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OX40+ plasmacytoid dendritic cells in the tumor microenvironment promote antitumor immunity
Kate Poropatich, … , Sandeep Samant, Bin Zhang
Kate Poropatich, … , Sandeep Samant, Bin Zhang
Published March 17, 2020
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2020;130(7):3528-3542. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI131992.
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Research Article Immunology Oncology Article has an altmetric score of 4

OX40+ plasmacytoid dendritic cells in the tumor microenvironment promote antitumor immunity

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Abstract

Plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs), the major producers of type I interferon, are principally recognized as key mediators of antiviral immunity. However, their role in tumor immunity is less clear. Depending on the context, pDCs can promote or suppress antitumor immune responses. In this study, we identified a naturally occurring pDC subset expressing high levels of OX40 (OX40+ pDC) enriched in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. OX40+ pDCs were distinguished by a distinct immunostimulatory phenotype, cytolytic function, and ability to synergize with conventional DCs (cDCs) in generating potent tumor antigen–specific CD8+ T cell responses. Transcriptomically, we found that they selectively utilized EIF2 signaling and oxidative phosphorylation pathways. Moreover, depletion of pDCs in the murine OX40+ pDC–rich tumor model accelerated tumor growth. Collectively, we present evidence of a pDC subset in the TME that favors antitumor immunity.

Authors

Kate Poropatich, Donye Dominguez, Wen-Ching Chan, Jorge Andrade, Yuanyuan Zha, Brian Wray, Jason Miska, Lei Qin, Lisa Cole, Sydney Coates, Urjeet Patel, Sandeep Samant, Bin Zhang

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Figure 1

OX40 expression on pDCs in the TME of HNSCC.

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OX40 expression on pDCs in the TME of HNSCC.
(A) OX40 expression in the ...
(A) OX40 expression in the TME (measured by flow cytometry) of HNSCC patients on different immune cell subsets — pDCs (n = 89), cDCs (n = 53), CD8+ T cells (n = 16), CD4+ T cells (n = 17), CD4+ Th1 T cells (n = 12), and CD4+ Treg cells (n = 14). T cell subsets were gated from live CD45+CD3+ cells. Th1 cells were defined as CD4+Tbet+ T cells and Treg cells were defined as CD4+Foxp3+ cells. (B) Gating strategy for FACS analysis and sorting of OX40+ and OX40lo/– pDCs from patient specimens. After selecting for singlets and live cells, pDCs were gated from HLA-DRhiLineage– cells, followed by CD11c–CD123+ cells. pDCs were further confirmed by expression of CD303 (BDCA-2). OX40 expression on pDCs was determined using internal negative controls. (C) Immunofluorescence of pDCs in the TME demonstrating OX40 and CD123 coexpression. n = 4, with 4 patient repeats. Original magnification, ×63. Scale bar: 5 μm. Red, OX40; green, CD123; blue, DAPI. (D) OX40 expression on pDCs from different anatomic sites: PBMC (n = 17), dLN– (n = 50) or dLN+ (n = 59), and primary tumor (n = 53). (E) Correlation (Pearson, with a line of best fit) between OX40 and ICOSL expression on matched patient TME pDCs (n = 28). One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test (A and D). **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; ****P < 0.0001. Bar graph data are mean ± SEM; middle line of box-and-whisker plot indicates the median, box limits indicate the first and third quartiles, and whiskers indicate “extreme” for all data points. Representative flow plots are shown (A, D, and E).

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ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

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