Inherited KDM6A facilitates tumor-immune escape and exacerbates colorectal signet-ring cell carcinoma outcomes.

Childhood onset of colorectal signet-ring cell carcinoma (CR-SRCC) is extremely rare and featured as highly malignant with poor prognosis. Here we reported a CR-SRCC case of 11-year-old boy with a novel inherited X-linked KDM6A mutation. The H3K27me3 demethylase KDM6A was frequently mutated in varieties of tumors and acts as a tumor suppressor. In vivo H3K27me3 demethylation assay demonstrated that KDM6A had dampened H3K27me3 demethylase activity. Overexpression of KDM6A in SRCC cell line KATO3 promoted cell proliferation, invasion and migration, which were further confirmed in vivo by constructing orthotopic tumor growth and lung metastasis model. Besides, expression of KDM6A in immune cells suppresses inflammatory macrophage response and effector T cell response. In conclusion, we characterized a novel inherited KDM6A mutant from a childhood-onset SRCC case and demonstrated that the mutant with impaired H3K27me3 demethylase activity could potentiate tumor malignancy and suppress antitumor immunity.