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Project description:Tumor-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes are crucial for anti-cancer immunity but can lose cytotoxic function in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), like anti-PD-1 therapy, enhance and prolong anti-tumor T cell responses. Despite its widespread clinical use, resistance to ICB develops in some patients, characterized by the proliferation of exhausted T cell (Tex). Here, we establish two single-cell murine hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) models to explore regulatory network in Tex with ICB resistance. We uncover distinct T cell compositions, including both early and terminal Tex subsets, following prolonged ICB treatment, and reveal the differentiation trajectory of Tex subsets. Finally, we not only identify transcription factor Runx2 and its downstream targets as contributors to T cell exhaustion in both models, but discover ICB response correlates to Runx2 level in human tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. These findings elucidate Runx2 regulates T cell exhaustion in response to prolonged ICB treatment, influencing ICB effICBency, and suggest potential targets for combination therapy alongside ICB in HCC.
2025-12-17 | GSE268163 | GEO
Project description:Tumor-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes are crucial for anti-cancer immunity but can lose cytotoxic function in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Immune checkpoint blockades (ICB), like anti-PD-1 therapy, enhance and prolong anti-tumor T cell responses. Despite its widespread clinical use, resistance to ICB develops in some patients, characterized by the proliferation of exhausted T cell (Tex). Here, we establish two single-cell murine hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) models to explore regulatory network in Tex with ICB resistance. We uncover distinct T cell compositions, including both early and terminal Tex subsets, following prolonged ICB treatment, and reveal the differentiation trajectory of Tex subsets. Finally, we not only identify transcription factor Runx2 and its downstream targets as contributors to T cell exhaustion in both models, but discover ICB response correlates to Runx2 level in human tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. These findings elucidate Runx2 regulates T cell exhaustion in response to prolonged ICB treatment, influencing ICB effICBency, and suggest potential targets for combination therapy alongside ICB in HCC.
2025-12-17 | GSE268161 | GEO
Project description:Tumor-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes are crucial for anti-cancer immunity but can lose cytotoxic function in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Immune checkpoint blockades (ICB), like anti-PD-1 therapy, enhance and prolong anti-tumor T cell responses. Despite its widespread clinical use, resistance to ICB develops in some patients, characterized by the proliferation of exhausted T cell (Tex). Here, we establish two single-cell murine hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) models to explore regulatory network in Tex with ICB resistance. We uncover distinct T cell compositions, including both early and terminal Tex subsets, following prolonged ICB treatment, and reveal the differentiation trajectory of Tex subsets. Finally, we not only identify transcription factor Runx2 and its downstream targets as contributors to T cell exhaustion in both models, but discover ICB response correlates to Runx2 level in human tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. These findings elucidate Runx2 regulates T cell exhaustion in response to prolonged ICB treatment, influencing ICB effICBency, and suggest potential targets for combination therapy alongside ICB in HCC.
2025-12-17 | GSE268160 | GEO
Project description:Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies have brought unprecedented advances in cancer treatment, but responses are limited to a fraction of patients. Therefore, sustained and substantial efforts are required to advance clinical and translational investigation on managing patients receiving ICB. In this study, we investigated the dynamic changes in molecular profiles of T-cell exhaustion (TEX) during ICB treatment using single-cell and bulk transcriptome analysis, and demonstrated distinct exhaustion molecular profiles associated with ICB response. By applying an ensemble deep-learning computational framework, we identified an ICB-associated transcriptional signature consisting of 16 TEX-related genes, termed ITGs. Incorporating 16 ITGs into a machine-learning model called MLTIP achieved reliable predictive power for clinical ICB response with an average AUC of 0.778, and overall survival (pooled HR = 0.093, 95% CI, 0.031-0.28, P < 0.001) across multiple ICB-treated cohorts. Furthermore, the MLTIP consistently demonstrated superior predictive performance compared to other well-established markers and signatures, with an average increase in AUC of 21.5%. In summary, our results highlight the potential of this TEX-dependent transcriptional signature as a tool for precise patient stratification and personalized immunotherapy, with clinical translation in precision medicine.
| S-EPMC10336094 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Achieving robust responses with adoptive cell therapy for the treatment of the highly lethal pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) has been elusive. We previously showed that T cells engineered to express a mesothelin-specific T cell receptor (TCRMsln) accumulate in autochthonous PDA, mediate therapeutic antitumor activity, but fail to eradicate tumors in part due to acquisition of a dysfunctional exhausted T cell state. Here, we investigated the role of immune checkpoints in mediating TCR engineered T cell dysfunction in a genetically engineered PDA mouse model. The fate of engineered T cells that were either deficient in PD-1, or transferred concurrent with antibodies blocking PD-L1 and/or additional immune checkpoints, were tracked to evaluate persistence, functionality, and antitumor activity at day 8 and day 28 post infusion. We performed RNAseq on engineered T cells isolated from tumors and compared differentially expressed genes to prototypical endogenous exhausted T cells. PD-L1 pathway blockade and/or simultaneous blockade of multiple coinhibitory receptors during adoptive cell therapy was insufficient to prevent engineered T cell dysfunction in autochthonous PDA yet resulted in subclinical activity in the lung, without enhancing anti-tumor immunity. Gene expression analysis revealed that ex vivo TCR engineered T cells markedly differed from in vivo primed endogenous effector T cells which can respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Early after transfer, intratumoral TCR engineered T cells acquired a similar molecular program to prototypical exhausted T cells that arise during chronic viral infection, but the molecular programs later diverged. Intratumoral engineered T cells exhibited decreased effector and cell cycle genes and were refractory to TCR signaling. Abrogation of PD-1 signaling is not sufficient to overcome TCR engineered T cell dysfunction in PDA. Our study suggests that contributions by both the differentiation pathways induced during the ex vivo T cell engineering process and intratumoral suppressive mechanisms render engineered T cells dysfunctional and resistant to rescue by blockade of immune checkpoints.
