Tumor-associated macrophages restrict CD8+ T cell function through collagen deposition and metabolic reprogramming of the breast cancer microenvironment.

Tumor progression is accompanied by fibrosis, a condition of excessive extracellular matrix accumulation, which is associated with diminished antitumor immune infiltration. Here we demonstrate that tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) respond to the stiffened fibrotic tumor microenvironment (TME) by initiating a collagen biosynthesis program directed by transforming growth factor-ß. A collateral effect of this programming is an untenable metabolic milieu for productive CD8+ T cell antitumor responses, as collagen-synthesizing macrophages consume environmental arginine, synthesize proline and secrete ornithine that compromises CD8+ T cell function in female breast cancer. Thus, a stiff and fibrotic TME may impede antitumor immunity not only by direct physical exclusion of CD8+ T cells but also through secondary effects of a mechano-metabolic programming of TAMs, which creates an inhospitable metabolic milieu for CD8+ T cells to respond to anticancer immunotherapies.

Brown adipose tissue CoQ deficiency activates the integrated stress response and FGF21-dependent mitohormesis.

Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is essential for mitochondrial respiration and required for thermogenic activity in brown adipose tissues (BAT). CoQ deficiency leads to a wide range of pathological manifestations, but mechanistic consequences of CoQ deficiency in specific tissues, such as BAT, remain poorly understood. Here, we show that pharmacological or genetic CoQ deficiency in BAT leads to stress signals causing accumulation of cytosolic mitochondrial RNAs and activation of the eIF2α kinase PKR, resulting in activation of the integrated stress response (ISR) with suppression of UCP1 but induction of FGF21 expression. Strikingly, despite diminished UCP1 levels, BAT CoQ deficiency displays increased whole-body metabolic rates at room temperature and thermoneutrality resulting in decreased weight gain on high-fat diets (HFD). In line with enhanced metabolic rates, BAT and inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) interorgan crosstalk caused increased browning of iWAT in BAT-specific CoQ deficient animals. This mitohormesis-like effect depends on the ATF4-FGF21 axis and BAT-secreted FGF21, revealing an unexpected role for CoQ in the modulation of whole-body energy expenditure with wide-ranging implications for primary and secondary CoQ deficiencies.

The microenvironment dictates glycocalyx construction and immune surveillance.

Efforts to identify anti-cancer therapeutics and understand tumor-immune interactions are built with in vitro models that do not match the microenvironmental characteristics of human tissues. Using in vitro models which mimic the physical properties of healthy or cancerous tissues and a physiologically relevant culture medium, we demonstrate that the chemical and physical properties of the microenvironment regulate the composition and topology of the glycocalyx. Remarkably, we find that cancer and age-related changes in the physical properties of the microenvironment are sufficient to adjust immune surveillance via the topology of the glycocalyx, a previously unknown phenomenon observable only with a physiologically relevant culture medium.

Mitohormesis reprogrammes macrophage metabolism to enforce tolerance.

Macrophages generate mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial reactive electrophilic species as antimicrobials during Toll-like receptor (TLR)-dependent inflammatory responses. Whether mitochondrial stress caused by these molecules impacts macrophage function is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that both pharmacologically driven and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-driven mitochondrial stress in macrophages triggers a stress response called mitohormesis. LPS-driven mitohormetic stress adaptations occur as macrophages transition from an LPS-responsive to LPS-tolerant state wherein stimulus-induced pro-inflammatory gene transcription is impaired, suggesting tolerance is a product of mitohormesis. Indeed, like LPS, hydroxyoestrogen-triggered mitohormesis suppresses mitochondrial oxidative metabolism and acetyl-CoA production needed for histone acetylation and pro-inflammatory gene transcription, and is sufficient to enforce an LPS-tolerant state. Thus, mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial reactive electrophilic species are TLR-dependent signalling molecules that trigger mitohormesis as a negative feedback mechanism to restrain inflammation via tolerance. Moreover, bypassing TLR signalling and pharmacologically triggering mitohormesis represents a new anti-inflammatory strategy that co-opts this stress response to impair epigenetic support of pro-inflammatory gene transcription by mitochondria.

