Conserved interferon-gamma signaling and decreased immune exclusion programs in responses to immune checkpoint blockade therapy

Purpose: We treated melanoma cell lines with IFNG to assess which ones would be resistant or responsive to T-cell attack. Methods: We treated the melanoma cell lines with IFNG and then sequenced them at 6 hours to assess changes the transcriptome. Results: Unless the cell lines had JAK1 or JAK2 KO, they responded very consistently with human melanocytes (normals), revealing a consistent signature for IFNG response in melanoma. Conclusions: IFNG signaling is conserved in melanoma cell lines, and there are genes that go down in IFNG that allow immune infiltration to make immune blockade response possible. Melanoma cell line mRNA profiles befor and after 6 hours of treatment with interferon gamma.