[HTML][HTML] STT3-dependent PD-L1 accumulation on cancer stem cells promotes immune evasion

JM Hsu, W Xia, YH Hsu, LC Chan, WH Yu… - Nature …, 2018 - nature.com
JM Hsu, W Xia, YH Hsu, LC Chan, WH Yu, JH Cha, CT Chen, HW Liao, CW Kuo, KH Khoo
Nature communications, 2018nature.com
Enriched PD-L1 expression in cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) contributes to CSC immune
evasion. However, the mechanisms underlying PD-L1 enrichment in CSCs remain unclear.
Here, we demonstrate that epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) enriches PD-L1 in
CSCs by the EMT/β-catenin/STT3/PD-L1 signaling axis, in which EMT transcriptionally
induces N-glycosyltransferase STT3 through β-catenin, and subsequent STT3-dependent
PD-L1 N-glycosylation stabilizes and upregulates PD-L1. The axis is also utilized by the …
Abstract
Enriched PD-L1 expression in cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) contributes to CSC immune evasion. However, the mechanisms underlying PD-L1 enrichment in CSCs remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) enriches PD-L1 in CSCs by the EMT/β-catenin/STT3/PD-L1 signaling axis, in which EMT transcriptionally induces N-glycosyltransferase STT3 through β-catenin, and subsequent STT3-dependent PD-L1 N-glycosylation stabilizes and upregulates PD-L1. The axis is also utilized by the general cancer cell population, but it has much more profound effect on CSCs as EMT induces more STT3 in CSCs than in non-CSCs. We further identify a non-canonical mesenchymal–epithelial transition (MET) activity of etoposide, which suppresses the EMT/β-catenin/STT3/PD-L1 axis through TOP2B degradation-dependent nuclear β-catenin reduction, leading to PD-L1 downregulation of CSCs and non-CSCs and sensitization of cancer cells to anti-Tim-3 therapy. Together, our results link MET to PD-L1 stabilization through glycosylation regulation and reveal it as a potential strategy to enhance cancer immunotherapy efficacy.
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