Jeon and Kang et al. studied intratumoral Treg heterogeneity to identify potential selective Treg-directed targets. Flow cytometry and scRNAseq analysis of tumors and peripheral blood from 42 patients with renal cell carcinoma and 5 with ovarian cancer showed CEACAM1 was selectively upregulated on intratumoral Tregs compared to peripheral Tregs and other immune cells. CEACAM1+ Tregs were functionally highly suppressive and activated, and accumulated with tumor progression. In vitro depletion of CEACAM1+ cells from TILs selectively depleted Tregs, leading to enhanced efficacy with anti-PD-1, suggesting translational potential.

Contributed by Katherine Turner

PURPOSE: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) exert immunosuppressive functions and hamper anti-tumor immune responses in the tumor microenvironment. Understanding the heterogeneity of intratumoral Tregs, and how it changes with tumor progression, will provide clues regarding novel target molecules of Treg-directed therapies. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: From 42 patients with renal cell carcinoma and 5 patients with ovarian cancer, immune cells from tumor and peripheral blood were isolated. We performed multicolor flow cytometry and RNA-sequencing to characterize the phenotypes and heterogeneity of intratumoral Tregs. In vitro functional assays were performed to evaluate suppressive capacity of Tregs and effect of CEACAM1-mediated depletion. The CT26 tumor model was used to evaluate the association between intratumoral Tregs and tumor growth, and examine the in vivo role of CEACAM1+ intratumoral Tregs on anti-tumor immunity. RESULTS: We found that carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) was selectively expressed on intratumoral Tregs, while its expression on peripheral Tregs or other immune cells was low. The CEACAM1+ intratumoral Tregs accumulated with tumor progression, while the CEACAM1- subset did not. Notably, we found that CEACAM1 marked intratumoral Tregs that exhibited highly suppressive and activated phenotypes with substantial clonal expansion. Depletion of CEACAM1-expressing cells from tumor-infiltrating leukocytes led to increased effector functions of tumor-infiltrating T cells. Moreover, CEACAM1+ cell depletion further enhanced anti-PD-1--mediated reinvigoration of exhausted CD8+ T cells. CONCLUSIONS: CEACAM1 marks highly suppressive subset of intratumoral Tregs, and can be a target for selective depletion of intratumoral Tregs. These results may inform future studies on CEACAM1-mediated depletion in cancer patients.

Author Info: (1) Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea (South), Republic of. (2) Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea (South), Re

Author Info: (1) Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea (South), Republic of. (2) Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea (South), Republic of. (3) Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea (South), Republic of. (4) Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea (South), Republic of. (5) Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea (South), Republic of. (6) Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea (South), Republic of. (7) Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea (South), Republic of. (8) Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea (South), Republic of. (9) Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (South), Republic of. (10) Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (South), Republic of. (11) Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea (South), Republic of. (12) Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea (South), Republic of. (13) Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea (South), Republic of.