{"id":2848,"date":"2025-06-20T10:00:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T01:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.giar.gunma-u.ac.jp\/eng\/?p=2848"},"modified":"2025-06-23T11:02:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T02:02:37","slug":"press-release20250620","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.giar.gunma-u.ac.jp\/eng\/press-release20250620\/","title":{"rendered":"\u3010Press Release\u3011New Insight into Anti-Tumor Mechanisms of Apolipoprotein D (Dr.NIMURA Lab.)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A research group led by Professor Keisuke Nimura<\/a> and Noriko Ohta at the Gunma University Initiative for Advanced Research (GIAR) in Maebashi, Japan, has uncovered a new anti-tumor mechanism involving a lipid-transport protein called Apolipoprotein D (ApoD). Their study reveals that ApoD is a key factor behind the tumor-suppressing effects of a therapeutic agent based on non-replicating Sendai virus envelopes (HVJ-E).<\/p>\n

In recent years, cancer immunotherapy has emerged as a promising treatment option alongside surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. One major breakthrough\u2014immune checkpoint inhibitors\u2014has shown success even in hard-to-treat cancers. However, challenges remain, including the limited range of cancers that respond to such treatments.<\/p>\n

The team had previously observed that injecting HVJ-E into tumors could slow cancer growth. When combined with immune-stimulating antibodies, it also reduced tumors in parts of the body not directly treated. Until now, the mechanism behind these effects was unclear. Their new study shows that HVJ-E causes cancer cells to produce ApoD. This protein alone can block signals that promote tumor growth. When combined with activated T cells, it also helps eliminate tumors at distant sites.<\/p>\n

This discovery suggests a new pathway for developing broad-spectrum cancer immunotherapies that are not limited by cancer type\u2014and may even be effective against metastatic cancers.
\n\"\"
\nFigure: How HVJ-E and ApoD Suppress Tumors<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
\nHVJ-E stimulates ApoD production in cancer cells, blocking tumor growth. When paired with activated T cells, ApoD also helps shrink tumors at distant sites. (<\/span>\u201cApod\u201d in the image refers to Apolipoprotein D (ApoD).)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25a0Publication Details:<\/strong>
\nTitle:<\/strong> HVJ-E links Apolipoprotein d to anti-tumor effects<\/a>
\nAuthors:<\/strong>
\nAiri Ishibashi1,10<\/sup>,Noriko Ohta<\/strong>2,10<\/sup>, Yuko Uegaki1<\/sup>, Hidefumi Suzuki3<\/sup>,Katsuya Fukino<\/strong>2<\/sup>, Yuuta Hisatomi1<\/sup>, Atsushi Tanemura4<\/sup>, Riuko Ohashi5<\/sup>, Koji Kitamura1,6<\/sup>, Kotaro Saga1<\/sup>, Yasuhide Yoshimura1<\/sup>, Satoko Inubushi1<\/sup>, Kyoso Ishida1,7<\/sup>, Yoko Ino8<\/sup>, Yayoi Kimura8<\/sup>, Kenjiro Sawada7<\/sup>, Tadashi Kimura7<\/sup>, Eiji Kiyohara4<\/sup>, Kosuke Yusa9<\/sup>, Hidehisa Takahashi3<\/sup>, Yasufumi Kaneda1<\/sup>, and Keisuke Nimura<\/strong><\/a>2,10,*<\/sup>
\n1\u3000 Division of Gene Therapy Science, Department of Genome Biology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan<\/span>
\n2\u3000 Division of Gene Therapy Science, Gunma University Initiative for Advanced Research, Gunma University, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan<\/span>
\n3\u3000 Department of Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-0004, Japan<\/span>
\n4\u3000 Department of Dermatology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan<\/span>
\n5\u3000 Division of Molecular and Diagnostic Pathology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata 951-8510, Japan<\/span>
\n6\u3000 Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan<\/span>
\n7\u3000 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan<\/span>
\n8\u3000 Advanced Medical Research Center, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-0004, Japan<\/span>
\n9\u3000 Stem Cell Genetics, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan<\/span>
\n10\u3000 These authors contributed equally to this work<\/span>
\n*, Corresponding author<\/span><\/p>\n

Journal:<\/strong> Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer<\/a>
\nDOI:<\/strong>\u300010.1136\/jitc-2024-011442<\/a>
\nPublication date:<\/strong> June 19, 2025, 5:00 PM (PST) \u2013 corresponds to June 20, 2025, 10:00 AM (JST)<\/p>\n

\u25a0Funding:<\/strong>
\nThis work was supported by the Center for Medical Research and Education, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University; research equipment shared in the MEXT Project for promoting public utilization of advanced research infrastructure (program for supporting the introduction of the new sharing system) Grant Number JPMXS0420600124, Gunma University; AMED grant number 18cm0106341h0001, 23ym0126809j0002, 24ym0126809j0003, 25ym0126809j0004, and 25ama221343h0001; JSPS KAKENHI grant number JP21K19408, JP21H05158, JP21H05160 and JP24H00633; JST Program for co-creating startup ecosystem, Grant Number JPMJSF2319; MEXT Promotion of Distinctive Joint Research Center Program Grant Number JPMXP0724020288 at the Advanced Medical Research Center, Yokohama City University; research grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb, The Osaka Community Foundation, and Osaka University Entrepreneurship Development Grant; and in part by the Osaka University Program for the Support of Networking among Present and Future Researchers.<\/p>\n

\u25a0Contact Information:<\/strong>
\nProfessor Keisuke Nimura
\nDivision of Gene Therapy Science
\nGunma University Initiative for Advanced Research (GIAR)
\nGunma University
\nEmail: nimura [at] gunma-u.ac.jp<\/p>\n

\u25a0Related Links<\/strong>
\nGunma University Initiative for Advanced Research(GIAR) Division of Gene Therapy Science Dr.NIMURA Laboratory<\/a>
\nGunma University Press Release<\/a>(Original\/Japanese)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A research group led by Professor Keisuke Nimura and Noriko Ohta at the Gunma University Initiative for Advanc […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.giar.gunma-u.ac.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.giar.gunma-u.ac.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.giar.gunma-u.ac.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.giar.gunma-u.ac.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.giar.gunma-u.ac.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2848"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.giar.gunma-u.ac.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2892,"href":"https:\/\/www.giar.gunma-u.ac.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2848\/revisions\/2892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.giar.gunma-u.ac.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.giar.gunma-u.ac.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.giar.gunma-u.ac.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}