if for no other reason than that manipulation of these pathways has the potential to improve the therapeutic benefit of radiation therapy. This article focuses on how normal tissues and tumors sense and respond to danger from ionizing radiation, on the nature of the signals that are sent, and on the impact on the eventual consequences of exposure.

Radiation Enhances Regulatory T Cell Representation

PURPOSE Immunotherapy could be a useful adjunct to standard cytotoxic therapies such as radiation in patients with micrometastatic disease, although successful integration of immunotherapy into treatment protocols will require further understanding of how standard therapies affect the generation of antitumor immune responses. This study was undertaken to evaluate the impact of radiation therapy (RT) on immunosuppressive T regulatory (Treg) cells. METHODS AND MATERIALS Treg cells were identified as a CD4(+)CD25(hi)Foxp3(+) lymphocyte subset, and their fate was followed in a murine TRAMP C1 model of prostate cancer in mice with and without RT. RESULTS CD4(+)CD25(hi)Foxp3(+) Treg cells increased in immune organs after local leg or whole-body radiation. A large part, but not all, of this increase after leg-only irradiation could be ascribed to radiation scatter and Treg cells being intrinsically more radiation resistant than other lymphocyte subpopulations, resulting in their selection. Their functional activity on a per-cell basis was not affected by radiation exposure. Similar findings were made with mice receiving local RT to murine prostate tumors growing in the leg. The importance of the Treg cell population in the response to RT was shown by systemic elimination of Treg cells, which greatly enhanced radiation-induced tumor regression. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that Treg cells are more resistant to radiation than other lymphocytes, resulting in their preferential increase. Treg cells may form an important homeostatic mechanism for tissues injured by radiation, and in a tumor context, they may assist in immune evasion during therapy. Targeting this population may allow enhancement of radiotherapeutic benefit through immune modulation.

Ionizing Radiation Affects Human MART-1 Melanoma Antigen Processing and Presentation by Dendritic Cells

Radiation is generally considered to be an immunosuppressive agent that acts by killing radiosensitive lymphocytes. In this study, we demonstrate the noncytotoxic effects of ionizing radiation on MHC class I Ag presentation by bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DCs) that have divergent consequences depending upon whether peptides are endogenously processed and loaded onto MHC class I molecules or are added exogenously. The endogenous pathway was examined using C57BL/6 murine DCs transduced with adenovirus to express the human melanoma/melanocyte Ag recognized by T cells (AdVMART1). Prior irradiation abrogated the ability of AdVMART1-transduced DCs to induce MART-1-specific T cell responses following their injection into mice. The ability of these same DCs to generate protective immunity against B16 melanoma, which expresses murine MART-1, was also abrogated by radiation. Failure of AdVMART1-transduced DCs to generate antitumor immunity following irradiation was not due to cytotoxicity or to radiation-induced block in DC maturation or loss in expression of MHC class I or costimulatory molecules. Expression of some of these molecules was affected, but because irradiation actually enhanced the ability of DCs to generate lymphocyte responses to the peptide MART-127–35 that is immunodominant in the context of HLA-A2.1, they were unlikely to be critical. The increase in lymphocyte reactivity generated by irradiated DCs pulsed with MART-127–35 also protected mice against growth of B16-A2/Kb tumors in HLA-A2.1/Kb transgenic mice. Taken together, these results suggest that radiation modulates MHC class I-mediated antitumor immunity by functionally affecting DC Ag presentation pathways.

Induction of radioprotective peroxiredoxin‐I by ionizing irradiation

Results of this study indicate a radioprotective effect of peroxiredoxin‐I. Peroxiredoxin‐I is an antioxidant that scavenges hydroperoxides, whereas reactive oxygen species are the main mediators of ionizing radiation toxicity. We hypothesized that peroxiredoxin‐I might be induced by cellular exposure to radiation and act to protect them against its cytotoxic effects. Western blot and Northern blot analyses were used to assess peroxiredoxin‐I protein and mRNA expression. Rat C6 glioma cells were engineered to overexpress sense or antisense human peroxiredoxin‐I using retroviral vectors. Clonogenic cell survival was used to assess radiosensitivities of the engineered cells. Ionizing radiation induced peroxiredoxin‐I protein and mRNA expression in human HT29 colon cancer and rat C6 glioma cells in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner over a 24 hr period. To determine the effect of peroxiredoxin‐I on radiation responses, C6 glioma cells were engineered to overexpress sense or antisense human peroxiredoxin‐I. In clonogenic assays, cells overexpressing peroxiredoxin‐I were more radioresistant. Cells transduced with antisense peroxiredoxin‐I were marginally more sensitive to radiation toxicity. Irradiation can induce peroxiredoxin‐I expression, and the increased peroxiredoxin‐I may protect cells from further radiation damage. These results suggest that protection by peroxiredoxin‐I may play an important role in the survival of glioma and colon cancer cells in patients undergoing radiation therapy.

