Selective SIRPα blockade reverses tumor T cell exclusion and overcomes cancer immunotherapy resistance

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Abstract

T cell exclusion causes resistance to cancer immunotherapies via immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Myeloid cells contribute to resistance by expressing signal regulatory protein-α (SIRPα), an inhibitory membrane receptor that interacts with ubiquitous receptor CD47 to control macrophage phagocytosis in the tumor microenvironment. Although CD47/SIRPα-targeting drugs have been assessed in preclinical models, the therapeutic benefit of selectively blocking SIRPα, and not SIRPγ/CD47, in humans remains unknown. We report a potent synergy between selective SIRPα blockade and ICB in increasing memory T cell responses and reverting exclusion in syngeneic and orthotopic tumor models. Selective SIRPα blockade stimulated tumor nest T cell recruitment by restoring murine and human macrophage chemokine secretion and increased anti-tumor T cell responses by promoting tumor-antigen crosspresentation by dendritic cells. However, nonselective SIRPα/SIRPγ blockade targeting CD47 impaired human T cell activation, proliferation, and endothelial transmigration. Selective SIRPα inhibition opens an attractive avenue to overcoming ICB resistance in patients with elevated myeloid cell infiltration in solid tumors.

Authors

Vanessa Gauttier, Sabrina Pengam, Justine Durand, Kevin Biteau, Caroline Mary, Aurore Morello, Mélanie Néel, Georgia Porto, Géraldine Teppaz, Virginie Thepenier, Richard Danger, Nicolas Vince, Emmanuelle Wilhelm, Isabelle Girault, Riad Abes, Catherine Ruiz, Charlène Trilleaud, Kerry Ralph, E. Sergio Trombetta, Alexandra Garcia, Virginie Vignard, Bernard Martinet, Alexandre Glémain, Sarah Bruneau, Fabienne Haspot, Safa Dehmani, Pierre Duplouye, Masayuki Miyasaka, Nathalie Labarrière, David Laplaud, Stéphanie Le Bas-Bernardet, Christophe Blanquart, Véronique Catros, Pierre-Antoine Gouraud, Isabelle Archambeaud, Hélène Aublé, Sylvie Metairie, Jean-François Mosnier, Dominique Costantini, Gilles Blancho, Sophie Conchon, Bernard Vanhove, Nicolas Poirier