Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Combination of an agonistic anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody and the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib induces anti-glioma effects by promotion of type-1 immunity in myeloid cells and T-cells

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Malignant gliomas are heavily infiltrated by immature myeloid cells that mediate immunosuppression. Agonistic CD40 monoclonal antibody (mAb) has been shown to activate myeloid cells and promote antitumor immunity. Our previous study has also demonstrated blockade of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) reduces immunosuppressive myeloid cells, thereby suppressing glioma development in mice. We therefore hypothesized that a combinatory strategy to modulate myeloid cells via two distinct pathways, i.e., CD40/CD40L stimulation and COX-2 blockade, would enhance anti-glioma immunity. We used three different mouse glioma models to evaluate therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms of a combination regimen with an agonist CD40 mAb and the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib. Treatment of glioma-bearing mice with the combination therapy significantly prolonged survival compared with either anti-CD40 mAb or celecoxib alone. The combination regimen promoted maturation of CD11b+ cells in both spleen and brain, and enhanced Cxcl10 while suppressing Arg1 in CD11b+Gr-1+ cells in the brain. Anti-glioma activity of the combination regimen was T-cell dependent because depletion of CD4+ and CD8+ cells in vivo abrogated the anti-glioma effects. Furthermore, the combination therapy significantly increased the frequency of CD8+ T-cells, enhanced IFN-γ-production and reduced CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T regulatory cells in the brain, and induced tumor-antigen-specific T-cell responses in lymph nodes. Our findings suggest that the combination therapy of anti-CD40 mAb with celecoxib enhances anti-glioma activities via promotion of type-1 immunity both in myeloid cells and T-cells.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

APCs:

Antigen-presenting cells

Arg1:

Arginase 1

BILs:

Brain-infiltrating leukocytes

BLI:

Bioluminescence imaging

Cxcl10:

C-X-C motif chemokine 10

COX-2:

Cyclooxygenase-2

Foxp3:

Forkhead box P3

gp100:

Glycoprotein 100

IFN-γ:

Interferon-gamma

IgG:

Immunoglobulin G

IL:

Interleukin

i.p.:

Intraperitoneally

mAb:

Monoclonal antibody

MDSCs:

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells

MHC:

Major histocompatibility complex

NO:

Nitric oxide

OVA:

Ovalbumin

PGE2:

Prostaglandin E2

SB:

Sleeping Beauty

TAMs:

Tumor-associated macrophages

TNF:

Tumor necrosis factor

WT:

Wild-type

References

  1. Ostrom QT, Gittleman H, Farah P, Ondracek A, Chen Y, Wolinsky Y, Stroup NE, Kruchko C, Barnholtz-Sloan JS (2013) CBTRUS statistical report: primary brain and central nervous system tumors diagnosed in the United States in 2006-2010. Neuro Oncol 15:ii1–ii56

  2. Jovčevska I, Kočevar N, Komel R (2013) Glioma and glioblastoma—how much do we (not) know? Mol Clin Oncol 1:935–941

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Allavena P, Mantovani A (2012) Immunology in the clinic review series; focus on cancer: tumour-associated macrophages: undisputed stars of the inflammatory tumour microenvironment. Clin Exp Immunol 167:195–205

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Schmieder A, Michel J, Schonhaar K, Goerdt S, Schledzewski K (2012) Differentiation and gene expression profile of tumor-associated macrophages. Semin Cancer Biol 22:289–297

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Khaled YS, Ammori BJ, Elkord E (2013) Myeloid-derived suppressor cells in cancer: recent progress and prospects. Immunol Cell Biol 91:493–502

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Grewal IS, Flavell RA (1998) CD40 and CD154 in cell-mediated immunity. Annu Rev Immunol 16:111–135

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Kato T, Hakamada R, Yamane H, Nariuchi H (1996) Induction of IL-12 p40 messenger RNA expression and IL-12 production of macrophages via CD40-CD40 ligand interaction. J Immunol 156:3932–3938

