Pharmacologic Inhibition of SUMO-Activating Enzyme Potentiates Interferon Response and T Cell-Mediated Anti-Tumor Immunity in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and Lymphoma Models

Introduction: CLL is characterized by deficient immunity which clinically manifests as increased predisposition towards malignancies and infectious complications. T-cells from patients with CLL exhibit a skewed repertoire with predominance of Tregs as well as impaired immune synapse formation and cytotoxic function. Small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) family proteins regulate a variety of cellular processes, including nuclear trafficking, gene transcription and cell cycle progression, via post-translational modification of target proteins. Sumoylation regulates NFκB signaling, IFN response and NFAT activation, processes indispensable in immune cell activation. Despite this, the role of sumoylation in T cell biology in context of cancer is not known. TAK-981 is a small molecule inhibitor of the SUMO-activating enzyme (SAE) that forms a covalent adduct with an activated SUMO protein, thereby preventing its transfer to the SUMO-conjugating enzyme (Ubc9). Here, we investigated the immunomodulatory effects of TAK-981 in CLL.