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Biomedical subjects

R F Irie

Publications and source records attributed to R F Irie.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Modulation of human melanoma cells by interleukin-4 and in combination with gamma-interferon or alpha-tumor necrosis factor.

Immune cytokines have been shown to play important roles in regulating immune cell functions. Interleukin-4 (IL4), originally described as a B-cell growth factor, is known to activate and differentiate other immune cells. IL4 has been given as an immunotherapeutic to tumor-bearing hosts. In this report, we set out to determine whether IL4 can directly modulate growth and expression of surface antigens on human melanoma cells. The effect of recombinant IL4 alone and in combination with recombinant gamma-interferon (IFN) or recombinant alpha-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) on melanoma cell lines was examined. IL4 significantly inhibited cell growth of all cell lines examined at 100-500 units/ml; but a dose-dependent differential response to individual cell lines occurred. The effect of IL4 was augmented by combination with IFN or TNF. Melanoma-associated ganglioside antigens (GM3, GD3, GM2, GD2) and human leukocyte antigen class I and DR on the cell surface of melanoma cells were assessed by flow cytometry and/or a radiometric binding assay. IL4, IFN, or TNF alone enhanced human leukocyte antigen class I, DR, and beta 2-microglobulin antigen expression. IL4 alone and in combination with IFN or TNF increased the GM3/GD3 ratio expression. GD2 was enhanced significantly by IL4, IFN, and TNF. Pretreatment of melanoma with IL4 or with other cytokines prior to stimulation with peripheral blood lymphocytes significantly enhanced mixed lymphocyte tumor reaction activity as compared with non-treated melanoma used as stimulators. These studies demonstrate that IL4 alone or in combination with IFN and TNF can modulate melanoma growth activity and surface antigen expression to a more differentiated and immunogenic phenotype.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗

Anti-idiotype monoclonal antibody carrying the internal image of ganglioside GM3.

Murine anti-idiotype monoclonal antibodies were generated against a human IgM monoclonal antibody (L612) that recognizes ganglioside GM3 on human melanoma. Hybridomas secreting antibodies that bound specifically to L612 were selected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using L612 and three negative control human IgMs, including monoclonal anti-GM2 and anti-GD2 antibodies, as well as purified serum IgM, as antigen sources. GM3-binding inhibition and cell-binding inhibition assays were used to identify seven anti-idiotype monoclonal antibodies that recognized determinants located within the antigen-combining sites of L612. To determine whether these anti-idiotype monoclonal antibodies possessed the internal image of the original antigen, we immunized syngeneic BALB/c mice with one of the anti-idiotype monoclonal antibodies, 4C10, coupled with keyhole limpet hemocyanin. Sera from the immunized mice reacted strongly with an antigen-positive M12 melanoma cell line and with purified GM3. Because L612 detects and kills melanoma tumor cells in vitro and in vivo in the presence of complement without affecting normal tissues, anti-idiotype monoclonal antibodies carrying the internal image of GM3 may be an effective tool for active specific immunotherapy in patients with melanoma.

Animals↗

Murine monoclonal anti-idiotype antibody (alpha) as a probe to detect human monoclonal antibody bound to human tumor tissues.

