# A NovelIn Situ Dendritic Cell Vaccine Triggered by Rose Bengal Enhances Adaptive Antitumour Immunity

Authors: Lanlin Zhang; Jiangyuan Du; Qian Song; Chufan Zhang; Xianghua Wu
Journal: Journal of Immunology Research
 (2022)

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## Abstract

Dendritic cell- (DC-) based vaccination has emerged as a promising antitumour immunotherapy. However, overcoming immune tolerance and immunosuppression in the tumour microenvironment (TME) is still a great challenge. Recent studies have shown that Rose Bengal (RB) can effectively induce immunogenic cell death (ICD) in cancer cells, presenting whole tumour antigens for DC processing and presentation. However, the synergistic antitumour effect of combining intralesional RB with immature DCs (RB-iDCs) remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated whether RB-iDCs have superior antitumour effects compared with either single agent and evaluated the immunological mechanism of RB-iDCs in a murine lung cancer model. The results showed that intralesional RB-iDCs suppressed subcutaneous tumour growth and lung metastasis, which resulted in 100% mouse survival and significantly increased TNF-α production by CD8+ T cells. These effects were closely related to the induction of the expression of distinct ICD hallmarks by RB in both bulk cancer cells and cancer stem cells (CSCs), especially calreticulin (CRT), thus enhancing immune effector cell (i.e., CD4+, CD8+, and memory T cells) infiltration and attenuating the accumulation of immunosuppressive cells (i.e., Tregs, macrophages, and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs)) in the TME. This study reveals that the RB-iDC vaccine can synergistically destroy the primary tumour, inhibit distant metastasis, and prevent tumour relapse in a lung cancer mouse model, which provides important preclinical data for the development of a novel combinatorial immunotherapy.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide and remains a major challenge [1]. Among all lung cancer types, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for approximately 85% of cases [2]. For the treatment of NSCLC, immunotherapy and molecular targeted therapy currently have shown more promising results than traditional therapies, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy [2, 3]. Evidence has shown that molecular targeted therapies, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR-TKIs), achieve a complete response in less than 5% of patients [4]. The objective response rate for immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy is approximately 20% or lower [5]. However, a considerable percentage of patients with a complete response inevitably develop drug resistance and then experience tumour recurrence or metastasis, which usually leads to death. Thus, current treatments still cannot completely overcome cancer recurrence and metastasis, which are the major challenges of lung cancer management [6]. Therefore, novel therapeutic strategies are desperately needed for the lung cancer patients.Cancer immunotherapy is aimed at attacking tumour cells by harnessing the host immune system; notably, dendritic cell- (DC-) based vaccines have become the most viable option for most patients [7]. As the most effective antigen-presenting cells, DCs have long been considered a crucial factor in antitumour immunotherapy since they can efficiently activate T lymphocyte-mediated antitumour activity by processing and presenting tumour antigens to CD4+ or CD8+ T cells via major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II or class I molecules, respectively [8]. During the last two decades, various methods have been developed for DC-based vaccines. DCs have been pulsed with tumour-associated antigens (TAAs) ex vivo or in vivo, thereby creating immunotherapies that can elicit antitumour immunity against multiple cancers, including ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, glioblastoma, renal cell cancers, melanoma, and others [9, 10]. However, the success rate of DC-based immunotherapy is still relatively low due to insufficient antigen presentation of a single antigen peptide or protein and the immune-tolerating and immunosuppressive effects of the tumour microenvironment (TME) and other unidentified reasons [11, 12].Encouragingly, recent studies have discovered that certain immunotherapeutic photosensitizers, such as Rose Bengal (RB), can improve antitumour immune responses by triggering immunogenic cell death (ICD) [13]. “Eat me” and “danger” signals, such as calreticulin (CRT), are expressed on the surface of tumour cells undergoing ICD and can enable immature DCs (iDCs) to phagocytize tumour cells and present TAA epitopes to T cells through MHC class I or II molecules [14, 15]. This process promotes DC maturation and elicits antigen-specific responses by activating T cells [16]. Previous studies have confirmed that RB is noncytotoxic in vivo and in vitro, and its antitumour effect functions independently of photostimulation compared with other photosensitizers, such as 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-AA) [17] and hypericin [18]. In addition, RB has been approved for clinical use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States. Although RB holds promise for antitumour effects in melanoma [19, 20] and hepatocellular cancer [21], it still remains a significant challenge to translate these effects to other solid tumours, which are referred to as “immune-desert tumours” or “cold tumours.” Cold tumours are characterized by the exhausted state of the tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in the TME [22, 23]. Therefore, we hypothesize that RB kills only local tumour cells, as the efficiency of tumour antigen presentation and the induction of antitumour immune responses are both relatively low when RB is used alone.Data on lung cancer treatments using DC-based immunotherapy or RB alone are limited. To date, there has been no research on lung cancer treated with RB, and only two phase II clinical trials in NSCLC using DC-based vaccines pulsed with a recombinant melanoma-associated antigen or Survivin peptide have been conducted. The two clinical trials demonstrated a correlation between vaccine-specific immunity and sustained stable disease, although some patients showed disease progression [10, 24]. Therefore, we hypothesized that, as a novel vaccine, intralesional injection of both RB and iDCs (RB-iDCs) will be a more effective way for the lung cancer treatment.


## 2. Materials and Methods

### 2.1. Cell Lines

The murine melanoma B16 cell line was purchased from the Cell Bank of Type Culture Collection of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and cultured in RPMI-1640 medium (Gibco, 61870044) supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS) (Biological Industries, 04-007-1A), streptomycin (100μg/ml), and penicillin (100 U/ml). The Lewis lung cancer cell line was kindly gifted by Professor Ming Yao (Cancer Institute, Shanghai, China) and was maintained in DMEM (Gibco, 10569010) supplemented with 10% FBS, streptomycin (100 μg/ml), and penicillin (100 U/ml). All cells were cultured at 37°C in 5% CO2.


### 2.2. Antibodies and Reagents

The following antibodies were used in this study: FITC anti-CD3e (145-2C11), PE anti-CD4 (GK1.5), FITC anti-CD4 (GK1.5), PE anti-CD25 (PC61.5), APC anti-Foxp3 (FJK-16s), PerCP-Cy5.5 anti-CD8a (53-6.7), PE anti-CD44 (IM7), APC-anti-CD44 (IM7), PE anti-ABCG2/CD338 (3G8), PE-Cy7™ anti-CD62L (MEL-14), PE-Cy7™ anti-CD86 (GL1), purified anti-CD16/CD32 (2.4G2), APC anti-CD80 (16-10A1), PE anti-CD11c (HL-3), APC-Cy7™ anti-CD14 (rmC5-3), PerCP-Cy5.5™ anti-I-A/I-E (M5/114.15.2), FITC anti-CD40 (3/23), APC anti-F4/80 (T45-2342), PerCP-Cy5.5™ anti-CD11b (M1/70), PE-Cy7™ anti-CD206 (MR6F3), PE- anti-Gr-1 (RB6-8C5), Brilliant violet 510™ anti-CD8a (53-6.7), Brilliant violet 421™ anti-IFN-γ (XMG1.2), Brilliant violet 421™ anti-TNF-α (MP6-XT22), anti-calreticulin (D3E6), and goat anti-rabbit IgG-FITC (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, sc-2359). DAPI solution (564907) and a FITC Annexin V Apoptosis Detection Kit I (556547) were purchased from BD Biosciences. Rose Bengal (330000) and other chemicals were purchased from Sigma–Aldrich.


### 2.3. Flow Cytometry

Flow cytometric analysis was performed with a Beckman Coulter Cytomics FC500 Flow Cytometry System. The results were evaluated with the CXP and FlowJo v10 software.


### 2.4. Analysis of the Cell Cycle and Cell Death

Lewis lung cancer cells (LLCs) were seeded at3×105 cells per well in a 6-well plate and processed for cell cycle analysis after incubation with increasing concentrations of RB (0, 100, 200, and 300 μM) for 24 h. Both floating and attached LLCs treated with RB (0, 10, 20, and 40 μM) for 1, 2, and 4 h were collected for further analysis.DAPI was used to stain DNA and label dead cells. Cells were collected, fixed with 75% ethanol, and placed at -20°C overnight, then washed three times with cold PBS and incubated with 500μl of DNA staining solution (1 μg/ml DAPI) for 5 min at room temperature (RT). DNA content was analysed by flow cytometry, and the cell proportions in the sub-G1, G1, S, and G2/M phases were determined.FITC Annexin V Apoptosis Detection Kits were used to observe cell death. Briefly, cells were stained with biotinylated Annexin V FITC in 1× binding buffer and then incubated for 15 min at RT. The cells were then washed twice with PBS and resuspended in PBS containing DAPI (0.2μg/ml) for 5 min. The cell death profile was analysed with the CXP software. Necrotic cells were labelled as DAPI+ and DAPI+/Annexin V+, and apoptotic cells were labelled Annexin V+ [25].


### 2.5. Cell Viability

The viability of iDCs, mDCs pulsed with the RB-treated LLC lysates (RB-based mDCs), and mouse splenic lymphocytes treated with 1 mM RB was measured by Vi-Cell XR (Beckman Coulter, Inc., Brea, CA, USA). Briefly, mDCs and mouse splenic lymphocytes were incubated without RB or with 1 mM RB, respectively. Cell numbers and viability were detected at 24 hours by Vi-Cell XR. The assay was performed in triplicate and repeated three times.


### 2.6. Detection of the CRT Expression on Tumour Cell Surfaces

The CRT expression on the tumour cell surface was identified by immunofluorescence staining. LLC and B16 cells were treated with 10μM and 100 μM of RB for 24 h. The cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 5 min. Nonspecific binding was blocked with 5% normal goat serum at RT for 2 h. The cells were then incubated with an anti-CRT antibody (1 : 100) at 4°C overnight. After washing three times with 0.2% Tween-20/PBS at RT for 5 min, the cells were incubated with a FITC-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG antibody diluted in PBS (1 : 200) at RT for 45 min. LLC and B16 cells stained with an anti-rabbit IgG antibody were included and regarded as an isotype control. Then, the cells were washed three times with 0.2% Tween-20/PBS at RT for 5 min each time. Finally, DAPI was used to stain the nuclei. All stained cells were observed and photographed with a Leica SP5 confocal fluorescence microscope. Images were analysed with a Leica SP5 confocal fluorescence microscope at 1000x magnification.The expression of CRT on the tumour cell surface was quantified by flow cytometric analysis. LLCs were treated for 30 min with 10μM and 100 μM of RB. Cells were harvested with trypsin, washed twice in cold PBS, and then incubated with a rabbit anti-CRT antibody (1 : 200) at 4°C for 30 min followed by a FITC-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG antibody (1 : 200) at 4°C for 30 min. After being washed twice in cold PBS, the cells were resuspended in 500 μl of flow buffer (PBS with 2% FBS). The same concentration of normal rabbit IgG was utilized as an isotype control. The percentage of CRT-positive cells was determined by flow cytometric analysis.


