Abstract 1688: Nuclear receptor coactivator SRC-1 promotes colorectal cancer immune escape by enhancing PD-L1 transcription and protein stability

Abstract Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), one of the immunosuppressive molecules, overexpresses in multiple cancers and is critical for their immune escape. We previously showed that the nuclear coactivator SRC-1 promoted colorectal cancer (CRC) progression by enhancing CRC cell viability; however, the role of SRC-1 in CRC immune escape is unclear. Here, we demonstrated that SRC-1 was positively correlated with PD-L1 in human CRC specimens. SRC-1 deficiency significantly inhibited PD-L1 expression in both human and murine CRC cells and retarded murine CRC growth in subcutaneous grafts by enhancing CRC immune escape via increasing tumor infiltration and antitumor activity of effector CD8+ T cells. Genetic ablation of SRC-1 in mice also decreased PD-L1 expression in AOM/DSS-induced murine CRC. These results suggest that tumor-derived SRC-1 promotes CRC immune escape by enhancing PD-L1 expression. Mechanistically, SRC-1 activated JAK-STAT signaling by inhibiting SOCS1 expression and coactivated STAT3 and IRF1 to enhance PD-L1 transcription as well as stabilized PD-L1 protein by inhibiting proteasome-dependent degradation mediated by speckle type POZ protein (SPOP). Pharmacological inhibition of SRC-1 improved the antitumor effect of PD-L1 antibody in both subcutaneous graft and AOM/DSS-induced murine CRC models. Taken together, our findings highlight a crucial role of SRC-1 in facilitating CRC immune escape and targeting SRC-1 in combination with PD-L1 antibody immunotherapy may be an attractive strategy for CRC treatment. Citation Format: Yilin Hong, Qiang Chen, Zinan Wang, Yong Zhang, Bei Li, Xu Kong, Pingli Mo, Nengming Xiao, Jianming Xu, Yunbin Ye, Chundong Yu. Nuclear receptor coactivator SRC-1 promotes colorectal cancer immune escape by enhancing PD-L1 transcription and protein stability [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 1688.