Abstract 4583: Potential role of neuropilin-2 in the regulation of c-MET-induced PD-L1 expression in renal cancer cells

Abstract

Abstract Neuropilin-1 and -2 (NRP1 and NRP2) are the transmembrane glycoproteins that act as co-receptors for class III semaphorins and several members of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family. In conjunction with VEGF receptors and plexins, NRPs and semaphorins modulate various biological responses. Recent studies suggest that NRPs are up-regulated in many types of cancer cells, and may play a major role in tumor growth. In addition to semaphorins and VEGF, NRP1 and NRP2 can also bind to hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), which is the ligand for the tyrosine kinase receptor c-MET. c-MET is highly over-expressed in renal cancer cells; however, the impact of NRPs on c-MET-mediated tumorigenic pathways have not been studied. Recently, we have reported that HGF-/c-MET-induced signaling increases the expression of immunosuppressive and negative-co-stimulatory molecule programmed death-1 ligand (PD-L1) on renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells, and it protects tumor cells from immune-mediated killing. In this study, we investigated whether NRPs and its ligands can modulate the expression of HGF-/c-MET-induced PD-L1. We have observed that NRP2, and to a lesser extent NRP1, is over-expressed in human RCC cell lines (786-O, ACHN and Caki-1) compared with normal renal epithelial cells at both mRNA and protein level. siRNA-mediated silencing of NRP1 and NRP2 promoted apoptosis of renal cancer cells, suggesting possible role(s) of NRPs in tumor growth. The knock-down of NRP2 down-regulated the cell surface expression of PD-L1 possibly through the reduced interaction of growth-promoting ligands (like, HGF) with NRP2. Interestingly, SEMA3F, a class III semaphorin ligand for both NRP1 and NRP2, has been reported to have anti-tumorigenic effects. We observed that SEMA3F was significantly down-regulated in RCC cells compared with normal renal epithelial cells; and when we added SEMA3F to the cultures of renal cancer cells, it down-regulated both basal and HGF-/c-MET-induced PD-L1 expression. Together, our findings suggest that NRPs (primarily NRP2) can play a critical role in regulating HGF-/c-MET-induced PD-L1 expression in renal cancer cells to mediate immune escape of tumor cells. Therefore targeting NRP2 and/or its activation through SEMA3F/synthetic ligands may restrict c-MET-PD-L1-induced tumor promoting pathways in renal cancer cells. Citation Format: Murugabaskar Balan, Soumitro Pal. Potential role of neuropilin-2 in the regulation of c-MET-induced PD-L1 expression in renal cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 4583.