- Shi, Chengyu;
- Wang, Ying;
- Wu, Minjie;
- Chen, Yu;
- Liu, Fangzhou;
- Shen, Zheyuan;
- Wang, Yiran;
- Xie, Shaofang;
- Shen, Yingying;
- Sang, Lingjie;
- Zhang, Zhen;
- Gao, Zerui;
- Yang, Luojia;
- Qu, Lei;
- Yang, Zuozhen;
- He, Xinyu;
- Guo, Yu;
- Pan, Chenghao;
- Che, Jinxin;
- Ju, Huaiqiang;
- Liu, Jian;
- Cai, Zhijian;
- Yan, Qingfeng;
- Yu, Luyang;
- Wang, Liangjing;
- Dong, Xiaowu;
- Xu, Pinglong;
- Shao, Jianzhong;
- Liu, Yang;
- Li, Xu;
- Wang, Wenqi;
- Zhou, Ruhong;
- Zhou, Tianhua;
- Lin, Aifu
Immune checkpoint blockade therapies targeting the PD-L1/PD-1 axis have demonstrated clear clinical benefits. Improved understanding of the underlying regulatory mechanisms might contribute new insights into immunotherapy. Here, we identify transmembrane and ubiquitin-like domain-containing protein 1 (TMUB1) as a modulator of PD-L1 post-translational modifications in tumor cells. Mechanistically, TMUB1 competes with HECT, UBA and WWE domain-containing protein 1 (HUWE1), a E3 ubiquitin ligase, to interact with PD-L1 and inhibit its polyubiquitination at K281 in the endoplasmic reticulum. Moreover, TMUB1 enhances PD-L1 N-glycosylation and stability by recruiting STT3A, thereby promoting PD-L1 maturation and tumor immune evasion. TMUB1 protein levels correlate with PD-L1 expression in human tumor tissue, with high expression being associated with poor patient survival rates. A synthetic peptide engineered to compete with TMUB1 significantly promotes antitumor immunity and suppresses tumor growth in mice. These findings identify TMUB1 as a promising immunotherapeutic target.