Pharmacologic HIF stabilization activates costimulatory receptor expression to increase antitumor efficacy of adoptive T cell therapy

Sci Adv. 2024 Aug 30;10(35):eadq2366. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adq2366. Epub 2024 Aug 28.

Abstract

Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) is a therapeutic strategy to augment antitumor immunity. Here, we report that ex vivo treatment of mouse CD8+ T cells with dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG), a stabilizer of hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), induced HIF binding to the genes encoding the costimulatory receptors CD81, GITR, OX40, and 4-1BB, leading to increased expression. DMOG treatment increased T cell killing of melanoma cells, which was further augmented by agonist antibodies targeting each costimulatory receptor. In tumor-bearing mice, ACT using T cells treated ex vivo with DMOG and agonist antibodies resulted in decreased tumor growth compared to ACT using control T cells and increased intratumoral markers of CD8+ T cells (CD7, CD8A, and CD8B1), natural killer cells (NCR1 and KLRK1), and cytolytic activity (perforin-1 and tumor necrosis factor-α). Costimulatory receptor gene expression was also induced when CD8+ T cells were treated with three highly selective HIF stabilizers that are currently in clinical use.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acids, Dicarboxylic / pharmacology
  • Animals
  • CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes* / drug effects
  • CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes* / immunology
  • CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes* / metabolism
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / drug effects
  • Glucocorticoid-Induced TNFR-Related Protein / metabolism
  • Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / genetics
  • Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / metabolism
  • Immunotherapy, Adoptive* / methods
  • Melanoma, Experimental / immunology
  • Melanoma, Experimental / therapy
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Receptors, OX40 / metabolism
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 9 / metabolism

Substances

  • oxalylglycine
  • Amino Acids, Dicarboxylic
  • Receptors, OX40
  • Tnfrsf18 protein, mouse
  • Glucocorticoid-Induced TNFR-Related Protein
  • Tnfrsf4 protein, mouse
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 9
  • Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit