Myeloid-T cell interplay and cell state transitions associated with checkpoint inhibitor response in melanoma.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, has greatly benefited from immunotherapy. However, many patients do not show a durable response, which is only partially explained by known resistance mechanisms. METHODS: We performed single-cell RNA sequencing of tumor immune infiltrates and matched peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 22 checkpoint inhibitor (CPI)-naive stage III-IV metastatic melanoma patients. After sample collection, the same patients received CPI treatment, and their response was assessed. FINDINGS: CPI responders showed high levels of classical monocytes in peripheral blood, which preferentially transitioned toward CXCL9-expressing macrophages in tumors. Trajectories of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells diverged at the level of effector memory/stem-like T cells, with non-responder cells progressing into a state characterized by cellular stress and apoptosis-related gene expression. Consistently, predicted non-responder-enriched myeloid-T/natural killer cell interactions were primarily immunosuppressive, while responder-enriched interactions were supportive of T cell priming and effector function. CONCLUSIONS: Our study illustrates that the tumor immune microenvironment prior to CPI treatment can be indicative of response. In perspective, modulating the myeloid and/or effector cell compartment by altering the described cell interactions and transitions could improve immunotherapy response. FUNDING: This research was funded by Roche Pharma Research and Early Development.

Phase 1, first-in-human study of TYRP1-TCB (RO7293583), a novel TYRP1-targeting CD3 T-cell engager, in metastatic melanoma: active drug monitoring to assess the impact of immune response on drug exposure.

Introduction: Although checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) have improved outcomes for patients with metastatic melanoma, those progressing on CPIs have limited therapeutic options. To address this unmet need and overcome CPI resistance mechanisms, novel immunotherapies, such as T-cell engaging agents, are being developed. The use of these agents has sometimes been limited by the immune response mounted against them in the form of anti-drug antibodies (ADAs), which is challenging to predict preclinically and can lead to neutralization of the drug and loss of efficacy. Methods: TYRP1-TCB (RO7293583; RG6232) is a T-cell engaging bispecific (TCB) antibody that targets tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1), which is expressed in many melanomas, thereby directing T cells to kill TYRP1-expressing tumor cells. Preclinical studies show TYRP1-TCB to have potent anti-tumor activity. This first-in-human (FIH) phase 1 dose-escalation study characterized the safety, tolerability, maximum tolerated dose/optimal biological dose, and pharmacokinetics (PK) of TYRP1-TCB in patients with metastatic melanoma (NCT04551352). Results: Twenty participants with cutaneous, uveal, or mucosal TYRP1-positive melanoma received TYRP1-TCB in escalating doses (0.045 to 0.4 mg). All participants experienced ≥1 treatment-related adverse event (TRAE); two participants experienced grade 3 TRAEs. The most common toxicities were grade 1-2 cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and rash. Fractionated dosing mitigated CRS and was associated with lower levels of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Measurement of active drug (dual TYPR1- and CD3-binding) PK rapidly identified loss of active drug exposure in all participants treated with 0.4 mg in a flat dosing schedule for ≥3 cycles. Loss of exposure was associated with development of ADAs towards both the TYRP1 and CD3 domains. A total drug PK assay, measuring free and ADA-bound forms, demonstrated that TYRP1-TCB-ADA immune complexes were present in participant samples, but showed no drug activity in vitro. Discussion: This study provides important insights into how the use of active drug PK assays, coupled with mechanistic follow-up, can inform and enable ongoing benefit/risk assessment for individuals participating in FIH dose-escalation trials. Translational studies that lead to a better understanding of the underlying biology of cognate T- and B-cell interactions, ultimately resulting in ADA development to novel biotherapeutics, are needed.

ROS Induction Targets Persister Cancer Cells with Low Metabolic Activity in NRAS-Mutated Melanoma.

