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Lee DH, Ahn H, Sim HI, Choi E, Choi S, Jo Y, Yun B, Song HK, Oh SJ, Denda-Nagai K, Park CS, Irimura T, Park Y, Jin HS. A CRISPR activation screen identifies MUC-21 as critical for resistance to NK and T cell-mediated cytotoxicity. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2023; 42:272. [PMID: 37858248 PMCID: PMC10588101 DOI: 10.1186/s13046-023-02840-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/24/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Immunotherapy has significantly advanced cancer treatments, but many patients do not respond to it, partly due to immunosuppressive mechanisms used by tumor cells. These cells employ immunosuppressive ligands to evade detection and elimination by the immune system. Therefore, the discovery and characterization of novel immunosuppressive ligands that facilitate immune evasion are crucial for developing more potent anti-cancer therapies. METHODS We conducted gain-of-function screens using a CRISPRa (CRISPR activation) library that covered the entire human transmembrane sub-genome to identify surface molecules capable of hindering NK-mediated cytotoxicity. The immunosuppressive role and mechanism of MUC21 were validated using NK and T cell mediated cytotoxicity assays. Bioinformatics tools were employed to assess the clinical implications of mucin-21 (MUC21) in cancer cell immunity. RESULTS Our genetic screens revealed that MUC21 expression on cancer cell surfaces inhibits both the cytotoxic activity of NK cells and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, but not affecting complement-dependent cytotoxicity. Additionally, MUC21 expression hinders T cell activation by impeding antigen recognition, thereby diminishing the effectiveness of the immune checkpoint inhibitor, anti-PD-L1. Moreover, MUC21 expression suppress the antitumor function of both CAR-T cells and CAR-NK cells. Mechanistically, MUC21 facilitates immune evasion by creating steric hindrance, preventing interactions between cancer and immune cells. Bioinformatics analysis revealed elevated MUC21 expression in lung cancer, which correlated with reduced infiltration and activation of cytotoxic immune cells. Intriguingly, MUC21 expression was higher in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors that were non-responsive to anti-PD-(L)1 treatment compared to responsive tumors. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicate that surface MUC21 serves as a potent immunosuppressive ligand, shielding cancer cells from NK and CD8+T cell attacks. This suggests that inhibiting MUC21 could be a promising strategy to improve cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong-Hee Lee
- Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, 05505, South Korea
| | - Hyejin Ahn
- Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, 05505, South Korea
| | - Hye-In Sim
- Chemical and Biological Integrative Research Center, Biomedical Research Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 02792, South Korea
- Department of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, 02481, South Korea
| | - Eunji Choi
- Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, 05505, South Korea
| | - Seunghyun Choi
- Chemical and Biological Integrative Research Center, Biomedical Research Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 02792, South Korea
- Department of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, 02481, South Korea
| | - Yunju Jo
- Chemical and Biological Integrative Research Center, Biomedical Research Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 02792, South Korea
- Department of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, 02481, South Korea
| | - Bohwan Yun
- Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, 05505, South Korea
| | - Hyun Kyu Song
- Department of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, 02481, South Korea
| | - Soo Jin Oh
- Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, 05505, South Korea
| | - Kaori Denda-Nagai
- Division of Glycobiologics, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan
| | - Chan-Sik Park
- Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, 05505, South Korea
| | - Tatsuro Irimura
- Division of Glycobiologics, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan
| | - Yoon Park
- Chemical and Biological Integrative Research Center, Biomedical Research Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 02792, South Korea.
| | - Hyung-Seung Jin
- Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, 05505, South Korea.
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Lee DH, Jeong YJ, Won JY, Sim HI, Park Y, Jin HS. PBK/TOPK Is a Favorable Prognostic Biomarker Correlated with Antitumor Immunity in Colon Cancers. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10020299. [PMID: 35203508 PMCID: PMC8869639 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10020299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Revised: 01/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy has proven efficacy in a subset of colon cancer patients featuring a deficient DNA mismatch repair system or a high microsatellite instability profile. However, there is high demand for more effective biomarkers to expand the colon cancer population responding to ICI therapy. PBK/TOPK, a serine/threonine kinase, plays a role in cell cycle regulation and mitotic progression. Here, we investigated the correlation between PBK/TOPK expression and tumor immunity and its prognostic value in colon cancer. Based on large-scale bioinformatics analysis, we discovered that elevated PBK/TOPK expression predicted a favorable outcome in patients with colon cancer and was positively associated with immune infiltration levels of CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, natural killer cells, and M1 macrophages. In contrast, a negative correlation was found between PBK/TOPK expression and immune suppressor cells, including regulatory T cells and M2 macrophages. Furthermore, the expression of PBK/TOPK was correlated with the expression of T-cell cytotoxicity genes in colon cancer. Additionally, high PBK/TOPK expression was associated with mutations in DNA damage repair genes, and thus with increased tumor mutation and neoantigen burden. These findings suggest that PBK/TOPK may serve as a prognostic and predictive biomarker for immunotherapy in colon cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong-Hee Lee
- Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Korea; (D.-H.L.); (Y.-J.J.); (J.-Y.W.)
| | - Yu-Jeong Jeong
- Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Korea; (D.-H.L.); (Y.-J.J.); (J.-Y.W.)
| | - Ju-Young Won
- Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Korea; (D.-H.L.); (Y.-J.J.); (J.-Y.W.)
| | - Hye-In Sim
- Center for Theragnosis, Biomedical Research Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, Korea;
| | - Yoon Park
- Center for Theragnosis, Biomedical Research Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, Korea;
- Correspondence: (Y.P.); (H.-S.J.)
| | - Hyung-Seung Jin
- Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Korea; (D.-H.L.); (Y.-J.J.); (J.-Y.W.)
- Correspondence: (Y.P.); (H.-S.J.)
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Yoo WJ, Shin SH, Han KT, Jeon D, Hong S, Kim SG, Sim HI, Jang KW, Cho S, Park BG, Lee B. Feasibility study on development of Cerenkov fiber-optic dosimeter for radiotherapy application. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2013; 2013:485-487. [PMID: 24109729 DOI: 10.1109/embc.2013.6609542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
To obtain real-time dose information in photon-beam therapy using a clinical linear accelerator, we fabricated a novel Cerenkov fiber-optic dosimeter using two plastic optical fibers without employing a scintillator. In this study, the light intensity and spectrum of Cerenkov radiation induced by a high-energy photon beam were measured as functions of the irradiation angle and the length difference between the two plastic optical fibers in the dosimeter probe. Also, we obtained a percentage depth dose curve for a 6 MV photon beam with a field size of 10 × 10 cm(2) according to the depth of the solid water phantom. Based on the results of this study, it is anticipated that the proposed Cerenkov fiber-optic dosimeter can be developed as a useful dosimeter to accurately obtain dose information prior to conducting radiotherapy.
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