Search

Cancer health disparities among populations are the result of a combination of socioeconomic, environmental, behavioral, and biological factors, which affect cancer incidence, prevalence, mortality, survivorship, financial burden, and screening rates. The long-standing Meharry Medical College (MMC), Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), Tennessee State University (TSU) Cancer Partnership has built an exceptional cancer research and training environment to support the efforts of diverse investigators in addressing disparities. Over the past 20 years, collaborative partnership efforts across multiple disciplines have supported research into the determinants of cancer health disparities at a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center (VICC) along with enhancing research infrastructure and training at MMC and TSU, two institutions that serve predominantly underserved populations and underrepresented students. Moreover, the geographical placement of this partnership in Tennessee, a region with some of the highest cancer incidence and mortality in the United States, has provided an especially important opportunity to positively affect outcomes for cancer patients.

Additional file 9: Supplementary Figure. 9. Cytokine production and antigen (Ag) specificity of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ cytotoxic T cells (Tc).

Additional file 14: Supplementary Figure. 14. Copy number of CD40 prognoses sensitivity of human melanoma cells to the RAF inhibitors.

Additional file 15: Supplementary Figure. 15. CD80 and ICOSL do not prognose sensitivity of human melanoma cells to the RAF inhibitors.

Additional file 5: Supplementary Figure. 5. Rigosertib-induced caspase-dependent cell death is important for the anti-tumor responses in vivo.

Additional file 3: Supplementary Figure. 3. RGS promotes plasminogen activating cascade and synaptic vesicle trafficking in the TME.

Additional file 11: Supplementary Figure. 11. Characterization of CD40 knockdown clones.

Additional file 20: Supplementary Table 4. List of antibodies used in flow cytometry

Additional file 13: Supplementary Figure. 13. Intact adaptive immune system is required for rigosertib to inhibit melanoma tumor growth in vivo.

Additional file 8: Supplementary Figure. 8. No Toxicity of Rigosertib + ICB combinational treatment in vivo.

Additional file 4: Supplementary Figure 4. Rigosertib promotes conventional dendritic cells and T cells in the tumor-draining lymph nodes.

Additional file 18: Supplementary Table 2. Patient characteristics and response to targeted therapy

Additional file 16: Supplementary Figure. 16. Bulk tumor RNA-Seq analysis of two datasets with both transcriptomics and immunotherapy response in melanoma

Additional file 7: Supplementary Figure. 7. Rigosertib plus ICB treatment induces NK and T cell responses in the tumor draining lymph nodes (TDLN).

Additional file 12: Supplementary Figure. 12. CD40 ligand (CD40L) expression in tumor-infiltrating T cells.

Additional file 19: Supplementary Table 3. List of antibodies used in western blotting and IHC staining

Additional file 2: Supplementary Figure. 2. Rigosertib demonstrates a general anti-tumor effect in mice.

Additional file 10: Supplementary Figure. 10. Rigosertib + ICB combinatorial treatment reduces PD-L1+ Bregs.

Additional file 6: Supplementary Figure. 6. Rigosertib demonstrates a safe profile in healthy and tumor-bearing mice.

Additional file 17: Supplementary Table 1. Genetic background of melanoma models used in this study

Additional file 1. Supplementary Methods.

Additional file 1: Supplementary Figure 1. Rigosertib promotes cell death, ROS production and inhibits AKT activation as well as mitosis of melanoma cells in vitro.

Coverage on: Shields, J.D., Kourtis, I.C., Tomei, A.A., Roberts, J.M.Swartz,M.A. (2010). Induction of lymphoidlike stroma and immune escape by tumors that express the chemokine CCL21. Science. E Pub, March 25, 2010; and Kim, M.Y., Oskarsson, T., Acharyya, S.,Nguyen, D.X., Zhang, X.H., Norton, L.Massague, J. (2009). Tumor self-seeding by circulating cancer cells. Cell, 139,1315-1326.

International audience; Chemokines are involved in cellular interactions and tropism in situations frequently associated with inflammation. Recently, the importance of chemokines and chemokine receptors in inflammation associated with carcinogenesis has been highlighted. Increasing evidence suggests that chemokines are produced by tumor cells as well as by cells of the tumor microenvironment including cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), endothelial cells, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and more recently tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs). In addition to affecting tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis and metastasis, chemokines also seem to modulate senescence and cell survival. Here, we review recent progress on the roles of chemokines and chemokine receptors in cancer-related inflammation, and discuss the mechanisms underlying chemokine action in cancer that might facilitate the development of novel therapies in the future.

