Funding
Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM)
HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council (ERC)
Institut National Du Cancer (INCa)
Institut Universitaire de France (IUF)
Ligue Contre le Cancer (French League Against Cancer)
Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)
Labex Immuno-Oncology (ImmunoOnco)
Mark Foundation For Cancer Research (The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research)
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Elitenetzwerk Bayern (ENB)
Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Klinische Forschung, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg (IZKF Würzburg)
NIH/NCI
US DoD BCRP
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C)
Association pour la recherche sur la cancer
ARTICLE ABSTRACT
We developed a phenotypic screening platform for the functional exploration of dendritic cells (DC). Here, we report a genome-wide CRISPR screen that revealed BCL2 as an endogenous inhibitor of DC function. Knockout of BCL2 enhanced DC antigen presentation and activation as well as the capacity of DCs to control tumors and to synergize with PD-1 blockade. The pharmacologic BCL2 inhibitors venetoclax and navitoclax phenocopied these effects and caused a cDC1-dependent regression of orthotopic lung cancers and fibrosarcomas. Thus, solid tumors failed to respond to BCL2 inhibition in mice constitutively devoid of cDC1, and this was reversed by the infusion of DCs. Moreover, cDC1 depletion reduced the therapeutic efficacy of BCL2 inhibitors alone or in combination with PD-1 blockade and treatment with venetoclax caused cDC1 activation, both in mice and in patients. In conclusion, genetic and pharmacologic BCL2 inhibition unveils a DC-specific immune checkpoint that restrains tumor immunosurveillance.
BCL2 inhibition improves the capacity of DCs to stimulate anticancer immunity and restrain cancer growth in an immunocompetent context but not in mice lacking cDC1 or mature T cells. This study indicates that BCL2 blockade can be used to sensitize solid cancers to PD-1/PD-L1–targeting immunotherapy.This article is featured in Selected Articles from This Issue, p. 2293
