STAT1 Regulates the Expression of MHC-I Class Molecules in Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

Significant advances have been made in cancer immunotherapy in recent years. However, few patients with ovarian cancer have benefited from immunotherapy and the prognosis is usually poor. A major mechanism by which cancer is rarely detected by immune cells is the downregulation of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I), which leads to reduced recognition and cytotoxicity of cytotoxic T cells. What we were investigating is to find regulators that can modulate the expression of MHC-I molecules in ovarian cancer. Improving MHC-I expression may help patients to have a good prognosis. By analyzing tumoral transcriptional sequencing data and combined with clinical effects, we identified STAT1 as a potential MHC-I regulator in ovarian cancer cells. The “wet-lab” experiments confirmed the role of STAT1 in the expression of MHC-I molecules. Our study suggested that STAT1 could be a target to promote immunotherapeutic response by promoting the expression of MHC-I molecule in ovarian cancer cells.