ISG15 Promotes ERK1 ISGylation, CD8+ T Cell Activation and Suppresses Ovarian Cancer Progression

Abstract

Increased number of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ lymphocytes is associated with improved survival in patients with advanced stage high grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) but the underlying molecular mechanism has not been thoroughly explored. Using transcriptome profiling of microdissected HGSOC tissue with high and low CD8+ lymphocyte count and subsequent validation studies, we demonstrated that significantly increased ISG15 (Interferon-stimulated gene 15) expression in HGSOC was associated with high CD8+ lymphocyte count and with the improvement in median overall survival in both univariate and multivariate analyses. Further functional studies showed that endogenous and exogenous ISG15 suppressed ovarian cancer progression through ISGylation of ERK in HGSOC, and activation of NK cells and CD8+ T lymphocytes. These data suggest that the development of treatment strategies based on up-regulating ISG15 in ovarian cancer cells or increased circulating ISG15 in ovarian cancer patients is warranted.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Nov 22, 2018
Source ID
10.3390/cancers10120464

Entities

People

  • Cecilia Leung
  • Chi-lam Au Yeung
  • Ching Tsai
  • Karen Lu
  • Kwong K. Wong
  • Melissa Thompson
  • Michael Birrer
  • Ralph Freedman
  • Samuel C. Mok
  • Tsz-lun Yeung

Organizations

  • Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Medicine

Readers

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