Immunosurveillance

Article | 28 February 2024

SOX17 enables immune evasion of early colorectal adenomas and cancers

Transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility analyses of naive and transplanted colon cancer organoids in a mouse model reveal a key role for the transcription factor SOX17 in establishing a permissive immune environment for tumour cells.

Norihiro Goto
, Peter M. K. Westcott
& Ömer H. Yilmaz

Article
22 November 2023 | Open Access

Trans-vaccenic acid reprograms CD8⁺ T cells and anti-tumour immunity

A screen of nutrient-derived compounds identified trans-vaccenic acid as a promoter of effector T cell function, and functional assays demonstrate that this occurs via inactivation of GPR43 on T cells.

Hao Fan
, Siyuan Xia
& Jing Chen

Article | 30 August 2023

CRISPR screens decode cancer cell pathways that trigger γδ T cell detection

A combination of genome-wide CRISPR screens in target cancer cells identifies pathways that regulate γδ T cell killing and BTN3A cell surface expression.

Murad R. Mamedov
, Shane Vedova
& Alexander Marson

Article | 16 August 2023

Interferon-ε is a tumour suppressor and restricts ovarian cancer

Interferon-ε is a tumour suppressor expressed in the epithelial cell of origin of ovarian cancer, which it restricts by direct action on tumour cells and especially by activation of anti-tumour immunity.

Zoe R. C. Marks
, Nicole K. Campbell
& Paul J. Hertzog

Article
05 July 2023 | Open Access

SLC38A2 and glutamine signalling in cDC1s dictate anti-tumour immunity

Competition for glutamine between type-1 conventional dendritic cells and tumour cells has a central role in tuning the anti-tumour immune response and in immune evasion by cancer cells.

Chuansheng Guo
, Zhiyuan You
& Hongbo Chi

Article
14 June 2023 | Open Access

CD4⁺ T cell-induced inflammatory cell death controls immune-evasive tumours

This article describes a mechanism through which CD4⁺ T cells can eradicate MHC-deficient tumours that escape direct CD8⁺ T cell targeting and thereby complement the activity of CD8⁺ T cells and natural killer cells to advance cancer immunotherapies.

Bastian Kruse
, Anthony C. Buzzai
& Thomas Tüting

Article | 16 November 2022

Ferroptosis of tumour neutrophils causes immune suppression in cancer

Pathologically activated neutrophils, termed myeloid-derived suppressor cells, in the tumour microenvironment spontaneously undergo ferroptosis, which negatively regulates anti-tumour immunity through the release of oxygenated lipids, therefore limiting the activity of human and mouse T cells.

Rina Kim
, Ayumi Hashimoto
& Dmitry I. Gabrilovich

Article
02 November 2022 | Open Access

Nociceptor neurons affect cancer immunosurveillance

Melanoma cells interact with pain-mediating sensory neurons by increasing their release of the neuropeptide CGRP, which increases the exhaustion of CD8⁺ T cells and thus promotes the survival of cancer cells.

Mohammad Balood
, Maryam Ahmadi
& Sebastien Talbot

Article
28 September 2022 | Open Access

LRRC15⁺ myofibroblasts dictate the stromal setpoint to suppress tumour immunity

LRRC15-positive cancer-associated fibroblasts constitute a pivotal axis in tumorigenesis and are potential therapeutic targets to improve responses to immune checkpoint blockade.

Akshay T. Krishnamurty
, Justin A. Shyer
& Shannon J. Turley

Article | 15 June 2022

Deciphering the immunopeptidome in vivo reveals new tumour antigens

A newly developed genetically engineered mouse model enables the analysis of specific antigen presentation in vivo, providing insights into the tumour immunopeptidome and cancer progression.

Alex M. Jaeger
, Lauren E. Stopfer
& Tyler Jacks

Article
19 May 2022 | Open Access

Neoantigen quality predicts immunoediting in survivors of pancreatic cancer

The human immune system naturally edits cancers of high-quality neoantigens.

Marta Łuksza
, Zachary M. Sethna
& Vinod P. Balachandran

Article | 20 April 2022

Programme of self-reactive innate-like T cell-mediated cancer immunity

A survey of T cell populations in human and mouse tumours identifies a population of cancer-sensing IL-15-activated αβ T cell receptor-positive FCER1G-expressing innate-like T cells with high cytotoxic potential.

