1. Academic Validation
  2. UFL1 ablation in T cells suppresses PD-1 UFMylation to enhance anti-tumor immunity

UFL1 ablation in T cells suppresses PD-1 UFMylation to enhance anti-tumor immunity

  • Mol Cell. 2024 Feb 9:S1097-2765(24)00091-1. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2024.01.024.
Chuan He 1 Xixin Xing 1 Hsin-Yi Chen 2 Minling Gao 1 Jie Shi 1 Bolin Xiang 1 Xiangling Xiao 1 Yishuang Sun 1 Haisheng Yu 1 Gaoshan Xu 1 Yingmeng Yao 1 Zuosong Xie 1 Yujie Xing 3 Bugi Ratno Budiarto 4 Shih-Yu Chen 2 Yang Gao 3 Yu-Ru Lee 5 Jinfang Zhang 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center of Immunology and Metabolism, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China; Taikang Center for Life and Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
  • 2 Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115201, Taiwan.
  • 3 Department of Urology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, Shaanxi, China.
  • 4 Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115201, Taiwan; Taiwan International Graduate Program in Molecular Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
  • 5 Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115201, Taiwan. Electronic address: yrlee@ibms.sinica.edu.tw.
  • 6 Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Medical Research Institute, Frontier Science Center of Immunology and Metabolism, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China; Taikang Center for Life and Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China. Electronic address: jinfang_zhang@whu.edu.cn.
Abstract

UFMylation is an emerging ubiquitin-like post-translational modification that regulates various biological processes. Dysregulation of the UFMylation pathway leads to human diseases, including cancers. However, the physiological role of UFMylation in T cells remains unclear. Here, we report that mice with conditional knockout (cKO) Ufl1, a UFMylation E3 ligase, in T cells exhibit effective tumor control. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis shows that tumor-infiltrating cytotoxic CD8+ T cells are increased in Ufl1 cKO mice. Mechanistically, UFL1 promotes PD-1 UFMylation to antagonize PD-1 ubiquitination and degradation. Furthermore, AMPK phosphorylates UFL1 at Thr536, disrupting PD-1 UFMylation to trigger its degradation. Of note, UFL1 ablation in T cells reduces PD-1 UFMylation, subsequently destabilizing PD-1 and enhancing CD8+ T cell activation. Thus, Ufl1 cKO mice bearing tumors have a better response to anti-CTLA-4 immunotherapy. Collectively, our findings uncover a crucial role of UFMylation in T cells and highlight UFL1 as a potential target for Cancer treatment.

Keywords

AMPK; PD-1; UFL1; UFMylation; tumor immunotherapy.

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