# Exploiting Integrin Signaling to Overcome Resistance to Immunotherapy

> **NIH NIH R01** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $435,761

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 The potential of checkpoint immunotherapy to combat cancer has been established in several cancer
types. However, in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), checkpoint immunotherapy has not led to
clinical benefit. Although multiple factors likely contribute, one significant factor is the extensive infiltration of
PDAC by multiple lineages of immunosuppressive myeloid cells. Therefore, one promising therapeutic strategy
is the targeting these myeloid cells to improve T cell-mediated immunity. These realizations have led to a
significant number of clinical trials combining myeloid targeted agent with checkpoint immunotherapy.
However, all current therapeutic strategies are subject to compensatory actions by untargeted subsets of
monocytes, granulocytes, and/or tissue resident macrophages, which may ultimately limit therapeutic efficacy.
To overcome this limitation, our team has developed a small molecule allosteric agonist of CD11b, ADH-503.
Our data will clearly demonstrate: 1) CD11b-agonism both rapidly repolarizes TAMs to support anti-tumor
immunity while simultaneously blunting the recruitment of multiple lineages of suppressive myeloid cells
without the compensatory mechanisms seen with other myeloid-targeting agents. 2) CD11b-agonist-induce
myeloid reprograming reawakens T cell immunity that in-turn significantly limit disease progression. 3) The
combination of CD11b-agonist with checkpoint immunotherapy leads to dramatic tumor regression and long-
term survival in PDAC models that are otherwise completely resistant to PD-1 therapy. These stunning data
drive our hypothesis that CD11b agonism reprograms the TME to overcome resistance to checkpoint
immunotherapy. To test this, we will:
Aim 1: Determine the molecular mechanisms by which CD11b-agonism directly impacts myeloid cells.
Aim 2: Determine the cellular mechanism(s) by which CD11b-agonism enhances T cell immunity.
Aim 3: Determine if chemotherapy or radiation therapy better maximize the anti-tumor immunity and
the efficacy generated by ADH-503 plus checkpoint immunotherapy.
Impact: These studies investigate a new approach in current clinical development that can render PDACs
responsive to immunotherapy.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10307534
- **Project number:** 5R01CA244938-03
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** David G DeNardo
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $435,761
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-12-01 → 2024-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10307534

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10307534, Exploiting Integrin Signaling to Overcome Resistance to Immunotherapy (5R01CA244938-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10307534. Licensed CC0.

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