Adhesion-mediated mechanosignaling forces mitohormesis.

Mitochondria control eukaryotic cell fate by producing the energy needed to support life and the signals required to execute programed cell death. The biochemical milieu is known to affect mitochondrial function and contribute to the dysfunctional mitochondrial phenotypes implicated in cancer and the morbidities of aging. However, the physical characteristics of the extracellular matrix are also altered in cancerous and aging tissues. Here, we demonstrate that cells sense the physical properties of the extracellular matrix and activate a mitochondrial stress response that adaptively tunes mitochondrial function via solute carrier family 9 member A1-dependent ion exchange and heat shock factor 1-dependent transcription. Overall, our data indicate that adhesion-mediated mechanosignaling may play an unappreciated role in the altered mitochondrial functions observed in aging and cancer.

Versatile Histochemical Approach to Detection of Hydrogen Peroxide in Cells and Tissues Based on Puromycin Staining.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a central reactive oxygen species (ROS) that contributes to diseases from obesity to cancer to neurodegeneration but is also emerging as an important signaling molecule. We now report a versatile histochemical approach for detection of H2O2 that can be employed across a broad range of cell and tissue specimens in both healthy and disease states. We have developed a first-generation H2O2-responsive analogue named Peroxymycin-1, which is based on the classic cell-staining molecule puromycin and enables covalent staining of biological samples and retains its signal after fixation. H2O2-mediated boronate cleavage uncages the puromycin aminonucleoside, which leaves a permanent and dose-dependent mark on treated biological specimens that can be detected with high sensitivity and precision through a standard immunofluorescence assay. Peroxymycin-1 is selective and sensitive enough to image both exogenous and endogenous changes in cellular H2O2 levels and can be exploited to profile resting H2O2 levels across a panel of cell lines to distinguish metastatic, invasive cancer cells from less invasive cancer and nontumorigenic counterparts, based on correlations with ROS status. Moreover, we establish that Peroxymycin-1 is an effective histochemical probe for in vivo H2O2 analysis, as shown through identification of aberrant elevations in H2O2 levels in liver tissues in a murine model of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, thus demonstrating the potential of this approach for studying disease states and progression associated with H2O2. This work provides design principles that should enable development of a broader range of histochemical probes for biological use that operate via activity-based sensing.

Actomyosin-Mediated Tension Orchestrates Uncoupled Respiration in Adipose Tissues.

The activation of brown/beige adipose tissue (BAT) metabolism and the induction of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) expression are essential for BAT-based strategies to improve metabolic homeostasis. Here, we demonstrate that BAT utilizes actomyosin machinery to generate tensional responses following adrenergic stimulation, similar to muscle tissues. The activation of actomyosin mechanics is critical for the acute induction of oxidative metabolism and uncoupled respiration in UCP1+ adipocytes. Moreover, we show that actomyosin-mediated elasticity regulates the thermogenic capacity of adipocytes via the mechanosensitive transcriptional co-activators YAP and TAZ, which are indispensable for normal BAT function. These biomechanical signaling mechanisms may inform future strategies to promote the expansion and activation of brown/beige adipocytes.

Dual Mechanism of Rag Gene Repression by c-Myb during Pre-B Cell Proliferation.

