1. Academic Validation
  2. Ubiquitin ligase STUB1 destabilizes IFNγ-receptor complex to suppress tumor IFNγ signaling

Ubiquitin ligase STUB1 destabilizes IFNγ-receptor complex to suppress tumor IFNγ signaling

  • Nat Commun. 2022 Apr 8;13(1):1923. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29442-x.
Georgi Apriamashvili  # 1 David W Vredevoogd  # 1 Oscar Krijgsman 1 Onno B Bleijerveld 2 Maarten A Ligtenberg 1 Beaunelle de Bruijn 1 Julia Boshuizen 1 Joleen J H Traets 1 Daniela D'Empaire Altimari 1 Alex van Vliet 1 Chun-Pu Lin 1 Nils L Visser 1 James D Londino 3 Rebekah Sanchez-Hodge 4 Leah E Oswalt 4 Selin Altinok 4 Jonathan C Schisler 4 Maarten Altelaar 2 5 Daniel S Peeper 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Division of Molecular Oncology and Immunology, Oncode Institute, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066, CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  • 2 Proteomics Core Facility, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066, CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  • 3 Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 410 W 10th Avenue, Columbus, OH, USA.
  • 4 McAllister Heart Institute and Department of Pharmacology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 111 Mason Farm Rd., 3340 C MBRB CB #7126, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
  • 5 Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Utrecht, and Netherlands Proteomics Center, Padualaan 8, 3584, CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
  • 6 Division of Molecular Oncology and Immunology, Oncode Institute, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066, CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. d.peeper@nki.nl.
  • # Contributed equally.
Abstract

The cytokine IFNγ differentially impacts on tumors upon immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Despite our understanding of downstream signaling events, less is known about regulation of its receptor (IFNγ-R1). With an unbiased genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screen for critical regulators of IFNγ-R1 cell surface abundance, we identify STUB1 as an E3 ubiquitin Ligase for IFNγ-R1 in complex with its signal-relaying kinase JAK1. STUB1 mediates ubiquitination-dependent proteasomal degradation of IFNγ-R1/JAK1 complex through IFNγ-R1K285 and JAK1K249. Conversely, STUB1 inactivation amplifies IFNγ signaling, sensitizing tumor cells to cytotoxic T cells in vitro. This is corroborated by an anticorrelation between STUB1 expression and IFNγ response in ICB-treated patients. Consistent with the context-dependent effects of IFNγ in vivo, anti-PD-1 response is increased in heterogenous tumors comprising both wildtype and STUB1-deficient cells, but not full STUB1 knockout tumors. These results uncover STUB1 as a critical regulator of IFNγ-R1, and highlight the context-dependency of STUB1-regulated IFNγ signaling for ICB outcome.

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