PD-1 regulates tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells in both a cell-intrinsic and a cell-extrinsic fashion

Although PD-1 inhibitors are FDA-approved for over 25 different cancers, the mechanisms contributing to response remain incompletely understood. To investigate how PD-1–deleted CD8+ T cells influence PD-1–expressing CD8+ T cells in the same tumor microenvironment, we developed an inducible PD-1 knockout (KO) model in which PD-1 is deleted on ∼50% of cells. PD-1 deletion beginning at day 7 after implantation of MC38 tumor cells led to robust tumor control. Remarkably, PD-1–expressing CD8+ T cells in the tumor had increased functionality similar to PD-1 KO CD8+ T cells. Using single-cell RNA-seq and TCR-seq, we found that the major transcriptional changes following PD-1 deletion were shared by PD-1 KO and PD-1–expressing CD8+ T cells, although PD-1 KO clones preferentially expanded. These data suggest PD-1 inhibitors not only exert cell-intrinsic effects but also may promote increased T cell function through non–cell-autonomous mechanisms, which has important implications for design of PD-1–based cancer immunotherapies.