{"doi":"10.3390/cancers17111747","title":"Regulatory Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targeting of PD-L1 Trafficking and Stability in Cancer Immunotherapy","abstract":"The PD-L1/PD-1 signaling axis is a pivotal regulator of T-cell activity and a key mechanism by which tumors evade immune surveillance. Inhibiting this pathway has resulted in significant anti-tumor responses, establishing immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) as a crucial component of modern cancer therapy. However, many patients with high PD-L1 expression do not respond to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade, underscoring the necessity for a deeper investigation into the mechanisms underlying this resistance. Recent studies have identified DRG2 as a critical modulator of anti-PD-1 therapeutic efficacy. While DRG2 depletion enhances IFN-γ signaling and increases the overall PD-L1 levels, it disrupts the recycling of endosomal PD-L1, resulting in reduced surface expression and impaired PD-1 interaction, ultimately compromising therapeutic outcomes. Furthermore, TRAPPC4, HIP1R, and CMTM6 help stabilize PD-L1 by preventing lysosome degradation. When depleted, these proteins have been shown to boost the body's immune response against tumors. Research into the complex regulatory mechanisms of PD-L1 suggests that targeting DRG2, TRAPPC4, HIP1R, and CMTM6 could enhance the effectiveness of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapies. This strategy could create exciting new possibilities for cancer immunotherapy and improve patient outcomes.","journal":"Cancers","year":2025,"id":514297,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":8,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9509,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1276511,"name":"Jeong Woo Park","orcid":"0000-0002-3355-6908","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1276508,"name":"Thomas F.J. Martin","orcid":"0000-0002-5204-0202","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1276507,"name":"Muralidharan Mani","orcid":"0000-0002-1194-3616","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":78,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:48:29.165853Z","pmid":"40507229","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}