Bortezomib significantly impairs the immunostimulatory capacity of human myeloid blood dendritic cells

Bortezomib is a potent drug for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Its anti-tumor activity is mediated by proteasome inhibition leading to decreased cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis. However, an unimpaired proteasomal function plays a crucial role for the induction of anti-tumor immunity by dendritic cells (DCs), which are currently used for therapeutic vaccination against various tumors including myeloma. In the present study, we investigated the impact of bortezomib on the immunostimulatory capacity of 6-sulfo LacNAc (slan) DCs, which represent a major subset of human blood DCs. We demonstrated that this proteasome inhibitor efficiently impairs the spontaneous in vitro maturation of slanDCs and the release of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha as well as interleukin (IL)-12 upon lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Functional data revealed that bortezomib profoundly inhibits slanDC-induced proliferation and differentiation of CD4+ T cells. In addition, the capacity of slanDCs to promote interferon-gamma secretion and tumor-directed cytotoxicity of natural killer (NK) cells is markedly impaired by bortezomib. These results provide evidence that bortezomib significantly reduces the ability of native human blood DCs to regulate innate and adaptive antitumor immunity and may have implications for the design of therapeutic strategies combining DC vaccination and bortezomib treatment.