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A phenolic β-O-4-type lignin model compound with a C6-C3-type side-chain and two guaiacyl nuclei and its derivatives were individually acidolyzed in aqueous 82 vol% 1,4-dioxane containing 0.2 mol/L HBr, HCl, or H2SO4 at 85 °C in this study. The obtained results, combined with those in the series of this study in which phenolic and non-phenolic C6-C3- and C6-C2-type analogues were used, generated the following results and proposals. The H2O addition reproducing the original compound is preponderant as a reaction mode of the benzyl cation intermediate (BC) over the other modes leading to the β-O-4 bond cleavage, especially in the acidolyses using H2SO4 and those of C6-C3-type compounds. A well-known phenomenon whether formaldehyde is liberated from C6-C3-type compounds is regulated by acid types appears less clearly in phenolic than in non-phenolic compounds. Br¯ as well as Cl¯ nucleophilically assists the H¯ transfer from the β- to α-carbon of BC, especially in C6-C3-types, which accelerates and regulates the acidolyses using HBr as well as HCl. Furthermore, Br¯ is suggested to nucleophilically attack the β-carbon of non-phenolic C6-C3-type BC to cleave the β-O-4 bond, which explains the characteristically peculiar observation in the acidolysis of the non-phenolic C6-C3-type compound using HBr described in our previous report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Despite the success of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) for treating a variety of solid cancers, most gastric cancer patients are resistant to ICI monotherapies. Combinations of ICI with other therapies may be able to overcome this resistance. In order to develop combination immunotherapies, immunologically well-characterized preclinical gastric cancer models are required. To this end, in the present study, we characterized two murine gastric cancer cell lines, namely, YTN2 which spontaneously regresses, and YTN16 which grows progressively. Although anti-CTLA-4 monotherapy eradicated most YTN16 tumors, these were resistant to either anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 treatment. Furthermore, we identified neoantigens in YTN2 and YTN16 tumors and conducted neoantigen-based immunotherapy for these tumors. In addition, the information on neoantigens facilitates the evaluation of tumor-specific immune responses induced by the combination therapies. These immunologically well-characterized gastric cancer models will contribute to the development of novel combination immunotherapies. To develop combination immunotherapies for gastric cancers, immunologically well-characterized preclinical models are crucial. Here, we leveraged two transplantable murine gastric cancer cell lines, YTN2 and YTN16, derived from the same parental line but differing in their susceptibility to immune rejection. We established their differential sensitivity to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) and identified neoantigens. Although anti-CTLA-4 mAbs eradicated YTN16 tumors in 4 of 5 mice, anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 mAbs failed to eradicate YTN16 tumors. Using whole-exome and RNA sequencing, we identified two and three neoantigens in YTN2 and YTN16, respectively. MHC class I ligandome analysis detected the expression of only one of these neoantigens, mutated Cdt1, but the exact length of MHC binding peptide was determined. Dendritic cell vaccine loaded with neoepitope peptides and adoptive transfer of neoantigen-specific CD8+ T cells successfully inhibited the YTN16 tumor growth. Targeting mutated Cdt1 had better efficacy for controlling the tumor. Therefore, mutated Cdt1 was the dominant neoantigen in these tumor cells. More mCdt1 peptides were bound to MHC class I and presented on YTN2 surface than YTN16. This might be one of the reasons why YTN2 was rejected while YTN16 grew in immune-competent mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]