Natural killer (NK) cells are important innate immunity players and have unique abilities to recognize and eliminate cancer cells, particularly in settings of antibody-opsonization and antibody-dependant cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). However, NK cell-based responses in bladder cancers to therapeutic antibodies are typically immunosuppressed, and these immunosuppressive mechanisms are largely unknown.
Single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and high-dimensional flow cytometry were used to investigate the phenotype of tumour-infiltrating NK cells in patients with bladder cancer. Further, in vitro, and in vivo models of this disease were used to validate these findings.
NK cells within bladder tumours displayed reduced expression of FcγRIIIa/CD16, the critical Fc receptor involved in ADCC-mediated cytotoxicity, on both transcriptional and protein levels. Transcriptional signatures of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β-signalling, a pleiotropic cytokine known for its immunosuppressive and tissue residency-inducing effects, were upregulated in tumour-infiltrating NK cells. TGF-β mediated CD16 downregulation on NK cells, was further validated in vitro, which was accompanied by a transition into a tissue residency phenotype. This CD16 downregulation was also abrogated by TGF-βR signalling inhibition, which could also restore the ADCC ability of NK cells subject to TGF-β effects. In a humanized mouse model of bladder cancer, mice treated with a TGF-β inhibitor exhibited increased ADCC activity compared to mice treated only with antibodies.
This study highlights how TGF-β-rich bladder cancers inhibit NK cell-mediated ADCC by downregulating CD16. TGF-β inhibition represents new avenues to reverse immunosuppression and enhance the tumoricidal capacity of NK cells in bladder cancer.
The Guimaraes Laboratory is funded by a US Department of Defense-Breast Cancer Research Program-Breakthrough Award Level 1 (#BC200025), a grant (#2019485) awarded through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF, with the support of the Queensland Children's Hospital Foundation, Microba Life Sciences, Richie's Rainbow Foundation, Translational Research Institute (TRI) and UQ), and a grant (#RSS_2023_085) funded by a Metro South Health Research Support Scheme. J.K.M.W. is funded by a UQ Research Training Program PhD Scholarship and N.O. is funded by a NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship (#2021932).
EBioMedicine. 2024 May 28 [Epub ahead of print]
Joshua K M Wong, Timothy R McCulloch, Louisa Alim, Natacha Omer, Ahmed M Mehdi, Zewen Kelvin Tuong, Alexis Bonfim-Melo, Eric Chung, Alice Nicol, Fiona Simpson, Handoo Rhee, Gustavo Rodrigues Rossi, Fernando Souza-Fonseca-Guimaraes
Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia., Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia; QCIF Bioinformatics, Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation Ltd, Brisbane, Australia., Ian Frazer Centre for Children's Immunotherapy Research, Child Health Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, South Brisbane, QLD, 4101, Australia., Princess Alexandra Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Jubilee II Hospital, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia., Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia. Electronic address: .