Project description:Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) restrains cytotoxic immune response to maintain self-tolerance and to promote tumor immune evasion. Yet how SMAD4, a central transcription factor component of TGF-β signaling, regulates CD8+ T cell function remains unclear. Here we have demonstrated SMAD4 played a critical role in promoting CD8+ T cell activation and cytotoxic function. SMAD4-mediated transcriptional regulation of CD8+ T cell activation and cytotoxicity is regulated by T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling pathway rather than TGF-β signaling pathway. We described a new mechanism that in TCR-mediated intracellular signal propagation, SMAD4 markedly translocated into the nucleus, upregulated genes that encoding TCR complex subunits and cytotoxic molecules in CD8+ T cells, reinforced the TCR-activation signals through a positive feedback loop. And in this signaling, SMAD4 is phosphorylated by ERK at Ser367 residue. Our study thus demonstrates an essential role of SMAD4 in promoting CD8+ T cell mediated cytotoxic immune responses.
Project description:Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) restrains cytotoxic immune response to maintain self-tolerance and to promote tumor immune evasion. Yet how SMAD4, a central transcription factor component of TGF-β signaling, regulates CD8+ T cell function remains unclear. Here we have demonstrated SMAD4 played a critical role in promoting CD8+ T cell activation and cytotoxic function. SMAD4-mediated transcriptional regulation of CD8+ T cell activation and cytotoxicity is regulated by T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling pathway rather than TGF-β signaling pathway. We described a new mechanism that in TCR-mediated intracellular signal propagation, SMAD4 markedly translocated into the nucleus, upregulated genes that encoding TCR complex subunits and cytotoxic molecules in CD8+ T cells, reinforced the TCR-activation signals through a positive feedback loop. And in this signaling, SMAD4 is phosphorylated by ERK at Ser367 residue. Our study thus demonstrates an essential role of SMAD4 in promoting CD8+ T cell mediated cytotoxic immune responses.
Project description:SMAD4, a key mediator of TGF-beta signaling, plays a crucial role in T cells to prevent chronic intestinal inflammation through unknown mechanisms. We reveal that SMAD4 in CD8 T cells prevents chronic intestinal inflammation primarily in a TGF-beta-independent manner. Mechanistically, SMAD4, in CD8 T cells, acts as a basal and tonic repressor of TGF-beta-target genes at the transcriptional and epigenetic level, prior to any TGF-beta signal. SMAD4 deletion affects aberrantly a wide range of TGF-beta-target genes, thereby promoting accumulation and epithelial retention of CD8.alpha.beta T cells inversely to total TGF-beta signaling disruption. Moreover, SMAD4 deletion unleashes the expression of TGF-beta-signaling-repressors and hampers TGF-β-mediated CD8 T cell immunosuppression, eliciting their chronic activation. Hence, in a feedforward mechanism, SMAD4 both blocks the TGF-beta signature in CD8 T cells and pre-sensitizes them to TGF-beta.
Project description:SMAD4, a key mediator of TGF-beta signaling, plays a crucial role in T cells to prevent chronic intestinal inflammation through unknown mechanisms. We reveal that SMAD4 in CD8 T cells prevents chronic intestinal inflammation primarily in a TGF-beta-independent manner. Mechanistically, SMAD4, in CD8 T cells, acts as a basal and tonic repressor of TGF-beta-target genes at the transcriptional and epigenetic level, prior to any TGF-beta signal. SMAD4 deletion affects aberrantly a wide range of TGF-beta-target genes, thereby promoting accumulation and epithelial retention of CD8.alpha.beta T cells inversely to total TGF-beta signaling disruption. Moreover, SMAD4 deletion unleashes the expression of TGF-beta-signaling-repressors and hampers TGF-β-mediated CD8 T cell immunosuppression, eliciting their chronic activation. Hence, in a feedforward mechanism, SMAD4 both blocks the TGF-beta signature in CD8 T cells and pre-sensitizes them to TGF-beta.
Project description:We compared gene expression profiling between CD4+ helper T cells and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells CD4+ helper T cells vs CD8+ cytotoxic T cells
Project description:The ability of CD8 T cells to mediate protective immunity while limiting immunopathology depends on critical transcription factors such as Smad4 and Eomes that regulate differentiation of activated CTLs. Disruption of transcriptional programs mediated by Eomes (30-32) and Smad4 (26, 33, 34) in activated CTLs has been implicated in viral infections, chronic inflammation and cancer. Smad4 and Eomes have been shown to be critical for differentiation of memory cells, particularly TRM cells. To understand the gene regulation programs mediated by Smad4 and Eomes, we have done an integrated RNAseq and ChIPseq analysis using CD8 T cells that are isolated from Smad4KO (S4KO), EomesKO, and Smad3/Smad4-DKO (S34-DKO) mice. We identified overlapping and distinct gene expression programs associated with Smad4 and Eomes that shape activated CD8 T cell identity and functional bias. They act as critical regulators of genes involved in T cell differentiation, metabolic programming and epigenetic control in CD8 T cells. Smad4 and Eomes regulate the genes involved in tissue residency and OXPHOS-linked mitochondrial bioenergetics. Finally, we showed that canonical TGF signaling is active in the absence of Smad4 or Eomes and abrogated only when both Smad3 and Smad4 are deleted. Surprisingly, CD8 T cells lacking both Smad3 and Smad4 are more enriched for TRM signature genes compared to Smad4 or Eomes-deficient CD8 T cells.
Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive malignancy characterized by a median survival rate of approximately six months. While genetic profiling has uncovered common mutations in PDAC, developing targeted therapeutic strategies remains challenging. SMAD4 is frequently mutated or deleted in 30-55% of PDAC patients and correlates with poor survival rates. Such mutations frequently result in loss-of-function, thereby disrupting normal cell cycle regulation and contributing to tumorigenesis. Therefore, translating SMAD4 genotype into actionable targets are highly desired for therapeutic innovation in PDAC. In this study, we performed a SMAD4-focused oncogenic protein-protein interaction (oncoPPI) network mapping and revealed a direct physical interaction between SMAD4 and NFATc1. We found that SMAD4 interacts with NFATc1 in a TGF-independent and NFATc1 phosphorylation-dependent manner. Further, SMAD4 sequesters NFATc1 in cytoplasm and inhibits NFATc1 transcriptional activity. In PDAC cells, SMAD4-loss releases its inhibitory activity on NFATc1, activates NFATc1 transcriptional activity which drives STAT3 mRNA and protein upregulation. Pharmacological profiling identified multiple STAT3 inhibitors selectively inhibit the growth of SMAD4-loss PDAC cells. These results suggested a rewired SMAD4-NFATc1-STAT3 axis and targeting STAT3 as a potential therapeutic strategy in SMAD4-loss PDAC.