### 2.7. Sphere Formation Assay

LLCs were seeded at 300 cells per well in six-well ultralow cluster plates (Corning, 07-200-601) and cultured for 7 days in DMEM/F12 serum-free medium (Gibco, 11320033) supplemented with 20 ng/ml recombinant murine epidermal growth factor (EGF) (PeproTech, 315-09), 10 ng/ml recombinant murine basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) (PeproTech, 450-33), 5μg/ml insulin (Sigma), and 0.4% bovine serum albumin (Sigma).


### 2.8. Real-Time Quantitative PCR

LLCs formed spheres in 7 days. We then collected the Lewis cancer stem cells (CSCs) and evaluated the expression of stem cell markers at the mRNA level. Total RNA was isolated from the Lewis CSCs and LLCs with TRIzol (Invitrogen, 15596018) for cDNA synthesis, respectively. The expression of Oct-4, ABCG2, and CD44 was examined by real-time quantitative PCR. Mouseβ-actin was used as an internal control. PCR was performed according to the protocol of SYBR Green (TaKaRa, Japan). The primer sequences were as follows: Oct-4: Forward, 5′-GGAAAGGTGTTCAGCCAGAC-3′, Reverse, 5′-CTCATTGTTGTCGGCTTCCT-3′; ABCG2: Forward, 5′-TGGTTTGGACTCAAGCACAG-3′, Reverse, 5′-ATACCGAGGCTGATGAATGG-3′; and CD44: Forward, 5′-TCAAGTGCGAACCAGGACAG-3′, Reverse, 5′-GATGCAGACGGCAAGAATCA-3′. The relative quantification of mRNA expression was calculated by the 2–ΔΔCt algorithm.


### 2.9. Detection of CRT on the Surface of CSCs

LLCs were cultured into spheres for 7 days, and then, the spheres were dissociated by StemPro Accutase® cell dissociation reagent (Gibco, A1110501) into a single cell suspension. Then, the CSCs were treated with 10-100μM RB for 30 min. The cells were harvested with trypsin, washed twice in cold PBS, and then incubated with a rabbit anti-CRT antibody (1 : 200), anti-CD44-APC antibody, and anti-ABCG2/CD338-PE antibody at 4°C for 30 min followed by a FITC-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG antibody (1 : 200) at 4°C for 30 min. After being washed twice in cold PBS, the cells were resuspended in 500 μl of flow buffer (PBS with 2% FBS). The same concentration of normal rabbit IgG was utilized as an isotype control. The percentage of CRT-positive cells in the CD44+ ABCG2+ cell population was determined by flow cytometric analysis.


### 2.10. Generation of Murine Bone Marrow-Derived DCs, Analysis of DC Maturation, and Immunization of Mice

DCs were induced from murine bone marrow (Bm) cells according to a published protocol [26]. Briefly, DCs were generated from C57BL/6 mouse Bm progenitor cells as follows: Bm was extracted from the femurs and tibiae of 8-week-old C57BL/6 mice. The isolation of lymphocytes was carried out using Histopaque®-1077 (Sigma–Aldrich). Single Bm cell suspensions were prepared, and the cells were washed twice in cold PBS. Then, the cells were maintained in RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with 10% FBS, 10 ng/ml recombinant murine interleukin- (IL-) 4 (PeproTech, 214-14), and 20 ng/ml recombinant murine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) (PeproTech, 315-03). On the second day, the nonadherent cells were discarded, and the cultures were refed with fresh RPMI-1640 medium containing the cytokines. On day 4 and day 6, fresh RPMI-1640 medium containing the cytokines was substituted for half of the culture supernatant. On day 7, the iDCs were harvested and pulsed with LLCs treated with 1 mM RB at a ratio of 1 : 10 (LLC: iDCs) for 69 h. At the same time, some of the iDCs were stimulated with 100 ng/ml Escherichia coli-derived LPS (Sigma–Aldrich, L4516) for 24 h, and these iDCs were considered a positive control for DC maturation. In addition, iDCs were separately stimulated by 1 mM RB for 24 h or cultured with RB-based mDCs at a ratio of 1 : 1 for 69 h to verify whether RB or mDCs affect the iDC maturity. All cells were incubated with anti-CD16/CD32 at 4°C for 10 min and then detached, washed twice in cold PBS, and stained with the following antibodies: PE-Cy7™ anti-CD86, APC anti-CD80, PE anti-CD11c, APC-Cy7™ anti-CD14, PerCP-Cy5.5™ anti-mouse I-A/I-E, and FITC anti-CD40 antibodies. A fluorescence-minus-one (FMO) control was used as the negative control, which was stained with all the antibodies except the antibody that bound to the antigen of interest. The data were analysed by flow cytometry.


### 2.11. DC Endocytosis Assay

Endocytosis of antigen-pulsed DCs was assessed with FITC-dextran (FD40S, average molar weight: 40,000). A total of1×106 cells of iDCs or mDCs were seeded in six-well plates with RPMI 1640 containing 10% of FBS. After adding the FITC-dextran (1 mg/ml), the cells were incubated for 2 h at 37°C or 4°C (negative control). Then, the cells were washed with cold PBS three times and fixed with 2% paraformaldehyde. After that, the percentage of BMDCs taking up FITC-dextran was determined by flow cytometric analysis. The assay was performed in triplicate and repeated three times.


### 2.12.In Vitro Cytotoxicity Assay

We used a CytoTox 96® Non-Radioactive Cytotoxicity Assay (Promega, G1780) to assess the cytotoxicity of splenic lymphocytes according to the manufacturer’s protocol. The spleen was harvested from each of the mice at the end of the experiment. Splenic lymphocytes stimulated with RB-treated LLC for 5 days were used as the effector cells. LLCs and CSCs were used as the targeted cells, respectively. Briefly, a total of8×103 LLCs were cultured in a 96-well round-bottom plate. The effector splenic lymphocytes were distributed in triplicate, and the effector cells were mixed with the target cells (LLCs and CSCs) at E: T ratios of 25 : 1, 12 : 1, 6 : 1, and 3 : 1 in a final volume of 100 μl. All the effector and target cells were incubated for 6 h at 37°C in 96-well round-bottom plates that were centrifuged. For the determination of the maximum release, 10 μl of 10x lysis buffer was added to the positive control wells and incubated for 45 min at 37°C before the centrifuging step. Then, 50 μl supernatant was carefully transferred to a new 96-well round-bottom plate, and 50 μl substrate was added to each well, mixed, and incubated for 30 min at RT in the dark. Finally, 50 μl stop solution was added into each well. The plate was read at 490 nm, and the percentage of specific lysis that occurred in each well was calculated by the following equation: %Cytotoxicity=100×Experiment–EffectorSpontaneous–TargetSpontaneous/TargetMaximum–TargetSpontaneous.


### 2.13.In Vitro Cytokine Generation

Cytokines produced by antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in vitro were evaluated using the following protocol. The spleen was harvested from each of the mice at the end of the experiment. After mincing the spleen, a single cell suspension was separated by density gradient centrifugation. Then, splenic lymphocytes (2×106) in the PBS control, RB, RB-based mDC vaccine, and RB-iDC vaccine treatment groups were incubated with RB- (100 μM-) treated LLCs. After 2 h of restimulation, 3 μg/ml monensin and 2 μM brefeldin A (both from eBioscience) were used for 4 h, and then, all samples were resuspended in 50 μl of a cocktail of diluted antibodies against cell surface markers and incubated at 4°C for 30 min. To stain the intracellular TNF-α and IFN-γ, the cells were fixed by adding 100 μl of fixation buffer (eBioscience) to the cells suspended in 100 μl of staining buffer and incubating at 4°C for 30 min. After washing twice in 1× permeabilization buffer, the cells were resuspended in a diluted intracellular antibody cocktail, incubated at 4°C for 30 min, and then washed twice in 1× permeabilization buffer again. Flow cytometry data were then collected and analysed.


### 2.14.In Vivo Tumour Treatment Studies

Animal experiments were performed in the Experimental Animal Center of Fudan University (Shanghai, China). All experimental protocols involving animals were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Fudan University, and the agreement number was 20171143A083. Male C57BL/6 mice (aged 6-8 weeks) were purchased from Shanghai Lingchang BioTech Co., Ltd.Intralesional injections of PBS, RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine and the RB-iDC vaccine were performed as follows. A total of1×106 LLCs were subcutaneously inoculated into the right flank of the C57BL/6 mice (five to six per group). Before the intralesional injection of RB/DCs, we selected mice with round tumours. When the tumour diameter was 4-5 mm (day 0), 1 mM RB (dissolved in PBS) was administered by intralesional injection, and the injection volume was equal to half the volume of the tumour (0.5 ml/cm3). For immunization of the animals, the iDCs or mature DCs pulsed with the RB-treated LLC lysates were washed three times in cold PBS and resuspended in PBS at a final concentration of 1×107 cells/ml. DC suspension (100 μl) was subcutaneously injected into syngeneic C57BL/6 mice. PBS injection was used as the control. The RB-iDC vaccine strategy involved pretreating the tumour with intralesional RB for 10 min and then performing an intralesional injection of 1×106 iDCs. Tumour sizes were measured with digital callipers and approximated by multiplying the measured dimensions. Tumour sizes were surveyed every day after the tumours appeared, and the mice were sacrificed when their tumour diameter was more than 10-15 mm. Tumour volumes based on the measurements with the digital callipers were calculated by the following equation: V=0.5×dlong×dshort×dshort.


