Biology subjects

Bancroft, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Bancroft, J..

8 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Hallmarks of adaptive immunity in a metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) long-term elite survivor

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) presents with metastatic disease in nearly one-third of patients, with a 5-year survival of only [~]10%. Although anti-angiogenic therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have improved outcomes, therapeutic resistance and immune-related adverse events limit durable responses. Exceptional long-term survivors provide a unique opportunity to uncover mechanisms of sustained anti-tumour immunity and guide therapeutic strategies. Here, we present a spatial and temporal dissection of adaptive immunity in an extraordinary 16-year ccRCC survivor, integrating single-cell sequencing, multiplex immunofluorescence, B and T cell receptor (BCR/TCR) repertoire analysis, and antibody profiling. We reveal persistent and spatially coordinated B and T cell clones over 16 years, indicating long-term immune memory and surveillance throughout tumour evolution. B cell analysis identified pronounced clonal expansions involving intrinsically autoreactive IGHV4-34 B cells undergoing ongoing germinal centre (GC) maturation in tumour-draining lymph nodes (dLNs) and spleen. These clones progressively lost autoreactivity while acquiring tumour-specificity through somatic hypermutation (SHM), consistent with clonal redemption. Redeemed B cells displayed enhanced antigen-presenting functions and localised to tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS), where they interacted with CD8 T cells, as inferred from doublet analysis. In parallel, persistent CD8+ effector T cell clones highlighted the contribution of long-lived lymphocytes to tumour control. Comparison of the primary tumour and pancreatic metastatic with paired tumour-free dLNs showed that TLS mirrored GC functionality, particularly for PD-1+ CD8+ T cells, while TLS maturation was stroma-dependent and impaired at the metastatic site. Finally, tumour-derived BCRs revealed antibody binding to tumour specific "public" antigens without cross-reactivity to normal tissue. Together, these findings establish clonal persistence, TLS engagement, and coordinated B-T cell immune surveillance as hallmarks of durable tumour control, providing a framework for next-generation antibody therapeutics and patient stratification in metastatic ccRCC. What is already known on this topic.Tertiary lymphoid structures within the tumour microenvironment (TME) and clonal expansions of CD8+ T cells are associated with better survival and improved response to immunotherapies in ccRCC. However, identifying markers of prolonged survival is challenging due to the rarity of long-term survivors (LTS), and the predominance of studies focused on T cell immunity, leaving B cell contribution almost unexplored. What this study adds.This study provides an integrated analysis of B and T cell responses in an exceptional 16-year LTS with metastatic ccRCC, revealing key immunologic features of sustained anti-tumour immunity. Beyond T cell dynamics, it highlights the multifaceted role of B cells as antigen presenting cells, antibody producers, and modulators of CD8+ T cell effector functions through direct interactions within TLS. Importantly, it reveals potential tumour-specific antigens driving humoral responses. How this study might affect research, practice or policy.By uncovering mechanisms of sustained tumour control, this work establishes a framework for identifying adaptive immune biomarkers of long-term survival and refining patient stratification in metastatic ccRCC. Multimodal assessment of B cell specificity and spatial interactions between re-educated B cells and CD8+ T cells within TLS introduces a new paradigm for understanding coordinated B and T cell responses. These insights have direct implications for antibody-based drug discovery and development of immunotherapies that harness the B-T cell axis.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Remodelled cholesteryl ester enriched lipid droplets fuel flavivirus morphogenesis

Flaviviruses such as dengue and Zika viruses extensively remodel host cell membranes to create specialised replication organelles, but the role of lipid metabolism to generate them remain poorly understood. Through systematic screens of fatty acyl transferase enzymes (MBOAT and zDHHC families) and complementary approaches including CRISPR/Cas9 gene deletions, pharmacological inhibition, proteomics, and photo-crosslinkable cholesterol analogues, we identified cholesteryl ester-enriched lipid droplets (CE-LDs) as critical host components required for flavivirus infection. CE-LD formation is mediated by Sterol O-acyltransferases 1 and 2 (SOAT1/SOAT2), whose activities were upregulated early during infection, coinciding with increased CE-LD formation and transition to liquid crystalline phases. Genetic deletion or pharmacological inhibition of either enzyme resulted in a dramatic [~]100-fold reduction in viral production. Mechanistically, CE-LDs display distinct proteomic signatures, enriched in fatty acid remodelling enzymes, GTPases, and lipid transport proteins. Photo-crosslinking experiments demonstrated direct interactions between LD-derived cholesterol and viral prM, capsid and NS1. Disrupting CE-LD formation via SOAT1/2-deficiency resulted in defective, viral RNA-free replication organelles and complete absence of immature virions. Supporting the physiological and clinical relevance of viral LD exploitation, analysis in iPSC-derived macrophages mirrored findings in Huh7 cells, and dengue patients from a Sri Lankan cohort revealed that central obesity significantly increased the risk of severe dengue haemorrhagic fever. This study establishes CE-LDs as essential host metabolic hubs that enable flavivirus morphogenesis and identifies host LD metabolism as a promising therapeutic target for combating flavivirus infections.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Permissive central tolerance plus defective peripheral checkpoints licence pathogenic memory B cells in CASPR2-antibody encephalitis

