Computing Skin Cutaneous Melanoma Outcome From the HLA-Alleles and Clinical Characteristics
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
Authors: Dhall, Anjali; Patiyal, Sumeet; Kaur, Harpreet; Bhalla, Sherry; Arora, Chakit; Raghava, Gajendra P. S.
Abstract
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) are essential components of the immune system that stimulate immune cells to provide protection and defense against cancer. Thousands of HLA alleles have been reported in the literature, but only a specific set of HLA alleles are present in an individual. The capability of the immune system to recognize cancer-associated mutations depends on the presence of a particular set of alleles, which elicit an immune response to fight against cancer. Therefore, the occurrence of specific HLA alleles affects the survival outcome of cancer patients. In the current study, prediction models were developed, using 401 cutaneous melanoma patients, to predict the overall survival (OS) of patients using their clinical data and HLA alleles. We observed that the presence of certain favorable superalleles like HLA-B*5 (HR = 0.15, 95% CI 0.034-0.67), HLA-A*01 (HR = 0.5, 95% CI 0.3-0.8), is responsible for the improved OS. In contrast, the presence of certain unfavorable superalleles such as HLA-B*50 (HR = 2.76, 95% CI 1.284-5.941), HLA-DRB1*12 (HR = 3.44, 95% CI 1.64-7.2) is responsible for the poor survival. We developed prediction models using key 14 HLA superalleles, demographic, and clinical characteristics for predicting high-risk cutaneous melanoma patients and achieved HR = 4.52 (95% CI 3.088-6.609, p-value = 8.01E-15). Eventually, we also provide a web-based service to the community for predicting the risk status in cutaneous melanoma patients (https://webs.iiitd.edu.in/raghava/skcmhrp/).
Identification of a tumor-specific allo-HLA-restricted gamma delta TCR
BLOOD ADVANCES
Authors: Kierkels, G. J. J.; Scheper, W.; Meringa, A. D.; Johanna, I; Beringer, D. X.; Janssen, A.; Schiffler, M.; Aarts-Riemens, T.; Kramer, L.; Straetemans, T.; Heijhuurs, S.; Leusen, J. H. W.; San Jose, E.; Fuchs, K.; Griffioen, M.; Falkenburg, J. H.; Bongiovanni, L.; de Bruin, A.; Vargas-Diaz, D.; Altelaar, M.; Heck, A. J. R.; Shultz, L. D.; Ishikawa, F.; Nishimura, M., I; Sebestyen, Z.; Kuball, J.
Abstract
gamma delta T cells are key players in cancer immune surveillance because of their ability to recognize malignant transformed cells, which makes them promising therapeutic tools in the treatment of cancer. However, the biological mechanisms of how gamma delta T-cell receptors (TCRs) interact with their ligands are poorly understood. Within this context, we describe the novel allo-HLA-restricted and CD8 alpha-dependent V gamma 5V delta 1TCR. In contrast to the previous assumption of the general allo-HLA reactivity of a minor fraction of gamma delta TCRs, we show that classic anti-HLA-directed, gamma delta TCR-mediated reactivity can selectively act on hematological and solid tumor cells, while not harming healthy tissues in vitro and in vivo. We identified the molecular interface with proximity to the peptide-binding groove of HLA-A*24:02 as the essential determinant for recognition and describe the critical role of CD8 as a coreceptor. We conclude that alloreactive gamma delta T-cell repertoires provide therapeutic opportunities, either within the context of haplotransplantation or as individual gamma delta TCRs for genetic engineering of tumor-reactive T cells.