Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
9.9
5.1
Journals
Cells
Special Issues
Advancements in Cancer Immunotherapy beyond Checkpoint Blockade
share announcement

Advancements in Cancer Immunotherapy beyond Checkpoint Blockade

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cellular Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 11819

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ram Prasad

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
Interests: retinal cell biology; diabetic retinopathy; photoreceptors; oxidative stress; inflammation; blood–retinal barriers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Vikash Kansal

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Interests: head and neck cancer; pancreatic cancer; cancer biology; metalloproteinases; molecular biology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The advent of T-cell checkpoint inhibitors has revolutionized cancer therapy, leading to increased survival rates and even complete remission for numerous cancer patients. Despite their ability to enhance CD8+ T cell responses, other immune cell populations have been identified as potential targets for improving outcomes in cancer patients. Manipulating myeloid cells and other lymphocytes in pre-clinical models has demonstrated promising results in impeding cancer progression. This special issue aims to showcase the latest developments in immunotherapy targets that extend beyond CD8+ T cells.

Therefore, we would like to invite you all to contribute an original paper or a review paper on recent novel concepts based on basic and/or clinical research to understand role of various immune cells for the better management of cancers, a deadliest disease accounting over 10 million deaths worldwide, annually.

Dr. Ram Prasad
Dr. Vikash Kansal
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • T-cell function in cancer
  • immune checkpoint blockade
  • CD8+ T cell responses
  • myeloid cells
  • immunotherapy targets
  • cancer progression

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

16 pages, 3484 KiB  
Article
Peptide Blockers of PD-1-PD-L1 Interaction Reinvigorate PD-1-Suppressed T Cells and Curb Tumor Growth in Mice
by Shanshan (Jenny) Zhong, Xiaoling Liu, Tomonori Kaneko, Yan Feng, Owen Hovey, Kyle Yang, Sally Ezra, Soon-Duck Ha, Sung Kim, John K. McCormick, Huadong Liu and Shawn Shun-Cheng Li
Cells 2024, 13(14), 1193; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13141193 - 15 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2702
Abstract
The programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) plays a critical role in cancer immune evasion. Blocking the PD-1-PD-L1 interaction by monoclonal antibodies has shown remarkable clinical efficacy in treating certain types of cancer. However, antibodies are costly to produce, and antibody-based therapies can [...] Read more.
The programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) plays a critical role in cancer immune evasion. Blocking the PD-1-PD-L1 interaction by monoclonal antibodies has shown remarkable clinical efficacy in treating certain types of cancer. However, antibodies are costly to produce, and antibody-based therapies can cause immune-related adverse events. To address the limitations associated with current PD-1/PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy, we aimed to develop peptide-based inhibitors of the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction as an alternative means to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade antibodies for anti-cancer immunotherapy. Through the functional screening of peptide arrays encompassing the ectodomains of PD-1 and PD-L1, followed by the optimization of the hit peptides for solubility and stability, we have identified a 16-mer peptide, named mL7N, with a remarkable efficacy in blocking the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction both in vitro and in vivo. The mL7N peptide effectively rejuvenated PD-1-suppressed T cells in multiple cellular systems designed to recapitulate the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction in the context of T-cell receptor signaling. Furthermore, PA-mL7N, a chimera of the mL7N peptide coupled to albumin-binding palmitic acid (PA), significantly promoted breast cancer cell killing by peripheral blood mononuclear cells ex vivo and significantly curbed tumor growth in a syngeneic mouse model of breast cancer. Our work raises the prospect that mL7N may serve as a prototype for the development of a new line of peptide-based immunomodulators targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint with potential applications in cancer treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Cancer Immunotherapy beyond Checkpoint Blockade)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

22 pages, 2895 KiB  
Review
State of the Art in CAR-T Cell Therapy for Solid Tumors: Is There a Sweeter Future?
by Beatriz Amorós-Pérez, Benigno Rivas-Pardo, Manuel Gómez del Moral, José Luis Subiza and Eduardo Martínez-Naves
Cells 2024, 13(9), 725; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13090725 - 23 Apr 2024
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 8296
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has proven to be a powerful treatment for hematological malignancies. The situation is very different in the case of solid tumors, for which no CAR-T-based therapy has yet been approved. There are many factors contributing to the [...] Read more.
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has proven to be a powerful treatment for hematological malignancies. The situation is very different in the case of solid tumors, for which no CAR-T-based therapy has yet been approved. There are many factors contributing to the absence of response in solid tumors to CAR-T cells, such as the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME), T cell exhaustion, or the lack of suitable antigen targets, which should have a stable and specific expression on tumor cells. Strategies being developed to improve CAR-T-based therapy for solid tumors include the use of new-generation CARs such as TRUCKs or bi-specific CARs, the combination of CAR therapy with chemo- or radiotherapy, the use of checkpoint inhibitors, and the use of oncolytic viruses. Furthermore, despite the scarcity of targets, a growing number of phase I/II clinical trials are exploring new solid-tumor-associated antigens. Most of these antigens are of a protein nature; however, there is a clear potential in identifying carbohydrate-type antigens associated with tumors, or carbohydrate and proteoglycan antigens that emerge because of aberrant glycosylations occurring in the context of tumor transformation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Cancer Immunotherapy beyond Checkpoint Blockade)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop