Cancer CD39 drives metabolic adaption and mal-differentiation of CD4^+ T cells in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer

While ectonucleotidase CD39 is a cancer therapeutic target in clinical trials, its direct effect on T-cell differentiation in human non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear.

Herein, we demonstrate that human NSCLC cells, including tumor cell lines and primary tumor cells from clinical patients, efficiently drive the metabolic adaption of human CD4^+ T cells, instructing differentiation of regulatory T cells while inhibiting effector T cells.

Of importance, NSCLC-induced T-cell mal-differentiation primarily depends on cancer CD39, as this can be fundamentally blocked by genetic depletion of CD39 in NSCLC.

Mechanistically, NSCLC cells package CD39 into their exosomes and transfer such CD39-containing exosomes into interacting T cells, resulting in ATP insufficiency and AMPK hyperactivation.

Such CD39-dependent NSCLC-T cell interaction holds well in patients-derived primary tumor cells and patient-derived organoids (PDOs).

Accordingly, genetic depletion of CD39 alone or in combination with the anti-PD-1 immunotherapy efficiently rescues effector T cell differentiation, instigates anti-tumor T cell immunity, and inhibits tumor growth of PDOs.

Together, targeting cancer CD39 can correct the mal-differentiation of CD4^+ T cells in human NSCLC, providing in-depth insight into therapeutic CD39 inhibitors.