Tumor methionine metabolism drives T-cell exhaustion in hepatocellular carcinoma

  • Man Hsin Hung
  • , Joo Sang Lee
  • , Chi Ma
  • , Laurence P. Diggs
  • , Sophia Heinrich
  • , Ching Wen Chang
  • , Lichun Ma
  • , Marshonna Forgues
  • , Anuradha Budhu
  • , Jittiporn Chaisaingmongkol
  • , Mathuros Ruchirawat
  • , Eytan Ruppin
  • , Tim F. Greten
  • , Xin Wei Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

195 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

T-cell exhaustion denotes a hypofunctional state of T lymphocytes commonly found in cancer, but how tumor cells drive T-cell exhaustion remains elusive. Here, we find T-cell exhaustion linked to overall survival in 675 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with diverse ethnicities and etiologies. Integrative omics analyses uncover oncogenic reprograming of HCC methionine recycling with elevated 5-methylthioadenosine (MTA) and S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) to be tightly linked to T-cell exhaustion. SAM and MTA induce T-cell dysfunction in vitro. Moreover, CRISPR-Cas9-mediated deletion of MAT2A, a key SAM producing enzyme, results in an inhibition of T-cell dysfunction and HCC growth in mice. Thus, reprogramming of tumor methionine metabolism may be a viable therapeutic strategy to improve HCC immunity.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1455
JournalNature Communications
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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