Neurooncol Adv. 2022 Jan-Dec;4(1):4(1):
vdac098
Sara Ciprut,
Anne Berberich,
Maximilian Knoll,
Stefan Pusch,
Dirk Hoffmann,
Jennifer Furkel,
Aoife Ward Gahlawat,
Lena Kahlert-Konzelamnn,
Felix Sahm,
Uwe Warnken,
Martin Winter,
Martina Schnölzer,
Sonja Pusch,
Andreas von Deimling,
Amir Abdollahi,
Wolfgang Wick,
Dieter Lemke.
Background: Targeted immunotherapies are of growing interest in the treatment of various cancers. B7 homolog 3 protein (B7-H3), a member of the co-stimulatory/-inhibitory B7-family, exerts immunosuppressive and pro-tumorigenic functions in various cancer types and is under evaluation in ongoing clinical trials. Unfortunately, interaction partner(s) remain unknown which restricts the druggability.Methods: Aiming to identify potential binding partner(s) of B7-H3, a yeast two-hybrid and a mass spectrometry screen were performed. Potential candidates were evaluated by bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay, co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP), and functionally in a 3H-thymidine proliferation assay of Jurkat cells, a T-cell lineage cell line. Prognostic value of angio-associated migratory cell protein (AAMP) and B7-H3 expression was evaluated in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 wildtype (IDH1wt) glioblastoma (GBM) patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-GBM cohort.
Results: Of the screening candidates, CD164, AAMP, PTPRA, and SLAMF7 could be substantiated via BiFC. AAMP binding could be further confirmed via co-IP and on a functional level. AAMP was ubiquitously expressed in glioma cells, immune cells, and glioma tissue, but did not correlate with glioma grade. Finally, an interaction between AAMP and B7-H3 could be observed on expression level, hinting toward a combined synergistic effect.
Conclusions: AAMP was identified as a novel interaction partner of B7-H3, opening new possibilities to create a targeted therapy against the pro-tumorigenic costimulatory protein B7-H3.
Keywords: brain tumor; glioblastoma; immune therapy; precision medicine; targeted therapy