Prdm12 governs an epigenetic checkpoint linking neuroimmune cross-talk to CD8 <sup>+</sup> T cell exhaustion-suppressed antitumor immunity
Guolong Liu, Xiaoling Tian, Qiudao Wang, Saijuan Xu, Yanhong Jiang, Ying Gao, Yuxuan Wu
Abstract
CD8 + T play essential roles in antitumor immune responses. However, immunotherapy has limited clinical efficacy in many solid tumors. Here, we performed an epigenetic-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screen in CD8 + T cells directly under cancer immunotherapy setting and found that Prdm12 is a transcriptional repressor implicated in nociceptive neuron development but uncharacterized within immunological contexts. Prdm12 deletion markedly enhanced in vivo tumor clearance of mouse CD8 + T cells and promoted activation, effector differentiation marker expression, and cytokine secretion in both murine and human CD8 + T cells in vitro. Mechanistically, Prdm12 deficiency augmented effector transcriptional programs while inhibiting exhaustion of CGRP-RAMP1 neuroimmune axis facilitation. Additionally, Prdm12 ablation remodeled the chromatin accessibility landscape, with H3K9me3 deposition at loci regulating T cell differentiation ( Trib1 and Sgk1 ) and exhaustion ( Rgs1 and Nr4a2 ). These results together reveal a negative regulatory mechanism for CD8 + T cells and advance our understanding of cancer immunotherapy by linking neurobiological signaling to immune regulation.