Gene expression data from mouse squamous cell carcinoma cells. Mus musculus

We describe a function of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in driving anti-tumor immune evasion. The kinase activity of nuclear-targeted FAK in squamous cancer cells drives exhaustion of CD8+ T-cells and recruitment of regulatory T-cells by transcriptionally regulating chemokine/cytokine and ligand-receptor networks, including transcription of Ccl5 that is crucial. These changes inhibit antigen-primed cytotoxic CD8+ T-cell activity, permitting growth of FAK-expressing tumors. To address how FAK activity in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cancer cells promotes elevated intra-tumoral regulatory T-cells, we analyzed global transcriptional profiles of SCC cells expressing or not expressing FAK. Overall design: Total RNA was isolated from three biological replicates each of SCC cells from mice genetically null for Fak (SCC FAK-/-) and cells stably re-expressing FAK (SCC FAK-wt) and hybridized on Affymetrix microarrays.