Tumor inflammatory signature as a biomarker of response to immunotherapy in lung cancer.

47 Background: Tumor Inflammation signatures (TIS) comprising multiple immune genes have been shown to enrich for response to ICI. To study this immune phenotype in a large cohort of clinically evaluated patients, we studied gene expression data for a stable pan-cancer tumor inflammation profile and clinical response to ICI. Methods: 1323 FFPE tumors from 35 histologies were tested by RNA-seq, PD-L1 IHC and DNA-seq for TMB. Unsupervised analysis of the RNA-seq data revealed a cluster of 160 genes which separated inflamed from non-inflamed tumor microenvironments (TME). A TIS, algorithmically defined as the mean mRNA expression of the 160 genes was developed with each tumor assigned into a weak, moderate or strong inflammation group. PD-L1 IHC was performed using DAKO 22C3 antibody and considered positive if TPS ≥1%. TMB > 10 mut/Mb was considered high. The TIS, PD-L1 and TMB were independently applied to 110 NSCLC cases for association with ORR to ICIs by RECIST criterion. Results: Unsupervised clustering identified 3 inflammation clusters in the 1323 samples; inflamed (n = 439; 33.2%), borderline (n = 467; 35.3%) and non-inflamed (n = 417; 31.5%). 160 genes are over-represented by T & B-cell activation, IFNg, chemokine, cytokine and interleukin pathways. The TIS algorithm results in an inflammatory score that leads to 3 distinct groups of strong (n = 384; 29.0%), moderate (n = 354; 26.8%) and weak (n = 585; 44.2%) inflammation. Strongly inflamed tumors are over-represented by PD-L1+ tumors (240/384) whereas weakly inflamed tumors are significantly under-represented by PD-L1+ tumors (369/585; p = 1.02e-14). Strongly inflamed tumors presented with improved ORR to ICI in NSCLC (36.6%; 16/44; p = 0.051). Similar results were observed for overall survival for strongly inflamed tumors (median = 16 months; p = 0.0012) vs. weakly inflamed tumors (median = 8 months). ORR for PD-L1+ 33.96% (p = 0.026) and TMB high 21.43% (p = 0.83) were observed. Conclusions: Concurrent measurement of multiple markers led to a comprehensive, stable TIS that predicts host immune response. A strongly inflamed TIS was associated with higher ORR versus single biomarker PD-L1 and TMB in NSCLC.

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Integration of tumor inflammation, cell proliferation, and traditional biomarkers improves prediction of immunotherapy resistance and response

Biomarker Research ◽

10.1186/s40364-021-00308-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sarabjot Pabla ◽

R. J. Seager ◽

Erik Van Roey ◽

Shuang Gao ◽

Carrie Hoefer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Immune Response ◽

Cell Proliferation ◽

Cell Activation ◽

Response Rate ◽

Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽

Host Immune Response ◽

Gene Signature ◽

B Cell Activation ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Multiple Tumor

Abstract Background Contemporary to the rapidly evolving landscape of cancer immunotherapy is the equally changing understanding of immune tumor microenvironments (TMEs) which is crucial to the success of these therapies. Their reliance on a robust host immune response necessitates clinical grade measurements of immune TMEs at diagnosis. In this study, we describe a stable tumor immunogenic profile describing immune TMEs in multiple tumor types with ability to predict clinical benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Methods A tumor immunogenic signature (TIGS) was derived from targeted RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) and gene expression analysis of 1323 clinical solid tumor cases spanning 35 histologies using unsupervised analysis. TIGS correlation with ICI response and survival was assessed in a retrospective cohort of NSCLC, melanoma and RCC tumor blocks, alone and combined with TMB, PD-L1 IHC and cell proliferation biomarkers. Results Unsupervised clustering of RNA-seq profiles uncovered a 161 gene signature where T cell and B cell activation, IFNg, chemokine, cytokine and interleukin pathways are over-represented. Mean expression of these genes produced three distinct TIGS score categories: strong (n = 384/1323; 29.02%), moderate (n = 354/1323; 26.76%), and weak (n = 585/1323; 44.22%). Strong TIGS tumors presented an improved ICI response rate of 37% (30/81); with highest response rate advantage occurring in NSCLC (ORR = 36.6%; 16/44; p = 0.051). Similarly, overall survival for strong TIGS tumors trended upward (median = 25 months; p = 0.19). Integrating the TIGS score categories with neoplastic influence quantified via cell proliferation showed highly proliferative and strong TIGS tumors correlate with significantly higher ICI ORR than poorly proliferative and weak TIGS tumors [14.28%; p = 0.0006]. Importantly, we noted that strong TIGS and highly [median = not achieved; p = 0.025] or moderately [median = 16.2 months; p = 0.025] proliferative tumors had significantly better survival compared to weak TIGS, highly proliferative tumors [median = 7.03 months]. Importantly, TIGS discriminates subpopulations of potential ICI responders that were considered negative for response by TMB and PD-L1. Conclusions TIGS is a comprehensive and informative measurement of immune TME that effectively characterizes host immune response to ICIs in multiple tumors. The results indicate that when combined with PD-L1, TMB and cell proliferation, TIGS provides greater context of both immune and neoplastic influences on the TME for implementation into clinical practice.

