MHC Class II-restricted Antigen Presentation is Required to Prevent Dysfunction of Cytotoxic T Cells by Blood-borne Myeloids in Brain Tumors

Cancer immunotherapy critically depends on fitness of cytotoxic and helper T cell responses. Dysfunctional cytotoxic T cell states in the tumor microenvironment (TME) are a major cause of resistance to immunotherapy. Intratumoral myeloid cells, particularly blood-borne myeloids (bbm), are key drivers of T cell dysfunction in the TME. We show here that major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII)-restricted antigen presentation on bbm is essential to control the growth of brain tumors. Loss of MHCII on bbm drives dysfunctional intratumoral tumor-reactive CD8 T cell states through increased chromatin accessibility and expression of Tox, a critical regulator of T cell exhaustion. Mechanistically, MHCII-dependent activation of CD4 T cells restricts myeloid-derived osteopontin that triggers a chronic activation of NFAT2 in tumor-reactive CD8 T cells. In summary, we provide evidence that MHCII-restricted antigen presentation on bbm is a key mechanism to directly maintain functional cytotoxic T cell states in brain tumors.