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  • Histone methyltransferase W...
    Ren, Jiale; Li, Ni; Pei, Siyu; Lian, Yannan; Li, Li; Peng, Yuchong; Liu, Qiuli; Guo, Jiacheng; Wang, Xuege; Han, Ying; Zhang, Guoying; Wang, Hanling; Li, Yaqi; Jiang, Jun; Li, Qintong; Tan, Minjia; Peng, Junjie; Hu, Guohong; Xiao, Yichuan; Li, Xiong; Lin, Moubin; Qin, Jun

    The Journal of clinical investigation, 04/2022, Letnik: 132, Številka: 8
    Journal Article

    IFN-γ-stimulated MHC class I (MHC-I) antigen presentation underlies the core of antitumor immunity. However, sustained IFN-γ signaling also enhances the programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) checkpoint pathway to dampen antitumor immunity. It remains unclear how these opposing effects of IFN-γ are regulated. Here, we report that loss of the histone dimethyltransferase WHSC1 impaired the antitumor effect of IFN-γ signaling by transcriptional downregulation of the MHC-I machinery without affecting PD-L1 expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. Whsc1 loss promoted tumorigenesis via a non-cell-autonomous mechanism in an Apcmin/+ mouse model, CRC organoids, and xenografts. Mechanistically, we found that the IFN-γ/STAT1 signaling axis stimulated WHSC1 expression and, in turn, that WHSC1 directly interacted with NLRC5 to promote MHC-I gene expression, but not that of PD-L1. Concordantly, silencing Whsc1 diminished MHC-I levels, impaired antitumor immunity, and blunted the effect of immune checkpoint blockade. Patient cohort analysis revealed that WHSC1 expression positively correlated with enhanced MHC-I expression, tumor-infiltrating T cells, and favorable disease outcomes. Together, our findings establish a tumor-suppressive function of WHSC1 that relays IFN-γ signaling to promote antigen presentation on CRC cells and provide a rationale for boosting WHSC1 activity in immunotherapy.