CBX2 suppresses interferon signaling to diminish tumor immunogenicity via a noncanonical corepressor complex.

Abstract

Chromobox 2 (CBX2), a crucial component of the polycomb repressive complex (PRC), has been implicated in the development of various human cancers. However, its role in the regulation of tumor immunogenicity and immune evasion remains inadequately understood. In this study, we found that ablation of CBX2 led to tumor growth inhibition, activation of the tumor immune microenvironment, and enhanced therapeutic efficacy of anti-PD1 or adoptive T cell therapies by using murine syngeneic tumor models. By analysis of the CBX2-regulated transcriptional program coupled with mass spectrometry screening of CBX2-interacting proteins, we found that CBX2 suppresses interferon signaling independent of its function in the canonical PRC. Mechanistically, CBX2 directly interacts with RACK1 and facilitates the recruitment of HDAC1, which attenuates the H3K27ac modification on the promoter regions of interferon-stimulated genes, thereby suppressing interferon signaling. Consequently, CBX2 reduces tumor immunogenicity and enables immune evasion. Moreover, a high expression level of CBX2 is associated with immune suppressive tumor microenvironment and reduced efficacy of immunotherapy across various human cancer types. Our study identifies a noncanonical CBX2-RACK1-HDAC1 corepressor complex in suppression of tumor immunogenicity, thereby presenting a potential target and biomarker for tumor immunotherapy.