A new immunohistochemical assay was developed for the detection of human monoclonal antibody (HuMAb) bound to human biopsied tumor tissues. A murine anti-idiotype monoclonal antibody, alpha type, 18C6 (IgGl), was raised against an IgM HuMAb, L612, defining a tumor-associated ganglioside antigen (GM3) and used as a probe in a three step cell-binding assay (HuMAb + anti-id + biotinylated anti-mouse Ig). Anti-id 18C6 has an exclusive binding specificity for HuMAb L612, but does not interfere with the binding of L612 to antigen positive melanoma cell lines or to a purified antigen, GM3. The applicability of 18C6 in the three step cell-binding assay was tested first using a melanoma cell line, UCLASO-M12. L612 bound to M12 cells was specifically detected by 18C6 without any background reactivity in ELISA. When this assay was compared with the standard two-step cell-binding assay (HuMAb + peroxidase-conjugated anti-human IgM) using various cultured tumor cell lines, parallel reactivity was observed. The three-step cell-binding assay was then applied to various fresh-frozen human tumor sections. Positive reactivity was demonstrated on various histologic types of human tumor tissues: primary melanoma (10/10), metastatic melanoma (4/4), nevus (10/10), lung cancer (3/6), breast cancer (2/6), and colon cancer (1/1). Adjacent normal tissues were unstained. Control experiments included the cell-binding assay with L612 alone, 18C6 alone. L612 + unrelated mouse IgG, and unrelated IgM HuMAb (L72) + 18C6; but biotinylated anti-mouse IgG did not react with these control preparations. The results indicate that anti-id 18C6 is a highly specific probe to assess the expression of the ganglioside antigenic epitope recognized by the L612 HuMAb on biopsied human tumor tissues.

Animals↗

Generation of lymphokine-activated killer cell activity by low-dose recombinant interleukin-2 and tumor cells.

The generation of lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells in vitro has been reported to require 100-1000 units of recombinant interleukin-2 (IL2). In this study we investigated the generation of human LAK cells with low-dose IL2 (1-10 U) in combination with human tumor cell lines. A significant LAK activity was generated within 3- to 5-days culture of PBL. Among six human tumor cell lines tested, the K562 cell line had the greatest stimulating activity, and the degree of cytotoxicity was comparative to that of PBL stimulated with higher doses of IL2 alone. The origin of this LAK activity was primarily the E(-) rosetting cell population. Cocultures of E- cells with 1 U/ml IL2 plus K562 had significantly higher cytotoxicity (P less than 0.05) compared to using E+ cells. Phenotypic analysis indicated that 1 U/ml IL2 plus K562 cell stimulation enhanced CD56+ and CD16+ cells. These studies suggest that very low dosages of IL2 with stimulator tumor cells can generate LAK activity comparable to that generated with high dosages of IL2 alone.

Antigens, CD↗

Hanganutziu-Deicher antigen as a possible target for immunotherapy of melanoma.

Hanganutziu-Deicher (H-D) antigen is classified as a heterophile antigen and chemically defined as a glycoconjugate which contains N-glycolylneuraminic acid. H-D antigens are absent from normal human tissues, but can be expressed on a variety of human malignant cells, including melanoma. Natural anti-H-D antibodies have been detected in man with and without malignancies, but in this study when the level of antibody was compared between healthy adults and patients with melanoma, elevated anti-H-D antibody levels were found more frequently in melanoma patients for both IgM (p = 0.0001) and IgG (p = 0.0001). The present study was designed to evaluate the significance of the H-D antigen-antibody system in melanoma suppression. Sera from melanoma patients containing anti-H-D antibody reacted strongly to H-D antigen expressed on melanoma by means of flow cytometry. In a complement-dependent cytotoxicity assay this antibody killed melanoma cells in vitro. In vivo significance of the antibody was assessed by evaluating the relationship between the antibody levels and the clinical course in patients with stage II melanoma. Antibody levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a H-D glycoprotein antigen isolated from bovine erythrocytes. A significantly higher level of IgG (p = 0.0640) and IgM (p = 0.0644) anti-H-D antibody was demonstrated in those patients who were free of disease more than 5 years after surgery than in those who relapsed within 2 years. This study provides a rational basis for immunotherapy targeting H-D antigen in human melanoma.

Antibodies↗

An epitope common to gangliosides O-acetyl-GD3 and GD3 recognized by antibodies in melanoma patients after active specific immunotherapy.