### 2.15. Preparation of Single Cell Suspensions

Single cell suspensions were obtained from the tumour and spleen by mechanical dissociation and enzymatic digestion, respectively. Briefly, taking the tumour as an example, it was removed aseptically and minced into 1-2 mm3 pieces followed by washing with RPMI-1640 medium. Tumour dissociation was carried out with constant shaking in PBS containing 1 mg/ml collagenase D (Roche) and 30 μg/ml DNase I (Roche) for 20 min at RT. The cell suspension was then filtered through a 70 μm nylon filter mesh to remove any undigested tissue fragments, and lymphocytes were isolated by density gradient centrifugation. Lymphocytes were washed twice with RPMI-1640 medium. Cell numbers were calculated, and cell viability was determined with a trypan blue dye exclusion assay. Similarly, the lymph nodes were mechanically dissociated by a plunger and filtered through a 70 μm cell strainer. Then, the cells from tumours, spleens, and lymph nodes were stained with the following antibodies to determine the proportions of immunosuppressive cells (regulatory T cells (Tregs), macrophages, and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs)) and immune effector cells (T effector memory cells (Tems), T central memory cells (Tcms), T memory stem cells (Tscms), naïve T cells (Tns), CD4+ T cells, and CD8+ T cells): Tregs were identified as CD4-positive/CD25-positive/Foxp3-positive; M1 macrophages were identified as F4/80-positive/CD11b-positive/CD11c-positive, and M2 macrophages were identified as F4/80-positive/CD11b-positive/CD206-positive; MDSCs were identified as CD11b-positive/Gr-1-positive; Tcms were identified as CD8-positive/CD44-positive/CD62L-positive, Tems were identified as CD8-positive/CD44-positive/CD62L-negative, and Tscm+Tn cells were identified as CD8-positive/CD44-negative/CD62L-positive. The cells were then washed with flow buffer (PBS with 2% FBS) and resuspended in 500 μl of DNA staining solution (1 μg/ml DAPI) at RT for 5 min. A fluorescence-minus-one (FMO) control was used as the negative control, which was stained with all the antibodies except the antibody that bound to the antigen of interest. The percentages of the different immune cells above were analysed by flow cytometry.


### 2.16. Examination of Lung Metastasis

Lung metastasis was examined using a previously described method [27]. Briefly, after treatment with PBS, RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, or the RB-iDC vaccine, the mice were sacrificed on day 21 and injected with India ink (15%) through the trachea to stain the lungs. Then, the lungs were collected and stored in Fekete’s solution (100 ml of 70% alcohol, 5 ml of glacial acetic acid, and 10 ml of formalin) at RT for 3 days. Finally, the lungs were photographed. White nodules on the black-stained lungs were considered tumour metastasis sites. We then calculated the lung metastasis rate of each mouse in each group.


### 2.17. Statistical Analysis

All statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism 5 (GraphPad Software Inc.). Student’st-test and one-way ANOVA followed by the appropriate post hoc test (Tukey’s multiple comparison test) were used to compare the differences between individual data points. A Kaplan–Meier survival curve and repeated measure analysis of variance were applied in the tumour treatment experiments. For differences between the survival curves, the log-rank test was used to calculate P values. P<0.05 was considered a statistically significant difference.


## 2.1. Cell Lines

The murine melanoma B16 cell line was purchased from the Cell Bank of Type Culture Collection of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and cultured in RPMI-1640 medium (Gibco, 61870044) supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS) (Biological Industries, 04-007-1A), streptomycin (100μg/ml), and penicillin (100 U/ml). The Lewis lung cancer cell line was kindly gifted by Professor Ming Yao (Cancer Institute, Shanghai, China) and was maintained in DMEM (Gibco, 10569010) supplemented with 10% FBS, streptomycin (100 μg/ml), and penicillin (100 U/ml). All cells were cultured at 37°C in 5% CO2.


## 2.2. Antibodies and Reagents

The following antibodies were used in this study: FITC anti-CD3e (145-2C11), PE anti-CD4 (GK1.5), FITC anti-CD4 (GK1.5), PE anti-CD25 (PC61.5), APC anti-Foxp3 (FJK-16s), PerCP-Cy5.5 anti-CD8a (53-6.7), PE anti-CD44 (IM7), APC-anti-CD44 (IM7), PE anti-ABCG2/CD338 (3G8), PE-Cy7™ anti-CD62L (MEL-14), PE-Cy7™ anti-CD86 (GL1), purified anti-CD16/CD32 (2.4G2), APC anti-CD80 (16-10A1), PE anti-CD11c (HL-3), APC-Cy7™ anti-CD14 (rmC5-3), PerCP-Cy5.5™ anti-I-A/I-E (M5/114.15.2), FITC anti-CD40 (3/23), APC anti-F4/80 (T45-2342), PerCP-Cy5.5™ anti-CD11b (M1/70), PE-Cy7™ anti-CD206 (MR6F3), PE- anti-Gr-1 (RB6-8C5), Brilliant violet 510™ anti-CD8a (53-6.7), Brilliant violet 421™ anti-IFN-γ (XMG1.2), Brilliant violet 421™ anti-TNF-α (MP6-XT22), anti-calreticulin (D3E6), and goat anti-rabbit IgG-FITC (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, sc-2359). DAPI solution (564907) and a FITC Annexin V Apoptosis Detection Kit I (556547) were purchased from BD Biosciences. Rose Bengal (330000) and other chemicals were purchased from Sigma–Aldrich.


## 2.3. Flow Cytometry

Flow cytometric analysis was performed with a Beckman Coulter Cytomics FC500 Flow Cytometry System. The results were evaluated with the CXP and FlowJo v10 software.


## 2.4. Analysis of the Cell Cycle and Cell Death

Lewis lung cancer cells (LLCs) were seeded at3×105 cells per well in a 6-well plate and processed for cell cycle analysis after incubation with increasing concentrations of RB (0, 100, 200, and 300 μM) for 24 h. Both floating and attached LLCs treated with RB (0, 10, 20, and 40 μM) for 1, 2, and 4 h were collected for further analysis.DAPI was used to stain DNA and label dead cells. Cells were collected, fixed with 75% ethanol, and placed at -20°C overnight, then washed three times with cold PBS and incubated with 500μl of DNA staining solution (1 μg/ml DAPI) for 5 min at room temperature (RT). DNA content was analysed by flow cytometry, and the cell proportions in the sub-G1, G1, S, and G2/M phases were determined.FITC Annexin V Apoptosis Detection Kits were used to observe cell death. Briefly, cells were stained with biotinylated Annexin V FITC in 1× binding buffer and then incubated for 15 min at RT. The cells were then washed twice with PBS and resuspended in PBS containing DAPI (0.2μg/ml) for 5 min. The cell death profile was analysed with the CXP software. Necrotic cells were labelled as DAPI+ and DAPI+/Annexin V+, and apoptotic cells were labelled Annexin V+ [25].


## 2.5. Cell Viability

The viability of iDCs, mDCs pulsed with the RB-treated LLC lysates (RB-based mDCs), and mouse splenic lymphocytes treated with 1 mM RB was measured by Vi-Cell XR (Beckman Coulter, Inc., Brea, CA, USA). Briefly, mDCs and mouse splenic lymphocytes were incubated without RB or with 1 mM RB, respectively. Cell numbers and viability were detected at 24 hours by Vi-Cell XR. The assay was performed in triplicate and repeated three times.


## 2.6. Detection of the CRT Expression on Tumour Cell Surfaces

The CRT expression on the tumour cell surface was identified by immunofluorescence staining. LLC and B16 cells were treated with 10μM and 100 μM of RB for 24 h. The cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 5 min. Nonspecific binding was blocked with 5% normal goat serum at RT for 2 h. The cells were then incubated with an anti-CRT antibody (1 : 100) at 4°C overnight. After washing three times with 0.2% Tween-20/PBS at RT for 5 min, the cells were incubated with a FITC-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG antibody diluted in PBS (1 : 200) at RT for 45 min. LLC and B16 cells stained with an anti-rabbit IgG antibody were included and regarded as an isotype control. Then, the cells were washed three times with 0.2% Tween-20/PBS at RT for 5 min each time. Finally, DAPI was used to stain the nuclei. All stained cells were observed and photographed with a Leica SP5 confocal fluorescence microscope. Images were analysed with a Leica SP5 confocal fluorescence microscope at 1000x magnification.The expression of CRT on the tumour cell surface was quantified by flow cytometric analysis. LLCs were treated for 30 min with 10μM and 100 μM of RB. Cells were harvested with trypsin, washed twice in cold PBS, and then incubated with a rabbit anti-CRT antibody (1 : 200) at 4°C for 30 min followed by a FITC-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG antibody (1 : 200) at 4°C for 30 min. After being washed twice in cold PBS, the cells were resuspended in 500 μl of flow buffer (PBS with 2% FBS). The same concentration of normal rabbit IgG was utilized as an isotype control. The percentage of CRT-positive cells was determined by flow cytometric analysis.


## 2.7. Sphere Formation Assay

LLCs were seeded at 300 cells per well in six-well ultralow cluster plates (Corning, 07-200-601) and cultured for 7 days in DMEM/F12 serum-free medium (Gibco, 11320033) supplemented with 20 ng/ml recombinant murine epidermal growth factor (EGF) (PeproTech, 315-09), 10 ng/ml recombinant murine basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) (PeproTech, 450-33), 5μg/ml insulin (Sigma), and 0.4% bovine serum albumin (Sigma).


## 2.8. Real-Time Quantitative PCR

LLCs formed spheres in 7 days. We then collected the Lewis cancer stem cells (CSCs) and evaluated the expression of stem cell markers at the mRNA level. Total RNA was isolated from the Lewis CSCs and LLCs with TRIzol (Invitrogen, 15596018) for cDNA synthesis, respectively. The expression of Oct-4, ABCG2, and CD44 was examined by real-time quantitative PCR. Mouseβ-actin was used as an internal control. PCR was performed according to the protocol of SYBR Green (TaKaRa, Japan). The primer sequences were as follows: Oct-4: Forward, 5′-GGAAAGGTGTTCAGCCAGAC-3′, Reverse, 5′-CTCATTGTTGTCGGCTTCCT-3′; ABCG2: Forward, 5′-TGGTTTGGACTCAAGCACAG-3′, Reverse, 5′-ATACCGAGGCTGATGAATGG-3′; and CD44: Forward, 5′-TCAAGTGCGAACCAGGACAG-3′, Reverse, 5′-GATGCAGACGGCAAGAATCA-3′. The relative quantification of mRNA expression was calculated by the 2–ΔΔCt algorithm.


