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bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.07.30.741694

Gut-Associated Metabolites (GAMs) revitalize dysfunctional CD8⁺ T lymphocytes in Osteosarcoma

SAPRA, L.·Bhardwaj, A.·Paladhi, A.·Farhat, A.·Kaur, T.·Kaur, S. P.·Saini, C.·Kumar, V. S.·Khan, S. A.·Srivastava, R. K.
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Abstract

Osteosarcoma (OS) is one of the top ranking and deadliest primary malignant bone tumor of youngsters and adolescents. OS has poor prognostic features due to its immunosuppressive "cold" tumor microenvironment, obstructing the anti-tumor effector functions of immune cells (including cytotoxic CD8 T lymphocytes). Recent developments have focused on the role of Gut Microbiota in modulating effector immune responses in various cancers. However, the immunomodulatory role of gut microbiota and its derived gut-associated metabolites (GAMs) in OS still remains unclear. Here we report that peripheral CD8 T lymphocytes in osteosarcoma patients are less frequent in circulation, hypo-producers of effector cytokines (IFN-{gamma} and TNF-), and have compromised metabolic fitness. We characterized and investigated the effect of a panel of microbiota-derived GAMs on CD8 T lymphocytes, confirming their immunomodulatory role with respect to CD8 T lymphocytes activation, cellular metabolism and effector functions. Indole-3-lactic acid (ILA; product of tryptophan metabolism), was observed to be the strongest immunostimulant among all the GAMs studied. ILA enhanced the anti-tumor effector functions of CD8 T lymphocytes through increased glucose uptake, a higher mitochondrial bio-mass and increased production of IFN-{gamma} and TNF-. Moreover, ILA-primed cytotoxic T lymphocytes exhibited considerably higher cytotoxicity and increased apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells (U2OS). Altogether, our data demonstrates that ILA acts as a microbial-derived immune modulator to metabolically reprogram and restore dysfunctional CD8 T lymphocytes against osteosarcoma. This study for the first time demonstrates the therapeutic potential of exploiting the nexus between "Gut-Immune-Bone Tumor" ternary as a safe and cost-effective combinatorial immunotherapy against osteosarcoma. Graphical AbstractIndole-3-Lactic Acid (ILA) Reinvigorates CD8+ T-Cell Immunity in Osteosarcoma Circulating CD8+ T cells from osteosarcoma patients exhibit impaired metabolic fitness, reduced effector cytokine production, and diminished tumoricidal activity. Screening of gut-associated metabolites identified the microbial tryptophan metabolite indole-3-lactic acid (ILA) as the most potent immunomodulator. ILA restores glucose uptake and mitochondrial biomass, enhances IFN-{gamma} and TNF- production, promotes polyfunctional CD8+ T-cell responses, and significantly improves CTL-mediated killing of osteosarcoma cells, highlighting its potential as a microbiota-derived immunometabolic therapeutic for osteosarcoma. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=113 SRC="FIGDIR/small/741694v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (36K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@19809aforg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@a3eb09org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@19bada3org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1a4c4da_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

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SAPRA, L., Bhardwaj, A., Paladhi, A., Farhat, A., Kaur, T., Kaur, S. P., Saini, C., Kumar, V. S., Khan, S. A., Srivastava, R. K.. 2026-08-04. Gut-Associated Metabolites (GAMs) revitalize dysfunctional CD8⁺ T lymphocytes in Osteosarcoma. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.30.741694

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