RESUMO
Improved identification of anti-tumor T cells is needed to advance cancer immunotherapies. CD39 expression is a promising surrogate of tumor-reactive CD8+ T cells. Here, we comprehensively profiled CD39 expression in human lung cancer. CD39 expression enriched for CD8+ T cells with features of exhaustion, tumor reactivity, and clonal expansion. Flow cytometry of 440 lung cancer biospecimens revealed weak association between CD39+ CD8+ T cells and tumoral features, such as programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), tumor mutation burden, and driver mutations. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), but not cytotoxic chemotherapy, increased intratumoral CD39+ CD8+ T cells. Higher baseline frequency of CD39+ CD8+ T cells conferred improved clinical outcomes from ICB therapy. Furthermore, a gene signature of CD39+ CD8+ T cells predicted benefit from ICB, but not chemotherapy, in a phase III clinical trial of non-small cell lung cancer. These findings highlight CD39 as a proxy of tumor-reactive CD8+ T cells in human lung cancer.
Assuntos
Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas , Neoplasias Pulmonares , Humanos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/genética , Inibidores de Checkpoint Imunológico/uso terapêutico , Linfócitos T CD8-Positivos , ImunoterapiaRESUMO
Menin interacts with oncogenic MLL1-fusion proteins, and small molecules that disrupt these associations are in clinical trials for leukemia treatment. By integrating chromatin-focused and genome-wide CRISPR screens with genetic, pharmacologic, and biochemical approaches, we discovered a conserved molecular switch between the MLL1-Menin and MLL3/4-UTX chromatin-modifying complexes that dictates response to Menin-MLL inhibitors. MLL1-Menin safeguards leukemia survival by impeding the binding of the MLL3/4-UTX complex at a subset of target gene promoters. Disrupting the Menin-MLL1 interaction triggers UTX-dependent transcriptional activation of a tumor-suppressive program that dictates therapeutic responses in murine and human leukemia. Therapeutic reactivation of this program using CDK4/6 inhibitors mitigates treatment resistance in leukemia cells that are insensitive to Menin inhibitors. These findings shed light on novel functions of evolutionarily conserved epigenetic mediators like MLL1-Menin and MLL3/4-UTX and are relevant to understand and target molecular pathways determining therapeutic responses in ongoing clinical trials. SIGNIFICANCE: Menin-MLL inhibitors silence a canonical HOX- and MEIS1-dependent oncogenic gene expression program in leukemia. We discovered a parallel, noncanonical transcriptional program involving tumor suppressor genes that are repressed in Menin-MLL inhibitor-resistant leukemia cells but that can be reactivated upon combinatorial treatment with CDK4/6 inhibitors to augment therapy responses. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 1.
Assuntos
Leucemia , Proteína de Leucina Linfoide-Mieloide , Humanos , Camundongos , Animais , Proteína de Leucina Linfoide-Mieloide/genética , Histona-Lisina N-Metiltransferase/genética , Histona-Lisina N-Metiltransferase/metabolismo , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Fatores de Transcrição/genética , Leucemia/tratamento farmacológico , Cromatina , Mamíferos/genética , Mamíferos/metabolismoRESUMO
In castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), the loss of androgen receptor (AR) dependence leads to clinically aggressive tumors with few therapeutic options. We used ATAC-seq (assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing), RNA-seq, and DNA sequencing to investigate 22 organoids, six patient-derived xenografts, and 12 cell lines. We identified the well-characterized AR-dependent and neuroendocrine subtypes, as well as two AR-negative/low groups: a Wnt-dependent subtype, and a stem cell-like (SCL) subtype driven by activator protein-1 (AP-1) transcription factors. We used transcriptomic signatures to classify 366 patients, which showed that SCL is the second most common subtype of CRPC after AR-dependent. Our data suggest that AP-1 interacts with the YAP/TAZ and TEAD proteins to maintain subtype-specific chromatin accessibility and transcriptomic landscapes in this group. Together, this molecular classification reveals drug targets and can potentially guide therapeutic decisions.
Assuntos
Cromatina , Terapia de Alvo Molecular , Neoplasias de Próstata Resistentes à Castração , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Cromatina/genética , Perfilação da Expressão Gênica , Humanos , Masculino , Células-Tronco Neoplásicas/classificação , Células-Tronco Neoplásicas/metabolismo , Organoides/metabolismo , Organoides/patologia , Neoplasias de Próstata Resistentes à Castração/classificação , Neoplasias de Próstata Resistentes à Castração/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias de Próstata Resistentes à Castração/genética , Receptores Androgênicos/genética , Receptores Androgênicos/metabolismo , Fator de Transcrição AP-1/genética , Fator de Transcrição AP-1/metabolismoRESUMO
Access to clinically relevant small cell lung cancer (SCLC) tissue is limited because surgical resection is rare in metastatic SCLC. Patient-derived xenografts (PDX) and circulating tumor cell-derived xenografts (CDX) have emerged as valuable tools to characterize SCLC. Here, we present a resource of 46 extensively annotated PDX/CDX models derived from 33 patients with SCLC. We perform multi-omic analyses, using targeted tumor next-generation sequencing, RNA-sequencing, and immunohistochemistry to deconvolute the mutational landscapes, global expression profiles, and molecular subtypes of these SCLC models. SCLC subtypes characterized by transcriptional regulators, ASCL1, NEUROD1 and POU2F3 are confirmed in this cohort. A subset of SCLC clinical specimens, including matched PDX/CDX and clinical specimen pairs, confirm that the primary features and genomic and proteomic landscapes of the tumors of origin are preserved in the derivative PDX models. This resource provides a powerful system to study SCLC biology.
