상위피인용논문
충남대학교병원
Byung Soo Lee a,1, Dong Il Park a,1, Da Hye Lee a, Jeong Eun Lee a, Min-kyung Yeo b, Yeon Hee Park a, Dae Sik Lim c, Wonyoung Choi c, Da Hye Lee c, Geon Yoo c, Han-byul Kim c, Dahyun Kang a, Jae Young Moon a, Sung Soo Jung a, Ju Ock Kim a, Sang Yeon Cho d, Hee Sun Park a, Chaeuk Chung a
aDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 35015, South Korea
bDepartment of Pathology, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 35015, South Korea
cNational Creative Research Center for Cell Division and Differentiation, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, South Korea
dChungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea
1These authors contributed equally to this work and should be regard as co-first authors.
Corresponding authors: Hee Sun Park, Chaeuk Chung
Abstract
Developments of EGFR-TKI and immunotherapy targeting the PD1/PD-L1 pathway are considered most important medical breakthroughs in lung cancer treatment. Nowadays, 3rd generation EGFR TKI is widely used for T790M positive 1st and 2nd EGFR-TKI resistant lung cancer patients. Immunotherapy is powerful option for lung cancer patients without drug targets and chemotherapy resistant patients. It also has changed the concept of conventional anti-cancer therapy in the point of regulating tumor microenvironment. There are many studies linking these two important pathways. Recent studies demonstrated that PD-L1 expression is significantly correlated to the mutation status of EGFR, and activation of EGFR signaling can also induce the expression of PD-L1. However, the real linker between PD-L1 and EGFR signaling remains to be revealed. Our previous study revealed that the Hippo pathway effector YAP confers EGFR-TKI resistance in lung adenocarcinoma, and inhibition of YAP restores sensitivity to EGFR-TKIs. Thus, we examined whether PD-L1 is relevant, in terms of conferring EGFR-TKI resistance and whether YAP directly regulates the expression of PD-L1 in this context. First, we compared the expression levels of PD-L1 and YAP between EGFR-TKI-resistant PC9 cells and the parental PC9 adenocarcinoma cells. The expression levels of both YAP and PD-L1 were markedly higher in the EGFR-TKI-resistant cells compared to the parental cells, suggesting differential expression pattern between two cell types. YAP knockdown significantly decreased the expression of PD-L1 in the EGFR-TKI-resistant cells, while YAP overexpression increased the expression of PD-L1 in the parental PC9 cells. Then, our results revealed that YAP regulates the transcription of PD-L1, and the YAP/TEAD complex binds to the PD-L1 promoter. Surprisingly, knockdown of PD-L1 was sufficient to decrease cell proliferation and wound healing in the EGFR-TKI-resistant PC9 cells. These data suggest a PD1-independent oncogenic function of PD-L1. The Hippo effector YAP plays a crucial role in linking the PD-L1 and EGFR-TKI resistance by directly regulating the expression of PD-L1 in lung cancer. Targeting PD-L1 directly or via YAP could provide an effective therapeutic strategy for EGFR-TKI-resistant lung adenocarcinoma.
논문정보
소속기관 논문보기
관련분야 논문보기