Biology subjects

Dong, H.

Publications and source records attributed to Dong, H..

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

SF3A2 deacetylation at lysin 10 mitigates myocardial pathological remodeling by reprogramming cardiomyocyte metabolism

BackgroundDysregulation of splicing factor-mediated pre-mRNA alternative splicing (AS) underlies the progression of complex diseases, but the specific involvement of AS in myocardial pathological remodeling remains unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the role of splicing factor 3A, subunit 2 (SF3A2) in the development of myocardial pathological remodeling by regulating AS and its effect on metabolic reprogramming. MethodsWe evaluated the function and mechanism of SF3A2 in myocardial pathological remodeling using murine models induced by myocardial infarction (MI) and isoproterenol. The gain- and loss-of-function models (AAV9-cTNT delivery-mediated knock-in and lentivirus-mediated knockdown) combined with acetylomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, 13C-glucose tracing and immunoprecipitation coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (IP-MS) analyses were used to demonstrate the mechanism of SIRT7-mediated SF3A2 deacetylation at lysin 10 (K10). Unbiased RNA sequencing and AS analysis were conducted to identify the downstream effector of SF3A2. ResultsSF3A2 acetylation at lysine 10 was upregulated in cardiomyocytes in response to myocardial pathological remodeling. Functionally, the knock-in of a deacetylation-mimetic SF3A2 (K10R) mutant attenuated myocardial hypertrophy, fibrosis, and improved heart function. These phenotypes were accompanied by a redirection of glucose flux from anaerobic glycolysis to the TCA cycle, along with a promotion of fatty acid {beta}-oxidation by inhibiting CD36 translocation and decreasing ACLY activity. Mechanistically, SF3A2 mitigated metabolic reprogramming and mitochondrial dysfunction by regulating Nnt AS, a process involving the SF3A2-interacting protein Ddx1. IP-MS further identified SIRT7 as the deacetylase for SF3A2, which was found to be activated by ginsenoside Rg1 in a high-throughput screen, leading to improved heart function. ConclusionsOverall, our findings establish the SIRT7-SF3A2-Nnt axis as a critical regulator in metabolic reprogramming to delay pathological myocardial remodeling. Promoting SF3A2 deacetylation, mediated by AAV9 delivery or pharmacological activation of SIRT7, improved heart function, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic target for pathological myocardial remodeling.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Temporal single-cell profiling uncovers age-associated delays in immune resolution to respiratory viral infection

Aging is a major risk factor for increased morbidity and mortality following acute respiratory virus infections. To elucidate the immune determinants underlying viral pathogenesis and delayed lung repair in the aged lung, a comprehensive time-course study was conducted. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) and high-dimensional flow cytometry were utilized to compare lungs from young and aged mice infected with influenza A virus (IAV). Aged hosts displayed diminished alveolar macrophage (AM) and dendritic cell (DC) but elevated monocyte-derived macrophage (MoM) and interstitial macrophage (IM) presence following infection. Additionally, enhanced accumulation of adaptive immune cells, including CD4+ tissue-resident helper (TRH) cells, CD8+ tissue-resident memory (TRM) cells, and a B cell subset resembling age-associated B cells, was observed in the memory phase. Pathway analysis revealed that elevated type I and II interferon (IFN/{gamma}) signaling, especially in MoM/IM subsets, distinguished the aged hosts from the young. Inhibition of IFN/{gamma} signaling after viral clearance improved long-term respiratory outcomes and reduced both IM and TRH populations in aged mice. These findings highlight the pivotal role of IFN/{gamma} signaling, likely within MoM/IM subsets, in driving the exuberant persistence of adaptive immune cells and chronic immunopathology in the aged lung following acute viral infection.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2025

CryoDDM: CryoEM denoising diffusion model for heterogeneous conformational reconstruction

