Browsing by Author "Welch, Rachel L."

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    VISTA Emerges as a Promising Target against Immune Evasion Mechanisms in Medulloblastoma
    (MDPI, 2024-07-24) Muñoz Perez, Natalia; Pensabene, Juliana M.; Galbo, Phillip M., Jr.; Sadeghipour, Negar; Xiu, Joanne; Moziak, Kirsten; Yazejian, Rita M.; Welch, Rachel L.; Bell, W. Robert; Sengupta, Soma; Aulakh, Sonikpreet; Eberhart, Charles G.; Loeb, David M.; Eskandar, Emad; Zheng, Deyou; Zang, Xingxing; Martin, Allison M.; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Relapsed medulloblastoma (MB) poses a significant therapeutic challenge due to its highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have struggled to mitigate this challenge, largely due to low T-cell infiltration and minimal PD-L1 expression. Identifying the mechanisms driving low T-cell infiltration is crucial for developing more effective immunotherapies. Methods: We utilize a syngeneic mouse model to investigate the tumor immune microenvironment of MB and compare our findings to transcriptomic and proteomic data from human MB. Results: Flow cytometry reveals a notable presence of CD45hi/CD11bhi macrophage-like and CD45int/CD11bint microglia-like tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), alongside regulatory T-cells (Tregs), expressing high levels of the inhibitory checkpoint molecule VISTA. Compared to sham control mice, the CD45hi/CD11bhi compartment significantly expands in tumor-bearing mice and exhibits a myeloid-specific signature composed of VISTA, CD80, PD-L1, CTLA-4, MHCII, CD40, and CD68. These findings are corroborated by proteomic and transcriptomic analyses of human MB samples. Immunohistochemistry highlights an abundance of VISTA-expressing myeloid cells clustering at the tumor-cerebellar border, while T-cells are scarce and express FOXP3. Additionally, tumor cells exhibit immunosuppressive properties, inhibiting CD4 T-cell proliferation in vitro. Identification of VISTA's binding partner, VSIG8, on tumor cells, and its correlation with increased VISTA expression in human transcriptomic analyses suggests a potential therapeutic target. Conclusions: This study underscores the multifaceted mechanisms of immune evasion in MB and highlights the therapeutic potential of targeting the VISTA-VSIG axis to enhance anti-tumor responses.