Chemokine-receptor signaling is initiated upon ligand binding to the receptor and continues through the process of endocytic trafficking by the association of a variety of adaptor proteins with the chemokine receptor. In order to define the adaptor proteins that associate with CXCR2 before and after ligand activation, a protocol was developed using differentiated HL-60 cells transfected to express CXCR2 stimulated or not stimulated with ligand for one minute. CXCR2-associating proteins were isolated by immunoprecipitation with CXCR2 antibody and the eluted proteins were electrophoretically run into the separating gel directly without a stacking gel. The stained single band was subjected to in-gel trypsin digestion. The tryptic peptides were subjected to, LC/MS/MS proteomic analysis. Proteins identified in a minimum of three of four separate experiments with multiple peptides were then validated as CXCR2 adaptor proteins by coimmunoprecipitation, GST pull-down studies, and immunocytochemical CXCR2-colocalization experiments using dHL-60-CXCR2 cells. Subsequently, a functional analysis of the interaction between CXCR2 and CXCR2 interacting proteins was performed. This approach can be used to characterize chemokine receptor-associating proteins over time both before and after ligand stimulation, allowing definition of the dynamic spatial and temporal formation of a "chemosynapse."

Wound healing requires a complex series of reactions and interactions among cells and their mediators, resulting in an overlapping series of events including coagulation, inflammation, epithelialization, formation of granulation tissue, matrix and scar formation. Cytokines and chemokines promote inflammation, angiogenesis, facilitate the passage of leukocytes from circulation into the tissue, and contribute to the regulation of epithelialization. They integrate inflammatory events and reparative processes that are important for modulating wound healing. Thus both cytokines and chemokines are important targets for therapeutic intervention. The chemokine-mediated regulation of angiogenesis is highly sophisticated, fine tuned, and involves proangiogenic chemokines, including CXCL1-3, 5-8 and their receptors, CXCR1 and CXCR2. CXCL1 and CXCR2 are expressed in normal human epidermis and are further induced during the wound healing process of human burn wounds, especially during the inflammatory, epithelialization and angiogenic processes. Human skin explant studies also show CXCR2 is expressed in wounded keratinocytes and Th/1/Th2 cytokine modulation of CXCR2 expression correlates with proliferation of epidermal keratinocytes. Murine excision wound healing, chemical burn wounds and skin organ culture systems are valuable models for examining the role of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in wound healing.

Naïve BALB/c neutrophils can kill PyMT (FVB) tumor cells, but CCL2 does not increase killing. PyMT cells from FVB mice seeded with and without naïve BALB/c neutrophils (30 neutrophils: 1 tumor cell), in the absence and presence of CCL2. After 18-h at 37 °C, cells were lysed and luciferase was measured to determine tumor cell killing. Although from a different mouse strain, naïve BALB/c neutrophils were able to kill FVB PyMT tumor cells (p = 0.005). However, CCL2 did not enhance this effect (p = 0.347), Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s test for multiple comparisons. Values are graphed as mean ± SD. Figure S2. Entrainment properties of less aggressive PyMT tumor cells on the metastatic outgrowth of more aggressive TGFβR2 knock out PyMT tumors. Female FVB mice (10 weeks old) were injected with either 15,000 PyMT breast cancer cells (MFP) or PBS (Non-tumor bearing) in the 4th mammary fat pad. Two weeks later either 1 × 106 TGFβR2 knockout PyMT (TbR2KO) breast cancer cells or PBS alone (in 200 μl) were delivered by tail vein injection to mice bearing PyMT tumors or into non-tumor bearing mice (t.v. TbR2KO). Three weeks later, mice were sacrificed and lungs were removed, fixed, H&E stained and the number of metastases counted. Analysis of variance with blocking (two experiments) was performed for an overall comparison (p

Naïve BALB/c neutrophils can kill PyMT (FVB) tumor cells, but CCL2 does not increase killing. PyMT cells from FVB mice seeded with and without naïve BALB/c neutrophils (30 neutrophils: 1 tumor cell), in the absence and presence of CCL2. After 18-h at 37 °C, cells were lysed and luciferase was measured to determine tumor cell killing. Although from a different mouse strain, naïve BALB/c neutrophils were able to kill FVB PyMT tumor cells (p = 0.005). However, CCL2 did not enhance this effect (p = 0.347), Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s test for multiple comparisons. Values are graphed as mean ± SD. Figure S2. Entrainment properties of less aggressive PyMT tumor cells on the metastatic outgrowth of more aggressive TGFβR2 knock out PyMT tumors. Female FVB mice (10 weeks old) were injected with either 15,000 PyMT breast cancer cells (MFP) or PBS (Non-tumor bearing) in the 4th mammary fat pad. Two weeks later either 1 × 106 TGFβR2 knockout PyMT (TbR2KO) breast cancer cells or PBS alone (in 200 μl) were delivered by tail vein injection to mice bearing PyMT tumors or into non-tumor bearing mice (t.v. TbR2KO). Three weeks later, mice were sacrificed and lungs were removed, fixed, H&E stained and the number of metastases counted. Analysis of variance with blocking (two experiments) was performed for an overall comparison (p