Plasma Gelsolin Inhibits CD8+ T-cell Function and Regulates Glutathione Production to Confer Chemoresistance in Ovarian Cancer

Although initial treatment of ovarian cancer is successful, tumors typically relapse and become resistant to treatment. Because of poor infiltration of effector T cells, patients are mostly unresponsive to immunotherapy. Plasma gelsolin (pGSN) is transported by exosomes (small extracellular vesicle, sEV) and plays a key role in ovarian cancer chemoresistance, yet little is known about its role in immunosurveillance. Here, we report the immunomodulatory roles of sEV-pGSN in ovarian cancer chemoresistance. In chemosensitive conditions, secretion of sEV-pGSN was low, allowing for optimal CD8+ T-cell function. This resulted in increased T-cell secretion of IFNγ, which reduced intracellular glutathione (GSH) production and sensitized chemosensitive cells to cis-diaminedichloroplatinum (CDDP)-induced apoptosis. In chemoresistant conditions, increased secretion of sEV-pGSN by ovarian cancer cells induced apoptosis in CD8+ T cells. IFNγ secretion was therefore reduced, resulting in high GSH production and resistance to CDDP-induced death in ovarian cancer cells. These findings support our hypothesis that sEV-pGSN attenuates immunosurveillance and regulates GSH biosynthesis, a phenomenon that contributes to chemoresistance in ovarian cancer. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings provide new insight into pGSN-mediated immune cell dysfunction in ovarian cancer chemoresistance and demonstrate how this dysfunction can be exploited to enhance immunotherapy.