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Koch F, Stanzl U, Jennewein P, Janke K, Heufler C, Kämpgen E, Romani N, Schuler G (1996) High level IL-12 production by murine dendritic cells: upregulation via MHC class II and CD40 molecules and downregulation by IL-4 and IL-10. J Exp Med 184:741–746

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Cella M, Scheidegger D, Palmer-Lehmann K, Lane P, Lanzavecchia A, Alber G (1996) Ligation of CD40 on dendritic cells triggers production of high levels of interleukin-12 and enhances T cell stimulatory capacity: T-T help via APC activation. J Exp Med 184:747–752

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Lum HD, Buhtoiarov IN, Schmidt BE, Berke G, Paulnock DM, Sondel PM, Rakhmilevich AL (2006) Tumoristatic effects of anti-CD40 mAb-activated macrophages involve nitric oxide and tumour necrosis factor-alpha. Immunology 118:261–270

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Buhtoiarov IN, Lum H, Berke G, Paulnock DM, Sondel PM, Rakhmilevich AL (2005) CD40 ligation activates murine macrophages via an IFN-gamma-dependent mechanism resulting in tumor cell destruction in vitro. J Immunol 174:6013–6022

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Lum HD, Buhtoiarov IN, Schmidt BE, Berke G, Paulnock DM, Sondel PM, Rakhmilevich AL (2006) In vivo CD40 ligation can induce T cell-independent antitumor effects that involve macrophages. J Leukoc Biol 79:1181–1192

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Beatty GL, Chiorean EG, Fishman MP, Saboury B, Teitelbaum UR, Sun W, Huhn RD, Song W, Li D, Sharp LL, Torigian DA, O’Dwyer PJ, Vonderheide RH (2011) CD40 agonists alter tumor stroma and show efficacy against pancreatic carcinoma in mice and humans. Science 331:1612–1616

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Eruslanov E, Kaliberov S, Daurkin I, Kaliberova L, Buchsbaum D, Vieweg J, Kusmartsev S (2009) Altered expression of 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase in tumor-infiltrated CD11b myeloid cells: a mechanism for immune evasion in cancer. J Immunol 182:7548–7557

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Eruslanov E, Daurkin I, Vieweg J, Daaka Y, Kusmartsev S (2011) Aberrant PGE2 metabolism in bladder tumor microenvironment promotes immunosuppressive phenotype of tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells. Int Immunopharmacol 11:848–855

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Sinha P, Clements VK, Fulton AM, Ostrand-Rosenberg S (2007) Prostaglandin E2 promotes tumor progression by inducing myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Cancer Res 67:4507–4513

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Veltman JD, Lambers ME, van Nimwegen M, Hendriks RW, Hoogsteden HC, Aerts JG, Hegmans JP (2010) COX-2 inhibition improves immunotherapy and is associated with decreased numbers of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in mesothelioma. Celecoxib influences MDSC function. BMC Cancer 10:464

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Fujita M, Kohanbash G, Fellows-Mayle W, Hamilton RL, Komohara Y, Decker SA, Ohlfest JR, Okada H (2011) COX-2 blockade suppresses gliomagenesis by inhibiting myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Cancer Res 71:2664–2674

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Wiesner SM, Decker SA, Larson JD, Ericson K, Forster C, Gallardo JL, Long C, Demorest ZL, Zamora EA, Low WC, SantaCruz K, Largaespada DA, Ohlfest JR (2009) De novo induction of genetically engineered brain tumors in mice using plasmid DNA. Cancer Res 69:431–439

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Litterman AJ, Zellmer DM, Grinnen KL, Hunt MA, Dudek AZ, Salazar AM, Ohlfest JR (2013) Profound impairment of adaptive immune responses by alkylating chemotherapy. J Immunol 190:6259–6268

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Nishimura F, Dusak JE, Eguchi J, Zhu X, Gambotto A, Storkus WJ, Okada H (2006) Adoptive transfer of type 1 CTL mediates effective anti-central nervous system tumor response: critical roles of IFN-inducible protein-10. Cancer Res 66:4478–4487

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Sedgwick JD, Schwender S, Imrich H, Dörries R, Butcher GW, ter Meulen V (1991) Isolation and direct characterization of resident microglial cells from the normal and inflamed central nervous system. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88:7438–7442

