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Ma XY, Chen MM, Meng LH. Second messenger 2'3'-cyclic GMP-AMP (2'3'-cGAMP): the cell autonomous and non-autonomous roles in cancer progression. Acta Pharmacol Sin 2024; 45:890-899. [PMID: 38177693 PMCID: PMC11053103 DOI: 10.1038/s41401-023-01210-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Cytosolic double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) is frequently accumulated in cancer cells due to chromosomal instability or exogenous stimulation. Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) acts as a cytosolic DNA sensor, which is activated upon binding to dsDNA to synthesize the crucial second messenger 2'3'-cyclic GMP-AMP (2'3'-cGAMP) that in turn triggers stimulator of interferon genes (STING) signaling. The canonical role of cGAS-cGAMP-STING pathway is essential for innate immunity and viral defense. Recent emerging evidence indicates that 2'3'-cGAMP plays an important role in cancer progression via cell autonomous and non-autonomous mechanisms. Beyond its role as an intracellular messenger to activate STING signaling in tumor cells, 2'3'-cGAMP also serves as an immunotransmitter produced by cancer cells to modulate the functions of non-tumor cells especially immune cells in the tumor microenvironment by activating STING signaling. In this review, we summarize the synthesis, transmission, and degradation of 2'3'-cGAMP as well as the dual functions of 2'3'-cGAMP in a STING-dependent manner. Additionally, we discuss the potential therapeutic strategies that harness the cGAMP-mediated antitumor response for cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Yu Ma
- Division of Anti-tumor Pharmacology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 501 Haike Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 501 Haike Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Man-Man Chen
- Division of Anti-tumor Pharmacology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 501 Haike Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 501 Haike Road, Shanghai, 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Ling-Hua Meng
- Division of Anti-tumor Pharmacology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 501 Haike Road, Shanghai, 201203, China.
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 501 Haike Road, Shanghai, 201203, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
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Huang R, Ning Q, Zhao J, Zhao X, Zeng L, Yi Y, Tang S. Targeting ENPP1 for cancer immunotherapy: Killing two birds with one stone. Biochem Pharmacol 2024; 220:116006. [PMID: 38142838 DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2023.116006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/26/2023]
Abstract
Cancer immunotherapy, particularly with immune checkpoint inhibitors, has revolutionized the paradigm of cancer treatment. Nevertheless, the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy remains limited in most clinical settings due to the lack of a preexisting antitumor T-cell response in tumors. Therefore, the clinical outcomes of cancer immunotherapy must be improved crucially. With increased awareness of the importance of the innate immune response in the recruitment of T cells, as well as the onset and maintenance of the T cell response, great interest has been shown in activating the cGAS-STING signaling pathway to awaken the innate immune response, thereby orchestrating both innate and adaptive immune responses to induce tumor clearance. However, tumor cells have evolved to overexpress ectonucleotide pyrophosphate phosphodiesterase 1 (ENPP1), which degrades the immunotransmitter 2',3'-cGAMP and promotes the production of immune-suppressing adenosine, resulting in inhibition of the anticancer immune response in the tumor microenvironment. Clinically, ENPP1 overexpression is closely associated with poor prognosis in patients with cancer. Conversely, depleting or inhibiting ENPP1 has been verified to elevate extracellular 2',3'-cGAMP levels and inhibit the generation of adenosine, thereby reinvigorating the anticancer immune response for tumor elimination. A variety of ENPP1 inhibitors have recently been developed and have demonstrated significant promise for cancer immunotherapy. In this review, we provide an overview of ENPP1, dissect its immunosuppressive mechanisms, and discuss the development of ENPP1 inhibitors with the potential to further improve the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruilei Huang
- Hunan Province Key Laboratory for Antibody-Based Drug and Intelligent Delivery System, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, China
| | - Qian Ning
- Hunan Province Key Laboratory for Antibody-Based Drug and Intelligent Delivery System, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, China; College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
| | - Jihui Zhao
- Hunan Province Key Laboratory for Antibody-Based Drug and Intelligent Delivery System, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, China
| | - Xuhong Zhao
- Hunan Province Key Laboratory for Antibody-Based Drug and Intelligent Delivery System, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, China
| | - Luting Zeng
- Hunan Province Key Laboratory for Antibody-Based Drug and Intelligent Delivery System, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, China
| | - Yi Yi
- Hunan Province Key Laboratory for Antibody-Based Drug and Intelligent Delivery System, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, China
| | - Shengsong Tang
- Hunan Province Key Laboratory for Antibody-Based Drug and Intelligent Delivery System, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, China; College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China; Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Tumor Microenvironment Responsive Drug Research, and Institute of Pharmacy & Pharmacology, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China.
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Mardjuki R, Wang S, Carozza JA, Abhiraman GC, Lyu X, Li L. Identification of extracellular membrane protein ENPP3 as a major cGAMP hydrolase, cementing cGAMP's role as an immunotransmitter. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.12.575449. [PMID: 38260585 PMCID: PMC10802559 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.12.575449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
cGAMP is a second messenger that is synthesized in the cytosol upon detection of cytosolic dsDNA and passed between cells to facilitate downstream immune signaling. ENPP1, an extracellular enzyme, was the only metazoan cGAMP hydrolase known to regulate cGAMP levels to dampen anti-cancer immunity. Here, we uncover ENPP3 as the second and only other metazoan cGAMP hydrolase under homeostatic conditions. ENPP3 has a tissue expression pattern distinct from that of ENPP1 and accounts for all remaining cGAMP hydrolysis activity in mice lacking ENPP1. Importantly, we also show that as with ENPP1, selectively abolishing ENPP3's cGAMP hydrolase activity results in diminished cancer growth and metastasis of certain tumor types. Both ENPP1 and ENPP3 are extracellular enzymes, suggesting the dominant role that extracellular cGAMP must play as a mediator of cell-cell innate immune communication. Our work clearly shows that ENPP1 and ENPP3 non-redundantly dampen extracellular cGAMP-STING signaling, pointing to ENPP3 as a new target for cancer immunotherapy.
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Wang S, Böhnert V, Joseph AJ, Sudaryo V, Skariah G, Swinderman JT, Yu FB, Subramanyam V, Wolf DM, Lyu X, Gilbert LA, van’t Veer LJ, Goodarzi H, Li L. ENPP1 is an innate immune checkpoint of the anticancer cGAMP-STING pathway in breast cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2313693120. [PMID: 38117852 PMCID: PMC10756298 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313693120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (ENPP1) expression correlates with poor prognosis in many cancers, and we previously discovered that ENPP1 is the dominant hydrolase of extracellular cGAMP: a cancer-cell-produced immunotransmitter that activates the anticancer stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway. However, ENPP1 has other catalytic activities and the molecular and cellular mechanisms contributing to its tumorigenic effects remain unclear. Here, using single-cell RNA-seq, we show that ENPP1 in both cancer and normal tissues drives primary breast tumor growth and metastasis by dampening extracellular 2'3'-cyclic-GMP-AMP (cGAMP)-STING-mediated antitumoral immunity. ENPP1 loss-of-function in both cancer cells and normal tissues slowed primary tumor growth and abolished metastasis. Selectively abolishing the cGAMP hydrolysis activity of ENPP1 phenocopied ENPP1 knockout in a STING-dependent manner, demonstrating that restoration of paracrine cGAMP-STING signaling is the dominant anti-cancer mechanism of ENPP1 inhibition. Finally, ENPP1 expression in breast tumors deterministically predicated whether patients would remain free of distant metastasis after pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1) treatment followed by surgery. Altogether, ENPP1 blockade represents a strategy to exploit cancer-produced extracellular cGAMP for controlled local activation of STING and is therefore a promising therapeutic approach against breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Songnan Wang
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- ChEM-H Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- Arc Institute, Palo Alto, CA94304
| | - Volker Böhnert
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- ChEM-H Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
| | - Alby J. Joseph
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- ChEM-H Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- Arc Institute, Palo Alto, CA94304
| | - Valentino Sudaryo
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- ChEM-H Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- Arc Institute, Palo Alto, CA94304
| | - Gemini Skariah
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- ChEM-H Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
| | - Jason T. Swinderman
- Arc Institute, Palo Alto, CA94304
- Department of Urology, University of California, San Francisco, CA94143
- Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA94158
| | | | - Vishvak Subramanyam
- Department of Urology, University of California, San Francisco, CA94143
- Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA94158
- Department of Biophysics & Biochemistry, University of California, San Francisco, CA94143
- Baker Computational Health Science Institute, University of California, San Francisco, CA94143
| | - Denise M. Wolf
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA94115
| | - Xuchao Lyu
- ChEM-H Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA94305
| | - Luke A. Gilbert
- Arc Institute, Palo Alto, CA94304
- Department of Urology, University of California, San Francisco, CA94143
- Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA94158
| | - Laura J. van’t Veer
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA94115
| | - Hani Goodarzi
- Department of Urology, University of California, San Francisco, CA94143
- Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA94158
- Department of Biophysics & Biochemistry, University of California, San Francisco, CA94143
- Baker Computational Health Science Institute, University of California, San Francisco, CA94143
| | - Lingyin Li
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- ChEM-H Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
- Arc Institute, Palo Alto, CA94304
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