Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Cancer Res Commun. 2022 Aug;2(8):842-856. doi: 10.1158/2767-9764.crc-22-0270. Epub 2022 Aug 22.
Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) immunotherapy has remarkable efficacy against some hematological malignancies. However, its efficacy in solid tumors is limited by the adverse tumor microenvironment (TME) conditions, most notably that acidity inhibits T and natural killer (NK) cell mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) activity and impairs cytotoxicity. In several reported studies, systemic buffering of tumor acidity enhanced the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Paradoxically, we found in a c-Myc-driven hepatocellular carcinoma model that systemic buffering increased tumor mTORC1 activity, negating inhibition of tumor growth by anti-PD1 treatment. Therefore, in this proof-of-concept study, we tested the metabolic engineering of immune effector cells to mitigate the inhibitory effect of tumor acidity while avoiding side effects associated with systemic buffering. We first overexpressed an activated RHEB in the human NK cell line NK-92, thereby rescuing acid-blunted mTORC1 activity and enhancing cytolytic activity. Then, to directly mitigate the effect of acidity, we ectopically expressed acid extruder proteins. Whereas ectopic expression of carbonic anhydrase IX (CA9) moderately increased mTORC1 activity, it did not enhance effector function. In contrast, overexpressing a constitutively active Na/H-exchanger 1 (NHE1; ) in NK-92 did not elevate mTORC1 but enhanced degranulation, target engagement, in vitro cytotoxicity, and in vivo antitumor activity. Our findings suggest the feasibility of overcoming the inhibitory effect of the TME by metabolically engineering immune effector cells, which can enhance ACT for better efficacy against solid tumors.
过继细胞转移(ACT)免疫疗法对某些血液恶性肿瘤具有显著疗效。然而,其在实体瘤中的疗效受到不良肿瘤微环境(TME)条件的限制,尤其是酸度抑制 T 细胞和自然杀伤(NK)细胞雷帕霉素复合物 1(mTORC1)活性并损害细胞毒性。在几项已报道的研究中,全身缓冲肿瘤酸度增强了免疫检查点抑制剂的疗效。矛盾的是,我们在 c-Myc 驱动的肝细胞癌模型中发现,全身缓冲增加了肿瘤 mTORC1 活性,否定了抗 PD1 治疗抑制肿瘤生长的作用。因此,在这项概念验证研究中,我们测试了免疫效应细胞的代谢工程,以减轻肿瘤酸度的抑制作用,同时避免与全身缓冲相关的副作用。我们首先在人 NK 细胞系 NK-92 中过表达激活的 RHEB,从而挽救了被酸削弱的 mTORC1 活性并增强了细胞溶解活性。然后,为了直接减轻酸度的影响,我们异位表达了酸外排蛋白。虽然碳酸酐酶 IX(CA9)的异位表达适度增加了 mTORC1 活性,但并未增强效应功能。相比之下,在 NK-92 中过表达组成型激活的 Na/H-交换器 1(NHE1;)不会升高 mTORC1,但会增强脱颗粒、靶标结合、体外细胞毒性和体内抗肿瘤活性。我们的研究结果表明,通过代谢工程免疫效应细胞克服 TME 抑制作用是可行的,这可以增强 ACT,以提高对实体瘤的疗效。