## 2.9. Detection of CRT on the Surface of CSCs

LLCs were cultured into spheres for 7 days, and then, the spheres were dissociated by StemPro Accutase® cell dissociation reagent (Gibco, A1110501) into a single cell suspension. Then, the CSCs were treated with 10-100μM RB for 30 min. The cells were harvested with trypsin, washed twice in cold PBS, and then incubated with a rabbit anti-CRT antibody (1 : 200), anti-CD44-APC antibody, and anti-ABCG2/CD338-PE antibody at 4°C for 30 min followed by a FITC-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG antibody (1 : 200) at 4°C for 30 min. After being washed twice in cold PBS, the cells were resuspended in 500 μl of flow buffer (PBS with 2% FBS). The same concentration of normal rabbit IgG was utilized as an isotype control. The percentage of CRT-positive cells in the CD44+ ABCG2+ cell population was determined by flow cytometric analysis.


## 2.10. Generation of Murine Bone Marrow-Derived DCs, Analysis of DC Maturation, and Immunization of Mice

DCs were induced from murine bone marrow (Bm) cells according to a published protocol [26]. Briefly, DCs were generated from C57BL/6 mouse Bm progenitor cells as follows: Bm was extracted from the femurs and tibiae of 8-week-old C57BL/6 mice. The isolation of lymphocytes was carried out using Histopaque®-1077 (Sigma–Aldrich). Single Bm cell suspensions were prepared, and the cells were washed twice in cold PBS. Then, the cells were maintained in RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with 10% FBS, 10 ng/ml recombinant murine interleukin- (IL-) 4 (PeproTech, 214-14), and 20 ng/ml recombinant murine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) (PeproTech, 315-03). On the second day, the nonadherent cells were discarded, and the cultures were refed with fresh RPMI-1640 medium containing the cytokines. On day 4 and day 6, fresh RPMI-1640 medium containing the cytokines was substituted for half of the culture supernatant. On day 7, the iDCs were harvested and pulsed with LLCs treated with 1 mM RB at a ratio of 1 : 10 (LLC: iDCs) for 69 h. At the same time, some of the iDCs were stimulated with 100 ng/ml Escherichia coli-derived LPS (Sigma–Aldrich, L4516) for 24 h, and these iDCs were considered a positive control for DC maturation. In addition, iDCs were separately stimulated by 1 mM RB for 24 h or cultured with RB-based mDCs at a ratio of 1 : 1 for 69 h to verify whether RB or mDCs affect the iDC maturity. All cells were incubated with anti-CD16/CD32 at 4°C for 10 min and then detached, washed twice in cold PBS, and stained with the following antibodies: PE-Cy7™ anti-CD86, APC anti-CD80, PE anti-CD11c, APC-Cy7™ anti-CD14, PerCP-Cy5.5™ anti-mouse I-A/I-E, and FITC anti-CD40 antibodies. A fluorescence-minus-one (FMO) control was used as the negative control, which was stained with all the antibodies except the antibody that bound to the antigen of interest. The data were analysed by flow cytometry.


## 2.11. DC Endocytosis Assay

Endocytosis of antigen-pulsed DCs was assessed with FITC-dextran (FD40S, average molar weight: 40,000). A total of1×106 cells of iDCs or mDCs were seeded in six-well plates with RPMI 1640 containing 10% of FBS. After adding the FITC-dextran (1 mg/ml), the cells were incubated for 2 h at 37°C or 4°C (negative control). Then, the cells were washed with cold PBS three times and fixed with 2% paraformaldehyde. After that, the percentage of BMDCs taking up FITC-dextran was determined by flow cytometric analysis. The assay was performed in triplicate and repeated three times.


## 2.12.In Vitro Cytotoxicity Assay

We used a CytoTox 96® Non-Radioactive Cytotoxicity Assay (Promega, G1780) to assess the cytotoxicity of splenic lymphocytes according to the manufacturer’s protocol. The spleen was harvested from each of the mice at the end of the experiment. Splenic lymphocytes stimulated with RB-treated LLC for 5 days were used as the effector cells. LLCs and CSCs were used as the targeted cells, respectively. Briefly, a total of8×103 LLCs were cultured in a 96-well round-bottom plate. The effector splenic lymphocytes were distributed in triplicate, and the effector cells were mixed with the target cells (LLCs and CSCs) at E: T ratios of 25 : 1, 12 : 1, 6 : 1, and 3 : 1 in a final volume of 100 μl. All the effector and target cells were incubated for 6 h at 37°C in 96-well round-bottom plates that were centrifuged. For the determination of the maximum release, 10 μl of 10x lysis buffer was added to the positive control wells and incubated for 45 min at 37°C before the centrifuging step. Then, 50 μl supernatant was carefully transferred to a new 96-well round-bottom plate, and 50 μl substrate was added to each well, mixed, and incubated for 30 min at RT in the dark. Finally, 50 μl stop solution was added into each well. The plate was read at 490 nm, and the percentage of specific lysis that occurred in each well was calculated by the following equation: %Cytotoxicity=100×Experiment–EffectorSpontaneous–TargetSpontaneous/TargetMaximum–TargetSpontaneous.


## 2.13.In Vitro Cytokine Generation

Cytokines produced by antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in vitro were evaluated using the following protocol. The spleen was harvested from each of the mice at the end of the experiment. After mincing the spleen, a single cell suspension was separated by density gradient centrifugation. Then, splenic lymphocytes (2×106) in the PBS control, RB, RB-based mDC vaccine, and RB-iDC vaccine treatment groups were incubated with RB- (100 μM-) treated LLCs. After 2 h of restimulation, 3 μg/ml monensin and 2 μM brefeldin A (both from eBioscience) were used for 4 h, and then, all samples were resuspended in 50 μl of a cocktail of diluted antibodies against cell surface markers and incubated at 4°C for 30 min. To stain the intracellular TNF-α and IFN-γ, the cells were fixed by adding 100 μl of fixation buffer (eBioscience) to the cells suspended in 100 μl of staining buffer and incubating at 4°C for 30 min. After washing twice in 1× permeabilization buffer, the cells were resuspended in a diluted intracellular antibody cocktail, incubated at 4°C for 30 min, and then washed twice in 1× permeabilization buffer again. Flow cytometry data were then collected and analysed.


## 2.14.In Vivo Tumour Treatment Studies

Animal experiments were performed in the Experimental Animal Center of Fudan University (Shanghai, China). All experimental protocols involving animals were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Fudan University, and the agreement number was 20171143A083. Male C57BL/6 mice (aged 6-8 weeks) were purchased from Shanghai Lingchang BioTech Co., Ltd.Intralesional injections of PBS, RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine and the RB-iDC vaccine were performed as follows. A total of1×106 LLCs were subcutaneously inoculated into the right flank of the C57BL/6 mice (five to six per group). Before the intralesional injection of RB/DCs, we selected mice with round tumours. When the tumour diameter was 4-5 mm (day 0), 1 mM RB (dissolved in PBS) was administered by intralesional injection, and the injection volume was equal to half the volume of the tumour (0.5 ml/cm3). For immunization of the animals, the iDCs or mature DCs pulsed with the RB-treated LLC lysates were washed three times in cold PBS and resuspended in PBS at a final concentration of 1×107 cells/ml. DC suspension (100 μl) was subcutaneously injected into syngeneic C57BL/6 mice. PBS injection was used as the control. The RB-iDC vaccine strategy involved pretreating the tumour with intralesional RB for 10 min and then performing an intralesional injection of 1×106 iDCs. Tumour sizes were measured with digital callipers and approximated by multiplying the measured dimensions. Tumour sizes were surveyed every day after the tumours appeared, and the mice were sacrificed when their tumour diameter was more than 10-15 mm. Tumour volumes based on the measurements with the digital callipers were calculated by the following equation: V=0.5×dlong×dshort×dshort.


## 2.15. Preparation of Single Cell Suspensions

Single cell suspensions were obtained from the tumour and spleen by mechanical dissociation and enzymatic digestion, respectively. Briefly, taking the tumour as an example, it was removed aseptically and minced into 1-2 mm3 pieces followed by washing with RPMI-1640 medium. Tumour dissociation was carried out with constant shaking in PBS containing 1 mg/ml collagenase D (Roche) and 30 μg/ml DNase I (Roche) for 20 min at RT. The cell suspension was then filtered through a 70 μm nylon filter mesh to remove any undigested tissue fragments, and lymphocytes were isolated by density gradient centrifugation. Lymphocytes were washed twice with RPMI-1640 medium. Cell numbers were calculated, and cell viability was determined with a trypan blue dye exclusion assay. Similarly, the lymph nodes were mechanically dissociated by a plunger and filtered through a 70 μm cell strainer. Then, the cells from tumours, spleens, and lymph nodes were stained with the following antibodies to determine the proportions of immunosuppressive cells (regulatory T cells (Tregs), macrophages, and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs)) and immune effector cells (T effector memory cells (Tems), T central memory cells (Tcms), T memory stem cells (Tscms), naïve T cells (Tns), CD4+ T cells, and CD8+ T cells): Tregs were identified as CD4-positive/CD25-positive/Foxp3-positive; M1 macrophages were identified as F4/80-positive/CD11b-positive/CD11c-positive, and M2 macrophages were identified as F4/80-positive/CD11b-positive/CD206-positive; MDSCs were identified as CD11b-positive/Gr-1-positive; Tcms were identified as CD8-positive/CD44-positive/CD62L-positive, Tems were identified as CD8-positive/CD44-positive/CD62L-negative, and Tscm+Tn cells were identified as CD8-positive/CD44-negative/CD62L-positive. The cells were then washed with flow buffer (PBS with 2% FBS) and resuspended in 500 μl of DNA staining solution (1 μg/ml DAPI) at RT for 5 min. A fluorescence-minus-one (FMO) control was used as the negative control, which was stained with all the antibodies except the antibody that bound to the antigen of interest. The percentages of the different immune cells above were analysed by flow cytometry.


