Tumor Derived Extracellular Vesicles Drive T Cell Exhaustion in Tumor Microenvironment through Sphingosine Mediated Signaling and Impacting Immunotherapy Outcomes in Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

SPHK1 (sphingosine kinase‐1) catalyzes the phosphorylation of sphingosine to sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P), is found to be highly expressed in solid tumors. Here, extracellular vesicles (EVs) are identified as the key transporters of SPHK1 to the tumor microenvironment. Consequently, SPHK1‐packaged EVs elevate S1P levels in the tumor microenvironment, where S1P appears as an immunosuppressive agent. However, the exact mechanism of how S1P mediates its immunosuppressive effects in cancer is not understood. It is investigated that S1P can induce T cell exhaustion. S1P can also upregulate programmed death ligand‐1 (PDL‐1) expression through E2F1‐mediated transcription. Notably, an SPHK1 inhibitor PF543 improves T cell‐mediated cytotoxicity. Furthermore, combining PF543 with an anti‐PD‐1 antibody reduces tumor burden and metastasis more effectively than PF543 alone in vivo. These data demonstrate a previously unrecognized mechanism of how SPHK1‐packaged EVs contribute to the progression of ovarian cancer and thus present the potential clinical application of inhibiting SPHK1/S1P signaling to improve immune checkpoint blockage (anti‐PD‐1 antibody) therapy in ovarian cancer.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Mar 15, 2022
Source ID
10.1002/advs.202104452

Entities

People

  • Anjali Geethadevi
  • Brian F Volkman
  • Deepak Parashar
  • Dileep K. Vijayan
  • Dolores Di Vizio
  • Ishaque Pulikkal Kadamberi
  • Jasmine George
  • Kam Y J Zhang
  • Lindsey Mcalarnen
  • Paytsar Topchyan
  • Prachi Gupta
  • Pradeep Chaluvally‐raghavan
  • Shirng‐wern Tsaih
  • Sonam Mittal
  • Sudhir Kumar
  • Sunila Pradeep
  • Weiguo Cui

Organizations

  • Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
  • Medical College of Wisconsin
  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Cellular and Molecular Pathways of Apoptosis.
  • Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry
  • Oncology

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Biotechnology - Cancer Biotech