Abstract 1718: Characterization of infiltrating immune cells after irradiation using 10x genomics single cell sequencing

Abstract

Abstract Background: Radiation therapy is delivered to approximately 50% of all cancer patients. It has long been known that radiation causes not only DNA strand breaks, apoptosis, and necrosis, but also immunogenic modulation. Lately, there has been renewed interest in the potential of irradiation in colorectal cancer, not only as an adjuvant and palliative treatment, but also as an immune stimulant. Materials and Methods: CT26 murine colorectal carcinoma cells were subcutaneously implanted on the flank of BALB/c mice. Tumors were exposed to sham, single dose or fractionated radiotherapy regimens via a 300kV, 10mA X-ray with additional filtration to give a radiation quality of 2.3mm Cu half-value layer (HVL). Mice were anaesthetized, restrained and delivered a single uniform dose of radiation at a rate of 0.696Gy/min with the whole mouse being lead shielded except for a 1cm hole in the lead above the tumor site. Tumors were harvested at different timepoints post irradiation and dissociated into single cell suspensions. The tumor microenvironment and immune response within the tumors were analyzed with flow cytometry comparing the different treatment regimens. The individual CD45+ cell profile was investigated using 10x gene expression. 10x sequencing was demultiplexed using CellRanger and data analyzed using Seurat and ACTINN. Results: Following the initial cytotoxicity, flow cytometry showed a clear immune stimulatory effect of radiotherapy with immune cells infiltrating the irradiated tumors. The level of infiltration was dependent on the treatment scheduling. For single cell assessments, we observed approximately 8000 reads/cell and T-SNE cluster analysis using Seurat identified 16 clusters in control and treated samples. Identification of clusters by ACTINN demonstrated that CD8+ T-cells were increased 8-fold in irradiated samples whereas monocytes numbers decreased 3-fold. In irradiated tumors, the main population of CD8+ T-cells with increased numbers also expressed NKG7. Conclusion: These data provide evidence that radiotherapy can enhance immune cell trafficking to locally treated CT26 tumors. Furthermore, 10x genomics single cell sequencing revealed increased levels of cytotoxic T-cells expressing NKG7, a protein implicated in enhanced killing of extracellular targets. This response could prime the tumors such that they may be exploited by immune modulating drugs. Citation Format: Frida Ponthan, Valentina Ubertini, Gary Beale. Characterization of infiltrating immune cells after irradiation using 10x genomics single cell sequencing [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 1718.