CD137 (4-1BB) stimulation leads to metabolic and functional reprogramming of human monocytes/macrophages enhancing their tumoricidal activity

Stoll A, Bruns H, Fuchs M, Nimmerjahn F, Kunz M, Peipp M, Mackensen A, Mougiakakos D, Völkl S (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Leukemia Springer Nature

DOI: 10.1038/s41375-021-01287-1

Abstract

Immunotherapies have heralded a new era in the cancer treatment. In addition to checkpoint inhibitors, agonistic antibodies against co-stimulatory immune receptors hold the potential to invoke efficient antitumor immunity. Targeting CD137 has gained momentum based on its ability to drive NK- and T-cell-based responses. CD137-engaging mAbs have already entered clinical trials for different types of tumors showing promising results. Despite the efforts to translate CD137-mediated immunotherapy into clinical practice, little remains known regarding the role of CD137 in human monocytes/macrophages. We found CD137 being expressed on monocytes of healthy controls and at even higher levels in patients with multiple myeloma or CLL. CD137HI(GH) monocytes displayed a distinct phenotypic, transcriptomic, and metabolic profile. They possessed an increased phagocytic capacity enabling superior antibody-dependent phagocytosis (ADPC) of multiple myeloma and lymphoma cells that were treated with anti-CD38 or anti-CD20 mAbs. Triggering CD137 promoted both metabolic and tumoricidal activity in an extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-dependent fashion. In addition, we observed a phenotypic, transcriptomic, and functional skewing towards a M1-like phenotype. Overall, we introduce CD137 as a positive immune checkpoint on human monocytes/macrophages, which can have therapeutic implications especially in view of synergistic effects when combining CD137 agonists with tumor-targeting antibodies.

Authors with CRIS profile

Andrej Stoll Department of Medicine 5 – Haematology and Oncology Heiko Bruns Department of Medicine 5 – Haematology and Oncology Maximilian Fuchs Lehrstuhl für Medizinische Informatik Falk Nimmerjahn Lehrstuhl für Genetik Meik Kunz Lehrstuhl für Medizinische Informatik Andreas Mackensen Lehrstuhl für Innere Medizin V Dimitrios Mougiakakos Professur für Hämatologie/Onkologie mit dem Schwerpunkt Tumorimmunologie Simon Völkl Department of Medicine 5 – Haematology and Oncology

Involved external institutions

Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Stoll, A., Bruns, H., Fuchs, M., Nimmerjahn, F., Kunz, M., Peipp, M.,... Völkl, S. (2021). CD137 (4-1BB) stimulation leads to metabolic and functional reprogramming of human monocytes/macrophages enhancing their tumoricidal activity. Leukemia. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41375-021-01287-1

MLA:

Stoll, Andrej, et al. "CD137 (4-1BB) stimulation leads to metabolic and functional reprogramming of human monocytes/macrophages enhancing their tumoricidal activity." Leukemia (2021).

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