0000000000062004

AUTHOR

Sara Capolla

Constitutive psgl-1 correlates with cd30 and tcr pathways and represents a potential target for immunotherapy in anaplastic large t-cell lymphoma

Simple Summary P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1), coded by the SELPLG gene, is the major ligand of selectins and plays a pivotal role in tethering, rolling and extravasation of immune cells. PSGL-1 involvement in core molecular programs, such as SYK, PLCγ2, PI3Kγ or MAPK pathways, suggests additional functions beyond the modulation of cell trafficking. Recently, several studies identified a novel mechanism responsible for PSGL-1-mediated immune suppression in the tumor microenvironment and proved a novel concept of PSGL-1 as a critical checkpoint molecule for tumor immunotherapy. The immunotherapeutic approach has gained an ever-growing interest in the treatment of several hematolog…

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Targeted tumor imaging of anti-CD20-polymeric nanoparticles developed for the diagnosis of B-cell malignancies

Sara Capolla,1 Chiara Garrovo,2 Sonia Zorzet,1 Andrea Lorenzon,3 Enrico Rampazzo,4 Ruben Spretz,5 Gabriele Pozzato,6 Luis Núñez,7 Claudio Tripodo,8 Paolo Macor,1,9 Stefania Biffi2 1Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 2Institute for Maternal and Child Health – IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, Trieste, 3Animal Care Unit, Cluster in Biomedicine (CBM scrl), Trieste, Italy; 4Department of Chemistry “G. Ciamician”, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; 5LNK Chemsolutions LLC, Lincoln, NE, USA; 6Department of Medical, Surgery and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy; 7Bio-Target, Inc., University of C…

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New Potential Therapeutic Approach for the Treatment of B-Cell Malignancies Using Chlorambucil/Hydroxychloroquine-Loaded Anti-CD20 Nanoparticles

Current B-cell disorder treatments take advantage of dose-intensive chemotherapy regimens and immunotherapy via use of monoclonal antibodies. Unfortunately, they may lead to insufficient tumor distribution of therapeutic agents, and often cause adverse effects on patients. In this contribution, we propose a novel therapeutic approach in which relatively high doses of Hydroxychloroquine and Chlorambucil were loaded into biodegradable nanoparticles coated with an anti-CD20 antibody. We demonstrate their ability to effectively target and internalize in tumor B-cells. Moreover, these nanoparticles were able to kill not only p53 mutated/deleted lymphoma cell lines expressing a low amount of CD20…

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Bispecific antibodies targeting tumor-associated antigens and neutralizing complement regulators increase the efficacy of antibody-based immunotherapy in mice.

The efficacy of antibody-based immunotherapy is due to the activation of apoptosis, the engagement of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC). We developed a novel strategy to enhance CDC using bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) that neutralize the C-regulators CD55 and CD59 to enhance C-mediated functions. Two bsAbs (MB20/55 and MB20/59) were designed to recognize CD20 on one side. The other side neutralizes CD55 or CD59. Analysis of CDC revealed that bsAbs could kill 4-25 times more cells than anti-CD20 recombinant antibody in cell lines or cells isolated from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The pharmacokinetics of the bsAbs was evaluate…

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Mast cells contribute to autoimmune diabetes by releasing interleukin-6 and failing to acquire a tolerogenic IL-10+ phenotype

Mast cells (MCs) are innate immune cells that exert positive and negative immune modulatory functions capable to enhance or limit the intensity and/or duration of adaptive immune responses. Although MCs are crucial to regulate T cell immunity, their action in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases is still debated. Here we demonstrate that MCs play a crucial role in T1D pathogenesis so that their selective depletion in conditional MC knockout NOD mice protects them from the disease. MCs of diabetic NOD mice are overly inflammatory and secrete large amounts of IL-6 that favors differentiation of IL-17-secreting T cells at the site of autoimmunity. Moreover, while MCs of control mice acquire…

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A new approach for the treatment of CLL using chlorambucil/hydroxychloroquine-loaded anti-CD20 nanoparticles

Current approaches for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have greatly improved the prognosis for survival, but some patients remain refractive to these therapeutic regimens. Hence, in addition to reducing the long-term sideeffects of therapeutics for all leukemia patients, there is an urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies for difficult-to-treat leukemia cases. Due to the cytotoxicity of drugs, the major challenge currently is to deliver the therapeutic agents to neoplastic cells while preserving the viability of non-malignant cells. In this study, we propose a therapeutic approach in which high doses of hydroxychloroquine and chlorambucil were loaded into biodegrada…

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