Engineered skin bacteria induce antitumor T cell responses against melanoma

Certain bacterial colonists induce a highly specific T cell response. A hallmark of this encounter is that adaptive immunity develops preemptively, in the absence of an infection. However, the functional properties of colonist-induced T cells are not well defined, limiting our ability to understand anticommensal immunity and harness it therapeutically. We addressed both challenges by engineering the skin bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidis to express tumor antigens anchored to secreted or cell-surface proteins. Upon colonization, engineered S. epidermidis elicits tumor-specific T cells that circulate, infiltrate local and metastatic lesions, and exert cytotoxic activity. Thus, the immune response to a skin…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• HH
  Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• LM
  Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
• HU
  Harvard University
• CD
  Children's Discovery Institute

  Awards: CDI-CORE-2019-813, CDI-CORE-2015-505
• OP
  Open Philanthropy Project
• SN
  Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
• AP
  Astellas Pharma
• AF
  Astellas Foundation for Research on Metabolic Disorders
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Award: DK110174
• WU
  Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

  Awards: CDI-CORE-2015-505, CDI-CORE-2019-813
• CF
  Center for Cellular Imaging, Washington University
• NI
  National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• ND
  NHLBI Division of Intramural Research