Golgi-ER Axis Regulates Anti-Tumor T Cell Immunotherapeutic Response

The cumulative role of cellular organelle’s in shaping the life and function of a cell has been long acknowledged. While each organelle plays a specific role in the growth and development of T cells, numerous studies have thus far focused on targeting mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, or lysosome related pathways to improve anti-tumor T cell immune response. Here we highlight the tumor microenvironment (TME) mediated disruption of Golgi architecture and function, termed Golgi stress, contributes to altered redox signaling and affects cell survival. Importantly, the decreased expression if GM130, a marker of Golgi stress and indicating the disruption of Golgi architecture, was reverted upon treatment with hydrogen sulphide (H2S) donor GYY4137, or over expressing cystathionine β-synthase (Cbs), an enzyme involved in biosynthesis of endogenous H2S. Activation and expansion of tumor reactive TCR or chimeric antigen receptor bearing T cells expanded with exogenous H2S promoted stemness, antioxidant capacity and exhibited an increase effector cytokine secretion that correlated to increased protein translation. In in vivo models of melanoma and lymphoma, anti-tumor T cells conditioned ex vivo with exogenous H2S or overexpressing Cbs demonstrated superior tumor control upon ACT. Further, sorting anti- tumor T cells based on Golgi structure and abundance resulted in identification of a Golgihi subset of T cells with a unique metabolic signature, superior fitness, and enhanced anti-tumor capacity. These data suggest that H2S can be used an immunomodulatory agent to enhance the efficacy of ACT, and that the structure and function of the Golgi apparatus is an important feature of T cells that determines their anti-tumor capacity.