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Single-Cell Integration of Chromatin Accessibility and Transcriptomics Reveals Regulatory Networks in Ovarian Tumor-Infiltrating Adaptive NK Cells

ABSTRACT: Natural killer (NK) cells are traditionally recognized for their rapid, non-specific responses against virus-infected or malignantly transformed cells, functioning as key effectors of innate immunity. However, a distinct subset known as adaptive NK (aNK) cells has been shown to acquire memory-like properties following viral infections, indicating their capacity for antigen-specific immune recall. Intriguingly, aNK cells have also been identified within the tumor microenvironment, where they can mediate tumor-specific recall responses. Yet, the regulatory mechanisms managing their function in tumor-infiltrating aNK cells remain largely unknown. In this study, we integrated publicly available multiomics datasets from ovarian cancer, including single-cell chromatin accessibility (scATAC-seq) and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), to identify chromatin-accessible regions and construct transcription factors (TF)-gene regulatory networks. To validate and extend these findings, we performed Smart-seq3 on NK cells isolated from ovarian tumors and applied SCENIC analysis to identify TF-driven gene regulation. By integrating results from both analyses, we identified PRDM1 and STAT2 as key TFs, along with their downstream targets CRCP and MTFP1, specifically enriched in tumor-infiltrating aNK cells. The expression levels of CRCP and MTFP1 positively correlated with NK cell infiltration in ovarian cancer tissues, suggesting their potential functions in supporting tumor-specific NK cell memory responses. In addition, external validation using data from the PROMIX clinical trial demonstrated that PRDM1 and STAT2 expression levels are positively associated with both overall survival and aNK cell-associated transcriptional features.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE310915 | GEO | 2025/11/26

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Tumor-infiltrating (TI)-NK cell numbers predict better than TIL score the efficacy of HER2-targeted antibodies in primary breast cancer patients. To understand the mechanism/s underlying this association, biological processes enriched in NK cell-infiltrated as compared to NK cell-desert HER2-positive breast tumors paired by TIL score were leveraged from transcriptomic data. NK cell-infiltrated tumors were enriched in transcripts regulated by interferons and NF-kB. Among them, levels of CCL5/IFNG-CXCL9/10 positively correlated with the number of TI-NK cells in the original biopsy. Indeed, coordinated expression of CCL5/IFNG-CXCL9/10 transcripts was also evidenced in tumor biopsies from a phase II clinical trial where IFNG levels associated to the achievement of pathological complete response to anti-HER2 antibody treatment (OR 96.3, p=0.01) and correlated with their TI-NK cell score. In in vitro models, anti-HER2 antibody-dependent NK cell activation led to the secretion of CCL5/IFN-? and the subsequent production of IFN-?-dependent CXCL9/10 by bystander breast cancer cells. Ex vivo treatment of breast tumor-derived multicellular cultures with trastuzumab induced the activation of CD16+ TI-NK cells and their conversion into a CD16-CD103+ subpopulation, both endowed with CCL5 and IFN-? producing potential. CD16+ and CD16-CD103+ TI-NK cell subpopulations shared the expression of EOMES, TBX21 and several KIR genes, indicating their lineage relationship; and their proportions positively correlated with total NK cell, CD8+ and tissue-resident T cell frequencies, immune cell subsets with anti-tumor potential. Remarkably, the coordinated induction of CCL5/IFNG-CXCL9/CXCL10 expression, concomitant to the conversion of CD16+ into CD16+/-CD103+ tumor-infiltrating NK cells, was recapitulated in a humanized HER2+ breast cancer in vivo model treated with a combination of anti-HER2 antibodies and in vitro expanded human NK cells, paralleling tumor growth control. Finally, patients achieving good clinical responses to anti-HER2 antibody-based neoadjuvant treatment showed an early and coordinated increase in sera CCL5 and CXCL9/CXCL10 levels which positively correlated with TI-NK cell numbers in the corresponding diagnosis biopsy. Overall, our data point to NK cells as regulators of the tumor microenvironment through the early secretion of CCL5/IFN-? resulting in the production of CXCL9/10 and the recruitment/differentiation of immune infiltrates with anti-tumor potential, ultimately contributing to anti-HER2 antibody clinical efficacy.

Project description:Tumor-infiltrating (TI)-NK cell numbers predict better than TIL score the efficacy of HER2-targeted antibodies in primary breast cancer patients. To understand the mechanism/s underlying this association, biological processes enriched in NK cell-infiltrated as compared to NK cell-desert HER2-positive breast tumors paired by TIL score were leveraged from transcriptomic data. NK cell-infiltrated tumors were enriched in transcripts regulated by interferons and NF-kB. Among them, levels of CCL5/IFNG-CXCL9/10 positively correlated with the number of TI-NK cells in the original biopsy. Indeed, coordinated expression of CCL5/IFNG-CXCL9/10 transcripts was also evidenced in tumor biopsies from a phase II clinical trial where IFNG levels associated to the achievement of pathological complete response to anti-HER2 antibody treatment (OR 96.3, p=0.01) and correlated with their TI-NK cell score. In in vitro models, anti-HER2 antibody-dependent NK cell activation led to the secretion of CCL5/IFN-ɣ and the subsequent production of IFN-ɣ-dependent CXCL9/10 by bystander breast cancer cells. Ex vivo treatment of breast tumor-derived multicellular cultures with trastuzumab induced the activation of CD16+ TI-NK cells and their conversion into a CD16-CD103+ subpopulation, both endowed with CCL5 and IFN-ɣ producing potential. CD16+ and CD16-CD103+ TI-NK cell subpopulations shared the expression of EOMES, TBX21 and several KIR genes, indicating their lineage relationship; and their proportions positively correlated with total NK cell, CD8+ and tissue-resident T cell frequencies, immune cell subsets with anti-tumor potential. Remarkably, the coordinated induction of CCL5/IFNG-CXCL9/CXCL10 expression, concomitant to the conversion of CD16+ into CD16+/-CD103+ tumor-infiltrating NK cells, was recapitulated in a humanized HER2+ breast cancer in vivo model treated with a combination of anti-HER2 antibodies and in vitro expanded human NK cells, paralleling tumor growth control. Finally, patients achieving good clinical responses to anti-HER2 antibody-based neoadjuvant treatment showed an early and coordinated increase in sera CCL5 and CXCL9/CXCL10 levels which positively correlated with TI-NK cell numbers in the corresponding diagnosis biopsy. Overall, our data point to NK cells as regulators of the tumor microenvironment through the early secretion of CCL5/IFN-ɣ resulting in the production of CXCL9/10 and the recruitment/differentiation of immune infiltrates with anti-tumor potential, ultimately contributing to anti-HER2 antibody clinical efficacy.

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Single-Cell Integration of Chromatin Accessibility and Transcriptomics Reveals Regulatory Networks in Ovarian Tumor-Infiltrating Adaptive NK Cells

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