ORCID Profile
0000-0002-1560-6545
Current Organisations
KU Leuven
,
Flemisch Government
,
Brigham and Women's Hospital
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Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 10-12-2013
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-2023
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-03-2023
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 04-01-2023
DOI: 10.1126/SCITRANSLMED.ABO4778
Abstract: The administration of inactivated tumor cells is known to induce a potent antitumor immune response however, the efficacy of such an approach is limited by its inability to kill tumor cells before inducing the immune responses. Unlike inactivated tumor cells, living tumor cells have the ability to track and target tumors. Here, we developed a bifunctional whole cancer cell–based therapeutic with direct tumor killing and immunostimulatory roles. We repurposed the tumor cells from interferon-β (IFN-β) sensitive to resistant using CRISPR-Cas9 by knocking out the IFN-β–specific receptor and subsequently engineered them to release immunomodulatory agents IFN-β and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. These engineered therapeutic tumor cells (ThTCs) eliminated established glioblastoma tumors in mice by inducing caspase-mediated cancer cell apoptosis, down-regulating cancer-associated fibroblast-expressed platelet-derived growth factor receptor β, and activating antitumor immune cell trafficking and antigen-specific T cell activation signaling. This mechanism-based efficacy of ThTCs translated into a survival benefit and long-term immunity in primary, recurrent, and metastatic cancer models in immunocompetent and humanized mice. The incorporation of a double kill-switch comprising herpes simplex virus–1 thymidine kinase and rapamycin-activated caspase 9 in ThTCs ensured the safety of our approach. Arming naturally neoantigen-rich tumor cells with bifunctional therapeutics represents a promising cell-based immunotherapy for solid tumors and establishes a road map toward clinical translation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUROBIOLAGING.2015.02.029
Abstract: Age-related microstructural differences have been detected using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Although DTI is sensitive to the effects of aging, it is not specific to any underlying biological mechanism, including demyelination. Combining multiexponential T2 relaxation (MET2) and multishell diffusion MRI (dMRI) techniques may elucidate such processes. Multishell dMRI and MET2 data were acquired from 59 healthy participants aged 17-70 years. Whole-brain and regional age-associated correlations of measures related to multiple dMRI models (DTI, diffusion kurtosis imaging [DKI], neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging [NODDI]) and myelin-sensitive MET2 metrics were assessed. DTI and NODDI revealed widespread increases in isotropic diffusivity with increasing age. In frontal white matter, fractional anisotropy linearly decreased with age, paralleled by increased "neurite" dispersion and no difference in myelin water fraction. DKI measures and neurite density correlated well with myelin water fraction and intracellular and extracellular water fraction. DTI estimates remain among the most sensitive markers for age-related alterations in white matter. NODDI, DKI, and MET2 indicate that the initial decrease in frontal fractional anisotropy may be due to increased axonal dispersion rather than demyelination.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 31-05-2023
DOI: 10.1126/SCITRANSLMED.ADE8732
Abstract: Oncolytic virus therapy has shown activity against primary melanomas however, its efficacy in brain metastases remains challenging, mainly because of the delivery and immunosuppressive nature of tumors in the brain. To address this challenge, we first established PTEN-deficient melanoma brain metastasis mouse models and characterized them to be more immunosuppressive compared with primary melanoma, mimicking the clinical settings. Next, we developed an allogeneic twin stem cell (TSC) system composed of two tumor-targeting stem cell (SC) populations. One SC was loaded with oncolytic herpes simplex virus (oHSV), and the other SC was CRISPR-Cas9 gene-edited to knock out nectin 1 (N1) receptor (N1 KO ) to acquire resistance to oHSV and release immunomodulators, such as granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Using mouse models of brain metastatic BRAF V600E /PTEN −/− and BRAF V600E/wt /PTEN −/− mutant melanomas, we show that locoregional delivery of TSCs releasing oHSV and GM-CSF (TSC-G) activated dendritic cell– and T cell–mediated immune responses. In addition, our strategy exhibited greater therapeutic efficacy when compared with the existing oncolytic viral therapeutic approaches. Moreover, the TSCs composed of SC-oHSV and SC N1KO –releasing GM-CSF and single-chain variable fragment anti–PD-1 (TSC-G/P) had therapeutic efficacy in both syngeneic and patient-derived humanized mouse models of leptomeningeal metastasis. Our findings provide a promising allogeneic SC-based immunotherapeutic strategy against melanomas in the CNS and a road map toward clinical translation.
Location: Belgium
Location: Netherlands
No related grants have been discovered for Bea R.H. Van den Bergh.