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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2026

Complete Genome Sequencing of Occult Hepatitis B Virus in Hemodialysis Patients Reveals Subgenotype D2 and Immune Escape Mutations in Bangladesh.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a major global health concern, and occult HBV infection (OBI) presents significant diagnostic and clinical challenges, particularly among hemodialysis (HD) patients. This study is aimed at characterizing complete HBV genomes from maintenance HD patients with OBI in Bangladesh to elucidate genetic features, mutational patterns, and clinical implications. Serum samples from two HBsAg-negative HD patients were screened by ELISA and quantitative PCR. Viral DNA was amplified by PCR across four overlapping open reading frames (ORFs) and sequenced on the Illumina platform. Genome assembly, phylogenetic analysis, and mutational profiling were performed using reference datasets and bioinformatics tools. Antigenicity and hydrophilicity of HBsAg were predicted in silico. Both patients were anti-HBc and anti-HBs positive with high HBV DNA loads (2.29 × 1010 and 2.53 × 1010 copies/mL). Full-length genomes (3182 bp) were successfully sequenced and phylogenetic analysis showed both HBV genomes clustered within Genotype D, Subgenotype D2, and subtype ayw3, consistent with previously reported Bangladeshi HBV genomes. Comparative mutational analysis identified substitutions such as T1753C in the basal core promoter, C1845T in preC, and D144E within the "a" determinant of HBsAg, suggesting potential roles in vaccine escape, immune escape, and diagnostic failure. Several nonsynonymous mutations were also detected in polymerase, though none were potentially associated with antiviral resistance. Antigenicity and hydrophilicity profiles of HBsAg and its major hydrophilic region remained largely conserved. These findings demonstrate the persistence of OBI in HD patients and provide an initial indication of the need for genomic surveillance to monitor immune-escape mutations and improve HBV diagnostic strategies in endemic regions.

HBV genome sequencing↗
PubMed2025

One thousand SARS-CoV-2 antibody structures reveal convergent binding and near-universal immune escape.

Understanding antibody recognition and adaptation to viral evolution is central to vaccine and therapeutic development. Over 1,100 SARS-CoV-2 antibody structures have been resolved, marking the largest structural biology effort for a single pathogen. We present a comprehensive analysis of this landmark dataset to investigate the principles of antibody recognition and immune escape. Human immunoglobulins and camelid single-chain antibodies dominate, collectively mapping 99% of the receptor-binding domain. Despite remarkable sequence and conformational diversity, antibodies exhibit convergence in their paratope structures, revealing evolutionary constraints in epitope selection. Analyses reveal near-universal immune escape of antibodies, including all clinical monoclonals, by advanced variants such as KP3.1.1. On average, over one-third of antibody epitope residues are mutated. These findings support pervasive immune escape, underscoring the need to effectively leverage multi-epitope-targeting strategies to achieve durable immunity. To support community accessibility, we developed an interactive web server for visualization and analysis of antibody-antigen complexes and mutational data.

SARS-CoV-2↗
PubMed2026

Cancer Immune Responsiveness and MHC Class I Antigen Presentation: Mechanisms of Immune Escape and Immunotherapy Resistance in Gastrointestinal Cancers.

The Antigen Processing and Presentation Machinery (APM) is essential for immune surveillance by enabling the presentation of antigenic peptides to T lymphocytes and facilitating the elimination of infected or transformed cells. In cancer, the integrity of this process influences cancer immune responsiveness (CIR), defined as a tumour's capacity to be recognised by the immune system and respond to immunotherapy. Tumours with intact antigen presentation pathways are more likely to generate effective antitumour responses, whereas APM defects promote immune escape and therapeutic resistance. Cancer cells frequently evade immune detection through altered antigen processing or reduced expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules, limiting tumour antigen presentation to cytotoxic T lymphocytes. These alterations are increasingly recognised as determinants of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors and potential predictive biomarkers. APM defects may be reversible or irreversible. Interferon-mediated signalling can restore MHC class I expression and T-cell cytotoxicity in some tumours, whereas permanent genomic alterations affecting human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I genes, β2-microglobulin (β2-m), or interferon-γ (IFN-γ) pathway components can severely impair antigen presentation. Emerging evidence highlights four mechanistic levels of APM perturbation: peptide generation, peptide loading, MHC class I integrity, and epigenetic regulation. Each contributes to distinct patterns of immune evasion. This review examines how MHC class I alterations influence CIR and contribute to immune evasion and immunotherapy resistance in gastrointestinal malignancies, while discussing therapeutic strategies to restore or bypass APM deficiencies.

