Adoptively transferred tumor-specific IL-9-producing cytotoxic CD8+ T cells activate host CD4+ T cells to control tumors with antigen loss
Menée à l'aide de lignées cellulaires et de modèles murins de tumeurs, cette étude met en évidence un mécanisme par lequel le transfert adoptif de lymphocytes T CD8+ spécifiques de la tumeur et produisant de l'interleukine IL-9 favorise, via le recrutement et l'activation des lymphocytes T CD4+, le contrôle de la croissance des tumeurs récidivantes n'exprimant plus l'antigène cible
Host effector CD4+ T cells emerge as critical mediators for tumor regression but whether they can be activated by adoptively transferred CD8+ T cells remains unknown. We previously reported that adoptive transfer of interleukin 9 (IL-9)-producing cytotoxic CD8+ T (Tc9) cells achieved long-term control of tumor growth. Here, we demonstrate that murine tumor-specific Tc9 cells control the outgrowth of antigen-loss relapsed tumors by recruiting and activating host effector CD4+ T cells. Tc9 cells secreted IL-24 and recruited CCR7-expressing conventional type 2 dendritic cells (cDC2 cells) into tumor-draining lymph nodes to prime host CD4+ T cells against relapsed tumors. Host CD4+ T cell or cDC2 deficiency impaired the ability of Tc9 cells to control relapsed tumor outgrowth. Additionally, intratumoral IL24 expression correlates with cDC2 and CD4+ T cell gene signatures in human cancers and their expression is associated with better patient survival. This study reports a mechanism for activation of tumor-specific CD4+ T cells in vivo.
Nature Cancer , résumé 2025