RNA fingerprints provide direct evidence for the inhibitory role of TGFβ and PD-1 on CD4+ T cells in Hodgkin lymphoma

A hallmark of various human malignancies is the expression of immunoinhibitory factors within the tumor micro-environment. There is indirect evidence based on in vitro experiments that tumor-infiltrating T cells in human malignancies are suppressed by such factors. Still, direct evidence of the influence of individual inhibitory factors on immune cells in human cancer in vivo is lacking. To address this question, we used Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) as a model because histopathological characteristics of HL are thought to be due mostly to the effects of a wide variety of cytokines, including TGF beta or membrane-bound receptors such as PD-1 that are suspected to contribute to immune evasion of tumor cells. Using a genome-wide transcriptional approach, we established specific RNA fingerprints of TGF beta and PD-1 signaling in human T cells in vitro. Applying these specific fingerprints, we directly demonstrate that CD4(+) T cells in HL - but not in follicular lymphoma(FL) - are under the inhibitory influence of both TGF beta and PD-1 in vivo. This approach can be easily generalized to provide direct evidence of the impact of any given soluble or cell-bound factor on any cell type within diseased tissue.