PRKCI promotes immune suppression in ovarian cancer

Abstract

A key feature of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) is frequent amplification of the 3q26 locus harboring PRKC-ι (PRKCI). Here, we show that PRKCI is also expressed in early fallopian tube lesions, called serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma. Transgenic mouse studies establish PRKCI as an ovarian cancer-specific oncogene. Mechanistically, we show that the oncogenic activity of PRKCI relates in part to the up-regulation of TNFα to promote an immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment characterized by an abundance of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and inhibition of cytotoxic T-cell infiltration. Furthermore, system-level and functional analyses identify YAP1 as a downstream effector in tumor progression. In human ovarian cancers, high PRKCI expression also correlates with high expression of TNFα and YAP1 and low infiltration of cytotoxic T cells. The PRKCI–YAP1 regulation of the tumor immunity provides a therapeutic strategy for highly lethal ovarian cancer.