Interferon-γ Drives Treg Fragility to Promote Anti-tumor Immunity.

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Interferon-γ Drives Treg Fragility to Promote Anti-tumor Immunity.

Cell. 2017 May 24;:

Authors: Overacre-Delgoffe AE, Chikina M, Dadey RE, Yano H, Brunazzi EA, Shayan G, Horne W, Moskovitz JM, Kolls JK, Sander C, Shuai Y, Normolle DP, Kirkwood JM, Ferris RL, Delgoffe GM, Bruno TC, Workman CJ, Vignali DAA

Abstract
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a barrier to anti-tumor immunity. Neuropilin-1 (Nrp1) is required to maintain intratumoral Treg stability and function but is dispensable for peripheral immune tolerance. Treg-restricted Nrp1 deletion results in profound tumor resistance due to Treg functional fragility. Thus, identifying the basis for Nrp1 dependency and the key drivers of Treg fragility could help to improve immunotherapy for human cancer. We show that a high percentage of intratumoral NRP1(+) Tregs correlates with poor prognosis in melanoma and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Using a mouse model of melanoma where Nrp1-deficient (Nrp1(-/-)) and wild-type (Nrp1(+/+)) Tregs can be assessed in a competitive environment, we find that a high proportion of intratumoral Nrp1(-/-) Tregs produce interferon-γ (IFNγ), which drives the fragility of surrounding wild-type Tregs, boosts anti-tumor immunity, and facilitates tumor clearance. We also show that IFNγ-induced Treg fragility is required for response to anti-PD1, suggesting that cancer therapies promoting Treg fragility may be efficacious.

PMID: 28552348 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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