Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Cancer Res. 2017 Nov 15;77(22):6375-6388. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-0381. Epub 2017 Sep 7.
The T-cell surface molecule TIGIT is an immune checkpoint molecule that inhibits T-cell responses, but its roles in cancer are little understood. In this study, we evaluated the role TIGIT checkpoint plays in the development and progression of gastric cancer. We show that the percentage of CD8 T cells that are TIGIT was increased in gastric cancer patients compared with healthy individuals. These cells showed functional exhaustion with impaired activation, proliferation, cytokine production, and metabolism, all of which were rescued by glucose. In addition, gastric cancer tissue and cell lines expressed CD155, which bound TIGIT receptors and inactivated CD8 T cells. In a T cell-gastric cancer cell coculture system, gastric cancer cells deprived CD8 T cells of glucose and impaired CD8 T-cell effector functions; these effects were neutralized by the additional glucose or by TIGIT blockade. In gastric cancer tumor cells, CD155 silencing increased T-cell metabolism and IFNγ production, whereas CD155 overexpression inhibited T-cell metabolism and IFNγ production; this inhibition was neutralized by TIGIT blockade. Targeting CD155/TIGIT enhanced CD8 T-cell reaction and improved survival in tumor-bearing mice. Combined targeting of TIGIT and PD-1 further enhanced CD8 T-cell activation and improved survival in tumor-bearing mice. Our results suggest that gastric cancer cells inhibit CD8 T-cell metabolism through CD155/TIGIT signaling, which inhibits CD8 T-cell effector functions, resulting in hyporesponsive antitumor immunity. These findings support the candidacy of CD155/TIGIT as a potential therapeutic target in gastric cancer. .
T 细胞表面分子 TIGIT 是一种免疫检查点分子,可抑制 T 细胞反应,但它在癌症中的作用尚不清楚。在这项研究中,我们评估了 TIGIT 检查点在胃癌发生和发展中的作用。我们发现,与健康个体相比,胃癌患者的 CD8 T 细胞中 TIGIT 的比例增加。这些细胞表现出功能耗竭,激活、增殖、细胞因子产生和代谢受损,所有这些都可被葡萄糖挽救。此外,胃癌组织和细胞系表达 CD155,它与 TIGIT 受体结合并使 CD8 T 细胞失活。在 T 细胞-胃癌细胞共培养系统中,胃癌细胞剥夺 CD8 T 细胞的葡萄糖并损害 CD8 T 细胞效应功能;这些作用可被额外的葡萄糖或 TIGIT 阻断中和。在胃癌肿瘤细胞中,CD155 沉默增加了 T 细胞代谢和 IFNγ 的产生,而 CD155 过表达抑制了 T 细胞代谢和 IFNγ 的产生;这种抑制可被 TIGIT 阻断中和。靶向 CD155/TIGIT 增强了 CD8 T 细胞反应并改善了荷瘤小鼠的生存。联合靶向 TIGIT 和 PD-1 进一步增强了荷瘤小鼠中 CD8 T 细胞的激活并改善了其生存。我们的结果表明,胃癌细胞通过 CD155/TIGIT 信号抑制 CD8 T 细胞代谢,从而抑制 CD8 T 细胞效应功能,导致抗肿瘤免疫反应低下。这些发现支持 CD155/TIGIT 作为胃癌潜在治疗靶点的候选性。