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Objective: The unique demands placed on Division I student athletes (SAs) puts them at risk of experiencing poor sleep and increased psychological distress. Researchers have found that mindfulness improves well-being, directly and indirectly via sleep behaviors; however, it is not known if these relationships hold up within a sample of SAs. Thus, this study examined the indirect effect of mindfulness on psychological distress through sleep hygiene in SAs. Participants and methods: A sample of 269 Division I SAs were surveyed on their psychological distress, sleep hygiene, and mindfulness in 2018-2019. Results: Mindfulness directly and indirectly influenced psychological distress via sleep hygiene (B = -0.03, SE = 0.01, 95% CI [-0.05, -0.01]) such that increased mindfulness was associated with improved sleep hygiene and reduced distress. Conclusions: The results show the impact of mindfulness on sleep hygiene and psychological distress. Training SAs in mindfulness might improve sleep behaviors and in turn well-being.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are crucial for the efficacy of cancer vaccines, but current vaccines do not harness the key cDC1 subtype required for effective CD8+ T-cell-mediated tumor immune responses. Vaccine immunogenicity could be enhanced by specific delivery of immunogenic tumor antigens to CD141+ DCs, the human cDC1 equivalent. CD141+ DCs exclusively express the C-type-lectin-like receptor CLEC9A, which is important for the regulation of CD8+ T cell responses. This study developed a new vaccine that harnesses a human anti-CLEC9A antibody to specifically deliver the immunogenic tumor antigen, NY-ESO-1 (New York esophageal squamous cell carcinoma 1), to human CD141+ DCs. The ability of the CLEC9A-NY-ESO-1 antibody to activate NY-ESO-1-specific naïve and memory CD8+ T cells was examined and compared with a vaccine comprised of a human DEC-205-NY-ESO-1 antibody that targets all human DCs. Human anti-CLEC9A, anti-DEC-205 and isotype control IgG4 antibodies were genetically fused to NY-ESO-1 polypeptide. Cross-presentation to NY-ESO-1-epitope-specific CD8+ T cells and reactivity of T cell responses in patients with melanoma were assessed by interferon γ (IFNγ) production following incubation of CD141+ DCs and patient peripheral blood mononuclear cells with targeting antibodies. Humanized mice containing human DC subsets and a repertoire of naïve NY-ESO-1-specific CD8+ T cells were used to investigate naïve T cell priming. T cell effector function was measured by expression of IFNγ, MIP-1β, tumor necrosis factor and CD107a and by lysis of target tumor cells. CLEC9A-NY-ESO-1 antibodies (Abs) were effective at mediating delivery and cross-presentation of multiple NY-ESO-1 epitopes by CD141+ DCs for activation of NY-ESO-1-specific CD8+ T cells. When benchmarked to NY-ESO-1 conjugated to an untargeted control antibody or to anti-human DEC-205, CLEC9A-NY-ESO-1 was superior at ex vivo reactivation of NY-ESO-1-specific T cell responses in patients with melanoma. Moreover, CLEC9A-NY-ESO-1 induced priming of naïve NY-ESO-1-specific CD8+ T cells with polyclonal effector function and potent tumor killing capacity in vitro. These data advocate human CLEC9A-NY-ESO-1 Ab as an attractive strategy for specific targeting of CD141+ DCs to enhance tumor immunogenicity in NY-ESO-1-expressing malignancies.