Humans↗
PubMed2024

ALDH1A1 promotes immune escape of tumor cells through ZBTB7B-glycolysis pathway.

The primary impediment to the success of immunotherapy lies in the immune evasion orchestrated by tumors, contributing to the suboptimal overall response rates observed. Despite this recognition, the intricacies of the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Through preliminary detection of clinical patient tissues, we have found that ALDH1A1 was a key gene for the prognosis of cancer patients and tumor glycolysis. In vitro experiments and tumor formation in nude mice suggested that targeting ALDH1A1 could inhibit tumor growth. Through further analysis of xenograft tumor models in immune-normal mice and flow cytometry, we found that deficiency in ALDH1A1 could promote immune system suppression of tumors in vivo. Specifically, RNA-seq analysis, combined with qPCR and western blot, identified the transcription factor ZBTB7B as downstream of ALDH1A1. The binding sites of the transcription factor ZBTB7B on the LDHA promoter region, which is responsible for regulating the rate-limiting enzyme gene LDHA in glycolysis, were determined using luciferase reporter gene detection and Chip-qPCR, respectively. In addition, the increased SUMOylation of ZBTB7B stabilized its transcriptional activity. Further in vivo and in vitro experiments confirmed that the combination of targeting ALDH1A1 and ZBTB7B with immune checkpoint inhibitors could synergistically inhibit tumors in vivo. Finally, after conducting additional verification of patient tissue and clinical data, we have confirmed the potential translational value of targeting ALDH1A1 and ZBTB7B for tumor immunotherapy. These results emphasize the potential translational significance of targeting ALDH1A1 and ZBTB7B in the realm of tumor immunotherapy. The convergence of ALDH1A1 inhibition and immune checkpoint blockade, particularly with PD-L1/PD-1 mAb, presents a compelling avenue for curtailing tumor immune escape.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

FLT3-ITD Induces CMTM6 and Enhances Immune Escape in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

UNLABELLED: FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3 internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) mutations are frequent in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and are associated with a high risk of relapse. CKLF-like MARVEL transmembrane domain containing member 6 (CMTM6) stabilizes PD-L1 surface expression and modulates tumor immunity in solid cancer. In this study, we found a role for FLT3-induced CMTM6 in hematologic malignancies. FLT3 drove CMTM6 and PD-L1 expression in AML cells, whereas FLT3 inhibition reduced expression of CMTM6 and PD-L1. In three distinct allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation mouse models, transplantation of Cmtm6-deficient FLT3-ITD+ leukemia cells resulted in prolonged survival, reduced leukemia burden, enhanced T-cell effector function, and decreased expression of T-cell exhaustion markers compared with Cmtm6-proficient FLT3-ITD+ leukemia cells. Furthermore, combination therapy with anti-PD-L1 and tandutinib significantly improved survival, suppressed leukemia cell expansion, and augmented the anti-leukemia T-cell response in mice bearing FLT3-ITD+ leukemia. Mechanistically, protein-protein interaction of FLT3 and CMTM6 within their transmembrane domains, which was not phosphorylation dependent, enhanced CMTM6 stability in leukemia cells, whereas FLT3-ITD did not increase CMTM6 and PD-L1 expression at the RNA level. Furthermore, CMTM6 upregulation and protein interaction with FLT3 were validated in primary leukemia cells from two independent cohorts of patients with FLT3-ITD+ AML. Collectively, these findings uncover FLT3-mediated stabilization of CMTM6 in AML cells, which results in enhanced PD-L1 cell surface expression and leukemia immune escape. SIGNIFICANCE: Activation of the CMTM6/PD-L1 axis in FLT3-ITD-driven acute myeloid leukemia mediates immunosuppression, providing the basis for potential inhibition of this pathway to harness antitumor immunity.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Elevated Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells 2 Expression in Tumor-Associated Macrophages Suppresses Cytotoxic T Cell Infiltration and Facilitates Immune Escape in Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Emerging evidence supports a crucial role for tumor-associated macrophages in shaping the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, research has identified that the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 has immunomodulatory functions. The present investigated the potential effect of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 expression in tumor-associated macrophages on facilitating immune evasion in colorectal cancer. METHODS: Immunohistochemical analysis of clinical specimens, complemented by extensive data mining from The Cancer Genome Atlas, revealed a significant upregulation of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 in colorectal cancer-associated tumor-associated macrophages, with this upregulation exhibiting a correlation with poor patient prognosis. RESULTS: Mechanistically, triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2+ tumor-associated macrophages were found to drive fibroblast activation through transforming growth factor-β signaling, inducing fibroblast-activated protein-positive cancer-associated fibroblasts that secrete collagen I/III to establish dense peritumoral barriers. Spatial profiling revealed that these fibrous structures physically impede CD8+ T-cell infiltration, restricting cytotoxic lymphocytes to stromal compartments. Intriguingly, triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 deficiency enhanced the secretion of matrix metalloproteinase 13 by macrophages, thereby promoting extracellular matrix degradation and improving T-cell penetration. In vivo, Trem2-knockout mice showed a reduction in tumor growth with enhanced intratumoral CD8+ T-cell infiltration compared with wild-type controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings establish triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2+ tumor-associated macrophages as central regulators of stromal remodeling and suggest that therapeutic targeting of the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2/transforming growth factor-β/fibroblast-activated protein pathway may overcome immune resistance in patients with colorectal cancer.

