A G-quadruplex stabilizer, CX-5461 combined with two immune checkpoint inhibitors enhances in vivo therapeutic efficacy by increasing PD-L1 expression in colorectal cancer

Shin Yi Chung, Yu Chan Chang, Dennis Shin Shian Hsu, Ya Chi Hung, Meng Lun Lu, Yi Ping Hung, Nai Jung Chiang, Chun Nan Yeh, Michael Hsiao, John Soong, Yeu Su*, Ming Huang Chen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) alone or in combination with chemotherapy can improve the limited efficacy of colorectal cancer (CRC) immunotherapy. CX-5461 causes substantial DNA damage and genomic instability and can increase ICIs’ therapeutic efficacies through tumor microenvironment alteration. Results: We analyzed whether CX-5461 enhances ICIs’ effects in CRC and discovered that CX-5461 causes severe DNA damage, including cytosolic dsDNA appearance, in various human and mouse CRC cells. Our bioinformatics analysis predicted CX-5461-based interferon (IFN) signaling pathway activation in these cells, which was verified by the finding that CX-5461 induces IFN-α and IFN-β secretion in these cells. Next, cGAMP, phospho-IRF3, CCL5, and CXCL10 levels exhibited significant posttreatment increases in CRC cells, indicating that CX-5461 activates the cGAS-STING-IFN pathway. CX-5461 also enhanced PD-L1 expression through STAT1 activation. CX-5461 alone inhibited tumor growth and prolonged survival in mice. CX-5461+anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 alone exhibited synergistic growth-suppressive effects against CRC and breast cancer. CX-5461 alone or CX-5461+anti-PD-1 increased cytotoxic T-cell numbers and reduced myeloid-derived suppressor cell numbers in mouse spleens. Conclusions: Therefore, clinically, CX-5461 combined with ICIs for CRC therapy warrants consideration because CX-5461 can turn cold tumors into hot ones.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100856
JournalNeoplasia
Volume35
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2023

Keywords

  • CX-5461
  • Colorectal cancer
  • G-quadruplex
  • Immunotherapy
  • PD-L1

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