Developing B lymphocytes undergo clonal expansion following successful immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement. During this proliferative burst, expression of the Rag genes is transiently repressed to prevent the generation of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) breaks in cycling large pre-B cells. The Rag genes are then reexpressed in small, resting pre-B cells for immunoglobulin light chain gene rearrangement. We previously identified c-Myb as a repressor of Rag transcription during clonal expansion using Abelson murine leukemia virus-transformed B cells. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms by which c-Myb achieved precise spatiotemporal repression of Rag expression remained obscure. Here, we identify two mechanisms by which c-Myb represses Rag transcription. First, c-Myb negatively regulates the expression of the Rag activator Foxo1, an activity dependent on M303 in c-Myb's transactivation domain, and likely the recruitment of corepressors to the Foxo1 locus by c-Myb. Second, c-Myb represses Rag transcription directly by occupying the Erag enhancer and antagonizing Foxo1 binding to a consensus forkhead site in this cis-regulatory element that we show is crucial for Rag expression in Abelson pre-B cell lines. This work provides important mechanistic insight into how spatiotemporal expression of the Rag genes is tightly controlled during B lymphocyte development to prevent mistimed dsDNA breaks and their deleterious consequences.

The proximal J kappa germline-transcript promoter facilitates receptor editing through control of ordered recombination.

V(D)J recombination creates antibody light chain diversity by joining a Vκ gene segment with one of four Jκ segments. Two Jκ germline-transcript (GT) promoters control Vκ-Jκ joining, but the mechanisms that govern Jκ choice are unclear. Here, we show in gene-targeted mice that the proximal GT promoter helps targeting rearrangements to Jκ1 by preventing premature DNA breaks at Jκ2. Consequently, cells lacking the proximal GT promoter show a biased utilization of downstream Jκ segments, resulting in a diminished potential for receptor editing. Surprisingly, the proximal--in contrast to the distal--GT promoter is transcriptionally inactive prior to Igκ recombination, indicating that its role in Jκ choice is independent of classical promoter function. Removal of the proximal GT promoter increases H3K4me3 levels at Jκ segments, suggesting that this promoter could act as a suppressor of recombination by limiting chromatin accessibility to RAG. Our findings identify the first cis-element critical for Jκ choice and demonstrate that ordered Igκ recombination facilitates receptor editing.

Ebf1 and c-Myb repress rag transcription downstream of Stat5 during early B cell development.

The temporal control of RAG (Rag) expression in developing lymphocytes prevents DNA breaks during periods of proliferation that could threaten genomic integrity. In developing B cells, the IL-7R and precursor B cell Ag receptor (pre-BCR) synergize to induce proliferation and the repression of Rag at the protein and mRNA levels for a brief period following successful Ig H chain gene rearrangement. Whereas the mechanism of RAG2 protein downregulation is well defined, little is known about the pathways and transcription factors that mediate transcriptional repression of Rag. Using Abelson murine leukemia virus-transformed B cells to model this stage of development, we identified early B cell factor 1 (Ebf1) as a strong repressor of Rag transcription. Short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of either Ebf1 or its downstream target c-Myb was sufficient to induce Rag transcription in these highly proliferative cells. Ebf1 and c-Myb antagonize Rag transcription by negatively regulating the binding of Foxo1 to the Rag locus. Ebf1 accomplishes this through both direct negative regulation of Foxo1 expression and direct positive regulation of Gfi1b expression. Ebf1 expression is driven by the IL-7R downstream effector Stat5, providing a link between the negative regulation of Rag transcription by IL-7 and a novel repressive pathway involving Ebf1 and c-Myb.

MK5 activates Rag transcription via Foxo1 in developing B cells.

Foxo1 is a critical, direct regulator of Rag (recombination activating gene) transcription during B cell development and is thus essential for the generation of a diverse repertoire of antigen receptors. Although Foxo1 regulation has been widely studied in many cell types, pathways regulating Foxo1 in B cells have not been fully elucidated. By screening a panel of Foxo1 mutants, we identified serine 215 on Foxo1 as a novel phosphorylation site that is essential for the activation of Rag transcription. Mutation of S215 strongly attenuated transactivation of Rag but did not affect most other Foxo1 target genes. We show that MK5, a MAPK-activated protein kinase, is a previously unidentified upstream regulator of Foxo1. MK5 was necessary and sufficient to activate Rag transcription in transformed and primary pro-B cells. Together, our experiments show that MK5 positively regulates Rag transcription via phosphorylation of Foxo1 in developing B cells.