Cited by 541Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkersinterferon and immune responsesImmunotherapy and Immune Responses

Opposing Functions of Interferon Coordinate Adaptive and Innate Immune Responses to Cancer Immune Checkpoint Blockade

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Benci, Joseph L., Johnson, Lexus R., Choa, Ruth, Xu, Yuanming, Qiu, Jingya, Zhou, Zilu, Xu, Bihui, Ye, Darwin +9 more·2019·Cell

Abstract

Interferon-gamma (IFNG) augments immune function yet promotes T cell exhaustion through PDL1. How these opposing effects are integrated to impact immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is unclear. We show that while inhibiting tumor IFNG signaling decreases interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) in cancer cells, it increases ISGs in immune cells by enhancing IFNG produced by exhausted T cells (T EX). In tumors with favorable antigenicity, these T EX mediate rejection. In tumors with neoantigen or MHC-I loss, T EX instead utilize IFNG to drive maturation of innate immune cells, including a PD1+TRAIL+ ILC1 population. By disabling an inhibitory circuit impacting PD1 and TRAIL, blocking tumor IFNG signaling promotes innate immune killing. Thus, interferon signaling in cancer cells and immune cells oppose each other to establish a regulatory relationship that limits both adaptive and innate immune killing. In melanoma and lung cancer patients, perturbation of this relationship is associated with ICB response independent of tumor mutational burden.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.cell.2019.07.019

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  • Several genes, including C10orf54 (VISTA), LGALS9, and TNFRSF14, were broadly expressed.

    “Several genes, including C10orf54 (VISTA), LGALS9, and TNFRSF14, known to inhibit T cells (Benci et al., 2019, Chen and Flies, 2013) were broadly expressed.”

    From Multimodal Analysis of Composition and Spatial Architecture in Human Squamous Cell Carcinoma (2020) · cites this paper as Benci et al., 2019

    The Discussion (page unavailable) identifies HVEM and LGALS9 as possible inhibitory ligands involved in T-cell exhaustion, supporting the cited functional description for TNFRSF14 (HVEM) and LGALS9. Our copy does not identify C10orf54 (VISTA) in that role. The citation is attached to “known to inhibit T cells”; the sentence’s observation that the genes were broadly expressed is not attributed to this source. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • IFN-γ has been proposed to play both stimulatory and suppressive roles in cancer, and type I IFNs are used both as an immunosuppressant to treat multiple sclerosis and as immunostimulatory adjuvant treatments for cancer and chronic viral infection.

    “For example, IFN-γ has been proposed to play both stimulatory and suppressive roles in cancer, and type I IFNs are used both as an immunosuppressant to treat multiple sclerosis and as immunostimulatory adjuvant treatments for cancer (for example melanoma) and chronic viral infection (for example HCV)48–50.”
  • In solid tumors, a tumor IFN-stimulated gene signature termed ISG.RS is associated with a multigenic program of T-cell exhaustion and worse outcomes after immune checkpoint blockade.

    “In solid tumors, a tumor IFN–stimulated gene signature termed ISG.RS is associated with a multigenic program of T-cell exhaustion and worse outcomes after immune checkpoint blockade.”

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Authors
Benci, J. L., Johnson, L. R., Choa, R., Xu, Y., Qiu, J., Zhou, Z., Xu, B., Ye, D., Nathanson, K. L., June, C. H., Wherry, E. J., Zhang, N. R., Ishwaran, H., Hellmann, M. D., Wolchok, J. D., Kambayashi, T., & Minn, A. J.
Affiliations
  • University of Pennsylvania (US)
  • Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (US)
  • University of Miami (US)
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
Corresponding author
Minn, Andy J.
Venue
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-08
Volume
178
Issue
4
Pages
933-948.e14
ISSN
0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2968188498
Cited by
541
References
58
Citations by year
2026: 63 · 2025: 82 · 2024: 81 · 2023: 97 · 2022: 87 · 2021: 76 · 2020: 46 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 1
FWCI
22.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • AstraZeneca
  • Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research
  • Melanoma Research Alliance
  • National Institutes of Health (1P01CA210944-01, 5-T32-HG-000046-16, F31CA228455)
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
  • Eli Lilly and Company
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb
  • Pfizer
  • Merck
  • Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A.
  • Breast Cancer Research Foundation
  • Mark Foundation For Cancer Research (F31CA228455, 5-T32-HG-000046-16)
  • Genentech (PD-1, CTLA-4)
  • U.S. Department of Defense (W81XWH-17-1-0264)
  • MedImmune
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › interferon and immune responses
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
Keywords
interferon-gamma, immune checkpoint blockade, T cell exhaustion, PD-L1, interferon-stimulated genes, innate immune cells, TRAIL, PD-1, ILC1, melanoma, lung cancer, tumor mutational burden, cancer immunotherapy response
MeSH terms
Progression-Free Survival, RNA-Seq, Animals, Antineoplastic Agents, Female, Humans, Immunity, Innate, Interferon-gamma, Killer Cells, Natural, Lung Neoplasms, Melanoma, Mice, Inbred BALB C, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Transfection, Cohort Studies, Mice, Knockout, CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Adoptive Transfer, Cell Line, Tumor, Mice, Gene Knockout Techniques, Adaptive Immunity, CTLA-4 Antigen, Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor

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