Abstract P42: SEROTONIN RECEPTOR 5-HT2A AS A POTENTIAL TARGET FOR HCC IMMUNOTHERAPY

Abstract

While recent clinical trials of combination immunotherapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have shown promising clinical efficacy and survival improvements breakthroughs, there is still much room for further improvement. A key limiting factor for HCC immunotherapy is the intrinsic immunosuppression within the liver microenvironment, resulting in suboptimal priming of tumour-specific CD8 cytotoxic T cells and thus immune evasion by the tumour. Hence, identifying new key molecular pathways suppressing T cell responses within the liver is critical for the rational design of more effective combination immunotherapies for HCC. Here, we present evidence that targeting 5-HT2A serotonin receptor signalling could be a viable approach for HCC immunotherapy. Disruption of 5-HT2A signalling using either a selective antagonist small molecule, ketanserin, or by knockout of its coding gene Htr2a, augments the cytotoxic effector phenotype of mouse CD8 T cells activated in vitro with immunosuppressive liver NPCs. Ketanserin treatment of in vitro activated human CD8 T cells also increased expression of the cytotoxic effector molecules Granzyme B and perforin. Abrogation of 5-HT2A signalling was associated with increased expression of cytotoxicity-related genes such as Granzyme B and reduced expression of transcription factors downstream of MAP kinase signalling. In vivo, systemic ketanserin treatment significantly prolonged survival of HCC tumour-bearing mice and was non-inferior to αPDL1 + αVEGFA combination antibody treatment. Combining ketanserin with αPDL1 + αVEGFA antibodies also significantly prolonged survival relative to control-treated mice while preserving the occurrence of complete tumour regression observed with αPDL1 + αVEGFA treatment alone. Together, our data describe a role for 5-HT2A as a negative regulator of the cytotoxic effector phenotype in CD8 T cells and highlight the therapeutic potential of targeting 5-HT2A for HCC immunotherapy.