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Umemura N, Saio M, Suwa T, Kitoh Y, Bai J, Nonaka K, Ouyang GF, Okada M, Balazs M, Adany R, Shibata T, Takami T (2008) Tumor-infiltrating myeloid-derived suppressor cells are pleiotropic-inflamed monocytes/macrophages that bear M1- and M2-type characteristics. J Leukoc Biol 83:1136–1144

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Luster AD, Unkeless JC, Ravetch JV (1985) Gamma-interferon transcriptionally regulates an early-response gene containing homology to platelet proteins. Nature 315:672–676

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Narumi S, Hamilton TA (1991) Inducible expression of murine IP-10 mRNA varies with the state of macrophage inflammatory activity. J Immunol 146:3038–3044

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Munder M (2009) Arginase: an emerging key player in the mammalian immune system. Br J Pharmacol 158:638–651

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. von Leoprechting A, van der Bruggen P, Pahl HL, Aruffo A, Simon JC (1999) Stimulation of CD40 on immunogenic human malignant melanomas augments their cytotoxic T lymphocyte-mediated lysis and induces apoptosis. Cancer Res 59:1287–1294

    Google Scholar 

  28. French RR, Chan HT, Turr AL, Glennie MJ (1999) CD40 antibody evokes a cytotoxic T-cell response that eradicates lymphoma and bypasses T-cell help. Nat Med 5:548–553

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Alexandroff AB, Jackson AM, Paterson T, Haley JL, Ross JA, Longo DL, Murphy WJ, James K, Taub DD (2000) Role for CD40-CD40 ligand interactions in the immune response to solid tumours. Mol Immunol 37:515–526

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Todryk SM, Tutt AL, Green MH, Smallwood JA, Halanek N, Dalgleish AG, Glennie MJ (2001) CD40 ligation for immunotherapy of solid tumours. J Immunol Methods 248:139–147

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. van Mierlo GJ, den Boer AT, Medema JP, van der Voort EI, Fransen MF, Offringa R, Melief CJ, Toes RE (2002) CD40 stimulation leads to effective therapy of CD40(-) tumors through induction of strong systemic cytotoxic T lymphocyte immunity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99:5561–5566

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Wischhusen J, Schnider D, Mittelbronn M, Meyermann R, Engelmann H, Jung G, Wiendl H, Weller M (2005) Death receptor-mediated apoptosis in human malignant glioma cells: modulation by the CD40/CD40L system. J Neuroimmunol 162:28–42

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Xie F, Shi Q, Wang Q, Ge Y, Chen Y, Zuo J, Gu Y, Deng H, Mao H, Hu Z, Zhou Y, Zhang X (2010) CD40 is a regulator for vascular endothelial growth factor in the tumor microenvironment of glioma. J Neuroimmunol 222:62–69

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Vonderheide RH, Bajor DL, Winograd R, Evans RA, Bayne LJ, Beatty GL (2013) CD40 immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer. Cancer Immunol Immunother 62:949–954

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Turner JG, Rakhmilevich AL, Burdelya L, Neal Z, Imboden M, Sondel PM, Yu H (2001) Anti-CD40 antibody induces antitumor and antimetastatic effects: the role of NK cells. J Immunol 166:89–94

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Masferrer JL, Zweifel BS, Manning PT, Hauser SD, Leahy KM, Smith WG, Isakson PC, Seibert K (1994) Selective inhibition of inducible cyclooxygenase 2 in vivo is antiinflammatory and nonulcerogenic. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 91:3228–3232

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Ohmori Y, Hamilton TA (1994) Cell type and stimulus specific regulation of chemokine gene expression. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 198:590–596

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Neville LF, Mathiak G, Bagasra O (1997) The immunobiology of interferon-gamma inducible protein 10 kD (IP-10): a novel, pleiotropic member of the C-X-C chemokine superfamily. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev 8:207–219

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Liu M, Guo S, Hibbert JM, Jain V, Singh N, Wilson NO, Stiles JK (2011) CXCL10/IP-10 in infectious diseases pathogenesis and potential therapeutic implications. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev 22:121–130

