Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2025;10(5):e173700. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.173700.
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most lethal adult brain tumors with limited effective therapeutic options. Immunotherapy targeting B7-H3 (CD276) has shown promising efficacy in the treatment of gliomas. However, the response to this treatment varies among glioma patients due to individual differences. It’s necessary to find an effective strategy to improve the efficacy of targeting B7-H3 immunotherapy for nonresponders. In this study, we demonstrated a strong correlation between aurora kinase A (AURKA) and CD276 expression in glioma tissue samples. Additionally, both AURKA knockdown and overexpression resulted in parallel changes in B7-H3 expression levels in glioma cells. Mechanistically, AURKA elevated B7-H3 expression by promoting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) phosphorylation, which was validated in glioma cell lines and primary GBM cells. What’s more, the combination of AURKA inhibitor (alisertib) and anti–B7-H3 antibody markedly reduced tumor size and promoted CD8+ T cell infiltration and activation in mouse orthotopic syngeneic glioma models. To our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate AURKA-mediated B7-H3 upregulation in glioma cells; moreover, it proposes a promising therapeutic strategy combining the AURKA inhibitor alisertib with B7-H3–specific blocking mAbs.
Authors
Jinqiu Liu, Yuxuan Deng, Zhuonan Pu, Yazhou Miao, Zhaonian Hao, Herui Wang, Shaodong Zhang, Hanjie Liu, Jiejun Wang, Yifan Lv, Boyi Hu, Hong Wan, Zhengping Zhuang, Tai Sun, Shuyu Hao, Nan Ji, Jie Feng
