Go to The Journal of Clinical Investigation
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Transfers
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • All ...
  • Videos
  • Collections
    • Resource and Technical Advances
    • Clinical Medicine
    • Reviews
    • Editorials
    • Perspectives
    • Top read articles
  • JCI This Month
    • Current issue
    • Past issues

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • In-Press Preview
  • Concise Communication
  • Editorials
  • Viewpoint
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Transfers
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
IL-27 gene therapy induces depletion of Tregs and enhances the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy
Jianmin Zhu, … , Yang Liu, Xue-Feng Bai
Jianmin Zhu, … , Yang Liu, Xue-Feng Bai
Published April 5, 2018
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2018;3(7):e98745. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.98745.
View: Text | PDF
Research Article Immunology Oncology

IL-27 gene therapy induces depletion of Tregs and enhances the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

Tumor-induced expansion of Tregs is a significant obstacle to cancer immunotherapy. However, traditional approaches to deplete Tregs are often inefficient, provoking autoimmunity. We show here that administration of IL-27–expressing recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV–IL-27) significantly inhibits tumor growth and enhances T cell responses in tumors. Strikingly, we found that AAV–IL-27 treatment causes rapid depletion of Tregs in peripheral blood, lymphoid organs, and — most pronouncedly — tumor microenvironment. AAV–IL-27–mediated Treg depletion is dependent on IL-27 receptor and Stat1 in Tregs and is a combined result of CD25 downregulation in Tregs and inhibition of IL-2 production by T cells. In combination with a GM-CSF vaccine, AAV–IL-27 treatment not only induced nearly complete tumor rejection, but also resulted in amplified neoantigen-specific T cell responses. AAV–IL-27 also dramatically increased the efficacy of anti–PD-1 therapy, presumably due to induction of PD-L1 in T cells and depletion of Tregs. Importantly, AAV–IL-27 therapy did not induce significant adverse events, partially due to its induction of IL-10. In a plasmacytoma mouse model, we found that IL-10 was required for AAV–IL-27–mediated tumor rejection. Thus, our study demonstrates the potential of AAV–IL-27 as an independent cancer therapeutic and as an efficient adjuvant for cancer immunotherapy.

Authors

Jianmin Zhu, Jin-Qing Liu, Min Shi, Xinhua Cheng, Miao Ding, Jianchao C. Zhang, Jonathan P. Davis, Sanjay Varikuti, Abhay R. Satoskar, Lanchun Lu, Xueliang Pan, Pan Zheng, Yang Liu, Xue-Feng Bai

×

Full Text PDF | Download (2.69 MB)


Copyright © 2022 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN 2379-3708

Sign up for email alerts