Role of Forkhead Box P3 in IFNγ-Mediated PD-L1 Expression and Bladder Cancer Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition.

Historically a key transcription factor driving T regulatory cell function, FOXP3 has an increasingly recognized role in cancer cells. In bladder cancer, we defined a novel mechanism whereby FOXP3 mediates the activation of the immune checkpoint PD-L1 by the cytokine IFNγ. We also showed that FOXP3 induces other immune checkpoints as well as genes involved in EMT, promoting immune resistance and cancer metastases.