No abstract

Discoidin domain receptor I (DDR1) is confirmed as a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK), which plays a consequential role in a variety of cancers. Nevertheless, the influence of DDR1 expression and development in renal clear cell carcinoma (RCCC) are still not well corroborated. In our research, we firstly discovered that the expression level of DDR1 was remarkable related to TNM stage (p = 0.032), depth of tumor invasion (p = 0.047), and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.034) in 119 RCCC tissue samples using tissue microarray. The function of DDR1 was then evaluated in vitro using collagen I and DDR1 small interfering RNA (siRNA) to regulate the expression of DDR1 in OS-RC-2 and ACHN renal cancer cells (RCC). DDR1 expression correlated with increased RCC cell migration, invasion, and angiogenesis. Further study revealed that high expression of DDR1 can result in epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) activation. Western blot assay showed that the N-cadherin protein and vimentin were induced while E-cadherin was reduced after DDR1 over expression. Our results suggest that DDR1 is both a prognostic marker for RCCC and a potential functional target for therapy.

In recent years, the chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells (Chimeric antigen receptor T cells, CAR-T) immunotherapy has developed rapidly, which has been considered the most promising therapy. Efforts to enhance the efficacy of CAR-based anti-tumor therapy have been made, such as the improvement of structures of CAR-T cells, including the development of extracellular antigen recognition receptors, intracellular co-stimulatory molecules and the combination application of CARs and synthetic small molecules. In addition, effects on the function of the CAR-T cells that the space distance between the antigen binding domains and tumor targets and the length of the spacer domains have are also being investigated. Given the fast-moving nature of this field, it is necessary to make a summary of the development of CAR-T cells. In this review, we mainly focus on the present design strategies of CAR-T cells with the hope that they can provide insights to increase the anti-tumor efficacy and safety.

Abstract. Discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1) is a receptor tyrosine kinase activated by various types of collagens that performs a critical role in cell attachment, migration, survival and proliferation. The functions of DDR1 in various types of tumor have been studied extensively. However, in breast carcinoma, the roles of collagen-evoked DDR1 remain ill defined. Although a number of studies have reported that DDR1 promotes apoptosis and inhibits migration in breast carcinoma, it has also been reported to be associated with tumor cell survival, chemoresistance to genotoxic drugs and the facilitation of invasion. The present review summarizes current progress and the complex effects of DDR1 in the field of breast carcinoma, and presents DDR1 as a promising therapeutic target.

Renal carcinoma presents a rapid progression in patients with high metastasis with no effective therapeutic strategy. In this study, we designed a folate-grafted PEI600-CyD (H1) nanoparticle-mediated DNA vaccine containing an adjuvant of absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) and a tumor-specific antigen of carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) for renal carcinoma therapy. Mice bearing subcutaneous human CAIX (hCAIX)-Renca tumor were intramuscularly immunized with H1-pAIM2/pCAIX, H1-pCAIX, H1-pAIM2, or Mock vaccine, respectively. The tumor growth of hCAIX-Renca was significantly inhibited in H1-pAIM2/pCAIX vaccine group compared with the control group. The vaccine activated CAIX-specific CD8 þ T-cell proliferation and CTL responses, and enhanced the induction of multi-functional CD8 þ T cells (expressing TNF-a, IL-2, and IFN-g).CD8 þ T-cell depletion resulted in the loss of anti-tumor activity of H1-pAIM2/pCAIX vaccine, suggesting that the efficacy of the vaccine was dependent on CD8 þ T-cell responses. Lung metastasis of renal carcinoma was also suppressed by H1-pAIM2/pCAIX vaccine treatment accompanied with the increased percentages of CAIX-specific multi-functional CD8 þ T cells in the spleen, tumor, and bronchoalveolar lavage as compared with H1-pCAIX vaccine. Similarly, the vaccine enhanced CAIX-specific CD8 þ T-cell proliferation and CTL responses. Therefore, these results indicated that H1-pAIM2/pCAIX vaccine exhibits the therapeutic efficacy of anti-renal carcinoma by enhancing tumor-specific multi-functional CD8 þ T-cell responses. This vaccine strategy could be a potential and promising approach for the therapy of primary solid or metastasis tumors.