1. The STING agonist, DMXAA, reduces tumor vessels and enhances mesothelioma tumor antigen presentation yet blunts cytotoxic T cell function in a murine model.
- Author
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Graham PT, Nowak AK, Cornwall SMJ, Larma I, and Nelson DJ
- Subjects
- Mice, Animals, T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic, Antigen Presentation, Disease Models, Animal, Ovalbumin, Antigens, Neoplasm, Mesothelioma, Malignant, Mesothelioma drug therapy
- Abstract
We assessed the murine Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) agonist, DMXAA, for anti-mesothelioma potential using the AE17-sOVA model that expresses ovalbumin (OVA) as a neo tumor antigen. Dose response experiments alongside testing different routes of administration identified a safe effective treatment regimen that induced 100% cures in mice with small or large tumors. Three doses of 25mg/kg DMXAA given intra-tumorally every 9 days induced tumor regression and long-term survival (>5 months). Re-challenge experiments showed that tumor-free mice developed protective memory. MTT and propidium-iodide assays showed that DMXAA exerted direct cytotoxic effects at doses >1mg/ml on the murine AE17 and AB1 mesothelioma cell lines. In-vivo studies using a CFSE-based in-vivo proliferation assay showed that DMXAA improved tumor-antigen presentation in tumor-draining lymph nodes, evidenced by OVA-specific OT-1 T cells undergoing more divisions. An in-vivo cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) assay showed that DMXAA blunted the lytic quality of CTLs recognizing the dominant (SIINFEKL) and a subdominant (KVVRFDKL) OVA epitopes. DMXAA reduced tumor vessel size in-vivo and although the proportion of T cells infiltrating tumors reduced, the proportion of tumor-specific T cells increased. These data show careful dosing and treatment protocols reduce mesothelioma cell viability and modulate tumor vessels such that tumor-antigen specific CTLs access the tumor site. However, attempts to enhance DMXAA-induced anti-tumor responses by combination with an agonist anti-CD40 antibody or IL-2 reduced efficacy. These proof-of-concept data suggest that mesothelioma patients could benefit from treatment with a STING agonist, but combination with immunotherapy should be cautiously undertaken., Competing Interests: Author IL was employed by Becton Dickinson Pty Limited. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Graham, Nowak, Cornwall, Larma and Nelson.)
- Published
- 2022
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