Modification of the tumor microenvironment to enhance immunity.

The growth and spread of cancer depends as much on the host response to tumor as on the biological characteristics of the tumor itself. This interaction is at its most intimate and dynamic within the tumor microenvironment. It is here that the battle is fought that leads to mutual evolution of tumor and host cell phenotypes. Contributing to this evolutionary process are physiological changes distinctive for the tumor microenvironment, such as hypoxia, low nutrient levels, low extracellular pH, and high interstitial fluid pressure. These largely result from the chaotic intratumoral vasculature but are impacted by the nature of the tumor and the inflammatory and wound healing responses that are generated. Numerous infiltrating immune cells, including macrophages, lymphocytes, natural killer cells and dendritic cells infiltrate the tumor, contributing to high levels of growth factors, hormones, and cytokines. We suggest that the integrated interplay between host and tumor factors results in distinct phenotypes that determine the response to therapy as well as tumor behavior. Targeting the tumor microenvironment to awaken or reawaken immune cells, or to redirect it from a pro-tumor to an anti-tumor state, will require understanding of this phenotype. Current conventional therapies target tumors not tumor cells and clearly affect the host infiltrate and the physiological characteristics of the tumor microenvironment. This may an advantage that has yet to be effectively exploited due to lack of knowledge of existing phenotypes resulting from the tumor-host interactions. The same lack of knowledge impacts outcomes of clinical immunotherapy (IT) trials that have so far not broken through the ceiling of 10% success rate that seems to exist even in melanoma. It seems obvious that more could be achieved by combining therapies that tackle malignancies from multiple angles, with the tumor microenvironment conditioned to support a powerful effector arm generated by IT. The challenge is how to design combination therapies that modify the tumor microenvironment so as to promote immunity and better combat both local and systemic disease.

HDJ-2 as a target for radiosensitization of glioblastoma multiforme cells by the farnesyltransferase inhibitor R115777 and the role of the p53/p21 pathway

Resistance of glioblastoma multiforme to radiotherapy poses a major clinical challenge. Farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTI), such as R115777, have potential to increase radiotherapeutic benefit in this disease, although their mechanism of action is unclear. In our study with eight glioblastoma multiforme cell lines, the most sensitive ones underwent cell cycle arrest in response to FTI treatment. Radiosensitization by FTIs, however, seemed to involve other pathways. If R115777 treatment was initiated < 6 hours before irradiation, all eight glioblastoma multiforme lines were radiosensitized. However, if the time between drug and radiation was extended to 24 hours, cells harboring wild type but not mutated p53 were able to counteract drug-induced radiosensitization. The involvement of the p53/p21 pathway in the development of resistance was confirmed by showing that U87 cells transfected with human papillomavirus E6 to block p53 or interfering RNA to inhibit p21 stayed radiosensitive for 24 hours after drug treatment. The time dependency of R115777-induced radiosensitization suggested that the initial FTI target for early radiosensitization was short-lived, and that a p21-directed pathway restored resistance. Consideration of prenylated molecules that could potentially be involved led us to consider HDJ-2, a co-chaperone of heat shock protein 70. This hypothesis was strengthened by finding that cellular radiosensitivity was increased by genetic inhibition of HDJ-2, whereas overexpression conferred radioresistance. Importantly, irradiation of cells caused HDJ-2 to migrate from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, and this migration was inhibited by prior FTI treatment. These results have clinical relevance in that they help explain the variability in responses to FTIs that occurs following radiotherapy and elucidate some of the reasons for the complexity underlying FTI-induced radiosensitization.

Local irradiation of murine melanoma affects the development of tumour-specific immunity

Radiation therapy affects the immune system. In addition to killing radiosensitive immune cells, it can induce functional changes in those cells that survive. Our recent studies showed that the exposure of dendritic cells (DCs) to radiation in vitro influences their ability to present tumour antigen in vivo. Here we show that local radiation therapy of B16 melanoma tumours inhibits the development of systemic immunity to the melanoma antigen MART‐1. This inhibition could not be overcome by intratumoral injection of DCs expressing human MART‐1 after radiation therapy, suggesting that a form of immune suppression might have developed. On the other hand, injection of MART‐expressing DCs prior to tumour irradiation was able to prevent inhibition from developing. These results suggest that local radiation therapy may block the generation of immunity under some circumstances and that strategies may be required to prevent this and allow radiation‐induced cell death to translate fully into the development of systemic immunity.