Entinostat decreases immune suppression to promote an anti-tumor response within a HER2+ breast tumor microenvironment.
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ABSTRACT: Therapeutic combinations to alter solid tumor microenvironments (TME) in immunosuppressive tumors such as breast cancer are essential to improve their responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Entinostat, an oral histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi), has been shown to improve responses to ICIs in various tumor models with immunosuppressive TMEs. The precise and comprehensive alterations to the TME induced by entinostat remain unknown. Here, we employ single-cell RNA-sequencing on HER2 overexpressing breast tumors from mice treated with entinostat and ICIs to characterize for the first time changes across all cell types within the TME. This analysis demonstrates that treatment with entinostat induces a shift from a pro-tumor to an anti-tumor TME signature characterized predominantly by changes in the myeloid cells. We confirm myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) within entinostat-treated tumors are associated with a less suppressive G-MDSC phenotype and now demonstrate altered suppressive signaling involves the NFkB and STAT3 pathways. In addition to MDSCs, tumor-associated macrophages are epigenetically reprogrammed toward an anti-tumor M1-like phenotype likely contributing to a more sensitized TME. Overall, our in-depth analysis suggests entinostat-induced changes on multiple myeloid cell types reduce immunosuppression and increase mechanisms of an anti-tumor response that improve sensitivity to ICI. Sensitization of the TME by entinostat could ultimately broaden the population of patients with breast cancer who could derive benefit from ICIs.
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus
PROVIDER: GSE166321 | GEO | 2022/01/18
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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