Cited by 163Immunotherapy and Immune ResponsesCancer Immunotherapy and BiomarkersT-cell and B-cell Immunology

Microbial peptides activate tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes in glioblastoma

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Naghavian, Reza, Faigle, Wolfgang, Oldrati, Pietro, Wang, Jian, Toussaint, Nora C., Qiu, Yuhan, Medici, Gioele, Wacker, Marcel +13 more·2023·Nature

Abstract

Abstract Microbial organisms have key roles in numerous physiological processes in the human body and have recently been shown to modify the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors1,2. Here we aim to address the role of microbial organisms and their potential role in immune reactivity against glioblastoma. We demonstrate that HLA molecules of both glioblastoma tissues and tumour cell lines present bacteria-specific peptides. This finding prompted us to examine whether tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) recognize tumour-derived bacterial peptides. Bacterial peptides eluted from HLA class II molecules are recognized by TILs, albeit very weakly. Using an unbiased antigen discovery approach to probe the specificity of a TIL CD4+ T cell clone, we show that it recognizes a broad spectrum of peptides from pathogenic bacteria, commensal gut microbiota and also glioblastoma-related tumour antigens. These peptides were also strongly stimulatory for bulk TILs and peripheral blood memory cells, which then respond to tumour-derived target peptides. Our data hint at how bacterial pathogens and bacterial gut microbiota can be involved in specific immune recognition of tumour antigens. The unbiased identification of microbial target antigens for TILs holds promise for future personalized tumour vaccination approaches.

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  • The gut microbiome's vast antigen reservoir may facilitate cross-reactivity between bacterial and tumor antigens, thereby enhancing antitumor immune responses.

    “Moreover, the gut microbiome’s vast antigen reservoir may facilitate cross-reactivity between bacterial and tumor antigens, thereby enhancing antitumor immune responses (Fluckiger et al., 2020; Naghavian et al., 2023).”

    From Microbiota-centered interventions to boost immune checkpoint blockade therapies (2025) · cites this paper as Naghavian et al., 2023

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Authors
Naghavian, R., Faigle, W., Oldrati, P., Wang, J., Toussaint, N. C., Qiu, Y., Medici, G., Wacker, M., Freudenmann, L. K., Bonté, P.-E., Weller, M., Regli, L., Amigorena, S., Rammensee, H.-G., Walz, J. S., Brugger, S. D., Mohme, M., Zhao, Y., Sospedra, M., Neidert, M. C., & Martin, R.
Affiliations
  • University of Zurich (CH)
  • Inserm (FR)
  • University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
  • SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (CH)
  • German Cancer Research Center (DE)
  • Universität Hamburg (DE)
  • National Institutes of Health (US)
Venue
Nature
Published
2023-05-17
Volume
617
Issue
7962
Pages
807-817
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W4376959488
Cited by
163
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 38 · 2025: 60 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 1
FWCI
17.76
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • ETH Zürich Research Collection
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (153213)
  • Universität Zürich
  • FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (340733)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › T-cell and B-cell Immunology
Keywords
glioblastoma, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, bacterial peptides, HLA class II, tumor antigen presentation, gut microbiota, commensal bacteria, pathogenic bacteria, CD4+ T cells, personalized cancer immunotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors
MeSH terms
Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Histocompatibility Antigens Class II, Antigens, Neoplasm, Bacteria, Bacterial Proteins, Glioblastoma, HLA Antigens, Humans, Peptide Fragments, Symbiosis, CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating, Cancer Vaccines, Cell Line, Tumor

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