Triiodothyronine-stimulated dendritic cell vaccination boosts antitumor immunity against murine colon cancer

Given the ability of dendritic cells (DCs) to modulate other immune players, their manipulation holds great potential for inducing efficient antitumor immunity. However, DC vaccine manufacturing deserve optimization since tumor cell cargo and DC functional state induced by maturation signals influence their in vivo immunogenic potential. We reported that triiodothyronine (T3) stimulates mice DCs’ maturation and their ability to promote pro-inflammatory and cytotoxic T-cell responses. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of T3-conditioned DC vaccination in a murine model of colon carcinoma, deciphering the molecular players involved; and to examine the effects of T3 on the maturation and activation of human DCs (huDCs). Bone marrow-derived DCs were exposed to T3 and MC38 cancer cells that underwent cell death (MC38-Apo/Nec) by UVB irradiation. Our results showed that MC38-Apo/Nec cells are efficiently uptaken by DCs and that T3 upregulates CD86 expression with increased production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-12, IL-6 and TGF-β. In a colon cancer model, vaccination with T3-stimulated and tumor antigen-loaded DCs inhibited tumor growth in wild type mice, an effect that was eliminated in IL-17-deficient animals. Notably, secretion of high levels of IFN-γ and IL-17, induction of Th1, Th17 and tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes characterized the antitumor response upon vaccination. Moreover, our initial findings demonstrated a significant increase in CD86 expression and IL-12 production by huDCs induced by T3. Overall, these results reinforce the adjuvant properties of T3-conditioned DCs to potentiate T-cell-mediated antitumor immunity and support promising advances in the translation process to human oncotherapy.