Profiling ovarian cancer tumor and microenvironment during disease progression for cell-based immunotherapy design

Yan-Ruide Li; Christopher J Ochoa; Yichen Zhu; Adam Kramer; Matthew Wilson; Ying Fang; Yuning Chen; Tanya Singh; Gabriella Di Bernardo; Enbo Zhu; Derek Lee; Neda A Moatamed; Joanne Bando; Jin J Zhou; Sanaz Memarzadeh; Lili Yang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107952

Profiling ovarian cancer tumor and microenvironment during disease progression for cell-based immunotherapy design

iScience. 2023 Sep 19;26(10):107952. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107952. eCollection 2023 Oct 20.

Authors

Yan-Ruide Li¹, Christopher J Ochoa^{2

3

4}, Yichen Zhu¹, Adam Kramer¹, Matthew Wilson¹, Ying Fang¹, Yuning Chen¹, Tanya Singh^{2

4

5}, Gabriella Di Bernardo^{2

4

5}, Enbo Zhu¹, Derek Lee¹, Neda A Moatamed⁶, Joanne Bando⁷, Jin J Zhou⁸, Sanaz Memarzadeh^{2

3

4

5

9}, Lili Yang^{1

3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
³ Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁴ Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁵ Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁶ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁷ Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁸ Department of Biostatistics, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁹ The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA 90073, USA.

Abstract

Ovarian cancer (OC) is highly lethal due to late detection and frequent recurrence. Initial treatments, comprising surgery and chemotherapy, lead to disease remission but are invariably associated with subsequent relapse. The identification of novel therapies and an improved understanding of the molecular and cellular characteristics of OC are urgently needed. Here, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of primary tumor cells and their microenvironment from 16 chemonaive and 10 recurrent OC patient samples. Profiling OC tumor biomarkers allowed for the identification of potential molecular targets for developing immunotherapies, while profiling the microenvironment yielded insights into its cellular composition and property changes between chemonaive and recurrent samples. Notably, we identified CD1d as a biomarker of the OC microenvironment and demonstrated its targeting by invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells. Overall, our study presents a comprehensive immuno-profiling of OC tumor and microenvironment during disease progression, guiding the development of immunotherapies for OC treatment, especially for recurrent disease.

Keywords: Cancer; Immunology; Therapy.

Abstract

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