Convergent Identification and Interrogation of Tumor-Intrinsic Factors that Modulate Cancer Immunity In Vivo

Cell Syst. 2019 Feb 27;8(2):136-151.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.cels.2019.01.004. Epub 2019 Feb 20.

Abstract

The genetic makeup of cancer cells directs oncogenesis and influences the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we massively profiled genes that functionally drive tumorigenesis using genome-scale in vivo CRISPR screens in hosts with different levels of immunocompetence. As a convergent hit from these screens, Prkar1a mutant cells are able to robustly outgrow as tumors in fully immunocompetent hosts. Functional interrogation showed that Prkar1a loss greatly altered the transcriptome and proteome involved in inflammatory and immune responses as well as extracellular protein production. Single-cell transcriptomic profiling and flow cytometry analysis mapped the tumor microenvironment of Prkar1a mutant tumors and revealed the transcriptomic alterations in host myeloid cells. Taken together, our data suggest that tumor-intrinsic mutations in Prkar1a lead to drastic alterations in the genetic program of cancer cells, thereby remodeling the tumor microenvironment.

Keywords: Prkar1a; cancer genomics; cancer immunology; in vivo CRISPR screen; transformation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats / genetics*
  • Gene Expression Profiling / methods*
  • Neoplasms / genetics*