- Thinyakul, Chanida;
- Sakamoto, Yasuhisa;
- Shimoda, Mayuko;
- Liu, Yanliang;
- Thongchot, Suyanee;
- Reda, Omnia;
- Nita, Akihiro;
- Sakamula, Romgase;
- Sampattavanich, Somponnat;
- Maeda, Ayato;
- Chunthaboon, Paweenapon;
- Nduru, David;
- Niimura, Mayumi;
- Kanamori, Yohei;
- Thuwajit, Peti;
- Nakayama, Keiichi;
- Guan, Kun-Liang;
- Satou, Yorifumi;
- Thuwajit, Chanitra;
- Moroishi, Toshiro
Cancer cells adeptly manipulate the tumor microenvironment (TME) to evade host antitumor immunity. However, the role of cancer cell-intrinsic signaling in shaping the immunosuppressive TME remains unclear. Here, we found that the Hippo pathway in cancer cells orchestrates the TME by influencing the composition of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). In a 4T1 mouse breast cancer model, Hippo pathway kinases, large tumor suppressor 1 and 2 (LATS1/2), promoted the formation of neural cell adhesion molecule 1 (NCAM1)+alpha-smooth muscle actin (αSMA)+ CAFs expressing the transforming growth factor-β, which is associated with T cell inactivation and dysfunction. Depletion of LATS1/2 in cancer cells resulted in a less immunosuppressive TME, indicated by the reduced proportions of NCAM1+αSMA+ CAFs and dysfunctional T cells. Notably, similar Hippo pathway-induced NCAM1+αSMA+ CAFs were observed in human breast cancer, highlighting the potential of TME-manipulating strategies to reduce immunosuppression in cancer immunotherapy.