Autoimmunity affects 10% of the population. Within this umbrella, autoantibody-mediated diseases targeting one autoantigen provide a unique opportunity to comprehensively understand the developmental pathway of disease-causing B cells and autoantibodies. While such autoreactivities are believed to be generated during germinal centre reactions, the roles of earlier immune checkpoints in autoantigen-specific B cell tolerance are poorly understood. We address this concept in patients with CASPR2-autoantibody encephalitis and healthy controls. In both groups, comparable and high ([~]0.5%) frequencies of unmutated CASPR2-reactive naive B cells were identified. By contrast, CASPR2-reactive memory B cells were exclusive to patients, and their B cell receptors demonstrated affinity-enhancing somatic mutations with heterogenous binding kinetics. These effector molecules possessed epitope-dependent pathogenic effects in vitro neuronal cultures and in vivo. The unmutated common ancestors of these memory B cells showed a distinctive balance between strong CASPR2 reactivity and very limited binding across the remaining human proteome. Our results are the first to propose mechanisms underlying autoantigen-specific tolerance in humans. We identify permissive central tolerance, defective peripheral tolerance and heterogenous autoantibody binding properties as sequential pathogenic steps which licence CASPR2-directed pathology. By leveraging the basic immunobiology, we rationally direct tolerance-restoring approaches in CASPR2-antibody diseases. This paradigm is applicable across autoimmune conditions.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2024

Horizontal transfer of nuclear DNA in transmissible cancer

Although somatic cell genomes are usually entirely clonally inherited, nuclear DNA exchange between cells of an organism can occur sporadically by cell fusion, phagocytosis or other mechanisms1-3. This phenomenon has long been noted in the context of cancer, where it could be envisaged that DNA horizontal transfer plays a functional role in disease evolution4-13. However, an understanding of the frequency and significance of this process in naturally occurring tumours is lacking. The host-tumour genetic discordance of transmissible cancers, malignant clones which pass between animals as allogeneic grafts, provides an opportunity to investigate this. We screened for host-to-tumour horizontal transfer of nuclear DNA in 174 tumours from three transmissible cancers affecting dogs and Tasmanian devils, and detected a single instance in the canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT). This involved introduction of a 15-megabase dicentric genetic element, composed of 11 rearranged fragments of six chromosomes, to a CTVT sublineage occurring in Asia around 2,000 years ago. The element forms the short arm of a small submetacentric chromosome, and derives from a dog with ancestry associated with the ancient Middle East. The introduced DNA fragment is transcriptionally active and has adopted the expression profile of CTVT. Its 143 genes do not, however, confer any obvious advantage to its spatially restricted CTVT sublineage. Our findings indicate that nuclear DNA horizontal transfer, although likely a rare event in tumour evolution, provides a viable mechanism for the acquisition of genetic material in naturally occurring cancer genomes.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Partitioning heritability using single-cell multi-omics identifies a novel macrophage subpopulation conveying genetic risks of coronary artery disease.

BackgroundCoronary artery disease (CAD), the leading cause of death worldwide, is influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. While over 250 genetic risk loci have been identified through genome-wide association studies, the specific causal variants and their regulatory mechanisms are still largely unknown, particularly in disease-relevant cell types like macrophages. MethodsWe utilized single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) and single-cell multi-omics approaches in primary human monocyte-derived macrophages to explore the transcriptional regulatory network involved in a critical pathogenic event of coronary atherosclerosis--the formation of lipid-laden foam cells. Meta-analysis of scRNA-seq datasets from 26 human plaque samples was undertaken to provide a comprehensive atlas of lesional macrophages and to correlate subpopulations in vivo and ex vivo. The genetic risk levels of CAD were assessed by partitioning disease heritability across different macrophage subpopulations. ResultsWe identified a novel macrophage subpopulation, termed lipid-handling macrophages, both ex vivo and in vivo, and identified associated marker genes, transcription regulators, and functional pathways. 18,782 cis-regulatory elements were identified by jointly profiling the gene expression and chromatin accessibility of >5000 macrophages. Integration with CAD GWAS data prioritized 121 CAD-related genetic variants and 56 candidate causal genes. We showed that CAD heritability was not uniformly distributed and was particularly enriched in the gene programs of lipid-handling macrophages. We investigated the cis-regulatory effect of a risk variant rs10488763 on FDX1, implicating the recruitment of AP-1 and C/EBP-beta in the causal mechanisms at this locus. ConclusionsOur results provide genetic evidence of the divergent roles of macrophage subsets in atherogenesis and highlight lipid-handling macrophages as a key sub-population through which genetic variants actively influence disease. These findings provide an unbiased framework for functional fine-mapping of GWAS results using single-cell multi-omics and offer new insights into the genotype-environment interactions underlying atherosclerotic disease.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2020

PP1 promotes cyclin B destruction and the metaphase-anaphase transition by dephosphorylating CDC20

Ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis of cyclin B and securin initiates sister chromatid segregation and anaphase. The anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) and its co-activator CDC20 form the main ubiquitin E3 ligase for these proteins. APC/CCDC20 is regulated by CDK1-cyclin B and counteracting PP1 and PP2A family phosphatases through modulation of both activating and inhibitory phosphorylations. Here we report that PP1 promotes cyclin B destruction at the onset of anaphase by removing specific inhibitory phosphorylation in the N-terminus of CDC20. Depletion or chemical inhibition of PP1 stabilises cyclin B and results in a pronounced delay at the metaphase-to-anaphase transition after chromosome alignment. This requirement for PP1 is lost in cells expressing CDK1-phosphorylation defective CDC206A mutants. These CDC206A cells show a normal spindle checkpoint response, but once all chromosomes have aligned rapidly degrade cyclin B and enter into anaphase in the absence of PP1 activity. PP1 therefore facilitates the metaphase-to-anaphase by promoting APC/CCDC20-dependent destruction of cyclin B in human cells.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Checkpoint signaling and error correction require regulation of the MPS1 T-loop by PP2A-B56

During mitosis, the formation of microtubule-kinetochore attachments is monitored by the serine/threonine kinase Mono-Polar Spindle 1 (MPS1). MPS1 is recruited to unattached kinetochores where it phosphorylates KNL1, BUB1 and MAD1 to initiate the spindle checkpoint. This arrests the cell cycle until all kinetochores have been stably captured by microtubules. MPS1 also contributes to the error correction process rectifying incorrect kinetochore attachments. MPS1 activity at kinetochores requires auto-phosphorylation at multiple sites including T676 in the activation segment or \"T-loop\". We now demonstrate that a BUBR1-bound pool of PP2A-B56 regulates MPS1 T-loop autophosphorylation and hence activation status in mammalian cells. Overriding this regulation using phospho-mimetic mutations in the MPS1 T-loop to generate a constitutively active kinase results in a prolonged mitotic arrest with continuous turn-over of microtubule-kinetochore attachments. Dynamic regulation of MPS1 catalytic activity by kinetochore-localized PP2A-B56 is thus critical for controlled MPS1 activity and timely cell cycle progression.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Heterogeneous chromatin mobility derived from chromatin states is a determinant of genome organisation in S. cerevisiae

Spatial organisation of the genome is essential for regulating gene activity, yet the mechanisms that shape this three-dimensional organisation in eukaryotes are far from understood. Here, we combine bioinformatic determination of chromatin states during normal growth and heat shock, and computational polymer modelling of genome structure, with quantitative microscopy and Hi-C to demonstrate that differential mobility of yeast chromosome segments leads to spatial self-organisation of the genome. We observe that more than forty percent of chromatin-associated proteins display a poised and heterogeneous distribution along the chromosome, creating a heteropolymer. This distribution changes upon heat shock in a concerted, state-specific manner. Simulating yeast chromosomes as heteropolymers, in which the mobility of each segment depends on its cumulative protein occupancy, results in functionally relevant structures, which match our experimental data. This thermodynamically driven self-organisation achieves spatial clustering of poised genes and mechanistically contributes to the directed relocalisation of active genes to the nuclear periphery upon heat shock.\n\nOne Sentence SummaryUnequal protein occupancy and chromosome segment mobility drive 3D organisation of the genome.

systems biology↗