Stimulation of apoptosis has been reported as the primary mechanism of tumor cell death induced by alpha-tocopheryloxyacetic acid (α-TEA), an esterase-resistant, semi-synthetic derivative of vitamin E (R-R-R-α-tocopherol). New information now shows that α-TEA also triggers tumor cell autophagy and promotes antigen cross-presentation. Autophagosome-enriched fractions of α-TEA-treated tumor cells (α-TAGS) efficiently cross-primed antigen-specific CD8 (+) T cells and vaccination with dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with α-TAGS reduced lung metastases and increased survival of tumor-bearing mice. Taken together, these observations suggest that both autophagy and apoptosis signaling programs are activated in tumor cells by α-TEA treatment and may contribute to tumor cell death. We propose that autophagy-dependent enhancement of cross-presentation is a novel mechanism of α-TEA-mediated tumor immunity and that α-TEA can be exploited as an adjuvant to enhance the antitumor response.
Keywords: autophagy; cross-presentation; tumor immunity; vitamin E analog; α-TEA.