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[Report] MYC regulates the antitumor immune response through CD47 and PD-L1

ScienceNOW - Fetched: April 7th, 2016, 4:00pm UTC

The MYC oncogene codes for a transcription factor that is overexpressed in many human cancers. Here we show that MYC regulates the expression of two immune checkpoint proteins on the tumor cell surface: the innate immune regulator CD47 (cluster of differentiation 47) and the adaptive immune checkpoint PD-L1 (programmed death–ligand 1). Suppression of MYC in mouse tumors and human tumor cells caused a reduction in the levels of CD47 and PD-L1 messenger RNA and protein. MYC was found to bind directly to the promoters of the Cd47 and Pd-l1 genes. MYC inactivation in mouse tumors down-regulated CD47 and PD-L1 expression and enhanced the antitumor immune response. In contrast, when MYC was inactivated in tumors with enforced expression of CD47 or PD-L1, the immune response was suppressed, and tumors continued to grow. Thus, MYC appears to initiate and maintain tumorigenesis, in part, through the modulation of immune regulatory molecules. Authors: Stephanie C. Casey, Ling Tong, Yulin Li, Rachel Do, Susanne Walz, Kelly N. Fitzgerald, Arvin M. Gouw, Virginie Baylot, Ines Gütgemann, Martin Eilers, Dean W. Felsher

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