GD3 is a major ganglioside of human melanoma and was shown to be an effective target for passive immunotherapy with murine monoclonal antibodies. It was noted earlier that GD3 neither purified nor in melanoma cell vaccine (MCV), could elicit an antibody response in melanoma patients. In this study, we demonstrate that melanoma patients who received MCV had autoantibodies against a derivative of GD3, O-acetylated GD3 (O-AcGD3), a minor ganglioside expressed on human melanoma cells, and that the antibodies cross-reacted with GD3. Thin layer chromatographic immunostaining revealed that all of the sera containing antibodies against O-AcGD3 also reacted to GD3. None of the other sera responded only to GD3, although the MCV contained 7- to 12-fold higher GD3 than O-AcGD3. Furthermore, the antibody activity was completely abolished by absorption with animal erythrocytes expressing either O-acetyl disialogangliosides or GD3, indicating that the antibodies recognize an epitope commonly shared by GD3 and O-AcGD3. The antibodies bound only to the sialyloligosaccharide moiety but not to the ceramide portion of GD3 after endoglycosylceramidase treatment. The antibodies failed to bind to GD3 after neuraminidase treatment. These results indicate that the sialyloligosaccharides of the gangliosides are important components of the epitope. Periodate oxidation abolished reactivity of the antibodies to GD3 but not that to O-AcGD3, revealing that the glycerol side chain of the sialic acids in both GD3s was an important structure of the epitope. The binding of the antibodies to melanoma cell surface gangliosides was confirmed by an absorption with a GD3- and O-AcGD3-positive melanoma cell line. These results in the light of previous reports on the inability of GD3 to elicit immune response in humans suggest that anti-GD3 antibodies found in the melanoma patients were induced by immunization with O-AcGD3 and O-AcGD3 present in the MCV would serve as an antigen source for GD3-targeted active specific immunotherapy of melanoma.

Antibodies↗

Ganglioside GM2 expression on human melanoma cells correlates with sensitivity to lymphokine-activated killer cells.

Ganglioside GM2 is expressed on cell surface membranes of a variety of human malignant cells and has been demonstrated to be immunogenic in humans. We have assessed the role of the antigen GM2 on melanoma cells as a recognition structure for lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells. LAK cells were generated by stimulation of non-adherent peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from human donors with recombinant interleukin-2 (IL-2). The selection of target cells was based on GM2 content and included 11 human melanoma cell lines and 2 human leukemia lines. Using a single-cell binding assay, LAK cell binding to target lines expressing high levels of GM2 was significantly greater than to those expressing minimum GM2. This cell-binding was specifically inhibited by addition of purified GM2 but not by other gangliosides. LAK-melanoma cell-binding was also specifically inhibited by anti-GM2 monoclonal antibody (MAb). For further analysis LAK cell lysis of melanoma target cells expressing various amounts of GM2 was assessed. A significant correlation occurred with GM2 expression and LAK cell lysis (p less than 0.025; r = 0.623). Three other gangliosides commonly expressed on human melanoma, GM3, GD3 and GD2, had no correlation with LAK cell lysis. These studies suggest that GM2 on melanoma cells is a marker for LAK cell sensitivity, as well as indicate that GM2 is a potential target recognition structure for human LAK cells.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Gangliosides of human melanoma.

Human melanoma synthesizes a large quantity of gangliosides, glycosphingolipids containing sialic acid. The authors previously have demonstrated that the ganglioside profile differs among individual melanomas and is widely heterogeneous. In the current study, a retrospective study was performed to compare the relationship between the quantity of five major gangliosides of human melanoma (GM3, GM2, GD3, GD2, and alkali-labile ganglioside) and nine clinical factors (sex, age, site, stage, tumor size, pigmentation, histopathologic type of primary tumor, chemosensitivity, and prognosis). Melanoma specimens studied were obtained from patients of our clinic and included 52 biopsy specimens and 28 cultured cell lines. Analysis of melanoma biopsy specimens have shown a differential ganglioside expression among different sites of tumor, pigmentation, and histopathologic types. Results of cultured melanoma cell lines differed from those of biopsy specimens, but ganglioside expression also differed among the site of tumor, tumor size, histopathologic types, and chemosensitivity. GM3 positively correlated with a good prognosis in both biopsy and cultured melanomas.

Combined Modality Therapy↗

Active specific immunotherapy in malignant melanoma.

