BET inhibition triggers antitumor immunity by enhancing MHC class I expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

BET inhibition has been shown to have a promising antitumor effect in multiple tumors. However, the impact of BET inhibi-tion on antitumor immunity was still not well documented in HNSCC. In this study, we aim to assess the functional role of BET inhibition in antitumor immunity and clarify its mecha-nism. We show that BRD4 is highly expressed in HNSCC and inversely correlated with the infiltration of CD8+ T cells. BET inhibition potentiates CD8+ T cell-based antitumor immunity in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, BRD4 acts as a transcrip-tional suppressor and represses the expression of MHC class I molecules by recruiting G9a. Pharmacological inhibition or ge-netic depletion of BRD4 potently increases the expression of MHC class I molecules in the absence and presence of IFN-g. Moreover, compared to PD-1 blocking antibody treatment or JQ1 treatment individually, the combination of BET inhibition with anti-PD-1 antibody treatment significantly enhances the antitumor response in HNSCC. Taken together, our data un-veil a novel mechanism by which BET inhibition potentiates antitumor immunity via promoting the expression of MHC class I molecules and provides a rationale for the combination of ICBs with BET inhibitors for HNSCC treatment.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates that BET inhibition enhances CD8+ T cell-based antitumor immunity in HNSCC by promoting the expression of MHC class I molecules. It also shows that the combination of BET inhibition with anti-PD-1 antibody treatment significantly enhances the antitumor response in HNSCC.