GSK3 Inhibition Drives Maturation of NK Cells and Enhances Their Antitumor Activity

In this study, we show that pharmacologic inhibition of GSK3 kinase in peripheral blood NK cells expanded ex vivo with IL15 greatly enhances CD57 upregulation and late-stage maturation. GSK3 inhibition elevated the expression of several transcription factors associated with late-stage NK-cell maturation including T-BET, ZEB2, and BLIMP-1 without affecting viability or proliferation. When exposed to human cancer cells, NK cell expanded ex vivo in the presence of a GSK3 inhibitor exhibited significantly higher production of TNF and IFNγ, elevated natural cytotoxicity, and increased antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. In an established mouse xenograft model of ovarian cancer, adoptive transfer of NK cells conditioned in the same way also displayed more robust and durable tumor control. Our findings show how GSK3 kinase inhibition can greatly enhance the mature character of NK cells most desired for effective cancer immunotherapy. Cancer Res; 77(20); 5664–75. ©2017 AACR.

Source: Cancer Research - October 15, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Frank Cichocki, Bahram Valamehr, Ryan Bjordahl, Bin Zhang, Betsy Rezner, Paul Rogers, Svetlana Gaidarova, Stacey Moreno, Katie Tuininga, Phillip Dougherty, Valarie McCullar, Peter Howard, Dhifaf Sarhan, Emily Taras, Heinrich Schlums, Stewart Abbot, Daniel Tags: Microenvironment and Immunology Source Type: research