We have recently initiated clinical trials of active specific immunotherapy evaluating a new polyvalent melanoma cell vaccine in patients with high-risk and/or recurrent melanoma. The vaccine has been administered alone, or in combination with low-dose cyclophosphamide, as an immunomodulator of suppressor cells. Cyclophosphamide is effective in lowering suppressor cell activity in some patients undergoing active specific immunotherapy. This is not associated with an enhanced humoral immune response to melanoma-associated antigens, nor is the clinical course of those patients receiving cyclophosphamide favorably influenced. We are hopeful that other immunomodulators, alone or in combination with lower doses of cyclophosphamide, may be effective in some patients, particularly in those patients whose suppressor cell activity remains high. The optimization of the vaccine and the use of immunomodulators will enhance humoral and cellular immune responses to antigens in the allogenic vaccine that cross react with those present in the autologous melanoma, which should more favorably influence the prognosis of melanoma patients.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗

Human monoclonal antibodies: prospects for the therapy of cancer.

Human monoclonal antibodies have been produced in a number of laboratories to a number of cell surface and cytoplasmic antigens. Although currently more difficult to produce than murine monoclonal antibodies, human monoclonal antibodies provide several potential advantages over conventional murine monoclonal antibodies in the therapy of human cancer. We review the human monoclonal antibodies produced to human tumors and describe our clinical experience with the use of human monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of recurrent cutaneous melanoma.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Human melanoma antigen O-acetylated ganglioside GD3 is recognized by Cancer antennarius lectin.

A lectin that can specifically bind to O-acetylsialic acids, found in glycoproteins and gangliosides, was purified to homogeneity from a crab Cancer antennarius (crab lectin) (Ravindranath, M. H., Higa, H. H., Cooper, E. L., and Paulson, J. C. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 8850-8856; Correction (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 1983; Ravindranath, M. H., and Paulson, J. C. (1987) Methods Enzymol. 138, 520-527). We tested lectin binding to human melanoma cell lines to identify O-acetylsialylated gangliosides on the melanoma cell surface. The highest degree of binding of the crab lectin was demonstrated on a melanoma cell line, UCLASO-M25. To confirm that the binding was due to O-acetylsialic acid in the alkali-labile gangliosides, the gangliosides were isolated and purified from M25 cells and individually coated onto sheep asialoerythrocytes, which served as targets in an agglutination assay using the lectin. The crab lectin agglutinated the asialo-sheep erythrocytes coated with alkali-labile gangliosides, but the lectin failed to agglutinate the asialoerythrocytes coated with GM3, GD3, and base-treated gangliosides. Subsequently, the purified alkali-labile M25 ganglioside was base-treated and applied to TLC, and we found that it was converted to a slower migrating species identical to the disialolactosylceramide (GD3). These results indicate that O-acetyl GD3 expressed on the melanoma cell surface is recognized by the lectin. Because O-acetyl GD3 is not expressed on human normal tissues, we examined the capability of O-acetyl GD3 to induce immune responses in man. Sera from patients with melanoma were tested against M25 cells in an immuneadherence assay, and those positive to the M25 cell line were further tested for specificity to O-acetyl gangliosides. The presence of autoantibodies to O-acetyl-GD3 in melanoma sera was confirmed by blocking of the antigen sites on M25 cells by the lectin or preabsorption of the sera with erythrocytes bearing O-acetyl gangliosides. The data provide evidence that O-acetyl-GD3 may represent an important tumor marker for detection and treatment of human melanoma.

Acetylation↗

Gangliosides from human melanoma immunomodulate response of T cells to interleukin-2.

