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Green BL, Myojin Y, Ma C, Ruf B, Ma L, Zhang Q, Rosato U, Qi J, Revsine M, Wabitsch S, Bauer K, Benmebarek MR, McCallen J, Nur A, Wang X, Sehra V, Gupta R, Claassen M, Wang XW, Korangy F, Greten TF. Immunosuppressive CD29 + Treg accumulation in the liver in mice on checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Gut 2024; 73:509-520. [PMID: 37770128 PMCID: PMC10922517 DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2023-330024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Liver metastases are often resistant to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy (ICI) and portend a worse prognosis compared with metastases to other locations. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are one of several immunosuppressive cells implicated in ICI resistance of liver tumours, but the role played by Tregs residing within the liver surrounding a tumour is unknown. DESIGN Flow cytometry and single-cell RNA sequencing were used to characterise hepatic Tregs before and after ICI therapy. RESULTS We found that the murine liver houses a Treg population that, unlike those found in other organs, is both highly proliferative and apoptotic at baseline. On administration of αPD-1, αPD-L1 or αCTLA4, the liver Treg population doubled regardless of the presence of an intrahepatic tumour. Remarkably, this change was not due to the preferential expansion of the subpopulation of Tregs that express PD-1. Instead, a subpopulation of CD29+ (Itgb1, integrin β1) Tregs, that were highly proliferative at baseline, doubled its size in response to αPD-1. Partial and full depletion of Tregs identified CD29+ Tregs as the prominent niche-filling subpopulation in the liver, and CD29+ Tregs demonstrated enhanced suppression in vitro when derived from the liver but not the spleen. We identified IL2 as a critical modulator of both CD29+ and CD29- hepatic Tregs, but expansion of the liver Treg population with αPD-1 driven by CD29+ Tregs was in part IL2-independent. CONCLUSION We propose that CD29+ Tregs constitute a unique subpopulation of hepatic Tregs that are primed to respond to ICI agents and mediate resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin L Green
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Yuta Myojin
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Chi Ma
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Benjamin Ruf
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Lichun Ma
- Cancer Data Science Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Qianfei Zhang
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Umberto Rosato
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Jonathan Qi
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Mahler Revsine
- Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Simon Wabitsch
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Kylynda Bauer
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Mohamed-Reda Benmebarek
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Justin McCallen
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Amran Nur
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Xin Wang
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Vivek Sehra
- Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Revant Gupta
- Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Manfred Claassen
- Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Xin Wei Wang
- Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- NCI CCR Liver Cancer Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Firouzeh Korangy
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Tim F Greten
- Gastrointestinal Malignancy Section, Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- NCI CCR Liver Cancer Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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