<p>Gastric cancer (GC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide. Neural invasion (NI) is a common pathological behavior that worsens the prognosis in GC. However, the immune microenvironment of neural invasion-positive GC (NI<sup>+</sup>GC) and its potential therapeutic implications remain poorly defined. Here, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) on tumor specimens from patients with NI<sup>+</sup>GC and neural invasion-negative GC (NI<sup>−</sup>GC) to comprehensively delineate the immune landscape. Our analysis revealed a significant enrichment of exhausted ANXA1<sup>+</sup>CD8<sup>+</sup>T cells within NI<sup>+</sup>GC tissues, which was validated by flow cytometry and multiplex immunohistochemistry assays. Clinically, patients with greater infiltration of ANXA1<sup>+</sup>CD8<sup>+</sup> T cells had worse overall survival and disease progression. Mechanistically, ANXA1 bound to TRKA via N-terminal region, blocking NEDD4L-mediated ubiquitination and degradation of TRKA, thereby suppressing glycolytic metabolism and driving CD8⁺T cell exhaustion. Tumor-derived nerve growth factor (NGF) further amplified this exhaustion via TRKA engagement. Importantly, treatment with an ANXA1-derived peptide (A11) combined with TRKA inhibitors synergistically reversed T cell exhaustion and suppressed tumor growth in preclinical models. These findings unveil distinctive features of the immune microenvironment in NI<sup>+</sup>GC and elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms of ANXA1/TRKA axis in facilitating immune evasion, which offer new insights for enhancing the sensitivity of immunotherapy to NI<sup>+</sup>GC patients.</p>

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Targeting ANXA1/TRKA axis enhances immunotherapy sensitivity in neural invasion-positive gastric cancer

  • Tianlu Jiang,
  • Peng Zhou,
  • Yikai Shen,
  • Jie Lin,
  • Ying Li,
  • Xusheng Shen,
  • Lang Fang,
  • Penghui Xu,
  • Zekuan Xu,
  • Linjun Wang,
  • Yiwen Xia

摘要

Gastric cancer (GC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide. Neural invasion (NI) is a common pathological behavior that worsens the prognosis in GC. However, the immune microenvironment of neural invasion-positive GC (NI+GC) and its potential therapeutic implications remain poorly defined. Here, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) on tumor specimens from patients with NI+GC and neural invasion-negative GC (NIGC) to comprehensively delineate the immune landscape. Our analysis revealed a significant enrichment of exhausted ANXA1+CD8+T cells within NI+GC tissues, which was validated by flow cytometry and multiplex immunohistochemistry assays. Clinically, patients with greater infiltration of ANXA1+CD8+ T cells had worse overall survival and disease progression. Mechanistically, ANXA1 bound to TRKA via N-terminal region, blocking NEDD4L-mediated ubiquitination and degradation of TRKA, thereby suppressing glycolytic metabolism and driving CD8⁺T cell exhaustion. Tumor-derived nerve growth factor (NGF) further amplified this exhaustion via TRKA engagement. Importantly, treatment with an ANXA1-derived peptide (A11) combined with TRKA inhibitors synergistically reversed T cell exhaustion and suppressed tumor growth in preclinical models. These findings unveil distinctive features of the immune microenvironment in NI+GC and elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms of ANXA1/TRKA axis in facilitating immune evasion, which offer new insights for enhancing the sensitivity of immunotherapy to NI+GC patients.