The gangliosides expressed by normal melanocytes are predominantly GM3 (greater than 90%) and GD3 (less than 5%). Malignant melanoma can express several other types of gangliosides in significant quantities, including GM2 and GD2. Melanoma patients can develop an immune response against some of these ganglioside antigens on autologous melanoma cells. The four major gangliosides expressed by human melanoma cells (GM3, GD3, GM2, and GD2) were examined for their immunomodulatory effect on lymph node lymphocytes from melanoma patients. Gangliosides were added exogenously to lymphocytes grown in the presence of IL-2. Preferential interactions of specific melanoma gangliosides on IL-2 stimulation were found. While GM2 and GD2 enhanced the lymphocyte response to IL-2, GM3 and GD3 significantly inhibited this response. GM2 and GD2 differ from GM3 and GD3 by the presence of a terminal N-acetylgalactosamine. Since different gangliosides can up-regulate and down-regulate lymphocyte responses to IL-2, the ganglioside phenotype of melanoma cells may play a major role in determining whether an individual tumor causes immune stimulation or suppression.

Cell Survival↗

Ganglioside GM2 on the K562 cell line is recognized as a target structure by human natural killer cells.

Although human NK cells lyse a wide spectrum of target cells, the precise target structure recognized by NK cells has not yet been elucidated. In order to define a possible relationship between gangliosides on human target cells and susceptibility to NK lysis, 14 human leukemia and lymphoma cell lines were studied. A significant correlation was observed between the quantity of ganglioside GM2 on the target cells and sensitivity to NK lysis. In a single-cell binding assay purified GM2 specifically inhibited human NK cell binding to K562 target cells while other gangliosides did not inhibit binding. The competitive inhibition of NK cells by GM2 was restricted to the source of tissue from which GM2 was isolated. These results indicate that GM2 is a strong candidate as a target recognition structure for human NK cells.

Binding Sites↗

Monoclonal antibody detects monosialogangliosides having a sialic acid alpha 2----3-galactosyl residue.

A murine monoclonal antibody (mAb), designated mAb 202, was generated using a human melanoma cell line, UCLASO-M14 as the immunogen. mAb 202 reacted with two (GM2 and GM3) of the four (GM2, GM3, GD2, and GD3) gangliosides expressed by M14. Several authentic monosialogangliosides, including GM4, GM3, GM2, GM1, GM1b, and sialylparagloboside were then tested for their binding to 202 mAb by the immune adherence inhibition assay, TLC-enzyme immunostaining, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. All showed positive binding but in varying degrees. GM4 showed the strongest affinity. No significant differences of reactivity were observed between the sialic acid derivatives, N-acetyl and N-glycolyl, in these gangliosides. Disialogangliosides such as GD3, GD2, GD1a, and GD1b, trisialoganglioside GT1b, and neutral glycolipids including GlcCer, GalCer, LacCer, GbOs3Cer, GbOs4Cer, GgOs3Cer, GgOs4Cer, and nLcOs4Cer were all negative. These results indicate that the 202 mAb detects sialyl alpha 2----3Gal residue in the monosialoganglioside, irrespective of the internal structure. Since GM4 is not expressed by M14 cells, the terminal disaccharide (sialyl alpha 2----3Gal) in GM3 and/or GM2 must have been the epitope responsible for the generation of the antibody.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Gangliosides of human melanoma: altered expression in vivo and in vitro.

The ganglioside composition of human melanoma was analyzed in five sets of tumor specimens obtained directly from surgery, from the autologous tissue culture cell lines, and from the autologous cell lines grown in athymic nude mice. Total gangliosides of these 15 melanoma specimens were isolated and purified, and the amount of each component ganglioside was analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and a thin-layer chromatography scanner. The ganglioside composition of the five surgical melanoma specimens clearly exhibited different patterns from each other. Moreover, none of the autologous cultured melanomas possessed the same ganglioside composition as their original biopsied tumors. However, when these melanoma cell lines were transplanted into nude mice, the ganglioside composition was converted back to the same ganglioside pattern as in the original surgical specimens. The results support the view that changes in the ganglioside composition of melanoma during in vitro growth are caused by the culture environment rather than by selection of melanoma cells with a particular genotype. Reestablishment of the original ganglioside patterns after passage in nude mice provides clear evidence that in vivo expression of gangliosides is a conserved and stable function specified by the human melanoma cells.

Animals↗