1. Academic Validation
  2. Small-molecule MHC-II inducers promote immune detection and anti-cancer immunity via editing cancer metabolism

Small-molecule MHC-II inducers promote immune detection and anti-cancer immunity via editing cancer metabolism

  • Cell Chem Biol. 2023 May 22;S2451-9456(23)00126-5. doi: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2023.05.003.
Ling Huang 1 Jun Zhang 1 Bo Wei 1 Shuangyang Chen 2 Sitong Zhu 3 Weiguan Qi 2 Xiaoying Pei 1 Lulu Li 1 Weiguang Liu 1 Yuzhi Wang 4 Xiaojun Xu 5 Lan-Gui Xie 6 Liming Chen 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China; Cancer Institute, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China.
  • 2 Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China.
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210023, China.
  • 4 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210023, China. Electronic address: xiaojunxu@cpu.edu.cn.
  • 6 Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China. Electronic address: xielg@njnu.edu.cn.
  • 7 Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China; Cancer Institute, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China. Electronic address: chenliming1981@njnu.edu.cn.
Abstract

Lack of MHC-II is emerging as a causal factor in Cancer immune evasion, and the development of small-molecule MHC-II inducers is an unmet clinical need. Here, we identified three MHC-II inducers, including pristane and its two superior derivatives, that potently induce MHC-II expression in breast Cancer cells and effectively inhibit the development of breast Cancer. Our data suggest that MHC-II is central in promoting the immune detection of Cancer to increase the tumor infiltration of T cells and enhance anti-cancer immunity. By discovering the malonyl/acetyltransferase (MAT) domain in fatty acid synthase (FASN) as the direct binding target of MHC-II inducers, we demonstrate that evasion of immune detection and Cancer metabolic reprogramming are directly linked by fatty acid-mediated MHC-II silencing. Collectively, we identified three MHC-II inducers and illustrated that lack of MHC-II caused by hyper-activated fatty acid synthesis to limit immune detection is a potentially widespread mechanism underlying the development of Cancer.

Keywords

MHC-II inducers; cancer immunity; cancer metabolism; immune detection; immunotherapy.

Figures
Products
  • Cat. No.
    Product Name
    Description
    Target
    Research Area
  • HY-13202
    99.98%, PPARγ Antagonist