Activation of NKT cells in an anti-PD-1–resistant tumor model enhances antitumor immunity by reinvigorating exhausted CD8 T cells

Abstract

PD-1–based cancer immunotherapy is a successful example of immune checkpoint blockade that provides long-term durable therapeutic effects in patients with cancer across a wide spectrum of cancer types. Accumulating evidence suggests that anti-PD-1 therapy enhances antitumor immunity by reversing the function of exhausted T cells in the tumor environment. However, the responsiveness rate of patients with cancer to anti-PD-1 therapy remains low, providing an urgent need for optimization and improvement. In this study, we designed an anti-PD-1–resistant mouse tumor model and showed that unresponsiveness to anti-PD-1 is associated with a gradual increase in CD8 T-cell exhaustion. We also found that invariant natural killer T cell stimulation by the synthetic ligand a-galactosylceramide (aGC) can enhance the antitumor effect in anti-PD-1–resistant tumors by restoring the effector function of tumor antigen–specific exhausted CD8 T cells. IL2 and IL12 were among the cytokines produced by aGC stimulation critical for reinvigorating exhausted CD8 T cells in tumor-bearing mice and patients with cancer. Furthermore, we observed a synergistic increase in the antitumor effect between aGC-loaded antigen-presenting cells and PD-1 blockade in a therapeutic murine tumor model. Our study suggests NKT cell stimulation as a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of patients with anti-PD-1–resistant cancer. Significance: These findings provide mechanistic insights into the application of NKT cell stimulation as a potent adjuvant for immunotherapy against advanced cancer.