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Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in industrialized nations. Nowadays, cancer therapy mainly consists of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Thanks to intensive research alternative treatment strategies like gene therapy and especially immunotherapies are on the rise. Immunotherapies base on the idea of stimulating and supporting the patients immune system to generate an effective anti-tumor immune response. Dendritic Cells are perfect targets for this purpose, since these potent antigen-presenting immune cells influence the balance of the immune system by defining the route of action. Stimulation of these cells by activation of cellular signaling pathways results in maturation, upregulation of surface molecules and secretion of cytokines. A20 has been identified as a regulator of dendritic cell maturation and attenuator of their immune stimulating properties. Hence, the blockade of that natural inhibitor reveals an elegant way to activate cellular pathways of DCs. A siRNA against A20 obtains a functional blockade via RNA interference if it can be delivered into the cytoplasm of the target cells. CpG oligodeoxynucleotides can be used for this intracellular transport. CpGs contain DNA motifs similar to those found in bacteria. Innate immune cells can detect this DNA via the toll-like receptor 9 getting activated and stimulated. CpG oligodeoxynucleotides are already in clinical use as adjuvants in vaccines and in cancer therapy approaches. Linking A20-specific siRNA to CpG enables A20 regulation and cell stimulation selectively in toll-like receptor 9 expressing cells, like dendritic cells. Aim of this study was to investigate if these constructs trigger immune cell activation and if they are able to break immune-suppression in the tumor environment to enhance anti-tumor immunity. A long-term growth factor dependent bone marrow-derived dendritic cell culture has been established in order to analyze the CpG-siRNA A20 effects on murine dendritic cells. The constructs were internalized shortly after administration (1 hour) and led to cell stimulation/activation. The intraperitoneal treatment with the constructs induced local cellular activation and systemic IL-6, TNF-α cytokine production in healthy mice. Subcutaneous growing B16 melanoma tumors were treated peritumorally to analyse whether the observed immune-stimulation has effects on established tumors. The silencing of A20 enhances CpG-induced activation of NF-κB followed by elevated expression of IL-6, TNF-α and IL-12 in this tumor model. These changes led to enhanced anti-tumor immune responses manifested by increased numbers of tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells, high levels of tumor cell apoptosis and delayed tumor growth. New constructs were designed and tested on dendritic cells isolated from healthy donors in order to test whether the obtained results for the murine system are applicable to the human system. CpG-siRNA A20 constructs induced cell activation and cytokine expression (IL-6, TNF-α) significantly more than CpG alone. Even though responds of the donor DCs were variable, there are promising similarities to the results of the mouse experiments. The significant role of A20 in controlling the immune-stimulatory activity of DCs has been confirmed in this study. The novel CpG-siRNA A20 constructs provide a strategy for simultaneous A20 silencing and CpG-mediated cell stimulation directly in vivo. This therapeutic approach induces potent adaptive and innate immune responses against established tumors in mouse melanoma model leading to prolongation of survival. CpG-targeted A20 blockade is a new immune-stimulatory approach, which could be suitable for supplementation or optimization of clinical tumor treatments.
Die maligne Entartung von Zellen wird durch Aberrationen auf genetischer oder molekularbiologischer Ebene verursacht, die zum Entgleisen wichtiger Signalwege fuehren und ungehindertes Zellwachstum bei gehemmter Apoptose zur Folge haben. In den kutanen T-Zell-Lymphomen Mycosis fungoides und Sezary-Syndrom wird haeufig die Deletion des Tumorsuppressorgens TNFAIP3 festgestellt, welches mit seinem Protein A20 hemmend auf den NF-kB-Weg einwirken kann. Signalwege wie der NF-kB-Weg unterliegen jedoch einer Vielzahl von Einflussfaktoren, daher wurden in dieser Arbeit die biologischen Konsequenzen einer A20-Expression im Vergleich zu einem A20-Knockdown untersucht. In den kutanen T-Zell-Lymphom-Zelllinien MyLa und Hut78 sowie in den T-Zellen gesunder Blutspender konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass die Expression von bis zu 10/10 NF-kB-Zielgenen nach dem Knockdown von A20 erhoeht ist. Nach einer Reexpression von A20 in der A20-defizienten Sezary-Syndrom- Zelllinie SeAx dagegen war die Expression von 8/10 Zielgenen ruecklaeufig. Die direkte Inhibition des NF-kB-Wegs mittels JSH-23 oder MG132 führte in MyLa und SeAx zu einem Arrest der Zellen in der G1-Phase des Zellzyklus, wobei der Prozentsatz der Zellen in der G1-Phase in den A20-haltigen MyLa-Zellen staerker stieg als in den A20-defizienten SeAx-Zellen. Die Apoptose wurde von der Inhibition kaum beeinflusst. Mittels eines NF-kB-Signal-Assays konnte außerdem gezeigt werden, dass die Auspraegung des NF-kB-Wegs nach Inhibitorzugabe in MyLa staerker abnimmt als in SeAx, was sich auch in der Expression der Zielgene nach Inhibition zeigt. Ein A20-Knockdown in MyLa mit anschließender Inhibition des NF-kB-Wegs fuehrte ebenfalls zu einem staerkeren Rückgang der Expression der Zielgene in den Kontrollproben im Vergleich zu den Knockdown-Proben. Zusammenfassend laesst sich sagen, dass der Tumorsuppressor A20 einen messbaren Einfluss auf den NF-kB-Weg ausuebt. Durch seinen Wegfall zeigt sich der Signalweg aktiviert und kann Einflüsse von außen, wie etwa die NF-kB-Inhibitoren, besser tolerieren. Der alleinige Verlust von A20 fuehrt allerdings nicht automatisch zur malignen Transformation, es bedarf also mehrerer korrespondierender genetischer Veraenderungen der Zelle, um zu entarten. Diese weiteren Veraenderungen zu finden und in einen Kontext zum A20-Verlust zu stellen, fuehrt zur weiteren Verbesserung des Verstaendnisses der Pathogenese des kutanen T-Zell-Lymphoms und moeglicherweise zur Entwicklung neuer Therapiestrategien.