Colorectal Neoplasms↗
PubMed2026

Oncogene SETDB1's dual role: driving tumor progression and immune escape.

Oncogene SETDB1, an H3K9 methyltransferase, drives tumorigenesis in various cancers. Using endometrial cancer (EC) as a model, we discovered SETDB1's dual mechanisms in driving EC tumorigenesis and mediating immune evasion. SETDB1 knockout (SETDB1-/-) tumor-bearing mice exhibited prolonged survival up to 100 days. Transcriptomic profiling of SETDB1-/- EC cells revealed decreased oncogene expression and increased tumor suppressor gene expression, which indicates that SETDB1 intrinsically promotes EC proliferation by regulating these downstream genes. SETDB1 repressed repeat elements and the interferon pathway, mediating immune evasion extrinsically by inhibiting anti-tumor macrophage infiltration. ChIP-seq analysis showed SETDB1 binding at pericentromeric regions on many chromosomes and numerous ZNFs. Loss of SETDB1 resulted in abnormal cell division. SETDB1-/- tumors displayed reduced proliferation markers (Ki67, pHH3) and increased macrophage infiltration. Mechanistically, SETDB1 promotes CD47 (a don't-eat-me signal) and represses CCL5 and CXCL9 (macrophage and T-cell recruiting chemokines), contributing to immune evasion. M1-like macrophages killed more SETDB1-/- cells in co-culture. Additionally, SETDB1 knockout in mouse EC cells reduced tumor growth in C57BL/6 mice, with increased macrophage and CD4 + T-cell infiltration. Our results indicate that elevated SETDB1 and its targets can predict higher tumor grade and worse survival, suggesting that targeting SETDB1 could be a promising therapeutic strategy for EC.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Mechanisms of escape from immune surveillance.

The escape from immune rejection is, like the development of drug resistance in microorganisms, a multi-pathway process. Selection favors the phenotype, i.e., the cell that can grow in spite of the immune rejection process, not the underlying mechanism. Experimental evidence documents the roles of host immunosuppression (genetic or environmental), immunoresistance at the cellular level, "sneaking through" (i.e., growth of a tumor to irreversible size prior to the mobilization of an appropriate immune response), lack of antigenic recognition, and blocking enhancement type reactions.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

EscaPRRS-ORF5: a structure-aware evolutionary framework for prioritizing immune escape-prone variants in porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.

