AUTHOR=Wong Wai Ki , Yin Bohan , Lam Ching Ying Katherine , Huang Yingying , Yan Jiaxiang , Tan Zhiwu , Wong Siu Hong Dexter TITLE=The Interplay Between Epigenetic Regulation and CD8+ T Cell Differentiation/Exhaustion for T Cell Immunotherapy JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2021 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2021.783227 DOI=10.3389/fcell.2021.783227 ISSN=2296-634X ABSTRACT=

Effective immunotherapy treats cancers by eradicating tumourigenic cells by activated tumour antigen-specific and bystander CD8+ T-cells. However, T-cells can gradually lose cytotoxicity in the tumour microenvironment, known as exhaustion. Recently, DNA methylation, histone modification, and chromatin architecture have provided novel insights into epigenetic regulations of T-cell differentiation/exhaustion, thereby controlling the translational potential of the T-cells. Thus, developing strategies to govern epigenetic switches of T-cells dynamically is critical to maintaining the effector function of antigen-specific T-cells. In this mini-review, we 1) describe the correlation between epigenetic states and T cell phenotypes; 2) discuss the enzymatic factors and intracellular/extracellular microRNA imprinting T-cell epigenomes that drive T-cell exhaustion; 3) highlight recent advances in epigenetic interventions to rescue CD8+ T-cell functions from exhaustion. Finally, we express our perspective that regulating the interplay between epigenetic changes and transcriptional programs provides translational implications of current immunotherapy for cancer treatments.