School of Biomedical Sciences is pleased to invite you to join the following seminar:

Date: 19 May 2023 (Friday)
Time: 11:00 am – 12:00 nn
Venue: Seminar Room 4, G/F, Laboratory Block, 21 Sassoon Road

Speaker: Professor Erwei Song, Department of Breast Surgery, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hosptial, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou
Talk Title: To be hot or not to be: That is the question of Cancer Immunotherapy

Biography
Professor Erwei Song is Professor of Breast Surgery at Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), Member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, CMB (China Medical Board) Distinguished Professor and Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (UK). Currently, he serves as Dean of Medical Board and President of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, SYSU.

As a surgeon, he is the pioneer of breast-conserving surgery (BCS) in China and has compiled the first Chinese Experts Guidelines for Breast-conserving Surgeries of Early Breast Cancer. In his role as a clinician scientist, he is keen to address scientific questions derived from clinical practice. In over 30 years of immunological research, he has uncovered important subtypes of cancer-associated immune cells, receptors, juxtracrine and pathways that has resulted in a paradigm shift in the field of cancer immunotherapy. His study has proposed and solidified “the Theory of Tumor Ecosystem”, which emphasizes on the importance of viewing cancer as a viable ecosystem where host internal environment is vital for cancer cell survival and growth. On November, 2022, Erwei was awarded with The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in Medical Sciences for proposing and reinforcing “the Theory of Tumor Ecosystem”. By far, he has published 165 SCI research articles, including Nature, Cell, Cancer Cell, Nature Immunology, Nature Cell Biology, etc. His research papers have been cited nearly 15,000 times.

As an active member of the society, Professor Song serves as Chair of Breast Tumor Experts Committee of Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO), and Vice Chair of Surgeon Society, Chinese Medical Doctor Association. He also serves as the Associate Editor for Science China-Life Sciences and has chaired an international Cell Symposium for Cell Press on “Functional RNAs”.

Abstract
Effector immune cell deployment (EICD), which includes the priming, circulation, trafficking, activity and fate of anti-tumor effector immune cells, is a panorama to fully reflect the generation, distribution and development of anti-tumor immunity. Tumor antigen-specific T cells are main component of effector immune cells in anti-tumor immune responses. However, their generation, distribution and the underlying regulation mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we proposed that the poor infiltration of antigen-specific CTLs in tumors with high antigenicity was attributed to the impaired T-cell priming induced by the defective cross-presentation of dendritic cells (DCs). Mechanistically, tumor-derived dendritic checker 1 (DC1) was transfered to DC endosomes by extracellular vesicle (EV), and then enhanced the binding of tumor antigen and HSP90 to inhibit the antigen translocation to cytoplasm, which was critical for antigen processing. On the other hand, EICD not only features in situ but also in remote target organs. We found that a cluster of CD8⁺ T cell exhibiting tissue-resident memory (TRM) phenotype in tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLNs), whose abundancy specifically predicts improved lung metastasis-free survival. Mechanistically, we uncovered that tumor-specific CD8⁺ TRM are generated in TDLNs and recruited to lungs via the CCL25/ CCR9 signaling axis. Tumor-derived exosomes, served as inflammatory danger signals, could circulate to pre-metastatic lungs, specially uptaken by alveolar macrophages and polarize them to release IDO and impair TRM anti-tumor immunity, leading to future lung metastasis. Therefore, our recent studies highlight the role of cross-presentation in generation of antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes and exemplify long-range deployment of anti-tumor adaptive immunity that prevent distant organ metastasis. Moreover, these findings underlie the mechanisms of tumor mediated immune suppression locally and systemically via exosomes.

ALL ARE WELCOME

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Miss Angela Wong at 3917 9216.