Clinical management of melanomas with NRAS mutations is challenging. Targeting MAPK signaling is only beneficial to a small subset of patients due to resistance that arises through genetic, transcriptional, and metabolic adaptation. Identification of targetable vulnerabilities in NRAS-mutated melanoma could help improve patient treatment. Here, we used multiomics analyses to reveal that NRAS-mutated melanoma cells adopt a mesenchymal phenotype with a quiescent metabolic program to resist cellular stress induced by MEK inhibition. The metabolic alterations elevated baseline reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, leading these cells to become highly sensitive to ROS induction. In vivo xenograft experiments and single-cell RNA sequencing demonstrated that intratumor heterogeneity necessitates the combination of a ROS inducer and a MEK inhibitor to inhibit both tumor growth and metastasis. Ex vivo pharmacoscopy of 62 human metastatic melanomas confirmed that MEK inhibitor-resistant tumors significantly benefited from the combination therapy. Finally, oxidative stress response and translational suppression corresponded with ROS-inducer sensitivity in 486 cancer cell lines, independent of cancer type. These findings link transcriptional plasticity to a metabolic phenotype that can be inhibited by ROS inducers in melanoma and other cancers. SIGNIFICANCE: Metabolic reprogramming in drug-resistant NRAS-mutated melanoma cells confers sensitivity to ROS induction, which suppresses tumor growth and metastasis in combination with MAPK pathway inhibitors.

Live-cell single-molecule tracking highlights requirements for stable Smc5/6 chromatin association in vivo.

The essential Smc5/6 complex is required in response to replication stress and is best known for ensuring the fidelity of homologous recombination. Using single-molecule tracking in live fission yeast to investigate Smc5/6 chromatin association, we show that Smc5/6 is chromatin associated in unchallenged cells and this depends on the non-SMC protein Nse6. We define a minimum of two Nse6-dependent sub-pathways, one of which requires the BRCT-domain protein Brc1. Using defined mutants in genes encoding the core Smc5/6 complex subunits, we show that the Nse3 double-stranded DNA binding activity and the arginine fingers of the two Smc5/6 ATPase binding sites are critical for chromatin association. Interestingly, disrupting the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding activity at the hinge region does not prevent chromatin association but leads to elevated levels of gross chromosomal rearrangements during replication restart. This is consistent with a downstream function for ssDNA binding in regulating homologous recombination.

The Tumor Profiler Study: integrated, multi-omic, functional tumor profiling for clinical decision support.

The application and integration of molecular profiling technologies create novel opportunities for personalized medicine. Here, we introduce the Tumor Profiler Study, an observational trial combining a prospective diagnostic approach to assess the relevance of in-depth tumor profiling to support clinical decision-making with an exploratory approach to improve the biological understanding of the disease.

A Fatty Acid Oxidation-dependent Metabolic Shift Regulates the Adaptation of BRAF-mutated Melanoma to MAPK Inhibitors.

PURPOSE: Treatment of BRAFV600E -mutant melanomas with MAPK inhibitors (MAPKi) results in significant tumor regression, but acquired resistance is pervasive. To understand nonmutational mechanisms underlying the adaptation to MAPKi and to identify novel vulnerabilities of melanomas treated with MAPKi, we focused on the initial response phase during treatment with MAPKi. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: By screening proteins expressed on the cell surface of melanoma cells, we identified the fatty acid transporter CD36 as the most consistently upregulated protein upon short-term treatment with MAPKi. We further investigated the effects of MAPKi on fatty acid metabolism using in vitro and in vivo models and analyzing patients' pre- and on-treatment tumor specimens. RESULTS: Melanoma cells treated with MAPKi displayed increased levels of CD36 and of PPARα-mediated and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A)-dependent fatty acid oxidation (FAO). While CD36 is a useful marker of melanoma cells during adaptation and drug-tolerant phases, the upregulation of CD36 is not functionally involved in FAO changes that characterize MAPKi-treated cells. Increased FAO is required for BRAFV600E -mutant melanoma cells to survive under the MAPKi-induced metabolic stress prior to acquiring drug resistance. The upfront and concomitant inhibition of FAO, glycolysis, and MAPK synergistically inhibits tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, we identified a clinically relevant therapeutic approach that has the potential to improve initial responses and to delay acquired drug resistance of BRAFV600E -mutant melanoma.

