SERINC2-mediated serine metabolism promotes cervical cancer progression and drives T cell exhaustion.

Abstract

Cervical cancer remains the most prevalent gynecological malignant disease. Reprogramming tumor immune metabolism stands out as a novel promising therapeutic target. Here, we identified serine incorporator 2 (SERINC2) as a critical gene which highly expressed in cervical cancer and negatively correlated with clinical outcomes. Through functional assays, SERINC2 was determined to play a pro-tumoral role both in vivo and in vitro. Besides, the growth of cervical cancer cells was found to be largely dependent on serine in a manner influenced by SERINC2. As a serine transport associated protein, SERINC2 knockdown significantly reduced cervical cancer cells' intracellular serine level and altered the serine-associated-lipid metabolism. Immune infiltration analysis revealed that SERINC2 was negatively associated with CD8⁺ T cell infiltration and function. More importantly, we demonstrated a competitive relation between cancer cells and immune cells brought about by SERINC2. Mechanistically, cancer cells SERINC2 preferentially competed for micro-environmental serine over CD8⁺ T cells and rendered T cell exhaustion. Overall, SERINC2 remodels cancer development and serine metabolism in the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), establishing an immunosuppressive and pro-tumoral milieu.