Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: During cancer immunoediting, cancer cells deregulate cell death executioner mechanisms to escape immunotherapy-induced antitumor immunity. Ferroptosis, a type of regulated necrosis triggered by lipid peroxidation, plays a pivotal role in the anti-tumor activity of T cell-based immunotherapies; however, mechanisms for the modulation of ferroptosis in immune-refractory tumor cells are unclear. In this study, using preclinical models of immune refractory tumors obtained following the course of immunoediting by PD-1 blockade and adoptive T cell therapy (ACT), we find that T cell-based immunotherapy drives the development of ferroptosis resistance of tumor cells. In this process, E2F1 is upregulated by immunotherapy and it in turn binds to the promoter of the HMGCR gene to upregulate HMGCR, thereby contributing to the resistance to ferroptosis. Notably, HMGCR inhibition renders immune-refractory tumor cells susceptible to ACT and PD-1 blockade. Thus, our results reveal a mechanism by which cancer cells modulate ferroptosis to acquire resistance to immunotherapy and implicate the E2F1-HMGCR axis as a central molecular target for controlling ferroptosis resistance of immune-refractory cancer.
Source: Nature Communications
Authors: Sung Wook Son, Hyo-Jung Lee, NaNa Kang, Seongjae Bae, Eunho Cho, Heeju Kwon, Da-Young Yoon, Chaeleen Lee, Seungho Lee, Min Kyu Son, Jisu Chae, Suyeon Kim, Se Jin Oh, Younji Sim, Kyung-Mi Lee, Cassian Yee, Seon Rang Woo, Yun-Jeong Jeong, Hee-Jung Choi, Jong-Young Kwak, Eun-Woo Lee, Jinuk Park, Sang Gyu Kwak, Young-Chae Chang, Tae Woo Kim, Kwon-Ho Song
Language: English
Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
OpenAlex ID: W4416943581