1. Lithium carbonate revitalizes tumor-reactive CD8+T cells by shunting lactic acid into mitochondria
- Author
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Ma, Jingwei, Tang, Liang, Tan, Yaoyao, Xiao, Jingxuan, Wei, Keke, Zhang, Xin, Ma, Yuan, Tong, Shuai, Chen, Jie, Zhou, Nannan, Yang, Li, Lei, Zhang, Li, Yonggang, Lv, Jiadi, Liu, Junwei, Zhang, Huafeng, Tang, Ke, Zhang, Yi, and Huang, Bo
- Abstract
The steady flow of lactic acid (LA) from tumor cells to the extracellular space via the monocarboxylate transporter symport system suppresses antitumor T cell immunity. However, LA is a natural energy metabolite that can be oxidized in the mitochondria and could potentially stimulate T cells. Here we show that the lactate-lowering mood stabilizer lithium carbonate (LC) can inhibit LA-mediated CD8+T cell immunosuppression. Cytoplasmic LA increased the pumping of protons into lysosomes. LC interfered with vacuolar ATPase to block lysosomal acidification and rescue lysosomal diacylglycerol–PKCθ signaling to facilitate monocarboxylate transporter 1 localization to mitochondrial membranes, thus transporting LA into the mitochondria as an energy source for CD8+T cells. These findings indicate that targeting LA metabolism using LC could support cancer immunotherapy.
- Published
- 2024
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