Abstract Genetic and epigenetic alterations play central roles in shaping the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) to evade immune surveillance. The previous study shows that SETD2‐H3K36me3 loss promotes KRAS‐induced pancreatic tumorigenesis. However, little is known about its role in remodeling the TME and immune evasion. Here, it is shown that SETD2 deficiency can reprogram neutrophils to an immunosuppressive phenotype, thereby promoting immune escape during pancreatic tumor progression. By comprehensive profiling of the intratumoral immune cells, neutrophils are identified as the subset with the most significant changes upon Setd2 loss. Setd2 ‐deficient pancreatic tumor cells directly enhance neutrophil recruitment and reprogramming, thereby inhibiting the cytotoxicity of CD8 + T cells to foster tumor progression. Mechanistically, it is revealed that Setd2 ‐H3K36me3 loss leads to ectopic gain of H3K27me3 to downregulate Cxadr expression, which boosts the PI3K‐AKT pathway and excessive expression of CXCL1 and GM‐CSF, thereby promoting neutrophil recruitment and reprogramming toward an immunosuppressive phenotype. The study provides mechanistic insights into how tumor cell‐intrinsic Setd2 deficiency strengthens the immune escape during pancreatic tumorigenesis, which may offer potential therapeutic implications for pancreatic cancer patients with SETD2 deficiency.
Abstract Background Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the leading contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide, with a prevalence of nearly three million people, and more than one million deaths reported in the United States every year. Gasdermin D (GSDMD) is involved in the development of atherosclerosis as a key protein of proptosis. This study was designed to determine the potential relationship of GSDMD with AMI in Chinese patients. Methods One hundred patients with AMI and 50 controls were consecutively enrolled in this prospective observational study. GSDMD expression levels and other clinical variables in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were measured upon admission to the hospital. All patients were followed up for 360 days, and the endpoint was considered the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Results GSDMD expression levels in the PBMCs of patients with AMI were significantly higher than those in the controls. Moreover, our analysis showed that GSDMD was an independent biomarker of AMI and had a promising diagnostic ability for it. Finally, the results suggested that high expression of GSDMD and diabetes increased the risk of MACE after AMI. Conclusions This study indicated that the GSDMD expression level in PBMCs was elevated in AMI patients and was closely associated with the pyroptosis of AMI.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) relies heavily on glutamine (Gln) utilization to meet its metabolic and biosynthetic needs. How epigenetic regulators contribute to the metabolic flexibility and PDAC's response and adaptation to Gln scarcity in the tumor milieu remains largely unknown. Here, we elucidate that prolonged Gln restriction or treatment with the Gln antagonist, 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON), leads to growth inhibition and ferroptosis program activation in PDAC. A CRISPR-Cas9 screen identifies an epigenetic regulator, Paxip1, which promotes H3K4me3 upregulation and Hmox1 transcription upon DON treatment. Additionally, ferroptosis-related repressors (e.g., Slc7a11 and Gpx4) are increased as an adaptive response, thereby predisposing PDAC cells to ferroptosis upon Gln deprivation. Moreover, DON sensitizes PDAC cells to GPX4 inhibitor-induced ferroptosis, both in vitro and in patient-derived xenografts (PDXs). Taken together, our findings reveal that targeting Gln dependency confers susceptibility to GPX4-dependent ferroptosis via epigenetic remodeling and provides a combination strategy for PDAC therapy.