## 2.16. Examination of Lung Metastasis

Lung metastasis was examined using a previously described method [27]. Briefly, after treatment with PBS, RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, or the RB-iDC vaccine, the mice were sacrificed on day 21 and injected with India ink (15%) through the trachea to stain the lungs. Then, the lungs were collected and stored in Fekete’s solution (100 ml of 70% alcohol, 5 ml of glacial acetic acid, and 10 ml of formalin) at RT for 3 days. Finally, the lungs were photographed. White nodules on the black-stained lungs were considered tumour metastasis sites. We then calculated the lung metastasis rate of each mouse in each group.


## 2.17. Statistical Analysis

All statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism 5 (GraphPad Software Inc.). Student’st-test and one-way ANOVA followed by the appropriate post hoc test (Tukey’s multiple comparison test) were used to compare the differences between individual data points. A Kaplan–Meier survival curve and repeated measure analysis of variance were applied in the tumour treatment experiments. For differences between the survival curves, the log-rank test was used to calculate P values. P<0.05 was considered a statistically significant difference.


## 3. Results

### 3.1. RB Induced G2/M Phase Cell Cycle Arrest and Necrosis in a Lung Cancer Cell Line

The effect of RB treatment on cell cycle distribution was evaluated by flow cytometry. For cell cycle analysis, LLCs were treated with 0, 100, 200, and 300μM RB for 24 h. Compared with the cells subjected to the control treatment, at the different RB exposure doses, LLCs exhibited a reduction in the fraction of cells in S and G1 phases, and the fraction of cells in G2/M phase increased. These results indicated that RB could induce G2/M phase cell cycle arrest (Figure 1(a)).Figure 1
RB induced cell cycle arrest and cell death. (a) After the treatment for 24 h with different doses of RB, LLCs mainly exhibited G2/M growth arrest. The gating strategy of cell cycle: First, the adherent cells were removed, and the cell cycle was analysed by the cell cycle model version of FlowJo v10. Software programs provided the estimate of cell percentage with fractional DNA content and cell cycle in sub-G1, G1, S, or G2/M phase. Three independent experiments were performed. (b) The percentage of cells with sub-G1 DNA content in LLCs. (c–e) RB induced cell apoptosis and necrosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Representative flow cytometry data are presented (c), and three independent experiments were performed (d, e). The gating strategy of cell necrosis: First, the cells were collected, and the voltage was adjusted with the blank control. Then, a new scatterplot was created, the target cells were gated (cross gate), and the scatterplot was finally compensated by FITC and DAPI single-stained controls. The assay was carried out in triplicate and repeated three times. The results are expressed as themeanvalues±SD. One-way ANOVA was performed, and significance level was defined as ∗P<0.05, ∗∗P<0.01, and ∗∗∗P<0.001.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)To explore the pattern of cell death, LLCs were treated with increasing concentrations of RB. We found that the number of cells with sub-G1 DNA content was increased in a dose-dependent manner (Figure1(b)). Furthermore, RB promoted cell death by means of apoptosis and necrosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner, as evidenced by the notable increase in the proportion of Annexin V FITC and DAPI (4′, 6-diamidino-2′-phenylindole dihydrochloride)-double-positive cells (Figures 1(c)–1(e)).


### 3.2. Cancer Cells Treated with RB Were Exposed to Calreticulin on the Surface (ecto-CRT)

RB could induce LLC deathin vitro, and the mechanism of cell death was determined to be rapid necrosis. However, whether the induced cell death was immunogenic remained to be evaluated. Therefore, we next investigated whether RB treatment induced ecto-CRT expression in cancer cells.Confocal microscopy of LLC and B16 cells stained with membrane surface-exposed CRT confirmed that CRT was indeed localized at the plasma membrane (Figure2(a)). In addition, the CRT expression was quantified, and RB was found to induce CRT expression by the LLCs in a dose-dependent manner (Figures 2(b) and 2(c)).Figure 2
Cancer cells treated with RB were exposed to calreticulin on the surface (ecto-CRT). (a) Immunofluorescence analysis of ecto-CRT expression on LLC and B16 cells that were treated with RB (10 or 100μM, respectively) for 24 h. (b, c) LLC exhibited increased ecto-CRT expression in a dose-dependent manner after 30 min of RB treatment. The gating strategy of ecto-CRT expression of LLCs: First, the cells were collected, and the voltage was adjusted to the blank control. Then, a new scatterplot was created, the target cells were gated (cross gate), and the scatterplot was finally compensated by FITC and DAPI single-stained controls. Representative flow cytometry data are presented (b) as the mean±SD from three representative independent experiments (c). The assay was carried out in triplicate and repeated three times. The results are expressed as the meanvalues±SD. One-way ANOVA was performed, and the significance level was defined as ∗P<0.05 and ∗∗P<0.01.
(a)(b)(c)


### 3.3. Lewis Cancer Stem Cells Treated with RB Were Exposed to Calreticulin on the Cell Surface (ecto-CRT)

We next identified the CRT expression of Lewis CSCs. After 7 days, the size of the cell spheres was significantly increased, and a three-dimensional spheroid was formed in the culture medium (Figure3(a)). We then examined the expression of stem cell markers Oct-4, CD44, and ABCG2 in the LLCs and Lewis CSCs, and the expression of all of these markers in the Lewis CSCs showed significant differences compared with LLCs (Figure 3(b)). We discovered that 30 min of RB treatment elevated ecto-CRT expression in the Lewis CSCs in a dose-dependent manner (Figures 3(c)–3(e)).Figure 3
Lewis cancer stem cells treated with RB were exposed to calreticulin on the surface (ecto-CRT). (a) The increased size of the cell spheres after 7 days (magnification of 200x). (b) The results of the real-time quantitative PCR analysis indicated that the expression of the Oct-4, CD44, and ABCG2 genes was significantly elevated in Lewis CSCs than LLCs. (c–e) The RB treatment induced increased ecto-CRT expression in CSCs in a dose-dependent manner. Increased expression was observed on both live (d) and dead cells (e) based on flow cytometric analysis. The gating strategy of ecto-CRT expression in cancer stem cells: First, the cells were collected, and the voltage was adjusted according to the blank control. Then, a new scatterplot was created, and the target cells were gated (cross gate) and finally compensated by APC, PE, FITC, and DAPI single-stained controls. A representative example of three separate experiments is summarized in (d). Themean±SD are shown. One-way ANOVA was performed, and the significance level was defined as ∗∗P<0.01, ∗∗∗P<0.001, and ∗∗∗∗P<0.0001.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)


### 3.4. The Role of RB-Treated LLCs in the Maturation of iDC

DCs have the potential to activate the immune response, and this ability depends on their maturation status, reflected by the expression of stimulatory molecules. iDCs loaded with RB-treated LLCsex vivo showed increased expression of the molecules CD86, CD80, MHC class II, CD11c, and CD40 compared with untreated iDCs; however, the expression of CD14 was low in the both two groups. The expression of these surface molecules on mDCs stimulated by RB-treated LLCs was similar to that on mDCs stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (Supplementary Figure 1). The expression levels and the mean fluorescence intensity of those molecules were quantified (Figures 4(a) and 4(b)). And RB-based mDCs and LPS-stimulated mDCs significantly reduced FITC-dextran uptake compared with iDCs (Figure 4(c)). In addition, we further examined the cytotoxicity of RB to iDCs, mDCs, and splenic lymphocytes. The viability of these immune cells was not affected by high concentrations of RB (1 mM) compared with the NC group (P>0.05) (Figure 4(d)). Moreover, iDCs stimulated by RB alone (Figure 4(e)) or RB-based mDCs (Supplementary Figure 2 and Figure 4(f)) did not undergo maturation.Figure 4
RB-treated LLCs induced the mature DC phenotype. The percentage of positive cells was shown according to the FMO control. On day 6, iDCs were collected and cultured with RB-treated LLCs for 69 h. The results are shown as “RB-based mDC.” As a positive control, iDCs were stimulated with LPS for 24 h. The results are shown as “LPS-stimulated mDC.” And iDCs without stimulation were used as negative control. (a, b) The percentage and the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of cells that stained positive for the cell surface markers of the mature DC phenotype. The data are representative of 8 experiments. The assay was carried out in triplicate and repeated three times. (c) RB-based mDCs or LPS-stimulated mDCs significantly reduced FITC-dextran uptake compared with iDCs. (d) iDCs, RB-based mDCs, and splenic lymphocytes were treated with 1 mM RB for 24 h. Cells were cultured in medium without RB as a negative control (referred as “NC”), and then, the cells were quantified using Vi-cell XR. (e, f) iDCs stimulated by RB alone (e) or RB-based mDCs (f) did not undergo maturation. The data shown aremean±SD from representative of three independent experiments. Significance between samples was calculated by Student’s t-test (d) and one-way ANOVA (a–c, e, f) (ns indicates no statistical significance, ∗P<0.05, ∗∗P<0.01, ∗∗∗P<0.001, ∗∗∗∗P<0.0001).
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)


### 3.5. Intralesional Treatment with RB, the RB-Based mDC Vaccine, and the RB-iDC Vaccine Induced Significant Tumour Regression and Inhibited Lung Metastasis in Lung Cancer-Bearing Mice

