Addressing Tumor Heterogeneity by Sensitizing Resistant Cancer Cells to T cell-secreted Cytokines.
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| Abstract | Tumor heterogeneity is a major barrier to cancer therapy, including immunotherapy. Activated T cells can efficiently kill tumor cells following recognition of MHC class I (MHC-I) bound peptides, but this selection pressure favors outgrowth of MHC-I deficient tumor cells. We performed a genome-scale screen to discover alternative pathways for T cell-mediated killing of MHC-I deficient tumor cells. Autophagy and TNF signaling emerged as top pathways, and inactivation of Rnf31 (TNF signaling) and Atg5 (autophagy) sensitized MHC-I deficient tumor cells to apoptosis by T cell-derived cytokines. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that inhibition of autophagy amplified pro-apoptotic effects of cytokines in tumor cells. Antigens from apoptotic MHC-I deficient tumor cells were efficiently cross-presented by dendritic cells, resulting in heightened tumor infiltration by IFNa and TNFg-producing T cells. Tumors with a substantial population of MHC-I deficient cancer cells could be controlled by T cells when both pathways were targeted using genetic or pharmacological approaches. |
| Year of Publication | 2023
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| Journal | Cancer discovery
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| Date Published | 02/2023
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| ISSN | 2159-8290
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| DOI | 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-22-1125
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| PubMed ID | 36811466
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