Abstract 4284: Macrophage reprogramming and immune suppression through extracellular vesicles loaded eIF4A1in ovarian cancer
Authors: Sonam Mittal, Ishaque Pulikkal Kadamberi, Sudhir Kumar, Jasmine George, Mona Singh, Anjali Geethadevi, Pradeep Chaluvally-Raghavan, Sunila Pradeep
Journal: Cancer Research (2024)

Abstract Background- In ovarian carcinoma (OvCa), macrophages are reprogrammed toward pro-tumorigenic phenotypes, including releasing anti-inflammatory cytokines and expressing immunosuppressive molecules. However, how these macrophages acquire their phenotype remains largely unexplored. To understand the mechanism driving pro-tumorigenic phenotype in macrophages, we studied the role of tumor cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the cross-talk with macrophages in OvCa. We found that EVs from ovarian cancer cells contain eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A1 (eIF4A1). eIF4A1 containing EVs from ovarian cells enhanced macrophage translational activity and PD-L1 expression. However, the detailed mechanism that explains how eIF4A1-packaged EVs induce immunosuppressive phenotype in macrophages is necessary to develop novel immunotherapy strategies for advanced OvCa treatment. Methods- We performed SUnSET assay (surface sensing of translation) to determine whether eIF4E-EVs affect global translation in macrophages. SILAC (Stable isotope labeling by amino acids) based mass spectrometry was used to identify the downstream targets of eIF4A1 in macrophages. We isolated murine peritoneal macrophages from naïve C57BL/6 female mice and co-cultured the macrophages with EVs derived from ovarian cancer cell lines. The expression of PD-L1, CD206, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and other inflammatory cytokines on EVs treated macrophages was evaluated using flow cytometry and a cytokine array kit. Further, we created a Rab27aKO ovarian cancer in vivo model to study the effect of eIF4A1 packaged EVs on the immune suppressive ability of macrophages and tumor progression. Results- Our study shows that tumor cells employ EVs to deliver eIF4A1 to the tumor microenvironment, facilitating the release of cytokines such as IL-6 and the expression of PD-L1 on macrophages and supporting tumor growth. In addition, our data shows that eIF4A1-EVs enhance protein synthesis in macrophages. Our data show that in the Rab27aKO ovarian cancer in vivo mouse model, intravenous injection of eIF4A1-packaged EVs increased the tumor burden, metastasis, and ascites accumulation as compared to PBS control. eIF4A1-EVs treatment increased the infiltration of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) in ascites. We also found increased expression of PD-L1 and CD206 on TAM isolated from ascites Citation Format: Sonam Mittal, Ishaque Pulikkal Kadamberi, Sudhir Kumar, Jasmine George, Mona Singh, Anjali Geethadevi, Pradeep Chaluvally-Raghavan, Sunila Pradeep. Macrophage reprogramming and immune suppression through extracellular vesicles loaded eIF4A1in ovarian cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 4284.