# Chemokine-mediated antigen-specific T cell responses and immunotherapies to treat head and neck cancer

> **NIH NIH R01** · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $626,815

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are causally linked to 5% of all human cancers, including nearly all cervical
cancers and ~25% of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs), largely driving an ongoing epidemic
increase of HPV-positive (HPV+) HNSCCs over recent decades. However, little is known about the mechanisms
of disease progression driven by HPV, particularly in the context of host immunity. Based on our preliminary
findings, we will study the mechanism by which the chemokine CXCL14 suppresses HNSCC growth, and test if
CXCL14 serves as a useful immunomodulatory target for novel immunotherapies to treat HPV+ HNSCC.
Recently, we have revealed that restoring the suppressed expression of CXCL14 in HPV+ HNSCC cells greatly
suppressed tumor growth in immunocompetent syngeneic mice through upregulation of MHC-I antigen
presentation and antigen-specific CD8+ T cells responses. Based on our findings, we hypothesize that CXCL14
induces antitumor immune responses that suppress HPV+ HNSCC by enhancing antigen presentation and
eliciting CD8+ T cell responses, and thus CXCL14 is a potential novel immunotherapeutic agent. To test our
hypothesis, we will 1) Define the mechanisms by which CXCL14 upregulates MHC-I antigen presentation to
mediate tumor suppression; 2) Define the mechanisms by which CXCL14 induces CD8+ T cell
infiltration/activation and tumor suppression; and 3) Test CXCL14-based immunotherapies that induce antitumor
immunity and clear HPV+ HNSCC. Our study will provide new mechanistic understanding of antitumor immune
defenses in HPV+ HNSCC and may lead to a novel immunotherapy for HNSCC, particularly for the non-
responders in current immunotherapies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9943427
- **Project number:** 1R01DE029524-01
- **Recipient organization:** MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Dohun Pyeon
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $626,815
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9943427

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9943427, Chemokine-mediated antigen-specific T cell responses and immunotherapies to treat head and neck cancer (1R01DE029524-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9943427. Licensed CC0.

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