Heterogeneous protein reconstruction can reveal the relationship between protein dynamics and function, which represents one of the foremost challenges in cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) single-particle analysis (SPA). However, high-intensity noise results in inaccurate parameter estimation during classification and reconstruction, making it difficult to capture the subtle motions of proteins. Here, we present the Cryo-EM denoising diffusion model (CryoDDM), which denoises images while preserving high-frequency structural information, benefiting conformational heterogeneity classification and reconstruction. The image denoised by CryoDDM can be used to improve downstream analysis, enhance reconstruction resolution, discover new protein conformations, and map out conformational variations. Validated against tree diverse experimental datasets, spanning a proteasome, a membrane protein and a spike protein, our results consistently demonstrate the accuracy and superiority of CryoDDM. By guiding reconstruction with denoised images, CryoDDM enables high-resolution reconstruction of heterogeneous conformations, paving the way to illuminate fundamental questions in structural biology. The CryoDDM project are published at https://github.com/BIT-FuweiLi/CryoDDM.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2025

Organoid Pharmacotyping of Pancreatic Cancer Enables Functional Precision Oncology and Drug Repurposing

PurposePancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains one of the deadliest malignancies, with limited benefit from current cytotoxic regimens and poor predictive value of genomics alone. Patient-derived organoids (PDOs) represent a promising platform for functional precision oncology, yet systematic pharmacotyping of genomically annotated PDAC PDOs remains sparse. Experimental DesignWe established a clinically annotated panel of ten treatment-naive PDAC PDOs spanning well-, moderately-, and poorly differentiated tumors. PDOs were evaluated for morphologic and genomic fidelity and screened against 1,813 clinically relevant small molecules in a high-throughput 384-well format. Drug sensitivities were quantified at the compound and drug-family levels and integrated with histologic grade, pathway-level mutational profiles, and available clinical treatment information. ResultsPDOs preserved hallmark tumor features, including glandular organization and subclonal mutational architecture. Pharmacotyping revealed both shared and subtype-specific vulnerabilities. Classical (well/moderately differentiated) PDOs showed enriched mutations in DNA repair, mitotic spindle, and chromatin-regulatory pathways and were preferentially sensitive to topoisomerase inhibitors, microtubule poisons, and HDAC inhibitors. In contrast, basal (poorly differentiated) PDOs displayed coordinated defects in mitochondrial function, vesicle trafficking, and ubiquitin-mediated proteostasis, at the pathway level, that conferred a previously unrecognized vulnerability to cardiac glycosides. Sensitivities to standard PDAC agents were heterogeneous across models, underscoring the limited predictive value of genotype alone and the need for functional drug testing. ConclusionsThis integrated genomic and pharmacologic analysis demonstrates that PDO pharmacotyping identifies biologically grounded, actionable vulnerabilities in PDAC, including novel therapeutic opportunities in basal, chemo-resistant tumors. These findings support PDO-guided functional profiling as a clinically relevant platform for refining drug selection and expanding treatment options for patients with PDAC. SignificancePDAC is dominated by chemoresistance and lacks reliable genomic predictors of therapy response. By integrating high-throughput drug screening with mutation-informed pathway analysis in patient-derived organoids, we identify differentiation-linked therapeutic liabilities, including a previously unrecognized vulnerability to cardiac glycosides in basal PDAC. These results highlight PDO pharmacotyping as a powerful functional complement to genomics for guiding treatment selection in pancreatic cancer.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2025

SpaTranslator: A deep generative framework for universal spatial multi-omics cross-modality translation

Recent advances in spatial omics technologies have enabled the simultaneous analysis of multiple molecular patterns in tissue sections, offering unprecedented insights into cellular microenvironments. However, the high cost of measurements and the sparsity of data restrict the availability of paired spatial multi-omics datasets. Here, we present SpaTranslator, a deep generative framework that integrates graph neural networks with an adversarial variational generative model to fully capture spatial characteristics and enable effective cross-modality translation of spatial omics data, enabling simulation of paired spatial multi-omics data from single-omics measurements. Extensive experiments demonstrate that SpaTranslator consistently outperforms baseline methods in both clustering accuracy and biological coherence across various real-world scenarios, including spatial transcriptomics-epigenomics and spatial transcriptomics-proteomics translation tasks. Furthermore, SpaTranslator provides biologically meaningful insights through marker genes and proteins recovery, motif enrichment analysis, and gene regulation inference. Our work offers an effective and adaptable solution for spatial multi-omics cross-modality translation, supporting a broad range of biological and biomedical research.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2025

