Oncogenic EGFR rewires STING-TBK1 immune machinery by tyrosine phosphorylation to license DNA damage tolerance

作者：Qin Shen, Mei Chen, Yidan Chen, Qian Zhang, Qingzhe Wu, Xinyuan Yu, Fei Zhang, Shengduo Liu, Chen Chen, Cunqi Ye, Qi Zhang, Xin‐Hua Feng, Hai Song, Tingbo Liang, Penghong Song, Bing Xia, Pinglong Xu · 发表于：bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1101/2025.10.20.683412 · 研究领域：interferon and immune responses、Neuroblastoma Research and Treatments、Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers

Abstract EGFR hotspot mutations (mEGFR), including primary L858R, exon 19 deletion, and secondary T790M, are pivotal oncogenic drivers in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Meanwhile, NSCLC resistance to third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is a major clinical challenge and remains mechanistically unresolved. Here, we uncover a previously unrecognized immunological mechanism whereby mEGFR exploits cGAS-STING innate immune signaling, conventionally regarded as tumor-suppressive, to sustain oncogenic signaling and therapeutic resistance. Mechanistically, mutant EGFR kinase aberrantly incorporates into STING signalosomes, directly phosphorylating STING (Y245/Y314) and TBK1 (Y577/Y677), stabilizing and hyperactivating TBK1 proteins, and establishing an unexpected and kinase loop critical for DNA damage repair. Disruption of this mEGFR-STING-TBK1 axis, genetically or pharmacologically, profoundly sensitized resistant patient-derived NSCLC organoids to chemotherapy. Combining TBK1 inhibition with cisplatin notably eradicated mEGFR-driven tumors in spontaneous and immunocompetent NSCLC murine models and patient-derived organoids. Our findings suggest a new function of cGAS-STING in the DNA damage repair program, its paradoxical exploitation by oncogenic driver mutations, and an innate immune therapeutic vulnerability in NSCLC.