Metabolic control of T cell tolerance and antitumor immunity

Coordination of immune cell metabolic programs with cell fate and state is a fundamental determinant of immune responses. Emerging evidence highlights that the interplay between immune signaling and metabolic programming orchestrates the activation and differentiation of T cells that further impact the outcome of immune responses. In particular, immunometabolism has key roles in shaping the functional fitness of both regulatory and effector T cells in the tumor microenvironment. Here I will discuss our recent findings regarding how mTOR and other signaling pathways bridge nutrient signals and cell metabolic programs to direct T cell priming and function, and the implications in immune tolerance and antitumor immunity. I will also discuss the use of systems immunology and functional genomics approaches including pooled CRISPR screening to investigate metabolic signaling and identify new therapeutic targets in cancer therapy.

Learning Objectives:

Discover how:

1. Immunometabolism has key roles in shaping the functional fitness of both regulatory and effector T cells in the tumor microenvironment.

2. mTOR and other signaling pathways bridge nutrient signals and cell metabolic programs to direct T cell priming and function, and the implications in immune tolerance and antitumor immunity.

3. The use of systems immunology and functional genomics approaches including pooled CRISPR screening is powerful to explore metabolic signaling and discover new therapeutic targets in cancer therapy.