Heidegger, S., Wintges, A., Stritzke, F., Bek, S., Steiger, K., Koenig, P. A., Gottert, S., Engleitner, T., Ollinger, R., Nedelko, T., Fischer, J. C., Makarov, V., Winter, C., Rad, R., van den Brink, M. R. M., Ruland, J., Bassermann, F., Chan, T. A., Haas, T., Poeck, H. (2019). Sci Immunol 4.
DOI:10.1126/sciimmunol.aau8943(link is external)
Achieving durable clinical responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors remains a challenge. Here, we demonstrate that immunotherapy with anti–CTLA-4 and its combination with anti–PD-1 rely on tumor cell–intrinsic activation of the cytosolic RNA receptor RIG-I. Mechanistically, tumor cell–intrinsic RIG-I signaling induced caspase-3–mediated tumor cell death, cross-presentation of tumor-associated antigen by CD103+ dendritic cells, subsequent expansion of tumor antigen–specific CD8+ T cells, and their accumulation within the tumor tissue. Consistently, therapeutic targeting of RIG-I with 5′– triphosphorylated RNA in both tumor and nonmalignant host cells potently augmented the efficacy of CTLA-4 checkpoint blockade in several preclinical cancer models. In humans, transcriptome analysis of primary melanoma samples revealed a strong association between high expression of DDX58 (the gene encoding RIG-I), T cell receptor and antigen presentation pathway activity, and prolonged overall survival. Moreover, in patients with melanoma treated with anti–CTLA-4 checkpoint blockade, high DDX58 RIG-I transcriptional activity significantly associated with durable clinical responses. Our data thus identify activation of RIG-I signaling in tumors and their microenvironment as a crucial component for checkpoint inhibitor–mediated immunotherapy of cancer.
