VSIG2 is associated with an immune-cold microenvironment and reduced response to PD-1 blockade in bladder cancer

Bladder cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and only a subset of patients derives durable benefit from immune checkpoint blockade. An immune-cold tumor microenvironment, characterized by limited immune infiltration and impaired antitumor activity, is a major barrier to immunotherapy efficacy. However, the tumor-intrinsic factors that contribute to immune exclusion in bladder cancer remain incompletely understood. This study aimed to investigate the role of VSIG2 in shaping the immune microenvironment and immunotherapy response in bladder cancer.

Integrative analyses were performed using bulk transcriptomic data, a Xiangya validation cohort, public single-cell RNA-seq datasets, and a Xiangya single-cell immunotherapy cohort. Immune-related transcriptional programs, immune cell infiltration, and cancer immunity cycle activity were evaluated by differential expression, enrichment, and immune deconvolution analyses. The cellular source and biological features of VSIG2 were further characterized at single-cell resolution. Clinical relevance was assessed by immunohistochemistry and response-associated analyses in immunotherapy-treated samples. Functional validation was performed in an MB49 syngeneic mouse model with VSIG2 knockdown combined with anti-PD-1 treatment.

VSIG2 was associated with an immune-cold phenotype in bladder cancer across multiple independent cohorts. In bulk transcriptomic analyses, VSIG2-high tumors exhibited reduced activity across several steps of the cancer immunity cycle, decreased infiltration of T cells, cytotoxic lymphocytes, and NK cells, and suppression of inflammatory, chemokine-related, and antigen-presentation programs. These findings were independently validated in the in-house cohort. Single-cell analyses showed that VSIG2 was predominantly enriched in malignant epithelial cells and marked tumor cell states characterized by weaker antigen-presentation, interferon-response, and immune interaction programs. In the in-house single-cell immunotherapy cohort, lower VSIG2 expression was associated with immunotherapy response and a more inflamed immune contexture. In vivo, VSIG2 silencing inhibited tumor growth, increased CD8-positive T-cell infiltration, and enhanced the antitumor efficacy of PD-1 blockade.

VSIG2 is a tumor-associated molecule linked to immune exclusion and reduced responsiveness to PD-1 blockade in bladder cancer. Elevated VSIG2 expression marks malignant cell states with impaired immune engagement, whereas targeting VSIG2 enhances antitumor immunity and improves immunotherapy efficacy in vivo. These findings identify VSIG2 as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for overcoming immunotherapy resistance in bladder cancer.