TAMI-65. FASN-MEDIATED LIPID SYNTHESIS HAMPERS ANTI-CANCER IMMUNITY OF GLIOBLASTOMA

Abstract

Abstract Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive type of primary brain tumor in adults. Radiation therapy (RT) is an essential modality for GBM treatment and is recognized to stimulate anti-cancer immunity by at least generating type I interferon (IFN-I) responses. However, RT also exacerbates potent immune inhibitory mechanisms that facilitate immune evasion. Notably, increased lipid synthesis by the fatty acid synthase (FASN) is an emerging mechanism that can account for the deceiving treatment efficacy and immune escape of GBM. Therefore, we hypothesize that FASN-mediated lipid synthesis represents an innate immune evasion mechanism of irradiated GBM. Supporting this hypothesis, we observed that 10 gray (Gy) irradiation of murine GBM cell lines, GL261 and CT2A, upregulates FASN protein expression and increase cellular lipid content determined by BODIPY staining and electronic microscopy. Interestingly, this effect was abrogated when GBM cells were incubated with an inhibitor of FASN. Next, to ask whether FASN was impairing RT-induced IFN-I, GL261 and CT2A cells were engineered to express an inducible shRNA silencing FASN (GBMshFASN) or its non-silencing control (GBMshNS). Irradiation of GBMshNS cells enhanced the secretion of IFN-beta and CXCL10, but this effect was more pronounced when FASN was blocked. Finally, GBMshNS and GBMshFASN cells were orthotopically implanted in mice on day 0. On day 10, selective irradiation (10Gy) was performed to the tumor. Tumor growth and immune contexture were evaluated on day 17. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed that FASN knockdown reduces tumor growth independently from RT. However, in situ immunofluorescence of GBMshFASN tumors showed increased infiltration of CD8+ T cells and CD11c+ cells only in irradiated mice bearing GBMshFASN tumors. Altogether, our data suggest that RT rewires the energy supply of GBM by promoting FASN-mediated lipid synthesis to foster immune evasion. Targeting FASN is a promising strategy to promote anti-cancer immunity and sensitize irradiated GBM to immunotherapies.