IMMUNOLOGY2026™ Conference Recordings For Attendees-Decoding Histone-DNA Methylation Crosstalk in Exhausted T Cells to Enhance Immunotherapy

Decoding Histone-DNA Methylation Crosstalk in Exhausted T Cells to Enhance Immunotherapy

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The speaker described how exhausted CD8 T cells in chronic infection and cancer become locked into a dysfunctional state that resists immunotherapy. His lab found that two histone demethylases, KDM5A and KDM5B, promote loss of H3K4 methylation, which primes de novo DNA methylation and silences effector and memory genes. Disrupting both enzymes restored T-cell function, preserved stem-like features, reduced exhaustion markers, improved tumor control, and enhanced response to PD-1 blockade in mouse and human models. The work suggests KDM5A/B inhibition may reprogram exhausted T cells and improve cancer immunotherapy and possibly CAR T-cell therapy.

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Date April 16, 2026 10:00 AM - 10:15 AM

Room 157

Session Novel Tumor Therapies

Speaker Hazem Ghoneim

Track Tumor Immunology: Checkpoints, Prevention, And Treatment (TIPT)

Year 2026

Keywords

CD8 T-cell exhaustion

KDM5A KDM5B

H3K4 methylation

PD-1 blockade

cancer immunotherapy

April 16, 2026 10:00 AM - 10:15 AM

157

Novel Tumor Therapies

Hazem Ghoneim

Tumor Immunology: Checkpoints, Prevention, And Treatment (TIPT)

2026