Abstract
PD-L1 is abnormally regulated in many cancers and is critical for immune escape. Fully understanding the regulation of PD-L1 expression is vital for improving the clinical efficacy of relevant anticancer agents. TGF-β plays an important role in the low reactivity of PD-1/PD-L1 antibody immunotherapy. However, it is not very clear whether and how TGF-β affects PD-L1 expression. In the present study, we show that TGF-β upregulates the expression of the transcriptional coactivator MRTF-A in non-small-cell lung cancer cells, which subsequently interacts with NF-κB/p65 rather than SRF to facilitate the binding of NF-κB/p65 to the PDL1 promoter, thereby activating the transcription and expression of PD-L1. This leads to the immune escape of NSCLC cells. This process is dependent on the activation of the TGF-β signaling pathway. In vivo, inhibition of MRTF-A effectively suppresses the growth of lung tumor syngrafts with enrichment of NK and T cells in tumor tissue. Our study defines a new signaling pathway that regulates the transcription and expression of PD-L1 upon TGF-β treatment, which may have a significant impact on research into the application of immunotherapy in treating lung cancer.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1366-1378 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Experimental and Molecular Medicine |
Volume | 53 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published or Issued - 21 Sep 2021 |
Keywords
- hematopoietic
- macrophages
- dendritic
- stromal cells
- melanoma
- non-small-cell lung cancer
- renal cell carcinoma
- Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- urothelial carcinoma
- gastric cancer
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Medicine
- Molecular Biology
- Clinical Biochemistry