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Davra V, Kumar S, Geng K, Calianese D, Mehta D, Gadiyar V, Kasikara C, Lahey KC, Chang YJ, Wichroski M, Gao C, De Lorenzo MS, Kotenko SV, Bergsbaken T, Mishra PK, Gause WC, Quigley M, Spires TE, Birge RB. Axl and Mertk Receptors Cooperate to Promote Breast Cancer Progression by Combined Oncogenic Signaling and Evasion of Host Antitumor Immunity. Cancer Res 2021; 81:698-712. [PMID: 33239426 PMCID: PMC9999365 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-20-2066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Revised: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 11/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Despite the promising clinical benefit of targeted and immune checkpoint blocking therapeutics, current strategies have limited success in breast cancer, indicating that additional inhibitory pathways are required to complement existing therapeutics. TAM receptors (Tyro-3, Axl, and Mertk) are often correlated with poor prognosis because of their capacities to sustain an immunosuppressive environment. Here, we ablate Axl on tumor cells using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, and by targeting Mertk in the tumor microenvironment (TME), we observed distinct functions of TAM as oncogenic kinases, as well as inhibitory immune receptors. Depletion of Axl suppressed cell intrinsic oncogenic properties, decreased tumor growth, reduced the incidence of lung metastasis and increased overall survival of mice when injected into mammary fat pad of syngeneic mice, and demonstrated synergy when combined with anti-PD-1 therapy. Blockade of Mertk function on macrophages decreased efferocytosis, altered the cytokine milieu, and resulted in suppressed macrophage gene expression patterns. Mertk-knockout mice or treatment with anti-Mertk-neutralizing mAb also altered the cellular immune profile, resulting in a more inflamed tumor environment with enhanced T-cell infiltration into tumors and T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity. The antitumor activity from Mertk inhibition was abrogated by depletion of cytotoxic CD8α T cells by using anti-CD8α mAb or by transplantation of tumor cells into B6.CB17-Prkdc SCID mice. Our data indicate that targeting Axl expressed on tumor cells and Mertk in the TME is predicted to have a combinatorial benefit to enhance current immunotherapies and that Axl and Mertk have distinct functional activities that impair host antitumor response. SIGNIFICANCE: This study demonstrates how TAM receptors act both as oncogenic tyrosine kinases and as receptors that mediate immune evasion in cancer progression.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Cells, Cultured
- Female
- Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic/immunology
- Humans
- Immune Evasion/genetics
- Immune Evasion/immunology
- Immunotherapy/methods
- Kaplan-Meier Estimate
- Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental/genetics
- Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental/immunology
- Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental/therapy
- Mice, Inbred BALB C
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Mice, Knockout
- Mice, SCID
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins/genetics
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins/immunology
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins/metabolism
- Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/genetics
- Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/immunology
- Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/metabolism
- Signal Transduction/genetics
- Signal Transduction/immunology
- c-Mer Tyrosine Kinase/genetics
- c-Mer Tyrosine Kinase/immunology
- c-Mer Tyrosine Kinase/metabolism
- Axl Receptor Tyrosine Kinase
- Mice
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Affiliation(s)
- Viralkumar Davra
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Cancer Center, Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
| | - Sushil Kumar
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Cancer Center, Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
| | - Ke Geng
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Cancer Center, Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
| | - David Calianese
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Cancer Center, Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
| | - Dhriti Mehta
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Cancer Center, Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
| | - Varsha Gadiyar
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Cancer Center, Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
| | - Canan Kasikara
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Cancer Center, Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
| | - Kevin C Lahey
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Cancer Center, Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
| | - Yun-Juan Chang
- Office of Advanced Research Computing, Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
| | | | - Chan Gao
- Bristol Myers Squibb, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
| | | | - Sergei V Kotenko
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Cancer Center, Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
| | - Tessa Bergsbaken
- Center for Immunity and Inflammation, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, Newark, New Jersey
| | - Pankaj K Mishra
- Center for Immunity and Inflammation, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, Newark, New Jersey
| | - William C Gause
- Center for Immunity and Inflammation, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, Newark, New Jersey
| | | | | | - Raymond B Birge
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Cancer Center, Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey.
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