The Thermal Dose of Photothermal Therapy Generates Differential Immunogenicity in Human Neuroblastoma Cells

Authors

Palak Sekhri, George Washington Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
Debbie K. Ledezma, George Washington Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
Anshi Shukla, George Washington Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
Elizabeth E. Sweeney, George Washington Cancer Center, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
Rohan Fernandes, George Washington Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

3-11-2022

Journal

Cancers

Volume

14

Issue

6

DOI

10.3390/cancers14061447

Keywords

MYCN amplification; Prussian blue nanoparticles; immunogenic cell death; immunogenicity; nanoimmunotherapy; neuroblastoma; photothermal therapy; thermal dose

Abstract

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is an effective method for tumor eradication and has been successfully combined with immunotherapy. However, besides its cytotoxic effects, little is known about the effect of the PTT thermal dose on the immunogenicity of treated tumor cells. Therefore, we administered a range of thermal doses using Prussian blue nanoparticle-based photothermal therapy (PBNP-PTT) and assessed their effects on tumor cell death and concomitant immunogenicity correlates in two human neuroblastoma cell lines: SH-SY5Y (-non-amplified) and LAN-1 (-amplified). PBNP-PTT generated thermal dose-dependent tumor cell killing and immunogenic cell death (ICD) in both tumor lines in vitro. However, the effect of the thermal dose on ICD and the expression of costimulatory molecules, immune checkpoint molecules, major histocompatibility complexes, an NK cell-activating ligand, and a neuroblastoma-associated antigen were significantly more pronounced in SH-SY5Y cells compared with LAN-1 cells, consistent with the high-risk phenotype of LAN-1 cells. In functional co-culture studies in vitro, T cells exhibited significantly higher cytotoxicity toward SH-SY5Y cells relative to LAN-1 cells at equivalent thermal doses. This preliminary report suggests the importance of moving past the traditional focus of using PTT solely for tumor eradication to one that considers the immunogenic effects of PTT thermal dose to facilitate its success in cancer immunotherapy.

APA Citation

Sekhri, Palak; Ledezma, Debbie K.; Shukla, Anshi; Sweeney, Elizabeth E.; and Fernandes, Rohan, "The Thermal Dose of Photothermal Therapy Generates Differential Immunogenicity in Human Neuroblastoma Cells" (2022). GW Authored Works. Paper 602.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/602

Department

School of Medicine and Health Sciences Student Works