Multimodal AI Decodes Extreme Environment Functional Dark Matter Beyond Homology

Functional annotation of proteins from extreme environments represents a major bottleneck for bioresource discovery, as a vast reservoir of functional dark matter defies existing homology-based methods. We demonstrate that environmental pressures impart conserved physicochemical energy signatures that co-determine protein function with sequence and structure. Here we developed ACCESS, a multimodal graph neural network employing hierarchical contrastive learning with a tailored label-sample co-embedding to fuse energy, sequence, and structural information and overcome homology scarcity. ACCESS surpasses state-of-the-art methods including BLASTp and CLEAN in annotating low-identity enzymes. Applied to extreme environmental metagenomics, we constructed a function map of extremophile enzymes to expand the biocatalyst library, pinpointed functionally critical residues to guide rational design, and enabled large-scale, function-based macro-evolutionary analyses. This paradigm transcends the limitations of homology, illuminating protein dark matter and accelerating the exploration of the biospheres functional diversity for applications in biotechnology and therapeutic development.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2025

BioDH: A reversible data hiding framework for secure hiding sensitive data in biological data

With the rapid advancement of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies, the open sharing of massive high-dimensional biological data has become a key driver in advancing precision medicine and fundamental research. However, while promoting data accessibility, ensuring effective protection of sensitive data has emerged as a critical challenge in bioinformatics. To address the issue, we propose BioDH (Bi-ological Data Hiding) framework, a reversible information hiding frame-work tailored for biological data, aiming to simultaneously ensure data security and preserve scientific utility. The framework employs optimal lossless compression and strictly controls numerical perturbations to maintain precision. Upon extraction, both the secret information and the original data are perfectly recovered, achieving true reversibility. Validation on real-world datasets shows exceptional fidelity: when embedding capacity is 1.25 bit per byte, maximum and mean absolute errors are 8.54E-04 and 8.90E-11, respectively; PCA reveals a correlation of 1.0; UMAP testing exhibits no structural distortion; Mantel tests and clustering analyses (ARI = 1.0) confirm preservation of high-dimensional topology and cell subpopulations. All metrics surpass biological compatibility thresholds, indicating no detectable impact on downstream analyses.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2025

Graph-based tracing of dynamically functioning gene circuits in cell fate decisions with isoform resolution

Transcription factor (TF) regulatory networks govern complex cellular processes, yet their inference from single-cell transcriptomes is hindered by TFs low abundance, tissue-specific functions, and isoform diversity. We evaluated the utility of transcription factor activity (TFA) to infer TF-TF interactions, demonstrating its superiority over expression-based methods in capturing tissue-specific, high-fidelity regulatory relationships. Using simulated and real-world transcriptomes across human hematopoiesis and early embryonic development, we validated TFAs ability to render regulatory relationships. Through utilizing the concept of propagated regulome, we uncovered TFAs utility in retrospectively resolving dynamic regulatory circuits. To address regulome limitations, we developed an embryonic stem cell-specific Consensus REgulome Database (CRED) with isoform resolution, revealing functional heterogeneity among TF isoforms. Applied to human preimplantation single-cell datasets, CRED outperformed existing regulomes, identifying isoform-specific regulators and tracing regulatory modules despite severe dropouts. Our work unleashes TFA as a robust tool for reconstructing TF networks and highlights the importance of transited, isoform-level, cell-type-specific analysis in unraveling transcriptional regulatory circuits. HighlightsO_LITFA (Transcription Factor Activity) renders regulatory relationships with high fidelity compared to expression. C_LIO_LIUsing transited regulons enables TFA to retrospectively resolve dynamic regulatory interactions in cell fate decisions. C_LIO_LIAn integrated ESC-specific transited regulome database reveals isoform-level heterogeneity. C_LIO_LITFA successfully identifies key TF regulatory modules during human preimplantation from datasets with severe dropout. C_LI

