Niraparib enhances antitumor immunity and contributes to the efficacy of PD-L1 blockade in cervical cancer.

PURPOSE

With the development of immunotherapy research, the role of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in the treatment of cervical cancer has been emphasized, but many patients still can't receive long-term benefits from ICB. Poly ADP ribose polymerase inhibitor (PARPi) has been proved to exert significant antitumor effects in multiple solid tumors. Whether cervical cancer patients obtain better benefits from the treatment regimen of PARPi combined with ICB remains unclear.

METHODS

The alteration of PD-L1 expression induced by niraparib in cervical cancer cells and its underlying mechanism were assessed by western blot and immunofluorescence and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).The regulation of PTEN by KDM5A was confirmed using Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay and RNA interference. Analyzing the relationship between PD-L1 and immune effector molecules through searching online databases. Therapeutic efficacy of niraparib, PD-L1 blockade or combination was assessed in syngeneic tumor model. The changes of immune cells and cytokines in vivo was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and qRT-PCR.

RESULTS

We found that niraparib upregulated PD-L1 expression and potentiated the antitumor effects of PD-L1 blockade in a murine cervical cancer model. Niraparib inhibited the Pten expression by increasing the abundance of KDM5A, which expanded PD-L1 abundance through activating the PI3K-AKT-S6K1 pathway. PD-L1 was positively correlated with immune effector molecules including TNF-α, IFN-γ, granzyme A and granzyme B based on biological information analysis. Niraparib increased the infiltration of CD8 T cells and the level of IFN-γ, granzyme B in vivo.

CONCLUSION

Our findings demonstrates the regulation of niraparib on local immune microenvironment of cervical cancer, and provides theoretical basis for supporting the combination of PARPi and PD-L1 blockade as a potential treatment for cervical cancer.