| S-EPMC8883283 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Immune checkpoint blockade therapy (ICBT) has revolutionized the treatment and management of numerous cancers, yet a substantial proportion of patients who initially respond to ICBT subsequently develop resistance. Comprehensive genomic analysis of samples from recent clinical trials and pre-clinical investigation in mouse models of cancer provide insight into how tumors evade ICBT after an initial response to treatment. Here, we summarize our current knowledge on the development of acquired ICBT resistance, by examining the mechanisms related to tumor-intrinsic properties, T-cell function, and tumor-immune cell interactions. We discuss current and future management of ICBT resistance, and consider crucial questions remaining in this field of acquired resistance to immune checkpoint blockade therapies.
| S-EPMC7280955 | biostudies-literature
Project description:'Immune checkpoint blockade' for cancer describes the use of therapeutic antibodies that disrupt negative immune regulatory checkpoints and unleash pre-existing antitumour immune responses. Antibodies targeting the checkpoint molecules cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4), programmed cell death 1 (PD1) and PD1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) have had early success in the clinic, which has led to approval by the US Food and Drug Administration of multiple agents in several cancer types. Yet, clinicians still have very limited tools to discriminate a priori patients who will and will not respond to treatment. This has fuelled a wave of research into the molecular mechanisms of tumour-intrinsic resistance to immune checkpoint blockade, leading to the rediscovery of biological processes critical to antitumour immunity, namely interferon signalling and antigen presentation. Other efforts have shed light on the immunological implications of canonical cancer signalling pathways, such as WNT-β-catenin signalling, cell cycle regulatory signalling, mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling and pathways activated by loss of the tumour suppressor phosphoinositide phosphatase PTEN. Here we review each of these molecular mechanisms of resistance and explore ongoing approaches to overcome resistance to immune checkpoint blockade and expand the spectrum of patients who can benefit from immune checkpoint blockade.
| S-EPMC8499690 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeSarcoma encompasses a diverse group of cancers that are typically resistant to current therapies, including immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), and underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. The contexture of sarcomas limits generation of high-quality data using cutting-edge molecular profiling methods, such as single-cell RNA-sequencing, thus hampering progress in understanding these understudied cancers.Experimental designHere, we demonstrate feasibility of producing multimodal single-cell genomics and whole-genome sequencing data from frozen tissues, profiling 75,716 cell transcriptomes of five undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma and three intimal sarcoma samples, including paired specimens from two patients treated with ICB.ResultsWe find that genomic diversity decreases in patients with response to ICB, and, in unbiased analyses, identify cancer cell programs associated with therapy resistance. Although interactions of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes within the tumor ecosystem increase in ICB responders, clonal expansion of CD8+ T cells alone was insufficient to predict drug responses.ConclusionsThis study provides a framework for studying rare tumors and identifies salient and treatment-associated cancer cell intrinsic and tumor microenvironmental features in sarcomas.
| S-EPMC11443197 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Immune checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated broad single-agent antitumor activity and a favorable safety profile that render them attractive agents to combine with other systemic anticancer therapies. Pancreatic cancer has been fairly resistant to monotherapy blockade of programmed cell death protein 1 receptor, programmed death ligand 1, and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4. However, there is a growing body of preclinical evidence to support the rational combination of checkpoint inhibitors and various systemic therapies in pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, early clinical evidence has begun to support the feasibility and efficacy of checkpoint inhibitor-based combination therapy in advanced pancreatic cancer. Despite accumulating preclinical and clinical data, there remains several questions as to the optimal dosing and timing of administration of respective agents, toxicity of combination strategies, and mechanisms by which immune resistance to single-agent checkpoint blockade are overcome. Further development of biomarkers is also important in the advancement of combination systemic therapies incorporating checkpoint blockade in pancreatic cancer. Results from an impressive number of ongoing prospective clinical trials are eagerly anticipated and will seek to validate the viability of combination immuno-oncology strategies in pancreatic cancer.
| S-EPMC6174117 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Traditional cancer treatment approaches have focused on surgery, radiation therapy, and cytotoxic chemotherapy. However, with rare exceptions, metastatic cancers were considered to be incurable by traditional therapy. Over the past 20 years a fourth modality - immunotherapy - has emerged as a potentially curative approach for patients with advanced metastatic cancer. However, in many patients cancer "finds a way" to evade the anti-tumor effects of immunotherapy. Immunotherapy resistance mechanisms can be employed by both cancer cells and the non-cancer elements of tumor microenvironment. This review focuses on the resistance mechanisms that are specifically mediated by cancer cells. In order to extend the impact of immunotherapy to more patients and across all cancer types, and to inhibit the development of acquired resistance, the underlying biology driving immune escape needs to be better understood. Elucidating mechanisms of immune escape may shed light on new therapeutic targets, and lead to successful combination therapeutic strategies.
| S-EPMC6956738 | biostudies-literature