Sonia Marco 1; Myriam Fernández 1; Beatriz Honorato 1; Nerea Juanarena 1; Cristina Sainz 1; Ainhoa Andueza 1; David J. Gould 2; Seth Anderson 3; Carlos de Andrea 4,5 Paulo Pérez Domínguez 4,5 Paolo Wong 1; Carlos Vásquez 1; Irene Narinda 1; Carmen Unzu 6; Sergio Isola 6; Beatriz Tavira 1; Mikel Ariz 7; Gracián Camps 4,8; Miguel F. Sanmamed 4,8,9; Julián Pardo 10; Sara Labiano 1,4,11; Marta M. Alonso 1,4,11; Javier Marco-Sanz 1,4,11; Elizabeth Guruceaga 4,12; María Collantes 3,13; Jon Ander Simón 4,13; Iván Peñuelas 4,13; Joaquín Fernández-Irigoyen 14; Enrique Santamaría 14; Jesús Prieto 1,15; Juan Dubrot 1,15,16.
Marco et al. sought to expand the utility of immunizing radiation (IR) therapy by intratumorally delivering agents to remodel the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). After observing that IR enhanced transduction of tumor cells by adeno-associated viruses (AAVs), a known durable and safe gene delivery system, AAVs were engineered to express IL-12 under the control of a type I interferon promoter (as IFN-I is highly induced in tumors by IR). Tumor irradiation followed rapidly by AAV injection led to enhanced local IL-12 expression, remodeled the TIME, and induced robust synergistic tumor elimination in multiple models, primarily through FAS-FASL cytotoxicity.
Contributed by Ed Fritsch
Sonia Marco 1; Myriam Fernández 1; Beatriz Honorato 1; Nerea Juanarena 1; Cristina Sainz 1; Ainhoa Andueza 1; David J. Gould 2; Seth Anderson 3; Carlos de Andrea 4,5 Paulo Pérez Domínguez 4,5 Paolo Wong 1; Carlos Vásquez 1; Irene Narinda 1; Carmen Unzu 6; Sergio Isola 6; Beatriz Tavira 1; Mikel Ariz 7; Gracián Camps 4,8; Miguel F. Sanmamed 4,8,9; Julián Pardo 10; Sara Labiano 1,4,11; Marta M. Alonso 1,4,11; Javier Marco-Sanz 1,4,11; Elizabeth Guruceaga 4,12; María Collantes 3,13; Jon Ander Simón 4,13; Iván Peñuelas 4,13; Joaquín Fernández-Irigoyen 14; Enrique Santamaría 14; Jesús Prieto 1,15; Juan Dubrot 1,15,16.
Marco et al. sought to expand the utility of immunizing radiation (IR) therapy by intratumorally delivering agents to remodel the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). After observing that IR enhanced transduction of tumor cells by adeno-associated viruses (AAVs), a known durable and safe gene delivery system, AAVs were engineered to express IL-12 under the control of a type I interferon promoter (as IFN-I is highly induced in tumors by IR). Tumor irradiation followed rapidly by AAV injection led to enhanced local IL-12 expression, remodeled the TIME, and induced robust synergistic tumor elimination in multiple models, primarily through FAS-FASL cytotoxicity.
Contributed by Ed Fritsch
ABSTRACT: Radiotherapy (RT) can prime the immune system against cancer but often fails to generate effective antitumor responses due to concomitant induction of immunosuppressive factors. To overcome this limitation, we built upon the observation that RT enhances adeno-associated vectors (AAVs) tumor transduction through the epigenetic modification of vector episomes. We designed an AAV-based platform to deliver immunostimulatory cytokines through an interferon (IFN)-inducible promoter that allows for spatial control of transgene expression into irradiated tumors. As opposed to a constitutive system, local delivery of a vector encoding for inducible IL-12 (AAV-iIL12) achieves an efficient production of the cytokine without significant toxicity. Combination of RT and AAV-iIL12 generates a highly immunostimulatory tumor microenvironment (TME) leading to robust local and systemic antitumor responses in an IFNγ- and FAS-dependent manner, able to overcome common immune-evasion mechanisms. Our work shows that radiation coupled with AAV-based immune-gene delivery is an efficient and safe approach to treat cancer.
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