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The Granulocyte Progenitor Stage is a Key Target of IRF8-Mediated Regulation of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cell Production

ABSTRACT: Alterations in myelopoiesis are common across various tumor types, resulting in immature populations termed myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). MDSC burden correlates with poorer clinical outcomes, credited to their ability to suppress antitumor immunity. MDSCs consist of two major subsets, monocytic and polymorphonuclear (PMN). Intriguingly, the latter subset predominates in many patients and tumor models, though the mechanisms favoring PMN-MDSC responses remain poorly understood. Ordinarily, lineage-restricted transcription factors regulate myelopoiesis that collectively dictate cell fate. One integral player is interferon regulatory factor-8 (IRF8), which promotes monocyte/dendritic cell differentiation while limiting granulocyte development. We recently showed that IRF8 inversely controls MDSC burden in tumor models, particularly the PMN-MDSC subset. However, where IRF8 acts in the pathway of myeloid differentiation to influence PMN-MDSC production has remained unknown. Here, we showed that: 1) tumor growth was strongly associated with a selective expansion of newly defined IRF8lo granulocytic progenitors (GPs); 2) tumor-derived GPs had an increased ability to form PMN-MDSCs; 3) tumor-derived GPs shared gene expression patterns with IRF8-/- GPs, suggesting that IRF8 loss underlies GP expansion; and 4) enforced IRF8 overexpression in vivo selectively constrained tumor-induced GP expansion. These findings support the hypothesis that PMN-MDSCs result from selective expansion of IRF8lo GPs, and that strategies targeting IRF8 expression may limit their load to improve immunotherapy efficacy.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE87800 | GEO | 2017/04/06

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA347634

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are key players in immune evasion, tumor progression and metastasis. MDSCs accumulate under various pathological states, and fall into two functionally and phenotypically distinct subsets: polymorphonuclear (PMN)-MDSCs and monocytic (M)-MDSCs. These subsets have been studied extensively in humans and mice, yet to date no study has identified MDSC subsets in dogs with spontaneous tumors. As dogs are an excellent model for human tumor development and progression, we set out to identify PMN-MDSCs and M-MDSCs in clinical canine oncology patients. We identified MDSCs as hypodense MHC class II-CD5-CD21-CD11b+ cells and show for the first time that they can also be subdivided into polymorphonuclear (CADO48A+CD14-) and monocytic (CADO48A-CD14+) subsets. The transcriptomic signatures of PMN-MDSCs and M-MDSCs are distinct from each other and from those of conventional polymorphonuclear (PMN) and monocytic cells, respectively. Notably, bioinformatic analyses reveal a statistically significant similarity between canine and previously published human MDSC gene expression patterns. As in humans, peripheral blood frequencies of canine PMN-MDSCs and M-MDSCs are significantly different in dogs with cancer compared to healthy control dogs (PMN-MDSCs: p < .001; M-MDSCs: p < .01). Furthermore, a comparison of our canine MDSC RNA-seq data with transcriptomic results previously published for human and murine MDSCs highlights five commonly upregulated genes in PMN-MDSCs in all species, suggesting that these genes are evolutionarily conserved and functionally important. Interestingly, one gene has previously been implicated in PMN-MDSC function (MMP8), but four genes (LTF, LCN2, CAMP, EBP41L3) are novel in the context of PMN-MDSCs. Our findings therefore demonstrate for the first time that dogs have two distinct populations of MDSCs, characterized by specific phenotypic and transcriptomic signatures that share key features of human MDSC subsets. Importantly, by leveraging the power of evolution, we have identified additional conserved genes in PMN-MDSCs of multiple species which may play a role in MDSC function. Our findings therefore validate the dog as a model for studying MDSCs in the context of cancer.

Project description:Aging results in enhanced myelopoiesis, which is associated with an increased prevalence of myeloid leukemias and the production of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). Tristetraprolin (TTP) is an RNA binding protein that regulates immune-related cytokines and chemokines by destabilizing target mRNAs. As TTP expression is known to decrease with age in myeloid cells, we used TTP-deficient (TTPKO) mice to model aged mice to study TTP regulation in age-related myelopoiesis. Both TTPKO and myeloidspecific TTPKO (cTTPKO) mice had significant increases in both MDSC subpopulations M-MDSCs (CD11b+Ly6ChiLy6G-) and PMN-MDSCs (CD11b+Ly6CloLy6G+), as well as macrophages (CD11b+F4/80+) in the spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes; however, no quantitative changes in MDSCs were observed in the bone marrow. In contrast, gain-of-function TTP knock-in (TTPKI) mice had no change in MDSCs compared with control mice. Within the bone marrow, total granulocyte-monocyte progenitors (GMPs) and monocyte progenitors (MPs), direct antecedents of M-MDSCs, were significantly increased in both cTTPKO and TTPKO mice, but granulocyte progenitors (GPs) were significantly increased only in TTPKO mice. Transcriptomic analysis of the bone marrow myeloid cell populations revealed that the expression of CC chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), which plays a key role in monocyte mobilization to inflammatory sites, was dramatically increased in both cTTPKO and TTPKO mice. Concurrently, the concentration of CC chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), a major ligand of CCR2, was high in the serum of cTTPKO and TTPKO mice, suggesting that TTP impacts the mobilization of M-MDSCs from the bone marrow to inflammatory sites during aging via regulation of the CCR2-CCL2 axis. Collectively, these studies demonstrate a previously unrecognized role for TTP in regulating age-associated myelopoiesis through the expansion of specific myeloid progenitors and M-MDSCs and their recruitment to sites of injury, inflammation, or other pathologic perturbations.

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The Granulocyte Progenitor Stage is a Key Target of IRF8-Mediated Regulation of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cell Production

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