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Inhibition of CGRP receptor ameliorates AD pathology by reprogramming lipid metabolism through HDAC11/LXRβ/ABCA1 signaling

The Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor has gained attention in Alzheimers Disease (AD) research due to its involvement in regulating neuroinflammation. However, its role and mechanism in AD pathology remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that CALCRL, a core component of the CGRP receptor, is upregulated in the hippocampus of AD dementia patients and 5xFAD mice. Knockout of the CGRP receptor ligand Calca or pharmacological blockade using Rimegepant (Rim), reduces soluble A{beta}1-42 oligomer-induced neuronal death and glial inflammation. Rim treatment also rescues neurobehavioral impairments, neurodegeneration, and lipid metabolism dysfunction in 5xFAD mice. Mechanistically, these effects are mediated through HDAC11 inhibition, which enhances LXR{beta} acetylation and ABCA1 expression, promoting the reprogramming of neuronal lipid metabolism. Importantly, this CALCRL/HDAC11/LXR{beta}/ABCA1 axis is conserved across both humans and mice. Our findings uncover a novel mechanism underlying AD pathogenesis and highlight the therapeutic potential of targeting CGRP signaling in AD. HIGHLIGHTSInhibition of CGRP receptor ameliorates disease pathology in models of AD HDAC11 mediates CGRP receptor function in AD HDAC11 is a pivotal regulator in lipid metabolism by LXR{beta}/ABCA1 signaling The HDAC11/LXR{beta}/ABCA1 axis is conserved in AD humans and mice

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Genome-wide Screening Identifies Unique Host-Directed Drugs and Pro-viral Signalling Pathways for SARS-CoV-2

SARS-CoV-2 is a positive-sense RNA virus and was responsible for the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. Although the current disease burden is less severe, there are limited treatment options, significant gaps in knowledge, and a looming threat of the emergence of variants and future pandemics. To address these challenges, we performed genome-wide CRISPR knockout screens in a novel human lung cell line NCI-H23ACE2, as well as in HEK293TACE2 cells, with SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan virus, with the aim of identifying host-dependency factors that could predict effective antivirals. We identified four host-directed drugs, donepezil, dH-ergocristine, trametinib and sorafenib, that could potentially be repurposed to treat coronavirus infections. Three of the drugs inhibited SARS-CoV-2, HCoV-229E, and HCoV-OC43, suggesting they could be used as pan-coronavirus antivirals. We also confirmed that SARS-CoV-2 relies on the NRAS/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway for its replication. Our study highlights the robustness and efficiency of a bilateral approach of gene silencing and antiviral screening to identify host-dependency factors and effective antivirals.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2025

Helicobacter pylori genome aggregation database reveals complex evolutionary forces shaping its genomic landscape and clinical impact in East Asia

We assembled HPgnomAD, a comprehensive global genome aggregation database of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) featuring 7,544 high-quality genomes from 278 populations, along with the first species-wide haplotype reference panel for genotype imputation. The panel provides high accuracy across diverse H. pylori populations, including those from low-coverage data, and is openly accessible with integrated analysis tools (https://www.hpgnomad.top/). Variant discovery revealed 1.82 million SNPs and 0.65 million InDels, with African strains exhibiting the most tremendous diversity and East Asian strains showing unexpectedly high novel variation. Fine-scale analysis of the hpEAsia lineage revealed six new sublineages shaped by altitude-, latitude-related divergence and region-specific admixture. Phylogenomic dating revealed two divergence waves in East Asia, paralleling Upper Paleolithic settlement and Neolithic human expansions, with highland-lowland separation at [~]18.8 kya, followed by the formation of complex geography-related population substructures. Genome-wide scans revealed adaptive loci related to metal acquisition, nitrogen metabolism, surface adhesion, and membrane transport, including altitude-associated highly differentiated variants linked to antibiotic resistance and gastric disease. By integrating genomic, evolutionary, environmental, and clinical data, HPgnomAD offers a framework for understanding H. pylori evolution, host-pathogen adaptation, and precision medicine worldwide.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of Sp100-HMG: Driving Biogenesis and Functional Diversity of PML Nuclear Bodies

Promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies (PML NBs) are membraneless organelles (0.1-1 m) integral to fundamental cellular processes, yet the molecular logic governing their hierarchical organization is unclear. Contrary to the classical "PML-sole-scaffold" model, we identify Sp100-HMG as the unique isoform that autonomously nucleates into liquid-like condensates. Our findings establish an "inside-out" assembly paradigm, where Sp100-HMG initiates a liquid core that recruits PML and other client proteins (DAXX, ATRX) through three distinct cooperative processes: I. Multimerization domain- and intrinsically disordered region (IDR)-mediated LLPS of Sp100-HMG, nucleating the core; II. C-terminal-dependent protein-protein interactions enriching client components; and III. SUMOylation-directed PML recruitment, facilitating the formation of a stabilizing peripheral shell. This assembly paradigm extends beyond Sp100-HMG, as evidenced by ZBTB16--a PML NB-associated oncoprotein implicated in acute promyelocytic leukemia -- adopting an analogous mechanism to organize PML-positive condensates. Using HEp-2 cells as a main model, we show this hierarchical assembly is critical for orchestrating transcriptional programs and cell-cycle dynamics. Together, our study defines a new biogenesis mode for PML-NBs, where a master liquid nucleator coordinates shell integrity and plasticity for nuclear homeostasis. Significance StatementPML nuclear bodies (PML NBs) serve as essential organizers of the cell nucleus, yet the assembly principles underlying their biogenesis and linking it to functional heterogeneity, spatial positioning, and compositional diversity remain elusive. This study overturns the long-standing "PML-centric" view by establishing an LLPS-driven, hierarchical "inside-out" assembly paradigm. We identify Sp100-HMG as a master liquid nucleator that initiates a core to organize the outer PML shell. This inner-core LLPS-driven assembly logic is shared by other PML NB-associated factors, such as the oncoprotein ZBTB16, providing a unified biophysical framework to explain the structural integrity and plasticity of nuclear condensates. Functionally, this organizational process is critical for shaping the compositional diversity and spatial specificity of PML bodies, thereby modulating transcriptional programs and cell-cycle dynamics in a context-dependent manner. These findings offer broad insights into how organized protein condensation sustains nuclear homeostasis and its dysfunction in diseases such as leukemia.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2025

AtlasAgent: Vision language model and Agent-guided Framework for Evaluation of Atlas-scale Single-cell Integration

As single-cell omics transitions into the era of AI-virtual cells (AIVC), where large-scale single-cell data integration becomes prevalent, the computational demands of integration evaluation emerge as critical scalability bottlenecks. Traditional integration evaluation pipelines, requiring metrics like k-nearest-neighbor batch effect test (kBET) and Local Inverse Simpsons Index (iLISI) employed by state-of-the-art scIB method, often demand large computational resources and long runtimes, making them infeasible for large scale integration studies. Herein, we present AtlasAgent, the first vision-language model (VLM)-powered and AI agent framework to accelerate atlas-scale integration evaluation at unprecedented speed and scale. We systematically evaluate batch correction quality, biological signal preservation and overcorrection risks using chain-of-thought reasoning in conjunction with few-shot and zero-shot prompting strategies. AtlasAgent completes evaluation within 32 seconds, in contrast to scIBs runtime of 5.55 hours in GPU, while identifying the scIB-determint best integration methods within the top-3 in 88.3% of the time, lowering evaluation time from hours to seconds while preserving alignment with domain expert reasoning. AtlasAgent pioneers the use of VLMs to realize scalable and rapid integration evaluation at atlas scale.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2025

