Itaconate promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression by epigenetic induction of CD8+ T-cell exhaustion.
Nat Commun
; 14(1): 8154, 2023 Dec 09.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38071226
ABSTRACT
Itaconate is a well-known immunomodulatory metabolite; however, its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. Here, we find that macrophage-derived itaconate promotes HCC by epigenetic induction of Eomesodermin (EOMES)-mediated CD8+ T-cell exhaustion. Our results show that the knockout of immune-responsive gene 1 (IRG1), responsible for itaconate production, suppresses HCC progression. Irg1 knockout leads to a decreased proportion of PD-1+ and TIM-3+ CD8+ T cells. Deletion or adoptive transfer of CD8+ T cells shows that IRG1-promoted tumorigenesis depends on CD8+ T-cell exhaustion. Mechanistically, itaconate upregulates PD-1 and TIM-3 expression levels by promoting succinate-dependent H3K4me3 of the Eomes promoter. Finally, ibuprofen is found to inhibit HCC progression by targeting IRG1/itaconate-dependent tumor immunoevasion, and high IRG1 expression in macrophages predicts poor prognosis in HCC patients. Taken together, our results uncover an epigenetic link between itaconate and HCC and suggest that targeting IRG1 or itaconate might be a promising strategy for HCC treatment.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular
/
Liver Neoplasms
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Nat Commun
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
/
CIENCIA
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: