Influenza-trained mucosal-resident alveolar macrophages confer long-term antitumor immunity in the lungs

Abstract

Respiratory viral infections reprogram pulmonary macrophages with altered anti-infectious functions. However, the potential function of virus-trained macrophages in antitumor immunity in the lung, a preferential target of both primary and metastatic malignancies, is not well understood. Using mouse models of influenza and lung metastatic tumors, we show here that influenza trains respiratory mucosal-resident alveolar macrophages (AMs) to exert long-lasting and tissue-specific antitumor immunity. Trained AMs infiltrate tumor lesions and have enhanced phagocytic and tumor cell cytotoxic functions, which are associated with epigenetic, transcriptional and metabolic resistance to tumor-induced immune suppression. Generation of antitumor trained immunity in AMs is dependent on interferon-γ and natural killer cells. Notably, human AMs with trained immunity traits in non-small cell lung cancer tissue are associated with a favorable immune microenvironment. These data reveal a function for trained resident macrophages in pulmonary mucosal antitumor immune surveillance. Induction of trained immunity in tissue-resident macrophages might thereby be a potential antitumor strategy.