MOTIVATION: Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) is a rapidly evolving RNA virus causing significant economic losses, posing a formidable challenge to vaccine efficacy due to its high mutational variability and immune escape. As the viral mutants evolve, their ability to sustain in population is driven by a range of host biology factors such as receptor binding, fusion, and uncoating. Existing tools that predict viral fitness and escape propensities rely heavily on extensive, up-to-date sequence data and lack integration of biochemical host interactions, limiting mechanistic understanding of the mutational landscape. We introduce Esca, a sequence-only toolchain framework that identifies immune escape-prone residues by exhaustively scanning each residue position for all amino acid substitutions using a Bayesian Variational Autoencoder (VAE) trained on protein language model embeddings. We demonstrate Esca on the GP5(ORF5) glycoprotein of PRRSV (EscaPRRS-ORF5) by training on ESM-2 embeddings of 32 146 GP5 sequences (2015-2022) spanning 140 sub-lineages. RESULTS: Despite being trained only on GP5 sequence data, EscaPRRS-ORF5 recovered 85.7% of the surface-exposed receptor binding interfaces as escape-prone regions. We use a mutation-sensitive fitness scoring scheme that goes beyond Hamming distances, to predict antibody escape tendencies, supporting surveillance of (re) emerging PRRSV variants. We do not claim that ORF5 alone captures PRRSV evolution or serves as a surveillance endpoint; rather, Esca offers a scalable path toward whole-genome, structure-aware surveillance. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: EscaPRRS-ORF5 is freely available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.32661033 with an interactive Colab notebook at https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1TEgzAhPwvNAZ01VXeJbIFibfri2jnDA5? usp=sharing.

Porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome viru↗
PubMed2025

Pleiotropic mutational effects on function and stability constrain the antigenic evolution of influenza hemagglutinin.

The evolution of human influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) involves simultaneous selection to acquire antigenic mutations that escape population immunity while preserving protein function and stability. Epistasis shapes this evolution, as an antigenic mutation that is deleterious in one genetic background may become tolerated in another. However, the extent to which epistasis can alleviate pleiotropic conflicts between immune escape and protein function/stability is unclear. Here, we measure how all amino acid mutations in the HA of a recent human H3N2 influenza strain affect its cell entry function, acid stability, and neutralization by human serum antibodies. We find that epistasis has entrenched certain mutations so that reverting to the ancestral amino acid identity in earlier strains is no longer tolerated. Epistasis has also enabled the emergence of antigenic mutations that were detrimental to HA's cell entry function in earlier strains. However, epistasis appears insufficient to overcome the pleiotropic costs of antigenic mutations that impair HA's stability, explaining why some mutations that strongly escape human antibodies never fix in nature. Our results refine our understanding of the mutational constraints that shape recent H3N2 influenza evolution: epistasis can enable antigenic change, but pleiotropic effects can restrict its trajectory.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2021

Dissecting spatial heterogeneity and the immune-evasion mechanism of CTCs by single-cell RNA-seq in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Little is known about the transcriptomic plasticity and adaptive mechanisms of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) during hematogeneous dissemination. Here we interrogate the transcriptome of 113 single CTCs from 4 different vascular sites, including hepatic vein (HV), peripheral artery (PA), peripheral vein (PV) and portal vein (PoV) using single-cell full-length RNA sequencing in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. We reveal that the transcriptional dynamics of CTCs were associated with stress response, cell cycle and immune-evasion signaling during hematogeneous transportation. Besides, we identify chemokine CCL5 as an important mediator for CTC immune evasion. Mechanistically, overexpression of CCL5 in CTCs is transcriptionally regulated by p38-MAX signaling, which recruites regulatory T cells (Tregs) to facilitate immune escape and metastatic seeding of CTCs. Collectively, our results reveal a previously unappreciated spatial heterogeneity and an immune-escape mechanism of CTC, which may aid in designing new anti-metastasis therapeutic strategies in HCC.

Aged↗
PubMed2025

Fatal Hepatitis B Reactivation in Absence of Antibody to Hepatitis B Core Antigen in a Lymphoma Patient.