To determine whether RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine and the RB-iDC vaccine were feasible antitumour approaches for lung cancer patients; we investigated whether the intralesional injection of these treatments caused an antitumour therapeutic effect on a lung cancer mouse model. An immunocompetent C57BL/6 mouse model using syngeneic murine LLCs was adopted. To define the effect of RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine and the RB-iDC vaccine on an established LLCs subcutaneous tumour mouse model, tumours were injected with PBS, RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine or the RB-iDC vaccine. Approximately 72 hours later, all tumours in the RB and RB-iDC vaccine groups exhibited reduced volume and displayed evidence of clinical ulceration. By 5 days postinjection, the differences in the tumour volumes were obvious and persisted to the end of the experiment when comparing the RB-, RB-based mDC vaccine-, and RB-iDC vaccine-treated groups with the PBS control (P<0.05) (Figure 5(a)). More importantly, prolonged survival was observed in the RB-iDC group, which had a 100% survival rate at the end of the experiment (Figure 5(b)). In addition, we found that the tumours of half of the mice in the RB-based mDC vaccine and RB-iDC vaccine groups became undetectable 3 days after treatment. However, on the 4th day in the RB-based mDC vaccine group and on the 7th day in the RB-iDC vaccine group, the tumours grew back; however, the tumour volumes remained stable and did not increase afterwards (data not shown). The weights of the tumours in the mice treated with RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, or the RB-iDC vaccine were also significantly lower than those of the PBS control (Figures 5(c) and 5(d)).Figure 5
The antitumour effects of the RB, RB-based mDC vaccine, and RB-iDC vaccine treatments. (a) LLC tumours were grown to approximately 1300 mm3 in the groups, with 5 animals per condition. The graphs describe the tumour growth kinetics of the control animals treated with PBS and the animals receiving the three designated treatments, as indicated by the label in the upper right-hand corner of each graph. All animals received RB by intralesional injection; the mice of the RB-based mDC vaccine-treated group received 1×106 bone marrow-derived mature DCs pulsed with RB-treated LLC lysis, and the RB-iDC vaccine-treated group underwent RB injection and then received 1×106 bone marrow-derived iDCs 10 min later by intralesional injection. Each group received only one treatment. All animals received RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, or the RB-iDC vaccine on day 0. (b) Mouse survival is shown as a Kaplan–Meier curve (n=6/group). Significant differences in survival were observed between the RB-iDC vaccine group and the other three groups. (c) The tumours were removed from all the mice of the four groups and photographed. (d) LLC tumour weight comparisons among the four groups were performed on day 30 after the tumour challenge. (e) Representative lungs from the treated mice are shown. (f) Dots represent the meannumber±SD of lung metastasis lesions. ND: not detected. The data represent three independent experiments. Significance between samples was evaluated by one-way ANOVA (ns: not statistically significant, ∗P<0.05, ∗∗P<0.01, ∗∗∗P<0.001, ∗∗∗∗P<0.0001).
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)LLCs are highly malignant cancer cells that can metastasize to the lungs in mice [28]. Therefore, we further investigated the antimetastatic effect of RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC vaccine in LLC tumour-bearing mice. Representative images of the lungs and the numbers of lung surface metastatic nodules in different groups are shown (Figures 5(e) and 5(f)). In the PBS control group, all mice had 3-4 metastatic tumour lesions in their lungs on day 21. However, no metastatic lung lesions were observed in the RB, RB-based mDC vaccine, and RB-iDC vaccine groups (P<0.05). These results suggested that the RB, RB-based mDC vaccine, and RB-iDC vaccine treatments exerted significant inhibitory effects against lung metastasis. These results indicated that the RB-iDC vaccine, RB, and the RB-based mDC vaccine could significantly improve the antitumour effect and inhibit lung metastasis in a preclinical lung cancer mouse model. In particular, compared to the other three treatments, the RB-iDC vaccine showed superior therapeutic efficiency.


### 3.6. The RB-iDC Vaccine Induced More Tumour-Specific Cytotoxic T Cells and Other Immune Effector Cells and Attenuated the Accumulation of Immunosuppressive Cells

To evaluate whether RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC vaccine elicited a strengthened tumour-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response in the treated mice, we analysed the CTL activity of mouse splenic lymphocytes isolated from the mice treated with PBS, RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC vaccine at the end of the experiment via a CytoTox 96® Non-Radioactive Cytotoxicity Assay. We found that the RB-iDC vaccine, RB, and the RB-based mDC vaccine were all capable of eliciting significantly stronger CTL activity against LLCs and CSCs than PBS (Figures6(a) and 6(b)). At an E:T ratio of 25 : 1, the CTL activity of the mice treated with RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC vaccine elicited a significantly higher level of tumour-specific target cell lysis than that observed in the mice treated with PBS control. Interestingly, the mice treated with the RB-iDC vaccine displayed significantly higher proportions of TNF-α-producing splenic lymphocytes upon in vitro restimulation than the mice receiving RB or the RB-based mDC vaccine (Figures 6(c) and 6(d)). Moreover, the RB-iDC vaccine also displayed an increased frequency of Tcm and Tscm+Tn cells compared with the other three groups (Figure 6(e)), and representative flow cytometric analyses were shown in Supplementary Figure 3. Furthermore, the percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the splenic lymphocyte, tumour-infiltrating cell, and tumour-draining lymph node (TDLN) populations of RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC group were significantly higher than those of the PBS control mice, with the CD8+ T cells exhibiting a more dramatic difference, especially in the RB-iDC group (Figure 6(f)). Therefore, these results indicated that RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC vaccine increased the proportion of intrinsic tumour-specific CD8+ T cells and suggested a crucial role for tumour-specific CD8+ T cells in the generation of antitumour immunity.Figure 6
RB, RB-based mDC vaccine, and RB-iDC vaccine treatments led to tumour-specific T cell responses, the induction of immune effector cells and the attenuation of immunosuppressive cells in the LLC mouse model. (a, b) The CTL responses in the PBS-, RB-, RB-based mDC vaccine-, and RB-iDC vaccine-treated mice are shown. CTL responses were assessedin vitro using LLCs and Lewis CSCs as the target cells, respectively. The spleen was harvested at the end of the experiment. Splenic lymphocytes stimulated with RB-treated LLCs were used as the effector cells. Three mice per group were analysed. (c, d) After restimulating the splenocytes with RB-treated LLC in vitro, the intracellular IFN-γ and TNF-α production of CD8+ T cells was measured by flow cytometry. PBS served as a control. The results are shown as the percentages of IFN-γ- and TNF-α-producing CD8+ T cells among the total CD8+ T cell population. (e) The percentages of Tem (CD8+ CD62L- CD44+), Tscm+Tn (CD8+ CD62L+ CD44-), and Tcm (CD8+ CD62L+ CD44+) cells are shown. (f) Ten days after therapy, the CD4+ T and CD8+ T cells of the splenic lymphocyte, tumour-infiltrating cell, and TDLN populations were analysed by flow cytometry (n=6). The data are representative of three independent experiments. (g, h) The Treg percentages. (i, j) The MDSC percentages. (k, l) The macrophage percentages in the TME and spleen are shown. Immune effector cells and immunosuppressive cells were analysed by flow cytometry (n=5). The data are representative of three independent experiments. The mean±SD are shown. Significance between samples was calculated by one-way ANOVA (∗P<0.05, ∗∗P<0.01, ∗∗∗P<0.001).
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)(j)(k)(l)Moreover, the Treg populations of mice treated with RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC vaccine were significantly lower than those of mice in the PBS control group, both in the tumour microenvironment and in the spleen (Figures6(g) and 6(h)), and representative flow cytometric analysis results were shown in Supplementary Figure 4. In the TME, the Treg populations of mice treated with the RB-iDC vaccine were much lower than those of mice treated with RB alone. For the proportion of MDSCs, the percentages of MDSCs in the TME of the RB-iDC vaccine and RB-based mDC vaccine groups were both lower than those of the PBS control and RB groups (Figure 6(j)). Representative flow cytometric analysis of MDSCs was shown in Supplementary Figure 5. However, in the spleen, there was no difference in the proportion of MDSCs (Figure 6(i)). Similarly, the M2 populations of the RB-iDC vaccine and RB-based mDC vaccine groups in the TME were significantly lower than those of PBS control group and RB group(Figure 6(l)), and the percentage of M2 macrophages in the spleens of the RB or RB-iDC vaccine group was significantly lower than PBS control group (Figure 6(k)). Representative flow cytometric analyses were shown in Supplementary Figure 6. Interestingly, there was no statistically significant difference in the M1 proportion between the treated group and the PBS control group.


## 3.1. RB Induced G2/M Phase Cell Cycle Arrest and Necrosis in a Lung Cancer Cell Line

The effect of RB treatment on cell cycle distribution was evaluated by flow cytometry. For cell cycle analysis, LLCs were treated with 0, 100, 200, and 300μM RB for 24 h. Compared with the cells subjected to the control treatment, at the different RB exposure doses, LLCs exhibited a reduction in the fraction of cells in S and G1 phases, and the fraction of cells in G2/M phase increased. These results indicated that RB could induce G2/M phase cell cycle arrest (Figure 1(a)).Figure 1
RB induced cell cycle arrest and cell death. (a) After the treatment for 24 h with different doses of RB, LLCs mainly exhibited G2/M growth arrest. The gating strategy of cell cycle: First, the adherent cells were removed, and the cell cycle was analysed by the cell cycle model version of FlowJo v10. Software programs provided the estimate of cell percentage with fractional DNA content and cell cycle in sub-G1, G1, S, or G2/M phase. Three independent experiments were performed. (b) The percentage of cells with sub-G1 DNA content in LLCs. (c–e) RB induced cell apoptosis and necrosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Representative flow cytometry data are presented (c), and three independent experiments were performed (d, e). The gating strategy of cell necrosis: First, the cells were collected, and the voltage was adjusted with the blank control. Then, a new scatterplot was created, the target cells were gated (cross gate), and the scatterplot was finally compensated by FITC and DAPI single-stained controls. The assay was carried out in triplicate and repeated three times. The results are expressed as themeanvalues±SD. One-way ANOVA was performed, and significance level was defined as ∗P<0.05, ∗∗P<0.01, and ∗∗∗P<0.001.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)To explore the pattern of cell death, LLCs were treated with increasing concentrations of RB. We found that the number of cells with sub-G1 DNA content was increased in a dose-dependent manner (Figure1(b)). Furthermore, RB promoted cell death by means of apoptosis and necrosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner, as evidenced by the notable increase in the proportion of Annexin V FITC and DAPI (4′, 6-diamidino-2′-phenylindole dihydrochloride)-double-positive cells (Figures 1(c)–1(e)).


