Apoptotic caspases cut down the immunogenicity of radiation

ABSTRACT

Caspases are known for their ability to precipitate apoptosis. Our findings indicate that accelerating the terminal inactivation of cells dying in response to radiation therapy limit their immunogenicity as a consequence of reduced type I interferon secretion. Thus, caspase inhibitors stand out as promising combinatorial partners to improve the immunogenicity of radiation therapy in the clinic.

KEYWORDS:

• CASP3
• CGAS
• immune checkpoint blockers
• mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization
• PGE₂
• SLC7A2

Acknowledgments

The Galluzzi Lab is supported by a Breakthrough Level 2 grant from the US Department of Defense (DoD), Breast Cancer Research Program (BRCP) [#BC180476P1], by a startup grant from the Dept. of Radiation Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine (New York, US), by industrial collaborations with Lytix (Oslo, Norway) and Phosplatin (New York, US), and by donations from Phosplatin (New York, US), the Luke Heller TECPR2 Foundation (Boston, US) and Sotio a.s. (Prague, Czech Republic).

Disclosures

LG provides remunerated consulting to OmniSEQ (Buffalo, NY, USA), Astra Zeneca (Gaithersburg, MD, USA), Inzen (New York, NY, USA) and the Luke Heller TECPR2 Foundation (Boston, MA, USA), and he is member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of OmniSEQ (Buffalo, NY, USA).