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Enhancer Profiling Reveals SOX9 As a Novel Transcription Regulator of B Cell Activation and DLBCL Transformation

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v120.21.527.527 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 120 (21) ◽

pp. 527-527

Author(s):

Yanwen Jiang ◽

Katerina Hatzi ◽

Olivier Elemento ◽

Ari Melnick

Keyword(s):

B Cells ◽

B Cell ◽

Malignant Transformation ◽

Germinal Center ◽

Cell Activation ◽

Terminal Differentiation ◽

B Cell Activation ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Sox9 Expression ◽

Cell Type Specific

Abstract Abstract 527 Antigen stimulation of naïve B cells (NBC) induces differentiation with a phenotype characterized by robust proliferation and genomic instability tolerance to enable activated germinal center B cells (GCB) to undergo immunoglobulin affinity maturation. Aberrant genetic events resulting from this process lead to malignant transformation and diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Phenotypic progression from quiescent NBC to activated GCB and malignant DLBCL involves major shifts in gene expression. Recent studies suggest that enhancers play a key role in mediating cell type-specific gene regulation. We therefore postulated that enhancers are involved in dictating the gene expression programs that govern normal and malignant B cell phenotypes; and systematic discovery of enhancers coupled with bioinformatic analysis would uncover key enhancer-binding transcription factors (TFs) that regulate these cell states. To test this hypothesis, we performed ChIP-seq on enhancer histone marks, i.e. H3K4me2, H3K27Ac, and H3K4me3, in primary NBC and GCB, and in DLBCL cell lines in biological replicates. We defined enhancers by the criterion of H3K4me2hiH3K4me3low. We observed a striking pattern of enhancer re-organization between cell types. First, we found a larger number of enhancers in primary B-cells (∼20,000) than in DLBCL (∼12,000). Second, we confirmed that enhancers are cell type-specific. For example, 11,492 out of 20,173 NBC enhancers were lost during transition to GCB (loss of H3K4me2 enrichment), while 13,088 new enhancers were gained in GCB. A similar phenomenon was also observed in DLBCL when compared to either NBC or GCB. This re-organization of enhancers suggests that cells may have dynamic gene regulatory programs during differentiation or malignant transformation. To discover TFs that act through enhancers, we used bioinformatic analyses, including FIRE and MEME, to search for TF consensus binding sequences within enhancers. Over-represented DNA motifs included motifs of SPI1, RUNX1, STAT3, RELA and SOX9, etc. SOX9 motif was significantly enriched in GCB specific enhancers (p=3.07e-15). SOX9 belongs to the SOX family TFs and plays an important role in cartilage development, sex determination, and intestinal differentiation but has not been implicated in B cell development. To investigate the role of SOX9 in B cell activation and malignant transformation, we first examined the expression of SOX9 in these cells. RNA-seq performed on human tonsilar NBC and GCB showed more than 20-fold increase of SOX9 mRNA in GCB as compared to NBC (6.75±0.80 vs 0.29±0.14, RPKM, p=0.0002). In addition, SOX9 expression was maintained in plasma B cells (2.88±0.49, RPKM). To understand how SOX9 regulates transcriptional programming in GCB, we performed SOX9 ChIP-seq in GCB to look for its targets. We found that SOX9 binds to 1,668 upstream distal enhancer regions (-5 to -100 kb of TSS) associated with 963 genes. These target genes were significantly enriched in many important pathways including cell cycle regulation (CCND2, CDC25B, CDK1), transcription regulation (BCOR, NCOR2), epigenetic regulation (BMI1, DNMT3A, MLL2, SUZ12, TET3), and MAPK signaling (MAP2K3, MAP3K7) (p<0.001). One of the SOX9 targets is PRMD1, a TF that controls the transition from GCB to plasma cells, suggesting that SOX9 may be involved in B cell terminal differentiation. To our surprise, we did not detect SOX9 mRNA in 10 out of 12 DLBCL cell lines by RNA-seq. Moreover, SOX9 was not expressed in the majority of primary malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases studied by IHC in the Human Protein Atlas project. To examine whether reduced SOX9 expression could induce malignant transformation, we used shRNA to knockdown Sox9 in mouse BCL1 lymphoma cells and subjected them to colony forming assay in semi-solid methylcellulose. Knockdown of Sox9 increased BCL1 colony forming ability by 50% as compared to scramble, suggesting that loss of SOX9 expression maybe important for lymphomagenesis. In summary, we identified a novel germinal center TF, SOX9, by examining enrichment of TF motifs within enhancer regions uncovered by ChIP-seq. Our current data suggest that SOX9 may play an important role in germinal center reaction and subsequent terminal differentiation by regulating key factors, such as PRDM1, and that loss of SOX9 may contribute to DLBCL malignant transformation by potentially blocking the terminal differentiation of mature GCB. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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Abstract 393: Predicting DNA accessibility in the pan-cancer tumor genome using RNA-Seq, WGS, and deep learning

