Imiquimod exerts antitumor effects by inducing immunogenic cell death and is enhanced by the glycolytic inhibitor 2-deoxy-glucose

The induction of immunogenic cell death (ICD) in cancer cells triggers specific immune responses against the same cancer cells. Imiquimod (IMQ) is a synthetic ligand of Toll-like receptor 7 that exerts antitumor activity by stimulating cell-mediated immunity or by directly inducing apoptosis. Whether IMQ causes tumors to undergo ICD and elicits a specific antitumor immune response is unknown. We demonstrated that IMQ-induced ICD-associated features, including the surface exposure of calreticulin, the secretion of ATP and HMGB1, were mediated by ROS and ER stress.

Source: Journal of Investigative Dermatology - February 5, 2020 Category: Dermatology Authors: Shi-Wei Huang, Sin-Ting Wang, Shu-Hao Chang, Kai-Cheng Chuang, Hsin-Yu Wang, Jun-Kai Kao, Shu-Mei Liang, Chun-Ying Wu, Shao-Hsuan Kao, Yi-Ju Chen, Jeng-Jer Shieh Tags: Original Article Source Type: research