Dataset Information

Pancreatic cancer-associated fibroblasts modulate macrophage differentiation via sialic acid-Siglec interactions.

ABSTRACT: Despite recent advances in cancer immunotherapy, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains unresponsive due to an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, which is characterized by the abundance of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Once identified, CAF-mediated immune inhibitory mechanisms could be exploited for cancer immunotherapy. Siglec receptors are increasingly recognized as immune checkpoints, and their ligands, sialic acids, are known to be overexpressed by cancer cells. Here, we unveil a previously unrecognized role of sialic acid-containing glycans on PDAC CAFs as crucial modulators of myeloid cells. Using multiplex immunohistochemistry and transcriptomics, we show that PDAC stroma is enriched in sialic acid-containing glycans compared to tumor cells and normal fibroblasts, and characterized by ST3GAL4 expression. We demonstrate that sialic acids on CAF cell lines serve as ligands for Siglec-7, -9, -10 and -15, distinct from the ligands on tumor cells, and that these receptors are found on myeloid cells in the stroma of PDAC biopsies. Furthermore, we show that CAFs drive the differentiation of monocytes to immunosuppressive tumor-associated macrophages in vitro, and that CAF sialylation plays a dominant role in this process compared to tumor cell sialylation. Collectively, our findings unravel sialic acids as a mechanism of CAF-mediated immunomodulation, which may provide targets for immunotherapy in PDAC.

SUBMITTER: Boelaars K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11003967 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Pancreatic cancer-associated fibroblasts modulate macrophage differentiation via sialic acid-Siglec interactions.

Boelaars Kelly K Rodriguez Ernesto E Huinen Zowi R ZR Liu Chang C Wang Di D Springer Babet O BO Olesek Katarzyna K Goossens-Kruijssen Laura L van Ee Thomas T Lindijer Dimitri D Tak Willemijn W de Haas Aram A Wehry Laetitia L Nugteren-Boogaard Joline P JP Mikula Aleksandra A de Winde Charlotte M CM Mebius Reina E RE Tuveson David A DA Giovannetti Elisa E Bijlsma Maarten F MF Wuhrer Manfred M van Vliet Sandra J SJ van Kooyk Yvette Y

Communications biology 20240409 1

Despite recent advances in cancer immunotherapy, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains unresponsive due to an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, which is characterized by the abundance of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Once identified, CAF-mediated immune inhibitory mechanisms could be exploited for cancer immunotherapy. Siglec receptors are increasingly recognized as immune checkpoints, and their ligands, sialic acids, are known to be overexpressed by cancer cells. Here, ...[more]

PMID: 38594506

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Project description:Recently, ‘don’t eat me’-signals like CD47 have emerged as novel innate immune checkpoints, enabling cancer cells to evade clearance by phagocytes such as microglia (MG) or monocyte-derived cells (MdCs). Here, we aim at defining the role of inhibitory Siglec-9 in human and its mouse homologue Siglec-E in innate-centered immunotherapy against GBM. TCGA RNA-sequencing data revealed a significant correlation between high expression of immunoinhibitory SIGLEC9 and poor survival in GBM patients (log-rank p = 0.02). Using a CT-2A orthotopic GBM mouse model with MG-specific spatio-temporal deletion of Siglece (Sall1CreERT2 x Sigleceflox), we observed high MG-proliferation upon Siglece knockout (Ki-67+ MG 14.8% in Creneg vs. 34.9% in Crepos, p < 0.0001) accompanied by an enhanced microglial GBM-cell uptake (5.6% in Creneg vs. 12.3% in Crepos, p < 0.001). By extending the Siglece knockout to the MdC compartment (Cx3cr1CreERT2 x Sigleceflox) we observed a significantly prolonged survival in the Crepos population (21d in Creneg vs. 27d post-tumor injection in Crepos, p = 0.018), which could be further promoted by combining Siglece knockout with CD47 blockade (11% long-term remission in Crepos + anti-CD47). Proteomics analysis revealed increased antigen processing and presentation capabilities of SigleceKO MdCs which was confirmed by ex-vivo OT-1 cross-presentation assays. This increased T cell priming upon MdC SigleceKO was further boosted by addition of anti-PD1 antibody to the SigleceKO + anti-CD47 combination. Resulting in 23% of animals experiencing long-term remission in the triple treatment arm, even after tumor re-challenge. Genetic targeting of sialic acids, the ligand for Siglec receptors, on CT-2A cells (GNE-KO), resulted in increased GBM-cell phagocytosis by MG and MdCs and less exhausted tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells (14.8% in WT vs. 5.9% in GNE-KO, p = 0.003). In a translational approach, we are currently testing anti-Siglec-9 treatment regimens in patient GBM explants, cultured for 5 days in perfusion bioreactors.

Dataset Information

Pancreatic cancer-associated fibroblasts modulate macrophage differentiation via sialic acid-Siglec interactions.

Publications

Pancreatic cancer-associated fibroblasts modulate macrophage differentiation via sialic acid-Siglec interactions.

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