Type I interferon is selectively required by dendritic cells for immune rejection of tumors

Abstract

Dendritic cell responsiveness to type I interferon is required for the generation of antitumor T cell responses and tumor rejection.

Abstract

Cancer immunoediting is the process whereby the immune system suppresses neoplastic growth and shapes tumor immunogenicity. We previously reported that type I interferon (IFN-α/β) plays a central role in this process and that hematopoietic cells represent critical targets of type I IFN’s actions. However, the specific cells affected by IFN-α/β and the functional processes that type I IFN induces remain undefined. Herein, we show that type I IFN is required to initiate the antitumor response and that its actions are temporally distinct from IFN-γ during cancer immunoediting. Using mixed bone marrow chimeric mice, we demonstrate that type I IFN sensitivity selectively within the innate immune compartment is essential for tumor-specific T cell priming and tumor elimination. We further show that mice lacking IFNAR1 (IFN-α/β receptor 1) in dendritic cells (DCs; Itgax-Cre ⁺Ifnar1 ^f/f mice) cannot reject highly immunogenic tumor cells and that CD8α ⁺ DCs from these mice display defects in antigen cross-presentation to CD8 ⁺ T cells. In contrast, mice depleted of NK cells or mice that lack IFNAR1 in granulocytes and macrophage populations reject these tumors normally. Thus, DCs and specifically CD8α ⁺ DCs are functionally relevant targets of endogenous type I IFN during lymphocyte-mediated tumor rejection.