10.1158/1538-7445.am2017-393 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kamil Wnuk ◽

Jeremi Sudol ◽

Shahrooz Rabizadeh ◽

Patrick Soon-Shiong ◽

Christopher Szeto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Deep Learning ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Dna Accessibility ◽

Cancer Tumor ◽

Tumor Genome ◽

Pan Cancer

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Cancer-associated dynamics and potential regulators of intronic polyadenylation revealed by IPAFinder using standard RNA-seq data

Genome Research ◽

10.1101/gr.271627.120 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. gr.271627.120

Author(s):

Zhaozhao Zhao ◽

Qiushi Xu ◽

Ran Wei ◽

Weixu Wang ◽

Dong Ding ◽

...

Keyword(s):

De Novo ◽

Biological Significance ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Coding Region ◽

Dynamic Changes ◽

Cancer Tumor ◽

Tumor Types ◽

Pan Cancer ◽

Intronic Poly

Intronic polyadenylation (IpA) usually leads to changes in coding region of an mRNA, and its implication in diseases has been recognized, though at its very beginning status. Conveniently and accurately identifying IpA is of great importance for further evaluating its biological significance. Here, we developed IPAFinder, a bioinformatic method for the de novo identification of intronic poly(A) sites and their dynamic changes from standard RNA-seq data. Applying IPAFinder to 256 pan-cancer tumor/normal pairs across six tumor types, we discovered 490 recurrent dynamically changed IpA events, some of which are novel and derived from cancer-associated genes such as TSC1, SPERD2, and CCND2. Furthermore, IPAFinder revealed that IpA could be regulated by factors related to splicing and m6A modification. In summary, IPAFinder enables the global discovery and characterization of biologically regulated IpA with standard RNA-seq data and should reveal the biological significance of IpA in various processes.

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Tet2 inactivation enhances the anti-tumor activity of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) to curtail melanoma growth

10.21203/rs.3.rs-55173/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Minjung Lee ◽

Jianfang Li ◽

Shaohai Fang ◽

Joanna Zhang ◽

Anh Vo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tumor Immunity ◽

T Cell Activation ◽

Cell Activation ◽

Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes ◽

Chromatin Accessibility ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Tumor Microenvironments ◽

Tumor Onset ◽

Infiltrating Lymphocytes ◽

Anti Tumor Activity

Abstract Inactivation of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) is one of the mechanisms mitigating anti-tumor immunity during tumor onset and progression. Epigenetic abnormalities are regarded as a major culprit contributing to the dysfunction of TILs within tumor microenvironments. In this study, we used a murine model of melanoma to discover that Tet2 inactivation significantly enhances the anti-tumor activity of TILs, with the efficacy comparable to immune checkpoint inhibition imposed by anti-PD-L1 treatment. Single-cell RNA-seq analysis further revealed that Tet2-deficient TILs exhibit effector-like features. Transcriptomic and ATAC-seq analysis further demonstrated that Tet2 deletion reshapes the chromatin accessibility and favors the binding of transcription factors geared toward CD8+ T cell activation. In summary, our study establishes that Tet2 constitutes one of the epigenetic barriers contributing to dysfunction of TILs, and that Tet2 inactivation could benefit anti-tumor immunity to boost tumor suppression.

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