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Both tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and PD-1 + peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) are enriched for tumor-reactive clones recognizing known and unknown tumor antigens. However, the relationship between the T-cell receptor-β (TCRβ) repertoires of the TILs and T cells expanded from paired PD-1 + PBLs, and whether T cells expanded from PD-1 + PBLs can be used to treat patients with cancer as TIL substitutes remain unclear. Here, we established a highly efficient protocol to prepare polyclonal T cells from PD-1 + PBLs. A functional T-cell assay and tetramer staining revealed that cells from PD-1 + PBLs were relatively enriched for tumor-reactive T cells. Furthermore, deep TCRβ sequencing data revealed that an average of 11.29% (1.32%-29.06%; P = 0.015; n = 8) tumor-resident clonotypes were found in T cells expanded from paired PD-1 + PBLs, and the mean accumulated frequency of TIL clones found in T cells expanded from PD-1 + PBLs was 35.11% (7.23%-78.02%; P = 0.017; n = 8). Moreover, treatment of four patients, who failed multiline therapy and developed acquired resistance to anti-PD-1, with autologous T cells expanded from PD-1 + PBLs combined with anti-PD-1 antibody elicited objective responses from three of them. These results indicate that T cells expanded from PD-1 + PBLs share more clones with paired TILs and could be used to treat patients with cancer as TIL substitutes. SIGNIFICANCE: This study harnesses the tumor reactivity of PD-1 + PBLs, developing a method to expand T cells from these clones as a potential therapeutic strategy and TIL substitute in patients with cancer. See related commentary by Ladle, p. 1940 ., (©2021 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Background: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common and fatal malignancy, which has posed a great challenge to public health, especially in China. Dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs is involved in the occurrence, development, invasion, and metastasis of multiple cancers including ESCC. However, little is known about the function of MIR205HG in ESCC. Methods: We used qRT-PCR to detect the expression level of MIR205HG, miR-214, and SOX4 in human ESCC tissues and cell lines. Loss-of-functional assays were performed to test the impact of MIR205HG on cell proliferation, metastasis, and apoptosis process via CCK-8, transwell, and flow cell cytometry assays. Additionally, the downstream molecular mechanism of MIR205HG in ESCC was explored. Results: Here, we found MIR205HG was substantially up-regulated in ESCC, and there was a positive correlation between MIR205HG expression and tumor size and lymphatic metastasis of ESCC patients. Inhibition of MIR205HG attenuated cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Silencing MIR205HG increased G1 phase cell counts and decreased S phase cell counts, along with increased apoptotic cell populations. Notably, the rescue assays indicated that miR-214 could partly reverse the influence of MIR205HG on ESCC cell migration. We also found that SOX4 was a direct target mRNA of miR-214, and MIR205HG could act as a molecular sponge to regulate SOX4 expression in ESCC. Conclusion: Taken together, our findings demonstrate that MIR205HG promotes ESCC progression by regulating the miR-214/SOX4 axis. MIR205HG may be a novel candidate target for ESCC diagnosis and therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• REG1A promoted cell proliferation and suppressed apoptosis in intestinal epithelial cells.·IL-6 and IL-22 markedly activated REG1A transcription through JAK/STAT3 pathway. • Systematic delivery of REG1A lentivirus alleviated DSS-induced inflammatory injury and maintained of intestinal barrier integrity. Regenerating islet-derived protein 1-alpha (REG1A) was abnormally upregulated in a series of gastrointestinal inflammatory disorders. However, the potential biological function and underlying regulatory mechanisms of the increased REG1A in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) pathogenesis remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, we uncovered that REG1A was substantially increased in the inflamed colorectal tissues of IBD patients. And the aberrantly expressed REG1A in intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) prominently inhibited inflammatory responses, promoted cell proliferation and suppressed epithelial apoptosis. Mechanically, IL-6 and IL-22 markedly activated REG1A transcription through triggering JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway. In addition, overexpression of REG1A in mice by systematic delivery of REG1A lentivirus remarkably alleviated DSS-induced inflammatory injury and maintained the integrity of intestinal mucosal barrier. Taken together, our data demonstrated that the novel proliferative factor REG1A controlled by IL-6/IL-22-JAK-STAT3 signaling may provide a promising therapeutic target for patients with IBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]