Distinct cellular mechanisms underlie anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade [RNA-seq]

Immune checkpoint blockade is able to achieve durable responses in a subset of patients, however we lack a satisfying comprehension of the underlying mechanisms of anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 induced tumor rejection. To address these issues we utilized mass cytometry to comprehensively profile the effects of checkpoint blockade on tumor immune infiltrates in human melanoma and murine tumor models. These analyses reveal a spectrum of tumor infiltrating T cell populations that are highly similar between tumor models and indicate that checkpoint blockade targets only specific subsets of tumor infiltrating T cell populations. Anti-PD-1 predominantly induces the expansion of specific tumor infiltrating exhausted-like CD8 T cell subsets. In contrast, anti-CTLA-4 induces the expansion of an ICOS+ Th1-like CD4 effector population in addition to engaging specific subsets of exhausted-like CD8 T cells. Thus, our findings indicate that anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade induced immune responses are driven by distinct cellular mechanisms. Overall design: RNA profiles of a subset of tumor infiltrating T cell populations in anti-PD-1, anti-CTLA-r and control mice were generated by RNA sequencing, using Illumina HiSeq 4000. Mouse mutation background was assessed by whole exome sequencing data

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Wei SC, Levine JH, Cogdill AP, Zhao Y, Anang NAS, Andrews MC, Sharma P, Wang J, Wargo JA, Pe'er D, Allison JP