Proteomic identification of a marker signature for MAPKi resistance in melanoma.

MAPK inhibitors (MAPKi) show outstanding clinical response rates in melanoma patients harbouring BRAF mutations, but resistance is common. The ability of melanoma cells to switch from melanocytic to mesenchymal phenotypes appears to be associated with therapeutic resistance. High-throughput, subcellular proteome analyses and RNAseq on two panels of primary melanoma cells that were either sensitive or resistant to MAPKi revealed that only 15 proteins were sufficient to distinguish between these phenotypes. The two proteins with the highest discriminatory power were PTRF and IGFBP7, which were both highly upregulated in the mesenchymal-resistant cells. Proteomic analysis of CRISPR/Cas-derived PTRF knockouts revealed targets involved in lysosomal activation, endocytosis, pH regulation, EMT, TGFß signalling and cell migration and adhesion, as well as a significantly reduced invasive index and ability to form spheres in 3D culture. Overexpression of PTRF led to MAPKi resistance, increased cell adhesion and sphere formation. In addition, immunohistochemistry of patient samples showed that PTRF expression levels were a significant biomarker of poor progression-free survival, and IGFBP7 levels in patient sera were shown to be higher after relapse.

γ-Catenin-Dependent Signals Maintain BCR-ABL1+ B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

The BCR-ABL1 fusion protein is the cause of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and of a significant fraction of adult-onset B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) cases. Using mouse models and patient-derived samples, we identified an essential role for γ-catenin in the initiation and maintenance of BCR-ABL1+ B-ALL but not CML. The selectivity was explained by a partial γ-catenin dependence of MYC expression together with the susceptibility of B-ALL, but not CML, to reduced MYC levels. MYC and γ-catenin enabled B-ALL maintenance by augmenting BIRC5 and enforced BIRC5 expression overcame γ-catenin loss. Since γ-catenin was dispensable for normal hematopoiesis, these lineage- and disease-specific features of canonical Wnt signaling identified a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of BCR-ABL1+ B-ALL.

Bioinformatics for precision oncology.

Molecular profiling of tumor biopsies plays an increasingly important role not only in cancer research, but also in the clinical management of cancer patients. Multi-omics approaches hold the promise of improving diagnostics, prognostics and personalized treatment. To deliver on this promise of precision oncology, appropriate bioinformatics methods for managing, integrating and analyzing large and complex data are necessary. Here, we discuss the specific requirements of bioinformatics methods and software that arise in the setting of clinical oncology, owing to a stricter regulatory environment and the need for rapid, highly reproducible and robust procedures. We describe the workflow of a molecular tumor board and the specific bioinformatics support that it requires, from the primary analysis of raw molecular profiling data to the automatic generation of a clinical report and its delivery to decision-making clinical oncologists. Such workflows have to various degrees been implemented in many clinical trials, as well as in molecular tumor boards at specialized cancer centers and university hospitals worldwide. We review these and more recent efforts to include other high-dimensional multi-omics patient profiles into the tumor board, as well as the state of clinical decision support software to translate molecular findings into treatment recommendations.

SwissMTB: establishing comprehensive molecular cancer diagnostics in Swiss clinics.

BACKGROUND: Molecular precision oncology is an emerging practice to improve cancer therapy by decreasing the risk of choosing treatments that lack efficacy or cause adverse events. However, the challenges of integrating molecular profiling into routine clinical care are manifold. From a computational perspective these include the importance of a short analysis turnaround time, the interpretation of complex drug-gene and gene-gene interactions, and the necessity of standardized high-quality workflows. In addition, difficulties faced when integrating molecular diagnostics into clinical practice are ethical concerns, legal requirements, and limited availability of treatment options beyond standard of care as well as the overall lack of awareness of their existence. METHODS: To the best of our knowledge, we are the first group in Switzerland that established a workflow for personalized diagnostics based on comprehensive high-throughput sequencing of tumors at the clinic. Our workflow, named SwissMTB (Swiss Molecular Tumor Board), links genetic tumor alterations and gene expression to therapeutic options and clinical trial opportunities. The resulting treatment recommendations are summarized in a clinical report and discussed in a molecular tumor board at the clinic to support therapy decisions. RESULTS: Here we present results from an observational pilot study including 22 late-stage cancer patients. In this study we were able to identify actionable variants and corresponding therapies for 19 patients. Half of the patients were analyzed retrospectively. In two patients we identified resistance-associated variants explaining lack of therapy response. For five out of eleven patients analyzed before treatment the SwissMTB diagnostic influenced treatment decision. CONCLUSIONS: SwissMTB enables the analysis and clinical interpretation of large numbers of potentially actionable molecular targets. Thus, our workflow paves the way towards a more frequent use of comprehensive molecular diagnostics in Swiss hospitals.

