Cancer metabolic reprogramming has been recognized as one of the cancer hallmarks that promote cell proliferation, survival, as well as therapeutic resistance. Up-to-date regulation of metabolism in T-cell lymphoma is poorly understood. In particular, for human angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) the metabolic profile is not known. Metabolic intervention could help identify new treatment options for this cancer with very poor outcomes and no effective medication. Transcriptomic analysis of AITL tumor cells, identified that these cells use preferentially mitochondrial metabolism. By using our preclinical AITL mouse model, mimicking closely human AITL features, we confirmed that T follicular helper (Tfh) tumor cells exhibit a strong enrichment of mitochondrial metabolic signatures. Consistent with these results, disruption of mitochondrial metabolism using metformin or a mitochondrial complex I inhibitor such as IACS improved the survival of AITL lymphoma-bearing mice. Additionally, we confirmed a selective elimination of the malignant human AITL T cells in patient biopsies upon mitochondrial respiration inhibition. Moreover, we confirmed that diabetic patients suffering from T-cell lymphoma, treated with metformin survived longer as compared to patients receiving alternative treatments. Taking together, our findings suggest that targeting the mitochondrial metabolic pathway could be a clinically efficient approach to inhibit aggressive cancers such as peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
© 2024. The Author(s).

Immunotherapy and specifically oncolytic virotherapy has emerged as a promising option for cancer patients, with oncolytic herpes simplex virus-1 (oHSV-1) expressing granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor being the first OV to be approved by the FDA for treatment of melanoma. However, not all cancers are sensitive and responsive to oncolytic viruses (OVs). Our group has demonstrated that fumaric and maleic acid esters (FMAEs) are very effective in sensitizing cancer cells to OV infection. Of note, these FMAEs include dimethyl fumarate (DMF, also known as Tecfidera®), an approved treatment for multiple sclerosis and psoriasis. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of DMF in combination with oncolytic HSV-1 in preclinical cancer models. We demonstrate herewith that pre-treatment with DMF or other FMAEs leads to a significant increase in viral growth of oHSV-1 in several cancer cell lines, including melanoma, while decreasing cell viability. Additionally, DMF was able to enhance ex vivo oHSV-1 infection of mouse-derived tumor cores as well as human patient tumor samples but not normal tissue. We further reveal that the increased viral spread and oncolysis of the combination therapy occurs via inhibition of type I IFN production and response. Finally, we demonstrate that DMF in combination with oHSV-1 can improve therapeutic outcomes in aggressive syngeneic murine cancer models. In sum, this study demonstrates the synergistic potential of two approved therapies for clinical evaluation in cancer patients.
Copyright © 2023 Alwithenani, Taha, Thomson, Chen, Wong, Arulanandam and Diallo.

Monocytes are heterogeneous innate effector leukocytes generated in the bone marrow and released into circulation in a CCR2-dependent manner. During infection or inflammation, myelopoiesis is modulated to rapidly meet the demand for more effector cells. Danger signals from peripheral tissues can influence this process. Herein we demonstrate that repetitive TLR7 stimulation via the epithelial barriers drove a potent emergency bone marrow monocyte response in mice. This process was unique to TLR7 activation and occurred independently of the canonical CCR2 and CX3CR1 axes or prototypical cytokines. The monocytes egressing the bone marrow had an immature Ly6C-high profile and differentiated into vascular Ly6C-low monocytes and tissue macrophages in multiple organs. They displayed a blunted cytokine response to further TLR7 stimulation and reduced lung viral load after RSV and influenza virus infection. These data provide insights into the emergency myelopoiesis likely to occur in response to the encounter of single-stranded RNA viruses at barrier sites.
© 2023, Jackson, Giacomassi et al.

Established mouse models of HER2+ cancer are based on the over-expression of rodent Neu/Erbb2 homologues, which are incompatible with human HER2 (huHER2) targeted therapeutics. Additionally, the use of immune-deficient xenograft or transgenic models precludes assessment of native anti-tumour immune responses. These hurdles have been a challenge for our understanding of the immune mechanisms behind huHER2-targeting immunotherapies.
To assess the immune impacts of our huHER2-targeted combination strategy, we generated a syngeneic mouse model of huHER2+ breast cancer, using a truncated form of huHER2, HER2T. Following validation of this model, we next treated tumour-bearing with our immunotherapy strategy: oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus (VSVΔ51) with clinically approved antibody-drug conjugate targeting huHER2, trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1). We assessed efficacy through tumour control, survival, and immune analyses.
The generated truncated HER2T construct was non-immunogenic in wildtype BALB/c mice upon expression in murine mammary carcinoma 4T1.2 cells. Treatment of 4T1.2-HER2T tumours with VSVΔ51+T-DM1 yielded robust curative efficacy compared to controls, and broad immunologic memory. Interrogation of anti-tumour immunity revealed tumour infiltration by CD4+ T cells, and activation of B, NK, and dendritic cell responses, as well as tumour-reactive serum IgG.
The 4T1.2-HER2T model was used to evaluate the anti-tumour immune responses following our complex pharmacoviral treatment strategy. These data demonstrate utility of the syngeneic HER2T model for assessment of huHER2-targeted therapies in an immune-competent in vivo setting. We further demonstrated that HER2T can be implemented in multiple other syngeneic tumour models, including but not limited to colorectal and ovarian models. These data also suggest that the HER2T platform may be used to assess a range of surface-HER2T targeting approaches, such as CAR-T, T-cell engagers, antibodies, or even retargeted oncolytic viruses.
Copyright © 2023 Taha, Crupi, Alluqmani, Fareez, Ng, Sobh, Lee, Chen, Thomson, Spinelli, Ilkow, Bell, Arulanandam and Diallo.

Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent gynecological disease with chronic pelvic inflammation. In order to study the pathophysiology of endometriosis and examine the therapeutic effects of new pharmaceuticals for endometriosis treatment, different animal models had been developed in the last two decades, especially mouse models. However, no study evaluated the effects of various modeling approaches on pathology and immunology in endometriosis. This study aimed to compare endometriotic lesion development and immune profiles under different methods of establishing endometriosis models in mice, including estrus synchronization (ovariectomy with estrogen supplement versus male urine-soaked transfer bedding), endometrium preparations (whole uterus including endometrium and myometrium fragments versus solely endometrium fragments), and surgical transplantation (subcutaneous transplantation versus intraperitoneal injection). Our results showed that lesion growth under estrus synchronization by ovariectomy with estrogen supplement had a higher success rate and more proliferative endometrium, apart from higher body weight gain. Immune responses in peripheral blood were similar in the whole uterus and solely endometrium fragments and in intraperitoneal injection and subcutaneous transplantation, but a more innate immune response in the peritoneal microenvironment was found in solely endometrium fragments and intraperitoneal injection than counterparts. In conclusion, different endometriosis modeling methods result in different pathological and immunological features. Ovariectomy with estrogen supplement, solely endometrium fragments, and intraperitoneal injection are more suitable for both pathological and immunological studies of endometriosis in mice, which are important for mechanistic studies and immunotherapy development.
Copyright © 2022 He, Liang, Hung, Zhang, Xu, Chung and Wang.