Feng Guo, Boping Jing, Tadahito Yasuda, Mayu Yasuda, Hudie Li, Fabio N. de Mello, Alan Y. Wang
Brown Center for Immunotherapy, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
摘要 Abstract
Progranulin (GRN) is a multifunctional regulator of tissue remodeling and myeloid biology. Although neuroprotective in the CNS, increasing evidence indicates that GRN supports a fibrotic and immune suppressive tumor microenvironment.We investigated whether host GRN restrains anti-tumor immunity and whether its inhibition could be therapeutically leveraged. Using C57BL/6J Grn-/- mice across three syngeneic models (KPC pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, B16-F10 melanoma, MC38 colorectal carcinoma), GRN loss consistently delayed tumor growth, with the most pronounced effect in KPC subcutaneous tumors, indicating a substantive but incomplete contribution of host GRN to tumor control.Single-cell RNA-seq and cell-cell interaction analyses of KPC tumors revealed coordinated rewiring of antigen presentation and stromal programs in Grn-/- hosts: MHC-II signaling predominantly B to T was increased, whereas MHC-I inputs decreased. Cancer-associated fibroblasts exhibited downregulation of chemokine/GPCR sensing, ER-phagosome and complement pathways. CAF composition shifted toward iCAF expansion with mCAF/vCAF reduction, and fibroblast→tumor ECM adhesion pairs (COL/FN1/LAM→CD44/SDC) were diminished, consistent with a loosened stromal matrix.In T cells, CD4⁺/CD8⁺ central or resident memory compartments expanded, while cytotoxic and exhausted CD8⁺ populations declined; pseudotime analyses demonstrated attenuated progression from memory toward cytotoxic or exhausted endpoints.Collectively, these data indicate that host GRN sustains a myeloid-CAF program that strengthens stromal tension and supports MHC-I driven T-cell terminal differentiation. GRN loss relaxes this circuit, reducing MHC-I availability while enhancing B-T MHC-II engagement, which shifts T cells toward memory states and limits cytotoxic output. These findings identify GRN blockade as a TME reprogramming strategy that should be paired with agents restoring CD8⁺ signal-1 (MHC-I) to convert enlarged memory pools into durable cytotoxic control in PDAC.
利益披露 Disclosure
F. Guo, None..
B. Jing, None..
T. Yasuda, None..
M. Yasuda, None..
H. Li, None..
F. N. de Mello, None..
A. Y. Wang, None.