Reactivations of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in severely immunocompromised patients with serological profiles of past hepatitis B are non-exceptional and potentially severe or fatal events. The preventive and pre-emptive detection of this serological status is compromised in the absence of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), observed in a very small number of cases of HBV infection. Here, we describe the case of a patient with a serological profile indicating a HBV vaccination although the patient did not report previous vaccination, following lymphoma and chemotherapy including rituximab. This patient presented HBV reactivation with appearance of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) but without appearance of anti-HBc, suggesting the absence of detectable anti-HBc in this patient at the stage of past infection. Next-generation sequencing provided the complete HBV genome, showing the presence of a mutation in HBsAg associated with immune escape but without the detection of mutations in the core gene previously described as significantly associated with the absence of anti-HBc. Nonetheless, W28* pre-core mutation was found, which was reported to enhance replication capacity in case of weak immune responses and suspected to promote HBV reactivation in association with immune escape mutations. Overall, this case highlights that negativity of anti-HBc cannot definitely rule out past HBV infection and the risk of HBV reactivation in immunocompromised patients in the context of treatment of hemopathies, and that it is difficult to assess such a risk and to prevent or monitor HBV reactivation in patients with past HBV infection but no detectable anti-HBc.

Female↗
PubMed2026

SERPINE1-centric inflammatory signature associates with treatment resistance and survival in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) prognosis remains poor despite treatment advances. More accurate prognostic assessment models can help guide individualized treatment and improve prognosis. Chronic inflammation contributes to tumorigenesis, yet inflammatory response-related genes (IRGs) in LSCC prognosis are underexplored. This study aimed to construct an IRG prognostic signature for LSCC and further dissect core IRG-mediated mechanisms of immune escape and chemoresistance. METHODS: Transcriptional profiles and clinical data from LSCC patients were retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). IRGs were sourced from Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) hallmark gene set. We identified differentially expressed IRGs linked to survival outcomes in LSCC. Key IRGs were subsequently selected using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression analysis to establish an inflammatory risk score model. This model underwent internal validation within the TCGA cohort and external validation using independent Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets. We further assessed the model's association with the tumor immune microenvironment and the impact of IRGs on chemotherapy response. Finally, the functional roles of interested signature IRG were experimentally validated in LSCC cell lines. RESULTS: Four significant IRGs (AQP9, ITGA5, LCK, SERPINE1) were identified to build the risk score model. The model stratified LSCC patients into distinct prognostic groups: TCGA cohort: 5-year area under the curve (AUC) =0.836, P<0.001; GSE25727 cohort: 5-year AUC =0.706, P=0.02; GSE27020 cohort: 5-year AUC =0.798, P<0.01. Multivariate analysis confirmed the risk score as an independent prognostic factor (P<0.05). High-risk patients showed reduced immune cell infiltration (CD8+ T cells, dendritic cells) and suppressed immune pathways. Multi-algorithm immune analysis further revealed defective antigen presentation and reduced anti-tumor immune infiltration in high-risk LSCC, promoting tumor immune escape. GSEA/Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment combined with drug sensitivity prediction further revealed that high-risk tumors activate invasive signaling and acquire broad chemoresistance alongside impaired anti-tumor immunity. SERPINE1 might be associated with chemotherapy resistance and exhibited the highest alteration frequency (predominantly amplification) and overexpression in LSCC tissues. Its knockdown significantly suppressed proliferation, migration, invasion and chemoresistance in LSCC cells. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) confirmed tumor SERPINE1 overexpression (P=0.002 vs. normal tissues), correlating with poor survival (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The 4-IRG risk signature is a reliable prognostic indicator reflecting immune dysfunction in LSCC. SERPINE1 is validated as a therapeutic target and biomarker, enriching our understanding of gene regulation dynamics in LSCC.

Laryngeal cancer↗
PubMed1978

Possible role of Fc receptors on cells infected and transformed by herpesvirus: escape from immune cytolysis.

Receptors for the Fc portion of nonimmune immunoglobulin G were demonstrated on B103 rat brain neuroma cells infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) KOS by a radioimmunoassay using 125I-labeled heat-aggregated Fc fragments. Immune F(ab')2 fragments specific for HSV antigens competed efficiently for Fc binding sites, suggesting that the binding of Fc fragments to infected cells is specific for viral cell-surface antigens. It has been suggested that the binding of immune complexes to Fc receptors on the surfaces of tumor cells in vivo plays a role in protecting these cells from immune destruction. In vitro evidence is presented for the ability of aggregated immunoglobulin G molecules bound to cell-surface Fc receptors to protect both HSV-infected and HSV-transformed cells against complement-dependent and cell-mediated immune lysis.

