USP51/PD-L1/ITGB1-deployed juxtacrine interaction plays a cell-intrinsic role in promoting chemoresistant phenotypes in non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) has been demonstrated to facilitate tumor progression and therapeutic resistance in an immune-independent manner. Nevertheless, the function and underlying signaling network(s) of cancer cell-intrinsic PD-L1 action remain largely unknown. Herein, we sought to better understand how ubiquitin-specific peptidase 51 (USP51)/PD-L1/integrin beta-1 (ITGB1) signaling performs a cell-intrinsic role in mediating chemotherapeutic resistance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: Western blotting and flow cytometry were employed for PD-L1 detection in NSCLC cell lines. Coimmunoprecipitation and pulldown analyses, protein deubiquitination assay, tissue microarray, bioinformatic analysis and molecular biology methods were then used to determine the significance of PD-L1 in NSCLC chemoresistance and associated signaling pathways in several different cell lines, mouse models and patient tissue samples. Ubiquitin-7-amido-4-methylcoumarin (Ub-AMC)-based deubiquitinase activity, cellular thermal shift and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analyses were performed to investigate the activity of USP51 inhibitors.

Results: We provided evidence that cancer cell-intrinsic PD-L1 conferred the development of chemoresistance by directly binding to its membrane-bound receptor ITGB1 in NSCLC. At the molecular level, PD-L1/ITGB1 interaction subsequently activated the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) axis to elicit poor response to chemotherapy. We further determined USP51 as a bona fide deubiquitinase that targeted the deubiquitination and stabilization of the PD-L1 protein in chemoresistant NSCLC cells. Clinically, we found a significant direct relationship between the USP51, PD-L1 and ITGB1 contents in NSCLC patients with chemoresistant potency. The elevated USP51, PD-L1 and ITGB1 levels were strongly associated with worse patient prognosis. Of note, we identified that a flavonoid compound dihydromyricetin (DHM) acted as a potential USP51 inhibitor and rendered NSCLC cells more sensitive to chemotherapy by targeting USP51-dependent PD-L1 ubiquitination and degradation in vitro and in vivo.

Conclusions: Together, our results demonstrated that the USP51/PD-L1/ITGB1 network potentially contributes to the malignant progression and therapeutic resistance in NSCLC. This knowledge is beneficial to the future design of advanced cancer therapy.