Chun Chou
, Xian Zhang
& Ming O. Li

Article | 01 September 2021

Functional HPV-specific PD-1⁺ stem-like CD8 T cells in head and neck cancer

An analysis of human papillomavirus (HPV)-specific CD8 T cells in patients with head and neck cancer identifies functional PD-1⁺TCF-1⁺CD8 T cells in the tumour with implications for therapeutic vaccination and PD-1 directed immunotherapy.

Christiane S. Eberhardt
, Haydn T. Kissick
& Rafi Ahmed

Article | 15 February 2021

CTLA-4 blockade drives loss of T_reg stability in glycolysis-low tumours

CTLA-4 promotes glucose uptake by tumour-infiltrating regulatory T cells, making them unstable.

Roberta Zappasodi
, Inna Serganova
& Taha Merghoub

Article | 11 December 2019

An intra-tumoral niche maintains and differentiates stem-like CD8 T cells

The authors examine the immune cell infiltrates of human tumours and provide evidence for a population of CD8 T cells with stem-cell characteristics and proliferative capacity that reside in an antigen-presenting niche within tumours.

Caroline S. Jansen
, Nataliya Prokhnevska
& Haydn Kissick

Letter | 31 July 2019

CD24 signalling through macrophage Siglec-10 is a target for cancer immunotherapy

CD24 interacts with the tumour-associated-macrophage receptor Siglec-10 to inhibit the macrophage-mediated clearance of cancer cells, revealing a new ‘don’t eat me’ signal as a potential target for cancer immunotherapy.

Amira A. Barkal
, Rachel E. Brewer
& Irving L. Weissman

Letter | 17 July 2019

Absence of NKG2D ligands defines leukaemia stem cells and mediates their immune evasion

Leukaemic stem cells in acute myeloid leukaemia are defined by a lack of expression of NKG2D ligands, which mediates their ability to evade surveillance by NK cells.

Anna M. Paczulla
, Kathrin Rothfelder
& Claudia Lengerke

Letter | 06 February 2019

Anti-tumour immunity controlled through mRNA m⁶A methylation and YTHDF1 in dendritic cells

The m⁶A reader protein YTHDF1 suppresses the clearance of tumour cells by enhancing the translation of lysosomal proteases in dendritic cells and thereby suppressing tumour antigen presentation.

Dali Han
, Jun Liu
& Chuan He

Letter | 31 December 2018

Tissue-resident memory CD8⁺ T cells promote melanoma–immune equilibrium in skin

A transplantable mouse model of persistent cutaneous melanoma shows that immune-mediated tumour suppression can result in a state of melanoma–immune equilibrium, and that tissue-resident memory T cells are essential drivers of this equilibrium state.

Simone L. Park
, Anthony Buzzai
& Thomas Gebhardt

Letter | 07 November 2018

Design of amidobenzimidazole STING receptor agonists with systemic activity

A small-molecule agonist for the cGAS–STING pathway has systemic activity in a mouse model of colon cancer.

Joshi M. Ramanjulu
, G. Scott Pesiridis
& John Bertin

Letter | 10 October 2018

IRE1α–XBP1 controls T cell function in ovarian cancer by regulating mitochondrial activity

In human and mouse models of ovarian cancer, endoplasmic reticulum stress and the activation of the IRE1α–XBP1 pathway decreases the metabolic fitness of T cells and limits their anti-tumour functions.

Minkyung Song
, Tito A. Sandoval
& Juan R. Cubillos-Ruiz

Letter | 16 November 2017

Cyclin D–CDK4 kinase destabilizes PD-L1 via cullin 3–SPOP to control cancer immune surveillance

Abundance of PD-L1, the ligand of the anti-cancer immunotherapy target PD-1, is negatively regulated by poly-ubiquitination via the cyclin D–CDK4/cullin 3–SPOP axis and PD-1 blockade treatment in mice improved survival when combined with CDK4/6 inhibitors.