## 3.2. Cancer Cells Treated with RB Were Exposed to Calreticulin on the Surface (ecto-CRT)

RB could induce LLC deathin vitro, and the mechanism of cell death was determined to be rapid necrosis. However, whether the induced cell death was immunogenic remained to be evaluated. Therefore, we next investigated whether RB treatment induced ecto-CRT expression in cancer cells.Confocal microscopy of LLC and B16 cells stained with membrane surface-exposed CRT confirmed that CRT was indeed localized at the plasma membrane (Figure2(a)). In addition, the CRT expression was quantified, and RB was found to induce CRT expression by the LLCs in a dose-dependent manner (Figures 2(b) and 2(c)).Figure 2
Cancer cells treated with RB were exposed to calreticulin on the surface (ecto-CRT). (a) Immunofluorescence analysis of ecto-CRT expression on LLC and B16 cells that were treated with RB (10 or 100μM, respectively) for 24 h. (b, c) LLC exhibited increased ecto-CRT expression in a dose-dependent manner after 30 min of RB treatment. The gating strategy of ecto-CRT expression of LLCs: First, the cells were collected, and the voltage was adjusted to the blank control. Then, a new scatterplot was created, the target cells were gated (cross gate), and the scatterplot was finally compensated by FITC and DAPI single-stained controls. Representative flow cytometry data are presented (b) as the mean±SD from three representative independent experiments (c). The assay was carried out in triplicate and repeated three times. The results are expressed as the meanvalues±SD. One-way ANOVA was performed, and the significance level was defined as ∗P<0.05 and ∗∗P<0.01.
(a)(b)(c)


## 3.3. Lewis Cancer Stem Cells Treated with RB Were Exposed to Calreticulin on the Cell Surface (ecto-CRT)

We next identified the CRT expression of Lewis CSCs. After 7 days, the size of the cell spheres was significantly increased, and a three-dimensional spheroid was formed in the culture medium (Figure3(a)). We then examined the expression of stem cell markers Oct-4, CD44, and ABCG2 in the LLCs and Lewis CSCs, and the expression of all of these markers in the Lewis CSCs showed significant differences compared with LLCs (Figure 3(b)). We discovered that 30 min of RB treatment elevated ecto-CRT expression in the Lewis CSCs in a dose-dependent manner (Figures 3(c)–3(e)).Figure 3
Lewis cancer stem cells treated with RB were exposed to calreticulin on the surface (ecto-CRT). (a) The increased size of the cell spheres after 7 days (magnification of 200x). (b) The results of the real-time quantitative PCR analysis indicated that the expression of the Oct-4, CD44, and ABCG2 genes was significantly elevated in Lewis CSCs than LLCs. (c–e) The RB treatment induced increased ecto-CRT expression in CSCs in a dose-dependent manner. Increased expression was observed on both live (d) and dead cells (e) based on flow cytometric analysis. The gating strategy of ecto-CRT expression in cancer stem cells: First, the cells were collected, and the voltage was adjusted according to the blank control. Then, a new scatterplot was created, and the target cells were gated (cross gate) and finally compensated by APC, PE, FITC, and DAPI single-stained controls. A representative example of three separate experiments is summarized in (d). Themean±SD are shown. One-way ANOVA was performed, and the significance level was defined as ∗∗P<0.01, ∗∗∗P<0.001, and ∗∗∗∗P<0.0001.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)


## 3.4. The Role of RB-Treated LLCs in the Maturation of iDC

DCs have the potential to activate the immune response, and this ability depends on their maturation status, reflected by the expression of stimulatory molecules. iDCs loaded with RB-treated LLCsex vivo showed increased expression of the molecules CD86, CD80, MHC class II, CD11c, and CD40 compared with untreated iDCs; however, the expression of CD14 was low in the both two groups. The expression of these surface molecules on mDCs stimulated by RB-treated LLCs was similar to that on mDCs stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (Supplementary Figure 1). The expression levels and the mean fluorescence intensity of those molecules were quantified (Figures 4(a) and 4(b)). And RB-based mDCs and LPS-stimulated mDCs significantly reduced FITC-dextran uptake compared with iDCs (Figure 4(c)). In addition, we further examined the cytotoxicity of RB to iDCs, mDCs, and splenic lymphocytes. The viability of these immune cells was not affected by high concentrations of RB (1 mM) compared with the NC group (P>0.05) (Figure 4(d)). Moreover, iDCs stimulated by RB alone (Figure 4(e)) or RB-based mDCs (Supplementary Figure 2 and Figure 4(f)) did not undergo maturation.Figure 4
RB-treated LLCs induced the mature DC phenotype. The percentage of positive cells was shown according to the FMO control. On day 6, iDCs were collected and cultured with RB-treated LLCs for 69 h. The results are shown as “RB-based mDC.” As a positive control, iDCs were stimulated with LPS for 24 h. The results are shown as “LPS-stimulated mDC.” And iDCs without stimulation were used as negative control. (a, b) The percentage and the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of cells that stained positive for the cell surface markers of the mature DC phenotype. The data are representative of 8 experiments. The assay was carried out in triplicate and repeated three times. (c) RB-based mDCs or LPS-stimulated mDCs significantly reduced FITC-dextran uptake compared with iDCs. (d) iDCs, RB-based mDCs, and splenic lymphocytes were treated with 1 mM RB for 24 h. Cells were cultured in medium without RB as a negative control (referred as “NC”), and then, the cells were quantified using Vi-cell XR. (e, f) iDCs stimulated by RB alone (e) or RB-based mDCs (f) did not undergo maturation. The data shown aremean±SD from representative of three independent experiments. Significance between samples was calculated by Student’s t-test (d) and one-way ANOVA (a–c, e, f) (ns indicates no statistical significance, ∗P<0.05, ∗∗P<0.01, ∗∗∗P<0.001, ∗∗∗∗P<0.0001).
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)


## 3.5. Intralesional Treatment with RB, the RB-Based mDC Vaccine, and the RB-iDC Vaccine Induced Significant Tumour Regression and Inhibited Lung Metastasis in Lung Cancer-Bearing Mice

To determine whether RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine and the RB-iDC vaccine were feasible antitumour approaches for lung cancer patients; we investigated whether the intralesional injection of these treatments caused an antitumour therapeutic effect on a lung cancer mouse model. An immunocompetent C57BL/6 mouse model using syngeneic murine LLCs was adopted. To define the effect of RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine and the RB-iDC vaccine on an established LLCs subcutaneous tumour mouse model, tumours were injected with PBS, RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine or the RB-iDC vaccine. Approximately 72 hours later, all tumours in the RB and RB-iDC vaccine groups exhibited reduced volume and displayed evidence of clinical ulceration. By 5 days postinjection, the differences in the tumour volumes were obvious and persisted to the end of the experiment when comparing the RB-, RB-based mDC vaccine-, and RB-iDC vaccine-treated groups with the PBS control (P<0.05) (Figure 5(a)). More importantly, prolonged survival was observed in the RB-iDC group, which had a 100% survival rate at the end of the experiment (Figure 5(b)). In addition, we found that the tumours of half of the mice in the RB-based mDC vaccine and RB-iDC vaccine groups became undetectable 3 days after treatment. However, on the 4th day in the RB-based mDC vaccine group and on the 7th day in the RB-iDC vaccine group, the tumours grew back; however, the tumour volumes remained stable and did not increase afterwards (data not shown). The weights of the tumours in the mice treated with RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, or the RB-iDC vaccine were also significantly lower than those of the PBS control (Figures 5(c) and 5(d)).Figure 5
The antitumour effects of the RB, RB-based mDC vaccine, and RB-iDC vaccine treatments. (a) LLC tumours were grown to approximately 1300 mm3 in the groups, with 5 animals per condition. The graphs describe the tumour growth kinetics of the control animals treated with PBS and the animals receiving the three designated treatments, as indicated by the label in the upper right-hand corner of each graph. All animals received RB by intralesional injection; the mice of the RB-based mDC vaccine-treated group received 1×106 bone marrow-derived mature DCs pulsed with RB-treated LLC lysis, and the RB-iDC vaccine-treated group underwent RB injection and then received 1×106 bone marrow-derived iDCs 10 min later by intralesional injection. Each group received only one treatment. All animals received RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, or the RB-iDC vaccine on day 0. (b) Mouse survival is shown as a Kaplan–Meier curve (n=6/group). Significant differences in survival were observed between the RB-iDC vaccine group and the other three groups. (c) The tumours were removed from all the mice of the four groups and photographed. (d) LLC tumour weight comparisons among the four groups were performed on day 30 after the tumour challenge. (e) Representative lungs from the treated mice are shown. (f) Dots represent the meannumber±SD of lung metastasis lesions. ND: not detected. The data represent three independent experiments. Significance between samples was evaluated by one-way ANOVA (ns: not statistically significant, ∗P<0.05, ∗∗P<0.01, ∗∗∗P<0.001, ∗∗∗∗P<0.0001).
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)LLCs are highly malignant cancer cells that can metastasize to the lungs in mice [28]. Therefore, we further investigated the antimetastatic effect of RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC vaccine in LLC tumour-bearing mice. Representative images of the lungs and the numbers of lung surface metastatic nodules in different groups are shown (Figures 5(e) and 5(f)). In the PBS control group, all mice had 3-4 metastatic tumour lesions in their lungs on day 21. However, no metastatic lung lesions were observed in the RB, RB-based mDC vaccine, and RB-iDC vaccine groups (P<0.05). These results suggested that the RB, RB-based mDC vaccine, and RB-iDC vaccine treatments exerted significant inhibitory effects against lung metastasis. These results indicated that the RB-iDC vaccine, RB, and the RB-based mDC vaccine could significantly improve the antitumour effect and inhibit lung metastasis in a preclinical lung cancer mouse model. In particular, compared to the other three treatments, the RB-iDC vaccine showed superior therapeutic efficiency.


