Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor CAR T cell therapy faces notable limitations in treatment of solid tumors. The suppressive tumor microenvironment TME, characterized by complex interactions among immune and stromal cells, is gaining recognition in conferring resistance to CAR T cell therapy. Despite the abundance and diversity of macrophages in the TME, their intricate involvement in modulating responses to CAR T cell therapies remains poorly understood. Here, we conducted single-cell RNA sequencing scRNA seq on tumors from 41 glioma patients undergoing IL13Ra2-targeted CAR T cell therapy, identifying elevated suppressive SPP1 signatures predominantly in macrophages from patients who were resistant to treatment. Further integrative scRNA seq analysis of high-grade gliomas as well as an interferon-signaling deficient syngeneic mouse model both resistant to CAR T therapy demonstrated the role of congruent suppressive pathways in mediating resistance to CAR T cells and a dominant role for SPP1+ macrophages. SPP1 blockade with an anti-SPP1 antibody abrogates the suppressive TME effects and substantially prolongs survival in IFN signaling-deficient and glioma syngeneic mouse models resistant to CAR T cell therapy. These findings illuminate the role of SPP1+ macrophages in fueling a suppressive TME and driving solid tumor resistance to CAR cell therapies. Targeting SPP1 may serve as a universal strategy to reprogram immune dynamics in solid tumors mitigating resistance to CAR T therapies.