Glioblastoma induces the recruitment and differentiation of dendritic-like “hybrid” neutrophils from skull bone marrow

Abstract

Tumor-associated neutrophil (TAN) effects on glioblastoma (GBM) biology remain under-characterized. We show here that neutrophils with dendritic features—including morphological complexity, expression of antigen presentation genes, and the ability to process exogenous peptide and stimulate major histocompatibility complex (MHC)II-dependent T cell activation—accumulate intratumorally and suppress tumor growth in vivo. Trajectory analysis of patient TAN scRNA-seq identifies this “hybrid” dendritic-neutrophil phenotype as a polarization state that is distinct from canonical cytotoxic TANs, and which differentiates from local precursors. These hybrid-inducible immature neutrophils—which we identified in patient and murine glioblastomas—arise not from circulation, but from local skull marrow. Through labeled skull flap transplantation and targeted ablation, we characterize calvarial marrow as a contributor of antitumoral myeloid antigen-presenting cells (APCs), including TANs, which elicit T cell cytotoxicity and memory. As such, agents augmenting neutrophil egress from skull marrow—such as intracalvarial AMD3100, whose survival-prolonging effect in GBM we report—present therapeutic potential.