## 3.6. The RB-iDC Vaccine Induced More Tumour-Specific Cytotoxic T Cells and Other Immune Effector Cells and Attenuated the Accumulation of Immunosuppressive Cells

To evaluate whether RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC vaccine elicited a strengthened tumour-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response in the treated mice, we analysed the CTL activity of mouse splenic lymphocytes isolated from the mice treated with PBS, RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC vaccine at the end of the experiment via a CytoTox 96® Non-Radioactive Cytotoxicity Assay. We found that the RB-iDC vaccine, RB, and the RB-based mDC vaccine were all capable of eliciting significantly stronger CTL activity against LLCs and CSCs than PBS (Figures6(a) and 6(b)). At an E:T ratio of 25 : 1, the CTL activity of the mice treated with RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC vaccine elicited a significantly higher level of tumour-specific target cell lysis than that observed in the mice treated with PBS control. Interestingly, the mice treated with the RB-iDC vaccine displayed significantly higher proportions of TNF-α-producing splenic lymphocytes upon in vitro restimulation than the mice receiving RB or the RB-based mDC vaccine (Figures 6(c) and 6(d)). Moreover, the RB-iDC vaccine also displayed an increased frequency of Tcm and Tscm+Tn cells compared with the other three groups (Figure 6(e)), and representative flow cytometric analyses were shown in Supplementary Figure 3. Furthermore, the percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the splenic lymphocyte, tumour-infiltrating cell, and tumour-draining lymph node (TDLN) populations of RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC group were significantly higher than those of the PBS control mice, with the CD8+ T cells exhibiting a more dramatic difference, especially in the RB-iDC group (Figure 6(f)). Therefore, these results indicated that RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC vaccine increased the proportion of intrinsic tumour-specific CD8+ T cells and suggested a crucial role for tumour-specific CD8+ T cells in the generation of antitumour immunity.Figure 6
RB, RB-based mDC vaccine, and RB-iDC vaccine treatments led to tumour-specific T cell responses, the induction of immune effector cells and the attenuation of immunosuppressive cells in the LLC mouse model. (a, b) The CTL responses in the PBS-, RB-, RB-based mDC vaccine-, and RB-iDC vaccine-treated mice are shown. CTL responses were assessedin vitro using LLCs and Lewis CSCs as the target cells, respectively. The spleen was harvested at the end of the experiment. Splenic lymphocytes stimulated with RB-treated LLCs were used as the effector cells. Three mice per group were analysed. (c, d) After restimulating the splenocytes with RB-treated LLC in vitro, the intracellular IFN-γ and TNF-α production of CD8+ T cells was measured by flow cytometry. PBS served as a control. The results are shown as the percentages of IFN-γ- and TNF-α-producing CD8+ T cells among the total CD8+ T cell population. (e) The percentages of Tem (CD8+ CD62L- CD44+), Tscm+Tn (CD8+ CD62L+ CD44-), and Tcm (CD8+ CD62L+ CD44+) cells are shown. (f) Ten days after therapy, the CD4+ T and CD8+ T cells of the splenic lymphocyte, tumour-infiltrating cell, and TDLN populations were analysed by flow cytometry (n=6). The data are representative of three independent experiments. (g, h) The Treg percentages. (i, j) The MDSC percentages. (k, l) The macrophage percentages in the TME and spleen are shown. Immune effector cells and immunosuppressive cells were analysed by flow cytometry (n=5). The data are representative of three independent experiments. The mean±SD are shown. Significance between samples was calculated by one-way ANOVA (∗P<0.05, ∗∗P<0.01, ∗∗∗P<0.001).
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)(j)(k)(l)Moreover, the Treg populations of mice treated with RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine, and the RB-iDC vaccine were significantly lower than those of mice in the PBS control group, both in the tumour microenvironment and in the spleen (Figures6(g) and 6(h)), and representative flow cytometric analysis results were shown in Supplementary Figure 4. In the TME, the Treg populations of mice treated with the RB-iDC vaccine were much lower than those of mice treated with RB alone. For the proportion of MDSCs, the percentages of MDSCs in the TME of the RB-iDC vaccine and RB-based mDC vaccine groups were both lower than those of the PBS control and RB groups (Figure 6(j)). Representative flow cytometric analysis of MDSCs was shown in Supplementary Figure 5. However, in the spleen, there was no difference in the proportion of MDSCs (Figure 6(i)). Similarly, the M2 populations of the RB-iDC vaccine and RB-based mDC vaccine groups in the TME were significantly lower than those of PBS control group and RB group(Figure 6(l)), and the percentage of M2 macrophages in the spleens of the RB or RB-iDC vaccine group was significantly lower than PBS control group (Figure 6(k)). Representative flow cytometric analyses were shown in Supplementary Figure 6. Interestingly, there was no statistically significant difference in the M1 proportion between the treated group and the PBS control group.


## 4. Discussion

According to the latest global cancer statistics, lung cancer remains the most prevalent malignant disease threatening human health [1]. Although EGFR-TKIs targeting EGFR-sensitive mutations and ICIs targeting programmed death-1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) have become first-line treatments for NSCLC [5, 29], immune-related adverse events and the development of resistance lead to the failure of these therapies [30–32]. Possible reasons for these negative outcomes include tumour-associated immunosuppression, tumour heterogeneity, and insufficient CD8+ T cell infiltration [33, 34]. Moreover, these treatments eventually produce drug resistance, which results in tumour recurrence or metastasis. Unfortunately, except for the patients with the T790M mutation, the optimal treatment for acquired resistance to first- and second-generation EGFR-TKIs is not yet clearly defined [32]. Therefore, it is urgent to develop novel immunotherapeutic strategies for the lung cancer treatment. Currently, dendritic cell-based vaccines have emerged as a promising anticancer treatment, although successful antitumour effects have been limited by immune tolerance, immunosuppression, and other unidentified factors in the TME [11, 12]. However, RB, a photosensitizer, can effectively kill tumour cells and induce ICD [13]. Therefore, we developed an in situ mDC vaccine (intralesional RB-iDCs) and investigated whether this vaccine has a better antitumour effect than the RB-based mDC vaccine in a lung cancer murine model.Consistent with previous research results showing the induction of tumour-specific T cell-mediated immunity in intralesional RB murine models or mice intraperitoneally injected with mDCs pulsed with hypericin-treated cancer cellsex vivo [35, 36], we demonstrated that CD8+ T cell populations were significantly higher in the spleen, tumour tissue, and TDLN of the RB, RB-based mDC vaccine, and RB-iDC vaccine groups than the PBS control group, and the CTL activity against LLC and the proportions of TNF-α-producing splenic lymphocytes were also higher in these treatment groups than the PBS control group. Furthermore, these three groups also exhibited larger Tem populations. These characteristics highlight the importance of the tumour-specific CD8+ T cell response generated by RB-treated LLCs and mDCs pulsed with RB-treated LLCs in vivo or ex vivo in antitumour immunity. This is the first study to confirm that RB, the ex vivo RB-based mDC vaccine, and the in vivo RB-iDC vaccine all display a significant antitumour effect in a lung cancer mouse model.ICD, which is defined by the secretion of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), is able to trigger effective antitumour immunity [14]. CRT, which translocates from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the surface of dying tumour cells, is the major signalling molecule that mediates ICD [37]. In line with other studies that have reported observations with the murine CT26 colon cell line [13] and human HeLa cells [38], we confirmed that RB has the ability to kill tumour cells by inducing the expression of ecto-CRT in both bulk LLC and B16 cell cultures. In addition, we elucidated for the first time that RB could induce ecto-CRT expression in Lewis CSCs. CSCs are responsible for drug resistance and tumour metastasis based on the Varon C’ study [39]. Interestingly, we verified that cytotoxic T lymphocytes in the experimental group still had a killing effect on Lewis CSCs, which was related to the inhibited lung metastasis in the RB, RB-based mDC vaccine, and RB-iDC vaccine groups. Therefore, this implies the possibility of new targeted therapies against CSCs. Although heat shock proteins 70/90 (HSP70/90), adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) are released during ICD in addition to the critical signal molecule CRT; the mechanisms underlying RB-induced ICD are still unknown and may be related to the role of ER stress and reactive oxygen species (ROS) [37].There is a synergistic effect when intralesional RB is combined with iDCs. We demonstrated that the cytotoxic effect of 1 mM RB had few side effects on normal tissues, and this dose is consistent with that used to treat melanoma in clinical trials [40]. Several studies have shown that RB intralesional injection trigger iDCs to migrate into the tumour [41, 42], although occasionally, the DCs are not able to enter the TME due to the immunosuppressive nature of the TME, which leads to the insufficient infiltration of effective immune cells into the TME [34]. Therefore, the intralesional injection of both RB and iDCs could subvert these immunosuppressive effects and guarantee sufficient antigen presentation. We demonstrated that more immune effector cells (CD4+ and CD8+ T cells) and fewer immunosuppressive cells (Tregs, macrophages, and MDSCs) were observed in the spleen, tumour tissue, and TDLNs of the treated groups, especially in the RB-iDC vaccine group, than in the PBS control group. Although RB, the RB-based mDC vaccine and the RB-iDC vaccine all have the ability to induce antigen presentation; only the RB-iDC vaccine was able to generate sufficient TAA presentation to T cells. This could explain why the antitumour effect of RB-iDCs was significantly enhanced, as shown by the prolonged survival time of the mice. Although previous research demonstrated that 5-AA intralesional injection combined with a DC vaccine could induce better antitumour effects [43], this is the first study to reveal that the in situ induction of DCs observed with the RB-iDC vaccine could strengthen the therapeutic efficiency relative to the ex vivo induction of mDCs. Specifically, the necrotic or apoptotic tumour cells within the primary tumour after intralesional RB administration could serve as in situ vaccines, which would convert a “cold” TME to a “hot” (immunogenic) TME [44, 45] and facilitate the activation of host antitumour immunity by ecto-CRT in the tumour cells or CSCs and by promoting the DC maturation. Such responses may “break” the immunosuppressive TME and provide a new method of broadening and enhancing antigen presentation and immune cell infiltration [46]. Therefore, the RB-iDC vaccine could effectively prevent tumour recurrence and metastasis because RB induced a long-term memory response.Some researchers have shown that RB or mDC vaccines in combination with PD-1 blockade can achieve better therapeutic effects than either strategy alone [47, 48]. These findings suggest that the RB-iDC vaccine in conjunction with immune checkpoint inhibitors or other clinically viable anticancer therapies may synergistically enhance antitumour T cell responses, and this possibility deserves further study. Another limitation of our study was that we used a single-dose intralesional injection, and better outcomes may be achieved with increased doses.


## 5. Conclusions

Based on our preclinical data, we propose a combination treatment strategy that could provide a better immunotherapy option for human lung cancer and for ongoing clinical investigations of combinatorial treatments in lung cancer and other solid tumours. In particular, it is advantageous to avoid the labour-intensive protocol and high costs of ex vivo DC generation; DCs can be rapidly targeted, activated, and maturedin vivo. For some superficial tumours, we can directly adopt the intralesional injection approach, and for some nonsuperficial tumours, it is practical to utilize endoscopic techniques or image-guided surgical approaches to direct tumour injections.



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*Source: 1178874-2022-02-01.xml*