1. HLA Class I Analysis Provides Insight Into the Genetic and Epigenetic Background of Immune Evasion in Colorectal Cancer With High Microsatellite Instability
- Author
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Yosuke Tanaka, Masahiro Tsuboi, Masafumi Otsuka, Hiroshi Haeno, Yosuke Togashi, Shoichi Hazama, Kazuo Yamashita, Hitomi Nishinakamura, Hisae Iinuma, Toshihide Ueno, Hiroyuki Mano, Fumishi Kishigami, Keigo Chida, Maeda Yuka, Yoko Yamamoto, Hiroyoshi Nishikawa, Koichi Saeki, Kazuhito Sato, Masahito Kawazu, Toshiro Niki, Takayuki Kaneseki, Tokiyoshi Tanegashima, Katsushi Tokunaga, Kenta Tane, Sax Nicolas Claude Paul, Hiroyuki Aburatani, Soichiro Ishihara, Daisuke Matsubara, Satoshi Inoue, Toshihiko Torigoe, Seik-Soon Khor, Masatoshi Eto, Akihito Kawazoe, Shinya Kojima, Yojiro Hashiguchi, and Kohei Shitara
- Subjects
Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex ,Gene Expression ,Genes, MHC Class I ,Regulatory Factor X Transcription Factors ,Human leukocyte antigen ,Biology ,medicine.disease_cause ,Epigenesis, Genetic ,Frameshift mutation ,Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating ,Immunogenetics ,medicine ,Humans ,Epigenetics ,Allele ,Alleles ,Mutation ,HLA-A Antigens ,Hepatology ,Gastroenterology ,Microsatellite instability ,Cancer ,DNA Methylation ,medicine.disease ,Survival Rate ,DNA methylation ,Cancer research ,Microsatellite Instability ,Tumor Escape ,Colorectal Neoplasms ,beta 2-Microglobulin - Abstract
Background & Aims A detailed understanding of antitumor immunity is essential for optimal cancer immune therapy. Although defective mutations in the B2M and HLA-ABC genes, which encode molecules essential for antigen presentation, have been reported in several studies, the effects of these defects on tumor immunity have not been quantitatively evaluated. Methods Mutations in HLA-ABC genes were analyzed in 114 microsatellite instability–high colorectal cancers using a long-read sequencer. The data were further analyzed in combination with whole-exome sequencing, transcriptome sequencing, DNA methylation array, and immunohistochemistry data. Results We detected 101 truncating mutations in 57 tumors (50%) and loss of 61 alleles in 21 tumors (18%). Based on the integrated analysis that enabled the immunologic subclassification of microsatellite instability–high colorectal cancers, we identified a subtype of tumors in which lymphocyte infiltration was reduced, partly due to reduced expression of HLA-ABC genes in the absence of apparent genetic alterations. Survival time of patients with such tumors was shorter than in patients with other tumor types. Paradoxically, tumor mutation burden was highest in the subtype, suggesting that the immunogenic effect of accumulating mutations was counterbalanced by mutations that weakened immunoreactivity. Various genetic and epigenetic alterations, including frameshift mutations in RFX5 and promoter methylation of PSMB8 and HLA-A, converged on reduced expression of HLA-ABC genes. Conclusions Our detailed immunogenomic analysis provides information that will facilitate the improvement and development of cancer immunotherapy.
- Published
- 2022
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