PD-1 defines a distinct, functional, tissue-adapted state in Vδ1+ T cells with implications for cancer immunotherapy

Daniel Davies, Shraddha Kamdar, Richard Woolf, Iva Zlatareva, Maria Luisa Iannitto, Cienne Morton, Yasmin Haque, Hannah Martin, Dhruva Biswas, Susan Ndagire, Martina Munonyara, Cheryl Gillett, Olga O’Neill, Oliver Nussbaumer, Adrian Hayday*, Yin Wu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Checkpoint inhibition (CPI), particularly that targeting the inhibitory coreceptor programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), has transformed oncology. Although CPI can derepress cancer (neo)antigen-specific αβ T cells that ordinarily show PD-1-dependent exhaustion, it can also be efficacious against cancers evading αβ T cell recognition. In such settings, γδ T cells have been implicated, but the functional relevance of PD-1 expression by these cells is unclear. Here we demonstrate that intratumoral TRDV1 transcripts (encoding the TCRδ chain of Vδ1+ γδ T cells) predict anti-PD-1 CPI response in patients with melanoma, particularly those harboring below average neoantigens. Moreover, using a protocol yielding substantial numbers of tissue-derived Vδ1+ cells, we show that PD-1+Vδ1+ cells display a transcriptomic program similar to, but distinct from, the canonical exhaustion program of colocated PD-1+CD8+ αβ T cells. In particular, PD-1+Vδ1+ cells retained effector responses to TCR signaling that were inhibitable by PD-1 engagement and derepressed by CPI.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)420-432
Number of pages13
JournalNature Cancer
Volume5
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2024

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