Animals↗
PubMed2025

Modulation of the tumor microenvironment by the ubiquitin-proteasome system in colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with the tumor microenvironment (TME) playing a pivotal role in its progression and therapeutic resistance. The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), a central regulator of intracellular protein degradation, is increasingly recognized for its involvement in cancer pathogenesis, though its specific role in modulating the CRC TME remains to be fully elucidated. This review aims to systematically summarize current evidence on how the UPS influences the immunosuppressive network within the CRC TME and to evaluate its potential as a therapeutic target. METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases for original research articles and reviews published between January 2010 and August 2025, using keywords including "ubiquitin-proteasome system," "colorectal cancer," "tumor microenvironment,""immune escape,"and "targeted therapy." Studies were selected based on their relevance to UPS-mediated regulatory mechanisms in CRC TME remodeling, immune cell function, and treatment response. RESULTS: Our analysis of preclinical and clinical evidence reveals that the UPS critically regulates immune evasion in CRC through multiple mechanisms: (1) USP14 stabilizes indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), enhancing tryptophan catabolism and kynurenine accumulation, which suppresses T-cell activity; (2) E3 ligases including SPOP, C-Cbl, KLHL22, and FBW7 modulate PD-L1/PD-1 protein stability via ubiquitination, thereby influencing immune checkpoint signaling; and (3) ZFP91 facilitates K63-linked ubiquitination of PP2Ac, impairing mTORC1-mediated glycolysis in T cells and reinforcing regulatory T-cell immunosuppression. Additionally, the UPS intersects with key oncogenic pathways such as Wnt/&#x3b2;-catenin, NF-&#x3ba;B, and p53, further shaping the immunosuppressive landscape of CRC. CONCLUSIONS: Targeting the UPS represents a promising strategy to reverse immunosuppression and overcome therapy resistance in CRC. The primary advantage of this approach lies in its ability to simultaneously disrupt multiple immunosuppressive pathways within the TME, offering a potential solution to the limitations of single-target therapies. Current approaches include proteasome inhibitors, E3 ligase modulators, and deubiquitinating enzyme inhibitors, with combination regimens-such as UPS inhibitors with immune checkpoint blockade-showing synergistic efficacy in preclinical models. Future efforts should focus on enhancing the selectivity of UPS-targeting agents, minimizing off-target effects, and integrating genomic profiling to guide personalized treatment. While current evidence strongly supports the therapeutic potential of UPS targeting, its establishment as a reliable alternative therapy in the clinic will depend on overcoming these challenges and validating efficacy in human trials. This review underscores the UPS as a central regulator of the CRC TME and provides a rational basis for novel therapeutic development.

Humans↗
PubMed2025

HLA-E and NKG2A Mediate Resistance to BCG Immunotherapy in Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer.

Bacillus Calmette-Gu&#xe9;rin (BCG) is the first-line therapy for high-grade non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), yet many patients experience recurrence due to immune evasion. We identify HLA-E and NKG2A as mediators of adaptive resistance involving chronic activation of NK and T cells in BCG-unresponsive tumors. Prolonged IFN-&#x3b3; exposure enhances HLA-E and PD-L1 expression on recurrent tumors, accompanied by the accumulation of NKG2A+ NK and CD8 T cells. HLA-Ehigh tumor cells preferentially cluster near CXCL12-rich stromal regions with dense effector cell presence, underscoring a spatially segregated tumor architecture. Although cytotoxic lymphocytes retain effector potential, their activity is restrained by HLA-E/NKG2A and PD-L1/PD-1 pathways located in their immediate neighborhood within the bladder tumor microenvironment. These data reveal a spatially organized immune escape program that limits anti-tumor immunity. Our findings support dually targeting NKG2A and PD-L1 checkpoint blockade as a rational, bladder-sparing strategy for patients with BCG-unresponsive NMIBC.

BCG-unresponsive↗