Methadone-Not a magic bullet in melanoma therapy.

Methadone (Met) mainly acts as a µ-opioid receptor agonist. Recent evidence pointing towards the role of Met in sensitization of certain cancer cell lines to chemotherapeutic agents has promoted the hypothesis that Met may be a useful adjuvant to cancer chemotherapy. We wanted to address whether Met has, alone or in combination with a chemotherapeutic agent, an effect on melanoma cell viability in vitro. Only a small fraction (4.3%) of our 102 melanoma biobank cell lines with RNA-sequencing data showed expression of the main receptor for Met (OPRM1). We assessed the viability of melanoma cell lines with high, medium or low/no OPRM1 expression (OPRM1high , OPRM1med , OPRM1neg ) 72 hours after treatment with Met alone or combined with cisplatin (Cis). Our analyses show that Met alone did not affect cell viability. While Cis/Met treatment did not have an effect on viability of OPRM1med or OPRM1neg cell lines, it resulted in a slightly decreased cell viability of OPRM1high cells. Clinically, concurrent temozolomide/Met treatment did not have an effect in our single-case report of a patient suffering from uveal melanoma. Taken together, our findings do not provide evidence for recommending Met as an adjuvant to chemotherapy in patients with melanoma.

Metastasis: New insights into organ-specific extravasation and metastatic niches.

The appearance of clinically detectable metastases is the end-point of a complex set of biological processes only few cancer cells are capable to complete. Metastatic colonization comprises the most inefficient metastatic steps as it requires a fine-tuned crosstalk between the disseminated cancer (stem) cells and their host microenvironment. The origin of the cancer cell and its intrinsic properties are factors that together with the organ microenvironment and circulation patterns determine the site of metastatic spread, the dormancy period and the extent of metastasis formation. Recent advances provide novel insights into the molecular components required for organ-specific infiltration, the composition of growth-supportive metastatic niches in different tissues and the cancer cell-niche crosstalk.

Smc5-Smc6-dependent removal of cohesin from mitotic chromosomes.

The function of the essential cohesin-related Smc5-Smc6 complex has remained elusive, though hypomorphic mutants have defects late in recombination, in checkpoint maintenance, and in chromosome segregation. Recombination and checkpoints are not essential for viability, and Smc5-Smc6-null mutants die in lethal mitoses. This suggests that the chromosome segregation defects may be the source of lethality in irradiated Smc5-Smc6 hypomorphs. We show that in smc6 mutants, following DNA damage in interphase, chromosome arm segregation fails due to an aberrant persistence of cohesin, which is normally removed by the Separase-independent pathway. This postanaphase persistence of cohesin is not dependent on DNA damage, since the synthetic lethality of smc6 hypomorphs with a topoisomerase II mutant, defective in mitotic chromosome structure, is also due to the retention of cohesin on undamaged chromosome arms. In both cases, Separase overexpression bypasses the defect and restores cell viability, showing that defective cohesin removal is a major determinant of the mitotic lethality of Smc5-Smc6 mutants.

Smc5/6 maintains stalled replication forks in a recombination-competent conformation.

