Abstract 2649: A new role for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) as a proximal mediator of immune checkpoints (PD-L1/2 and IDO1) in non-small cell lung cancer: Insights into an interferon-induced, LncRNA-and JAK/STAT-mediated signaling pathway

Abstract Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the second most common cancer and accounts for ~127,000 deaths/year in the U.S. Its current ~30% five-year survival rate is an improvement from a decade ago thanks in part to the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors including PD1- and PD-L1-specific monoclonal antibodies. While PD-1/PD-L1-targeted immunotherapy is effective in many cases, not all patients respond and complete remissions still only occur in a minority of patients. Therefore, a greater understanding of immune checkpoint regulation in human NSCLC is needed. Here, we investigated a novel role for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), an environmental carcinogen receptor previously associated with smoking-induced lung cancers, in the regulation of immune checkpoints PD-L1, PD-L2, and IDO1. Computational analyses of existing databases for protein-protein interactions linked to the AhR signaling pathway suggested crosstalk between the AhR, type I and type II Interferon (IFN), and JAK/STAT signaling pathways. AhR deletion from human lung A549 adenocarcinoma cells significantly reduced expression of JAK2, STAT1, STAT2, and the JAK/STAT signaling targets IRF1 and IRF9. Type II IFNγ significantly increased expression of those genes as well as the immune checkpoints IDO1, PD-L1, and PD-L2 in an AhR-dependent fashion. Interestingly, AhR deletion also eliminated IFNγ-mediated induction of a recently described long non-coding RNA, INCR1, which is encoded across the CD274/CD273 locus, and which facilitates JAK2, CD274/PD-L1, and IDO1 translation. Concomitantly, AhR knockout increased baseline expression of an RNA-binding protein, HNRNPH1, known to sequester JAK2 and CD274 mRNA thereby reducing IDO, PD-L1 and PD-L2 expression. Similarly, the AhR was shown to regulate Type I IFNα-mediated induction of STAT1, STAT2, CD274/PD-L1, and CD273/PD-L2. The data indicate that IFN induction of key immune checkpoints in lung adenocarcinoma cells is dependent on the AhR through its control of a conventional JAK/STAT pathway and an unconventional lncRNA (INCR1) and RNA-binding protein (HNRNPH1) pathway. Citation Format: Brian Lara, Megan Snyder, Zhongyan Wang, Jocelyn Fimbres, Eric Yang, David H. Sherr. A new role for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) as a proximal mediator of immune checkpoints (PD-L1/2 and IDO1) in non-small cell lung cancer: Insights into an interferon-induced, LncRNA-and JAK/STAT-mediated signaling pathway [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 2649.