Jinfang Zhang
, Xia Bu
& Wenyi Wei

Letter | 25 October 2017

IL-1R8 is a checkpoint in NK cells regulating anti-tumour and anti-viral activity

Interleukin-1 receptor 8 (IL-1R8), a negative regulator of the IL-1 family of cytokines, restrains the activity of natural killer (NK) cells, suggesting that IL-1R8 acts as a checkpoint regulator of NK cell activation and that its blockade may be of use in cancer therapy.

Martina Molgora
, Eduardo Bonavita
& Alberto Mantovani

Letter | 16 August 2017

CMTM6 maintains the expression of PD-L1 and regulates anti-tumour immunity

CMTM6 maintains PD-L1 at the plasma membrane by inhibiting its lysosome-mediated degradation and promoting its recycling.

Marian L. Burr
, Christina E. Sparbier
& Mark A. Dawson

Letter | 24 July 2017

cGAS surveillance of micronuclei links genome instability to innate immunity

The cytoplasmic DNA sensor cGAS detects DNA in ruptured micronuclei and activates an innate immune response.

Karen J. Mackenzie
, Paula Carroll
& Andrew P. Jackson

Letter | 26 April 2017

Tumour ischaemia by interferon-γ resembles physiological blood vessel regression

Interferon-γ acts on tumour endothelial cells to drive vascular regression, inducing ischaemia that leads to tumour collapse.

Thomas Kammertoens
, Christian Friese
& Thomas Blankenstein

Letter | 19 September 2016

PI3Kγ is a molecular switch that controls immune suppression

Modulation of PI3Kγ activity regulates macrophage polarization during inflammation and cancer, whilst combining PI3Kγ inhibition with immune checkpoint inhibitors leads to synergistic tumour-inhibitory effects.

Megan M. Kaneda
, Karen S. Messer
& Judith A. Varner

Letter | 16 March 2016

Visualization of immediate immune responses to pioneer metastatic cells in the lung

Tracing the fate of circulating tumour cells by intravital two-photon lung imaging shows that tumours produce microparticles as they arrive and these migrate along the lung vasculature and are mostly taken up by interstitial myeloid cells, in a process that contributes to metastatic seeding; a minor subset of microparticles is engulfed by conventional dendritic cells, which are thought to contribute to the initiation of an anti-tumour immune response in lung-draining lymph nodes.

Mark B. Headley
, Adriaan Bins
& Matthew F. Krummel

Letter | 02 March 2016

NAFLD causes selective CD4⁺ T lymphocyte loss and promotes hepatocarcinogenesis

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is shown to promote hepatocellular carcinoma through the generation of linoleic acid, disruption of mitochondrial function and selective loss of CD4⁺ T cells, leading to impaired anti-tumour immunity.

Chi Ma
, Aparna H. Kesarwala
& Tim F. Greten

Letter | 11 May 2015

Melanoma-intrinsic β-catenin signalling prevents anti-tumour immunity

Only a subset of patients with melanoma responds to new immunotherapeutic therapies; here, β-catenin signalling is identified as an important pathway that confers resistance to this type of approach, with implications for future treatment strategies.

Stefani Spranger
, Riyue Bao
& Thomas F. Gajewski

Letter | 26 November 2014

Predicting immunogenic tumour mutations by combining mass spectrometry and exome sequencing

A combination of genome-wide exome and transcriptome analysis, mass spectrometry and computational structural modelling are used here to identify immunogenic neo-antigens in two mouse tumour cancer cell lines; mice vaccinated with predicted immunogenic peptides yielded therapeutically useful cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses.

Mahesh Yadav
, Suchit Jhunjhunwala
& Lélia Delamarre

Letter | 19 February 2014

The E3 ligase Cbl-b and TAM receptors regulate cancer metastasis via natural killer cells

The E3 ligase Cbl-b acts on TAM tyrosine kinase receptors and has a critical role in the regulation of natural killer (NK) cell rejection of metastatic tumours; a small molecule TAM kinase inhibitor is shown to enhance the anti-metastatic NK cell activity.

Magdalena Paolino
, Axel Choidas
& Josef M. Penninger

Letter | 08 February 2012

Expression of tumour-specific antigens underlies cancer immunoediting

This paper illustrates that immunosurveillance and immunoediting can occur in an oncogene-driven endogenous tumour model provided that the tumours carry strong neoantigens not present in the host.