Chen Mengting, Yu Shibo, van der Sluis Tineke, Zwager Mieke C, Schröder Carolien P, van der Vegt Bert, van Vugt Marcel A T M
Department of Medical Oncology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Department of Pathology and Medical Biology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
NPJ Breast Cancer. 2024 Jan 2;10(1):1. doi: 10.1038/s41523-023-00609-z.
Genomic instability, as caused by oncogene-induced replication stress, can lead to the activation of inflammatory signaling, involving the cGAS-STING and JAK-STAT pathways. Inflammatory signaling has been associated with pro-tumorigenic features, but also with favorable response to treatment, including to immune checkpoint inhibition. In this study, we aim to explore relations between inflammatory signaling, markers of replication stress, and immune cell infiltration in breast cancer. Expression levels of cGAS-STING signaling components (STING, phospho-TBK1, and phospho-STAT1), replication stress markers (γH2AX and pRPA), replication stress-related proto-oncogenes (Cyclin E1 and c-Myc) and immune cell markers (CD20, CD4, and CD57) are determined immunohistochemically on primary breast cancer samples (n = 380). RNA-sequencing data from TCGA (n = 1082) and METABRIC (n = 1904) are used to calculate cGAS-STING scores. pTBK1, pSTAT1 expression and cGAS-STING pathway scores are all increased in triple-negative breast cancers compared to other subtypes. Expression of γH2AX, pRPA, Cyclin E1, c-Myc, and immune cell infiltration positively correlate with p-STAT1 expression (P < 0.001). Additionally, we observe significant positive associations between expression of pTBK1 and γH2AX, pRPA, c-Myc, and number of CD4+ cells and CD20+ cells. Also, cGAS-STING scores are correlated with genomic instability metrics, such as homologous recombination deficiency (P < 0.001) and tumor mutational burden (P < 0.01). Moreover, data from the I-SPY2 clinical trial (n = 71) confirms that higher cGAS-STING scores are observed in breast cancer patients who responded to immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy. In conclusion, the cGAS-STING pathway is highly expressed in TNBCs and is correlated with genomic instability and immune cell infiltration.
由癌基因诱导的复制应激所导致的基因组不稳定,可引发炎症信号的激活,这涉及到cGAS-STING和JAK-STAT信号通路。炎症信号不仅与促肿瘤特征相关,还与包括免疫检查点抑制在内的治疗的良好反应有关。在本研究中,我们旨在探索乳腺癌中炎症信号、复制应激标志物与免疫细胞浸润之间的关系。通过免疫组织化学方法测定原发性乳腺癌样本(n = 380)中cGAS-STING信号成分(STING、磷酸化TBK1和磷酸化STAT1)、复制应激标志物(γH2AX和pRPA)、复制应激相关原癌基因(细胞周期蛋白E1和c-Myc)以及免疫细胞标志物(CD20、CD4和CD57)的表达水平。利用来自TCGA(n = 1082)和METABRIC(n = 1904)的RNA测序数据来计算cGAS-STING评分。与其他亚型相比,三阴性乳腺癌中pTBK1、pSTAT1的表达以及cGAS-STING信号通路评分均升高。γH2AX、pRPA、细胞周期蛋白E1、c-Myc的表达以及免疫细胞浸润与p-STAT1的表达呈正相关(P < 0.001)。此外,我们观察到pTBK1的表达与γH2AX、pRPA、c-Myc以及CD4 +细胞和CD20 +细胞数量之间存在显著的正相关。而且,cGAS-STING评分与基因组不稳定指标相关,如同源重组缺陷(P < 0.001)和肿瘤突变负担(P < 0.01)。此外,I-SPY2临床试验(n = 71)的数据证实,在对免疫疗法联合化疗有反应的乳腺癌患者中观察到更高的cGAS-STING评分。总之,cGAS-STING信号通路在三阴性乳腺癌中高度表达,并且与基因组不稳定和免疫细胞浸润相关。