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Antonelli A, Ferrari SM, Giuggioli D, Ferrannini E, Ferri C, Fallahi P (2014) Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand (CXCL)10 in autoimmune diseases. Autoimmun Rev 13:272–280

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Enderlin M, Kleinmann EV, Struyf S, Buracchi C, Vecchi A, Kinscherf R, Kiessling F, Paschek S, Sozzani S, Rommelaere J, Cornelis JJ, Van Damme J, Dinsart C (2009) TNF-alpha and the IFN-gamma-inducible protein 10 (IP-10/CXCL-10) delivered by parvoviral vectors act in synergy to induce antitumor effects in mouse glioblastoma. Cancer Gene Ther 16:149–160

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Jiang XB, Lu XL, Hu P, Liu RE (2009) Improved therapeutic efficacy using vaccination with glioma lysate-pulsed dendritic cells combined with IP-10 in murine glioma. Vaccine 27:6210–6216

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Fujita M, Zhu X, Ueda R, Sasaki K, Kohanbash G, Kastenhuber ER, McDonald HA, Gibson GA, Watkins SC, Muthuswamy R, Kalinski P, Okada H (2009) Effective immunotherapy against murine gliomas using type 1 polarizing dendritic cells—significant roles of CXCL10. Cancer Res 69:1587–1595

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Fujita M, Zhu X, Sasaki K, Ueda R, Low KL, Pollack IF, Okada H (2008) Inhibition of STAT3 promotes the efficacy of adoptive transfer therapy using type-1 CTLs by modulation of the immunological microenvironment in a murine intracranial glioma. J Immunol 180:2089–2098

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Rodriguez PC, Hernandez CP, Quiceno D, Dubinett SM, Zabaleta J, Ochoa JB, Gilbert J, Ochoa AC (2005) Arginase I in myeloid suppressor cells is induced by COX-2 in lung carcinoma. J Exp Med 202:931–939

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Prins RM, Odesa SK, Liau LM (2003) Immunotherapeutic targeting of shared melanoma-associated antigens in a murine glioma model. Cancer Res 63:8487–8491

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Hatano M, Kuwashima N, Tatsumi T, Dusak JE, Nishimura F, Reilly KM, Storkus WJ, Okada H (2004) Vaccination with EphA2-derived T cell-epitopes promotes immunity against both EphA2-expressing and EphA2-negative tumors. J Transl Med 2:40

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  48. Iizuka Y, Kojima H, Kobata T, Kawase T, Kawakami Y, Toda M (2006) Identification of a glioma antigen, GARC-1, using cytotoxic T lymphocytes induced by HSV cancer vaccine. Int J Cancer 118:942–949

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Ohlfest JR, Andersen BM, Litterman AJ, Xia J, Pennell CA, Swier LE, Salazar AM, Olin MR (2013) Vaccine injection site matters: qualitative and quantitative defects in CD8 T cells primed as a function of proximity to the tumor in a murine glioma model. J Immunol 190:613–620

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  50. Calzascia T, Masson F, Di Berardino-Besson W, Contassot E, Wilmotte R, Aurrand-Lions M, Rüegg C, Dietrich PY, Walker PR (2005) Homing phenotypes of tumor-specific CD8 T cells are predetermined at the tumor site by crosspresenting APCs. Immunity 22:175–184

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Grant Supports from: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) (2R01 NS055140, 1P01 CA132714) and Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research and Information. This project used University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) shared resources (Animal Facility, In Vivo Imaging Facility and Cytometry Facility) that are supported in part by NIH P30CA047904. The authors thank Dr. Gary Kohanbash and Maki Ikeura (University of Pittsburgh) for their administrative assistance.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no financial conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hideho Okada.

Additional information

Akemi Kosaka and Takayuki Ohkuri contributed equally to this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kosaka, A., Ohkuri, T. & Okada, H. Combination of an agonistic anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody and the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib induces anti-glioma effects by promotion of type-1 immunity in myeloid cells and T-cells. Cancer Immunol Immunother 63, 847–857 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-014-1561-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-014-1561-8

Keywords

Navigation