Abstract 6150: Potential role of CD47 in T cell exhaustion program
Authors: Weng Chien-Huan , Samaan Fadi , Budhu Sadna , Mangarin Levi , Monette Sébastien , Liu Cailian , Pourpe Stephane , Hamadene Linda , Zhong Hong , Yang Xia , Schroder David , Zappasodi Roberta , Holland Pamela , Wolchok Jedd D. , Merghoub Taha 
Published: June 2022

Multiple suppressive mechanisms within the tumor microenvironment (TME) are capable of blunting anti-tumor T cell responses. These include engagement of inhibitory receptors expressed in tumor-associated, exhausted CD8 T cells, such as programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing-3 (TIM-3), lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG-3), 2B4 (also known as CD244), and T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains (TIGIT). While immune checkpoint blockade therapies aimed at reversing the dysfunctional state of tumor-associated T cells have demonstrated clinical effectiveness, not all cancer patients achieve long-term disease control. This is due, at least in part, to the refractory nature of what are categorized as terminally exhausted CD8 T cells to be reinvigorated by, for example, PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. As CD8 T cell exhaustion (or dysfunction) is a major therapeutic challenge, gaps in our understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the T cell exhaustion (or dysfunction) program in cancer warrant further study of pathways that program T cells toward exhaustion (or dysfunction). Through comprehensive immune profiling of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TILs), we found that CD47 expression in CD8 TILs isolated from melanoma patients significantly correlates with expression of several checkpoint inhibitory molecules (e.g., TIM-3, PD-1 and LAG-3). Additionally, our re-analysis of single cell data from melanoma patients revealed that terminally exhausted T cells (Tex) and TCF7hi Tex precursor cells exhibit high levels of CD47 transcripts, suggesting phenotypic association of CD47 with T cell exhaustion. We confirmed our observations in murine B16-F10 melanoma where CD47 expression is significantly upregulated in exhausted CD8 TILs. We also show that CD47 functions as a negative regulator for T cell proliferation and function during T cell priming. To address the role of CD47 during the development of CD8 T cell exhaustion/dysfunction in cancer, we performed adoptive T cell transfer of the naïve-sorted Cd47+/+ (WT) and Cd47+/- (Het) antigen specific Pmel-1 CD8 T cells (but not Cd47-deficient Pmel-1 CD8 T cells as they would be subject to innate immune clearance) into B16 tumor-bearing mice and found that Cd47-Het Pmel-1 CD8 TILs, as compared to the Cd47-WT Pmel-1 CD8 TILs, exhibit less expression of exhaustion-related genes (e.g. Pdcd1, Lag3 and Tox), and increased expression of genes associated with T cell activation and proliferation (e.g. Mki67, Lck, Cd69, Gzma, Gzmk). We further confirmed that thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), as an extracellular matrix protein and a ligand of CD47, contributes to driving the differentiation of CD8 T cells toward exhaustion. Our data highlight for the first time the potential of extracellular matrix protein TSP-1 in programming CD8 T cell exhaustion in cancer through its interaction with CD47 expressed on CD8 T cells.

Citation Format: Chien-Huan Weng, Fadi Samaan, Sadna Budhu, Levi Mangarin, Sébastien Monette, Cailian Liu, Stephane Pourpe, Linda Hamadene, Hong Zhong, Xia Yang, David Schroder, Roberta Zappasodi, Pamela Holland, Jedd D. Wolchok, Taha Merghoub. Potential role of CD47 in T cell exhaustion program [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 6150.