The Smc5/6 structural maintenance of chromosomes complex is required for efficient homologous recombination (HR). Defects in Smc5/6 result in chromosome mis-segregation and fragmentation. By characterising two Schizosaccharomyces pombe smc6 mutants, we define two separate functions for Smc5/6 in HR. The first represents the previously described defect in processing recombination-dependent DNA intermediates when replication forks collapse, which leads to increased rDNA recombination. The second novel function defines Smc5/6 as a positive regulator of recombination in the rDNA and correlates mechanistically with a requirement to load RPA and Rad52 onto chromatin genome-wide when replication forks are stably stalled by nucleotide depletion. Rad52 is required for all HR repair, but Rad52 loading in response to replication fork stalling is unexpected and does not correlate with damage-induced foci. We propose that Smc5/6 is required to maintain stalled forks in a stable recombination-competent conformation primed for replication restart.

Brc1-mediated rescue of Smc5/6 deficiency: requirement for multiple nucleases and a novel Rad18 function.

Smc5/6 is a structural maintenance of chromosomes complex, related to the cohesin and condensin complexes. Recent studies implicate Smc5/6 as being essential for homologous recombination. Each gene is essential, but hypomorphic alleles are defective in the repair of a diverse array of lesions. A particular allele of smc6 (smc6-74) is suppressed by overexpression of Brc1, a six-BRCT domain protein that is required for DNA repair during S-phase. This suppression requires the postreplication repair (PRR) protein Rhp18 and the structure-specific endonucleases Slx1/4 and Mus81/Eme1. However, we show here that the contribution of Rhp18 is via a novel pathway that is independent of PCNA ubiquitination and PRR. Moreover, we identify Exo1 as an additional nuclease required for Brc1-mediated suppression of smc6-74, independent of mismatch repair. Further, the Apn2 endonuclease is required for the viability of smc6 mutants without extrinsic DNA damage, although this is not due to a defect in base excision repair. Several nucleotide excision repair genes are similarly shown to ensure viability of smc6 mutants. The requirement for excision factors for the viability of smc6 mutants is consistent with an inability to respond to spontaneous lesions by Smc5/6-dependent recombination.

Smc5/6 is required for repair at collapsed replication forks.

In eukaryotes, three pairs of structural-maintenance-of-chromosome (SMC) proteins are found in conserved multisubunit protein complexes required for chromosomal organization. Cohesin, the Smc1/3 complex, mediates sister chromatid cohesion while two condensin complexes containing Smc2/4 facilitate chromosome condensation. Smc5/6 scaffolds an essential complex required for homologous recombination repair. We have examined the response of smc6 mutants to the inhibition of DNA replication. We define homologous recombination-dependent and -independent functions for Smc6 during replication inhibition and provide evidence for a Rad60-independent function within S phase, in addition to a Rad60-dependent function following S phase. Both genetic and physical data show that when forks collapse (i.e., are not stabilized by the Cds1Chk2 checkpoint), Smc6 is required for the effective repair of resulting lesions but not for the recruitment of recombination proteins. We further demonstrate that when the Rad60-dependent, post-S-phase Smc6 function is compromised, the resulting recombination-dependent DNA intermediates that accumulate following release from replication arrest are not recognized by the G2/M checkpoint.

Postreplication repair and PCNA modification in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Ubiquitination of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) plays a crucial role in regulating replication past DNA damage in eukaryotes, but the detailed mechanisms appear to vary in different organisms. We have examined the modification of PCNA in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We find that, in response to UV irradiation, PCNA is mono- and poly-ubiquitinated in a manner similar to that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However in undamaged Schizosaccharomyces pombe cells, PCNA is ubiquitinated in S phase, whereas in S. cerevisiae it is sumoylated. Furthermore we find that, unlike in S. cerevisiae, mutants defective in ubiquitination of PCNA are also sensitive to ionizing radiation, and PCNA is ubiquitinated after exposure of cells to ionizing radiation, in a manner similar to the response to UV-irradiation. We show that PCNA modification and cell cycle checkpoints represent two independent signals in response to DNA damage. Finally, we unexpectedly find that PCNA is ubiquitinated in response to DNA damage when cells are arrested in G2.