Discovery of Specialized NK Cell Populations Infiltrating Human Melanoma Metastases
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE139249 | GEO | 2019/10/23
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Dendritic cells (DCs) are major regulators of innate and adaptive immune responses. DCs can be classified into plasmacytoid DCs and conventional DCs (cDCs) type 1 and 2. Murine and human cDC1 share the mRNA expression of XCR1. Murine studies indicated a specific role of the XCR1-XCL1 axis in the induction of immune responses. Here, we describe that human cDC1 can be distinguished into XCR1- and XCR1+ cDC1 in lymphoid as well as non-lymphoid tissues. Steady state XCR1+ cDC1 display a pre-activated phenotype compared to XCR1- cDC1. Upon stimulation, XCR1+ cDC1, but not XCR1- cDC1, secreted high levels of inflammatory cytokines as well as chemokines. This was associated with enhanced activation of NK cells mediated by XCR1+ cDC1. Moreover, XCR1+ cDC1 excelled in inhibiting replication of Influenza A virus. Further, under DC differentiation conditions, XCR1- cDC1 developed into XCR1+ cDC1. After acquisition of XCR1 expression, XCR1- cDC1 secreted comparable level of inflammatory cytokines. Thus, XCR1 is a marker of terminally differentiated cDC1 that licenses the antiviral effector functions of human cDC1, while XCR1- cDC1 seem to represent a late immediate precursor of cDC1.
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Project description:We sought to compare the overall transcriptomic differences between TLR stimulated WT and XCR1-deficient type 1 conventional DCs. In addition, we also wanted to investigate functional role of XCR1 signaling in WT type 1 conventional DCs by treating recombinant murine XCL1, a ligand of XCR1 to these cells as well
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Project description:Background Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most challenging subtype of breast cancer because of its aggressive behavior and the limited therapeutic strategies available. In the last decade, immunotherapy has become a promising treatment to prolong survival in advanced solid cancers including TNBC. However, the efficacy of immunotherapy in solid cancers remains limited because solid tumors contain few tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Methods A proteome profiler array was performed to identify secreted CXCL16 protein, the expression of which is regulated by ELK3 to control natural killer (NK) cell-mediated cytotoxicity. The correlation between ELK3 and CXCL16 was investigated by microarray and TCGA data analysis. NK cell cytotoxicity and migration assays were performed to examine the role of ELK3-CXCL16 in regulating the anticancer effect in TNBC. CXCL16-mediated NK cell recruitment and NK cell cytotoxicity were examined in an experimental metastasis mouse model and in an MDA-MB231 orthotopic mouse model. Results We show that targeting the ETS transcription factor ELK3 recruits immune cells including NK cells into tumors via the chemotactic activity of the chemokine. ELK3 depletion upregulated CXCL16 expression, thereby inducing NK cell recruitment to tumors and increasing NK cell cytotoxicity in TNBC . In silico analysis showed that ELK3 is negatively correlated with CXCL16 expression in breast cancer patient samples. Low expression of ELK3 and high expression of CXCL16 were associated with a better prognosis. Low expression of ELK3 and high expression of CXCL16 were associated with increased expression of NK cell-related genes. Conclusions The ELK3-CXCL16 axis regulates NK cell recruitment and increases NK cell cytotoxicity, suggesting that targeting the ELK3 gene could be an adjuvant strategy for increasing the efficacy of immunotherapy in TNBC.
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Project description:We present a novel mathematical model involving various immune cell populations and tumor cellpopulations. The model describes how tumor cells evolve and survive the brief encounter with theimmune system mediated by natural killer (NK) cells and the activated CD8þcytotoxic T lymphocytes(CTLs). The model is composed of ordinary differential equations describing the interactions betweenthese important immune lymphocytes and various tumor cell populations. Based on up-to-dateknowledge of immune evasion and rational considerations, the model is designed to illustrate how tu-mors evade both arms of host immunity (i.e.innate and adaptive immunity). The model predicts that(a) an influx of an external source of NK cells might play a crucial role in enhancing NK-cell immunesurveillance; (b) the host immune system alone is not fully effective against progression of tumor cells;(c) the development of immunoresistance by tumor cells is inevitable in tumor immune surveillance. Ourmodel also supports the importance of infiltrating NK cells in tumor immune surveillance, which can beenhanced by NK cell-based immunotherapeutic approaches.
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Project description:Natural killer (NK) cells are an innate immune cell type that serves at the first level of defense against pathogens and cancer. NK cells have clinical potential; However, multiple current limitations exist that naturally hinder the successful implementation of NK cell therapy against cancer, including their effector function, persistence, and tumor infiltration. To unbiasedly identify genes underlying critical NK cell characteristics against cancer, we perform functional mapping of tumor infiltrating NK (TINK) cells by both in vivo AAV-CRISPR screens and single-cell sequencing. We establish a strategy with AAV-SleepingBeauty(SB)-CRISPR screening leveraging a focused high-density sgRNA library, and perform four independent in vivo tumor infiltration screens of primary NK cells in mouse models of melanoma, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and glioblastoma. In parallel, we characterize single-cell transcriptomic landscapes of tumor-infiltrating NK cells, which identifies previously unexplored sub-populations of NK cells with distinct expression profiles, a shift from immature to mature NK (mNK) cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME), and decreased expression of mature marker genes in mNK cells. CALHM2, a calcium homeostasis modulator previously not linked to NK function, emerges as a convergent hit from both CRISPR screen and single-cell data. CALHM2 knockout NK cells show enhancement of in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo tumor infiltration in both mouse primary NK and human chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-NK cells. Re-introduction of CALHM2 mRNA reverses CALHM2 knockout phenotype of NK cytotoxicity and degranulation. Importantly, in a solid tumor model that is completely resistant to adoptive cell therapy of unmodified CAR-NK cells, CALHM2 knockout CAR-NK cells show potent in vivo anti-tumor efficacy. Human primary NK cell study with multiple donors reveals that CALHM2 knockout enhances cytotoxicity, degranulation and cytokine production of NK cells. Transcriptomics profiling of human primary NK cells reveal multiple enriched pathways of downstream genes upon CALHM2 knockout in both baseline and stimulated conditions. These data identify endogenous cellular genetic checkpoints that naturally limit NK cell function, and pinpoint CALHM2 as a key factor in which genetic modification can be engineered to enhance NK cell-based immunotherapies.
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