Tumor necrosis factor overcomes immune evasion in p53-mutant medulloblastoma
Alexandra Garancher1, Hiromichi Suzuki2, Svasti Haricharan3, Lianne Q Chau1, Meher Beigi Masihi1, Jessica M Rusert1, Paula S Norris3, Florent Carrette3, Megan M Romero4, Sorana A Morrissy2,5, Patryk Skowron2, Florence M G Cavalli2, Hamza Farooq2, Vijay Ramaswamy6, Steven J M Jones7, Richard A Moore7, Andrew J Mungall7, Yussanne Ma7, Nina Thiessen7, Yisu Li7, Alaide Morcavallo8, Lin Qi9,10, Mari Kogiso9, Yuchen Du9,10, Patricia Baxter9, Jacob J Henderson11, John R Crawford12, Michael L Levy13, James M Olson14, Yoon-Jae Cho11, Aniruddha J Deshpande1, Xiao-Nan Li9,10, Louis Chesler8, Marco A Marra7, Harald Wajant15, Oren J Becher4, Linda M Bradley3, Carl F Ware3, Michael D Taylor2, Robert J Wechsler-Reya16
- Tumor Initiation & Maintenance Program, NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
- Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Immunology Program, NCI-Designated Cancer Center and the Infectious and Inflammatory Disease Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
- Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
- Division of Haematology/Oncology and Department of Paediatrics, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer, Vancouver, Canada.
- Division of Clinical Studies, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, United Kingdom.
- Brain Tumor Program, Texas Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
- Program of Precision Medicine PDOX Modeling of Pediatric Tumors, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
- Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
- Departments of Pediatrics and Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego - Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, CA, USA.
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of California San Diego - Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, CA, USA.
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Division of Molecular Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
- Tumor Initiation & Maintenance Program, NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA. rwreya@sbpdiscovery.org.
Abstract
Many immunotherapies act by enhancing the ability of cytotoxic T cells to kill tumor cells. Killing depends on T cell recognition of antigens presented by class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC-I) proteins on tumor cells. In this study, we showed that medulloblastomas lacking the p53 tumor suppressor do not express surface MHC-I and are therefore resistant to immune rejection. Mechanistically, this is because p53 regulates expression of the peptide transporter Tap1 and the aminopeptidase Erap1, which are required for MHC-I trafficking to the cell surface. In vitro, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or lymphotoxin-β receptor agonist can rescue expression of Erap1, Tap1 and MHC-I on p53-mutant tumor cells. In vivo, low doses of TNF prolong survival and synergize with immune checkpoint inhibitors to promote tumor rejection. These studies identified p53 as a key regulator of immune evasion and suggest that TNF could be used to enhance sensitivity of tumors to immunotherapy.
Presented By Alexandra Garancher