Cited by 619Cancer Immunotherapy and BiomarkersColorectal Cancer Treatments and StudiesImmune cells in cancer

KRAS-IRF2 axis drives immune suppression and immune therapy resistance in colorectal cancer

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Liao, Wenting, Overman, Michael J., Boutin, Adam T., Shang, Xiaoying, Zhao, Di, Dey, Prasenjit, Li, Jiexi, Wang, Guocan +19 more·2019·Cancer Cell

Abstract

The biological functions and mechanisms of oncogenic KRAS G12D (KRAS∗) in resistance to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy are not fully understood. We demonstrate that KRAS∗ represses the expression of interferon regulatory factor 2 (IRF2), which in turn directly represses CXCL3 expression. KRAS∗-mediated repression of IRF2 results in high expression of CXCL3, which binds to CXCR2 on myeloid-derived suppressor cells and promotes their migration to the tumor microenvironment. Anti-PD-1 resistance of KRAS∗-expressing tumors can be overcome by enforced IRF2 expression or by inhibition of CXCR2. Colorectal cancer (CRC) showing higher IRF2 expression exhibited increased responsiveness to anti-PD-1 therapy. The KRAS∗-IRF2-CXCL3-CXCR2 axis provides a framework for patient selection and combination therapies to enhance the effectiveness of ICB therapy in CRC.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.ccell.2019.02.008

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  • In colon cancer, mutant KRAS inhibits expression of IRF2, which is required for interferon-mediated immune responses.

    “In colon cancer, mutant KRAS has been shown to inhibit expression of interferon regulatory factor2 (IRF2), which is required for interferon-mediated immune responses [69].”

    From Drugging KRAS: Current perspectives and state-of-art review (2022) · cites this paper as [69]

  • SHP099 and G12C-I each decreased the expression of chemokine/cytokine genes that favor immune-suppressive CD11b+ myeloid cells (e.g., CXCL1-5; CCL9).

    “while decreasing the expression of those that favor immune-suppressive CD11b+ myeloid cells (e.g., CXCL1-5; CCL9; Chow and Luster, 2014; Kortlever et al., 2017; Liao et al., 2019; Nagarsheth et al., 2017; Fig. 5, I and J).”

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  1. Lu X, Horner JW, Paul E, Shang X, Troncoso P, Deng P, Jiang S, Chang Q, Spring DJ, Sharma P, (2017b). Effective combinatorial immunotherapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer. Nature 543, 728– 732. 28321130 PMC5374023

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Authors
Liao, W., Overman, M. J., Boutin, A. T., Shang, X., Zhao, D., Dey, P., Li, J., Wang, G., Lan, Z., Li, J., Tang, M., Jiang, S., Ma, X., Chen, P., Katkhuda, R., Korphaisarn, K., Chakravarti, D., Chang, A., Spring, D. J., Chang, Q., Zhang, J., Maru, D. M., Maeda, D. Y., Zebala, J. A., Kopetz, S., Wang, Y. A., & DePinho, R. A.
Affiliations
  • The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US)
  • Syntrix Biosystems (United States) (US)
Corresponding author
  • Wang, Y. Alan
  • DePinho, Ronald A.
Venue
Cancer Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-04
Volume
35
Issue
4
Pages
559-572.e7
ISSN
1535-6108 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2923548794
Cited by
617
References
63
Citations by year
2026: 68 · 2025: 91 · 2024: 104 · 2023: 89 · 2022: 97 · 2021: 86 · 2020: 62 · 2019: 20
FWCI
27.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cancer Cell (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • NIH (R01 CA084628, PO1 CA117969)
  • MD Anderson Colorectal Cancer Moon Shot funds
  • National Basic Research Program of China (2015CB554002)
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (81672886, 81773101, 81872401)
  • CPRIT (RP170067)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Colorectal Cancer Treatments and Studies
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immune cells in cancer
Keywords
KRAS G12D, IRF2, CXCL3, CXCR2, colorectal cancer, immune checkpoint inhibitor resistance, anti-PD-1 therapy, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, tumor microenvironment, immunosuppression, transcriptional repression, patient selection
MeSH terms
Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells, Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological, Adult, Aged, Animals, Cell Movement, Female, Humans, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Transgenic, Middle Aged, Colorectal Neoplasms, Signal Transduction, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Tumor Suppressor Protein p53, Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras), Mice, SCID, Mice, Inbred NOD, Drug Resistance, Neoplasm, Tumor Escape, Chemokines, CXC, Receptors, Interleukin-8B, Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein, Cell Line, Tumor, Interferon Regulatory Factor-2, Young Adult, Tumor Microenvironment, Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor

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