miR-155 harnesses Phf19 to potentiate cancer immunotherapy through epigenetic reprogramming of CD8+ T cell fate

Ji, Yun; Di Croce, Luciano; Gattinoni, Luca

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09882-8

miR-155 harnesses Phf19 to potentiate cancer immunotherapy through epigenetic reprogramming of CD8+ T cell fate

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Ji Y, Fioravanti J, Zhu W, Wang H, Wu T, Hu J et al. miR-155 harnesses Phf19 to potentiate cancer immunotherapy through epigenetic reprogramming of CD8+ T cell fate. Nat Commun. 2019 May 14;10(1):2157. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09882-8

Abstract

T cell senescence and exhaustion are major barriers to successful cancer immunotherapy. Here we show that miR-155 increases CD8+ T cell antitumor function by restraining T cell senescence and functional exhaustion through epigenetic silencing of drivers of terminal differentiation. miR-155 enhances Polycomb repressor complex 2 (PRC2) activity indirectly by promoting the expression of the PRC2-associated factor Phf19 through downregulation of the Akt inhibitor, Ship1. Phf19 orchestrates a transcriptional program extensively shared with miR-155 to restrain T cell senescence and sustain CD8+ T cell antitumor responses. These effects rely on Phf19 histone-binding capacity, which is critical for the recruitment of PRC2 to the target chromatin. These findings establish the miR-155-Phf19-PRC2 as a pivotal axis regulating CD8+ T cell differentiation, thereby paving new ways for potentiating cancer immunotherapy through epigenetic reprogramming of CD8+ T cell fate.