1. Academic Validation
  2. Tumor-derived semaphorin 4A improves PD-1-blocking antibody efficacy by enhancing CD8+ T cell cytotoxicity and proliferation

Tumor-derived semaphorin 4A improves PD-1-blocking antibody efficacy by enhancing CD8+ T cell cytotoxicity and proliferation

  • Sci Adv. 2023 May 19;9(20):eade0718. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ade0718.
Yujiro Naito 1 2 3 Shohei Koyama 1 2 4 Kentaro Masuhiro 1 3 Takashi Hirai 3 5 Takeshi Uenami 6 Takako Inoue 7 Akio Osa 1 Hirotomo Machiyama 1 Go Watanabe 4 Nicolas Sax 8 Jordan Villa 8 Yumi Kinugasa-Katayama 9 Satoshi Nojima 10 Moto Yaga 1 3 Yuki Hosono 1 11 12 Daisuke Okuzaki 13 14 15 Shingo Satoh 1 3 Takeshi Tsuda 5 Yoshimitsu Nakanishi 1 3 Yasuhiko Suga 1 Takayoshi Morita 1 3 Kiyoharu Fukushima 1 16 Masayuki Nishide 1 3 Takayuki Shiroyama 1 Kotaro Miyake 1 Kota Iwahori 1 Haruhiko Hirata 1 Izumi Nagatomo 1 Yukihiro Yano 6 Motohiro Tamiya 7 Toru Kumagai 7 Norihiko Takemoto 5 Hidenori Inohara 5 Sho Yamasaki 11 12 Kazuo Yamashita 8 Taiki Aoshi 9 Esra A Akbay 17 Naoki Hosen 14 18 19 Yasushi Shintani 20 Hyota Takamatsu 1 3 Masahide Mori 6 Yoshito Takeda 1 Atsushi Kumanogoh 1 2 3 14 15 21 22
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Respiratory Medicine and Clinical Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 2 Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 3 Department of Immunopathology, World Premier International Research Center (WPI), Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC), Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 4 Division of Cancer Immunology, Research Institute/Exploratory Oncology Research and Clinical Trial Center (EPOC), National Cancer Center, Kashiwa,Chiba, and Tokyo, Japan.
  • 5 Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 6 Department of Thoracic Oncology, National Hospital Organization, Osaka Toneyama Medical Center, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan.
  • 7 Department of Thoracic Oncology, Osaka International Cancer Institute, Osaka, Japan.
  • 8 KOTAI Biotechnologies Inc., Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 9 Department of Cellular Immunology, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases (RIMD), Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 10 Department of Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 11 Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, WPI, IFReC, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 12 Department of Molecular Immunology, RIMD, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 13 Single Cell Genomics, Human Immunology, WPI, IFReC, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 14 Integrated Frontier Research for Medical Science Division, Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives (OTRI), Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 15 Center for Infectious Diseases for Education and Research (CiDER), Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 16 Laboratory of Host Defense, WPI, IFReC, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 17 Department of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
  • 18 Department of Hematology and Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 19 Laboratory of Cellular Immunotherapy, WPI, IFReC, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 20 Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 21 Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development-Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (AMED-CREST), Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
  • 22 Center for Advanced Modalities and DDS (CAMaD), Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
Abstract

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have caused revolutionary changes in Cancer treatment, but low response rates remain a challenge. Semaphorin 4A (Sema4A) modulates the immune system through multiple mechanisms in mice, although the role of human Sema4A in the tumor microenvironment remains unclear. This study demonstrates that histologically Sema4A-positive non-small cell lung Cancer (NSCLC) responded significantly better to anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) antibody than Sema4A-negative NSCLC. Intriguingly, SEMA4A expression in human NSCLC was mainly derived from tumor cells and was associated with T cell activation. Sema4A promoted cytotoxicity and proliferation of tumor-specific CD8+ T cells without terminal exhaustion by enhancing mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 and polyamine synthesis, which led to improved efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors in murine models. Improved T cell activation by recombinant Sema4A was also confirmed using isolated tumor-infiltrating T cells from patients with Cancer. Thus, Sema4A might be a promising therapeutic target and biomarker for predicting and promoting ICI efficacy.

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