Post-Domestication selection of MKK3 Shaped Seed Dormancy and End-Use Traits in Barley

Anthropogenic selection of grain traits such as dormancy has shaped the developmental trajectories of crop plants (1). In cereals, shortening dormancy provides rapid and even post-harvest germination, but increases the risk of weather-induced pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) with harvest losses estimated at beyond 1 billion USD a year (2, 3, 4). Our understanding of how, why, when and where diversification of cereal dormancy arose is fragmentary. Here, we show in the founder cereal crop barley (Hordeum vulgare) that the Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) pathway regulates dormancy primarily through a mosaic of locus haplotypes comprising copy-number variation and inherent kinase activity of Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 3 (MKK3). We provide evidence supporting the historical selection of specific MKK3 haplotypes that shape dormancy levels according to changing climatic pressures. Understanding the regulatory landscape of MKK3 provides a genetic framework to balance short grain dormancy and PHS-avoidance during a period of rapid climate change.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2025

TaPGS1 Driven Flavonol Accumulation Delays Endosperm Cellularization and Enlarges Wheat Grains

Flavonols play a crucial role in seed development by regulating multiple physiological processes, including seed coat pigmentation, dormancy, fertilization, and endosperm formation. Notably, flavonols influence the polar transport of auxin, thereby affecting seed growth dynamics. In our previous work, we found that overexpression of the wheat bHLH transcription factor TaPGS1 results in increased grain size; however, the underlying mechanism remained unclear. In this study, metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses of TaPGS1 overexpressing wheat lines revealed enhanced flavonol accumulation and upregulation of key flavonol biosynthetic genes. Further investigations suggested that flavonol accumulation in the seed coat may disrupt auxin transport, leading to localized auxin buildup, delayed endosperm cellularization, and an increase in endosperm cell number. These changes collectively contribute to grain enlargement. Our findings uncover a TaPGS1 flavonol regulatory module that links auxin distribution to endosperm development and seed size control in wheat.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2025

A high-throughput immunopeptidome platform for MHC II alleles to characterize antigen-specific CD4 + T cells

CD4+ T cells play a pivotal role in adaptive immunity, recognizing peptide antigens presented by MHC II molecules during infections and tumor development. Identifying immunodominant MHC II epitopess is essential for understanding CD4+ T cell responses; however, current methods such as mass spectrometry, suffer from low sensitivity and throughput, while computational algorithms show variable accuracy. To overcome these challenges, we developed EliteMHCII, a high-throughput immunopeptidome profiling platform that identifies antigen-derived MHC II epitopes and measures peptide binding affinity across 24 globally common MHC II alleles. Using EliteMHCII, we assessed the immunodominant epitopes of the SARS-CoV-2 RBD protein. Validation in vaccinated individuals and humanized mouse models revealed a strong correlation between high-affinity peptides and robust CD4+ T cell responses, while low-affinity peptides failed to elicit responses. Therefore, our immunopeptidome profiling platform, EliteMHCII, serves as a rapid, high throughput, feasible platform for CD4+ T cell epitope discovery at a global populational level in the context of infectious diseases and cancer immunotherapy.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2025

SETD2 suppresses tumorigenesis in a KRASG12C-driven lung cancer model and its catalytic activity is regulated by histone acetylation

