Generation and analysis of immunity inside tumor tissues

描述（由申请人提供）：余博士的长期目标是了解免疫系统如何对同源癌细胞和组织做出反应，以及如何促进更强的免疫反应以对抗恶性肿瘤。本申请旨在揭示新鉴定的肿瘤坏死因子超家族（TNFSF）成员LIGHT如何诱导强抗肿瘤免疫的机制，并在临床相关环境中测试LIGHT在肿瘤免疫治疗中的应用。我们知道LIGHT可以诱导免疫介导的肿瘤排斥反应，然而，LIGHT如何激发如此强的抗肿瘤免疫的机制尚未得到很好的研究。我们坚信LIGHT是自发性转移性疾病肿瘤免疫治疗的良好候选者，但其全部潜力尚未确定。我们的初步数据表明，LIGHT不仅可以吸引和刺激肿瘤特异性CD 8 + T细胞，还可以调节NK和CD 4+调节性T细胞。此外，我们的初步研究表明，利用腺-LIGHT载体确实可以治疗小鼠模型中的自发转移。我们建议，光，不像许多其他的共刺激分子，具有优势，以调节基质和造血免疫途径通过其受体，LT？受体（LT？R）和疱疹病毒进入介体（HVEM）。具体而言，这些目标将通过以下三个具体目标来实现：目标1：研究LIGHT介导的肿瘤环境如何促进NK细胞在引发肿瘤排斥反应中的功能，并确定NK细胞在抗肿瘤免疫中的作用。目的2：明确LIGHT在肿瘤内调节CD 4+抑制性T细胞中的作用。目的3：确定LIGHT在自发转移性肿瘤模型中促进免疫识别的作用。这项研究的预期结果将定义LIGHT介导抗肿瘤免疫的机制，并确定将LIGHT递送到临床相关的肿瘤组织中的方式。本研究还将阐明LIGHT是否可用作治疗转移性疾病的潜在治疗剂。外行语言：尽管有证据表明肿瘤抗原可以被免疫系统识别，但癌症的自发消退很少发生。在肿瘤上表达的分子LIGHT可以诱导快速的肿瘤消退。本申请旨在探索所涉及的机制，以及开发与LIGHT临床相关的癌症治疗。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dr. Yu's long term goal is to understand how the immune system responds to syngeneic cancerous cells and tissues, and how stronger immune responses can be promoted against the malignancies. The current application is intended to uncover the mechanisms of how LIGHT, a newly-identified tumor necrosis factor superfamily (TNFSF) member, induces a strong anti-tumor immunity and test the application of LIGHT to tumor immunotherapy in a clinically relevant setting. We know that LIGHT can induce an immune-mediated tumor rejection, however, the mechanisms of how LIGHT provokes such a strong anti-tumor immunity has not been well studied. We strongly believe that LIGHT is a good candidate for tumor immunotherapy in spontaneous metastatic disease, but its full potential has yet to be determined. Our preliminary data suggests that LIGHT can not only attract and stimulate tumor-specific CD8+ T cells, but also regulate NK and CD4+ regulatory T cells. Moreover, our pilot study demonstrates that the utilization of an adeno-LIGHT vector can indeed treat spontaneous metastases in a mouse model. We propose that LIGHT, unlike many other co-stimulatory molecules, has the advantage to regulate both the stromal and hematopoietic immune pathways via its receptors, LT? receptor (LT?R) and Herpes Virus Entry Mediator (HVEM). Specifically, these goals will be pursued with the following three specific aims: Aim 1: To investigate how LIGHT-mediated tumor environment promotes NK function in eliciting tumor rejection and define the roles of NK cells in anti-tumor immunity. Aim 2: Define the role of LIGHT in regulation of CD4+ suppressive T cells inside the tumor. Aim 3: Define the role of LIGHT in promoting immune recognition in spontaneous metastatic tumor models. The expected results from this research will define the mechanisms by which LIGHT mediates anti-tumor immunity and determine ways of delivering LIGHT into the tumor tissue that would be clinically relevant. This study will also elucidate if LIGHT can be utilized as a potential therapeutic agent for treating metastatic disease. Lay language: Despite evidence of tumor antigens that can be recognized by immune system, spontaneous regression of cancers rarely occurs. A molecule LIGHT, expressed on tumors, can induce a rapid tumor regression. This application intends to explore the mechanisms involved as well as develop clinically relevant cancer therapy with LIGHT.