Reprogramming CD8+ T-cell branched N-glycosylation limits exhaustion, enhancing cytotoxicity and tumor killing

T-cell therapies have transformed cancer treatment. While surface glycans have been shown to play critical roles in regulating T-cell development and function, whether and how the glycome influences T cell-mediated tumor immunity remains an area of active investigation. In this study, we show that the intratumoral T-cell glycome is altered early in human colorectal cancer, with substantial changes in branched N-glycans. We demonstrated that CD8+ T cells expressing β1,6-GlcNAc branched N-glycans adopted an exhausted phenotype, marked by increased PD1 and Tim3 expression. CRISPR/Cas9 deletion of key branching glycosyltransferase genes revealed that Mgat5 played a prominent role in T-cell exhaustion. In culture-based assays and tumor studies, Mgat5 deletion in CD8+ T cells resulted in improved cancer cell killing. These findings prompted assessment of whether MGAT5 deletion in anti-CD19 chimeric-antigen receptor (CAR) T cells could enable this therapeutic modality in a solid tumor setting. We showed that MGAT5 KO anti-CD19-CAR T cells inhibited the growth of CD19-transduced tumors. Together, these findings show that MGAT5-mediated branched N-glycans regulate CD8+ T-cell function in cancer and provide a strategy to enhance antitumor activity of native and CAR T cells.