Histone H3 trimethylation at lysine 36 (H3K36me3) is a key chromatin modification that regulates fundamental physiologic and pathologic processes. In humans, SETD2 is the only known enzyme that catalyzes H3K36me3 in somatic cells and is implicated in tumor suppression across multiple cancer types. While there is considerable crosstalk between the SETD2-H3K36me3 axis and other epigenetic modifications, much remains to be understood. Here, we show that SETD2 functions as a potent tumor suppressor in a KRASG12C-driven lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) mouse model, and that acetylation enhances SETD2 in vitro methylation of H3K36 on nucleosome substrates. In vivo, SETD2 ablation accelerates lethality in an autochthonous KRASG12C-driven LUAD mouse tumor model. Biochemical analyses reveal that polyacetylation of histone tails in a nucleosome context promote H3K36 methylation by SETD2. In addition, monoacetylation exerts position-specific effects to stimulate SETD2 methylation activity. In contrast, mono-ubiquitination at various histone sites, including at H2AK119 and H2BK120, does not affect SETD2 methylation of nucleosomes. Together, these findings provide insight into how SETD2 integrates histone modification signals to regulate H3K36 methylation and highlights the potential role of SETD2-associated epigenetic crosstalk in cancer pathogenesis.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2025

A TAK1Cytokine Toxicity Checkpoint Controls Anti-Cancer Immunity

The success of cancer immunotherapies is currently limited to a subset of patients, which underscores the urgent need to identify the processes by which tumours evade immunity. Through screening a kinome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 sgRNA library we identified MAP3K7 (TAK1) as a suppressor of CD8+ T cell mediated killing. We demonstrate that TAK1 acts as a cancer-intrinsic checkpoint by integrating signals from T cell-secreted TNF and IFNy effector cytokines to elicit a cytoprotective response. This cytoprotective response profoundly limits the anti-cancer activity these key effector molecules and completely abrogates bystander killing by perforin deficient T cells. Inhibition of the TAK1 checkpoint effectively redirects the combined TNF/IFNy pathway activation to promote inflammatory cell death via RIPK1 and Caspase-8 and simultaneously amplifies the output of the IFNy pathway, thereby priming cells for cytokine-induced cell death. Mechanistically, TAK1 deficiency led to proteasomal degradation of cFLIP, enhancing the formation of Complex II and subversion of other cytoprotective responses. Targeting the TAK1 checkpoint led to profound attenuation of tumour growth in immune competent mice, with minimal impact in immune deficient counterparts. Adoptive cell therapy led to preferential elimination of TAK1 deficient clones. Collectively, our study uncovers a cancer-intrinsic checkpoint controlled by TAK1 activity that switches TNF and IFNy responses from cytoprotective to apoptosis. Cancer cells exploit this to limit cell death in the presence of the cytotoxic lymphoctye cytokines TNF and IFN{gamma} and therapeutic intervention can fully unleash the impact of these effector molecules both on the direct target and bystander cells. These findings highlight the clinical development of TAK1 biologics as a potential strategy to improve cancer immunotherapies through harnessing and enhancing the cytotoxic potential of CTL-derived cytokines. In BriefDjajawi et al. identify TAK1 as a cancer-intrinsic cytokine toxicity checkpoint that limits the efficacy of anti-cancer immune responses. Cancer cells exploit TAK1 activity to confers resistance to CD8+ T cell-derived TNF and IFN{gamma}-induced apoptosis, limiting both direct and bystander killing. Mechanistically, TAK1 loss acts through 1. cFLIP and RIPK1 to promote cell death, 2. The inactivation of pro-survival signals and 3. Via amplification of the IFNy response. Targeting of this TAK1 checkpoint enhanced anti-tumour immunity in vivo and improved adoptive cellular therapy. These findings identify a strategy employed by transformed cells to avoid destruction by inflammatory cytokines and provide new therapeutic vulnerabilities for enhancing immunotherapies. HighlightsO_LICRISPR screens identify TAK1 as a tumour-intrinsic survival checkpoint limiting destruction by CD8+ T cells. C_LIO_LITAK1 protects tumour cells from combined TNF and IFN{gamma}-induced apoptosis. C_LIO_LITAK1 loss destabilizes cFLIP, priming cells for STAT1 and RIPK1-dependent cell death. C_LIO_LITAK1 loss promotes tumour control in immune competent animals and enhances the efficacy of adoptive cell therapy. C_LI

cancer biology↗