SMG6-dependent RNA decay maintains dsRNA homeostasis and restrains immunogenicity in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) eliminates aberrant transcripts to maintain transcriptome integrity, yet its broader physiological roles remain incompletely defined. Here, using a liver-specific, inducible mouse model, we selectively inactivate the endonuclease SMG6 - the terminal effector of NMD - in a genetic model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). SMG6 loss completely prevents tumour development and triggers robust innate and adaptive immune responses. Mechanistically, SMG6 inactivation causes the cytoplasmic accumulation of endogenous double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs), leading to type I interferon induction via the dsRNA sensor MDA5 and revealing an unexpected physiological role for NMD in maintaining dsRNA homeostasis. In parallel, stabilisation and translation of normally degraded transcripts generate non-canonical MHC-I-presented peptides that elicit potent CD8+ T-cell responses. These findings identify SMG6-dependent NMD as a central gatekeeper that restrains dsRNA-driven antiviral signalling and suppresses immunogenic transcript expression. Our work establishes selective SMG6 inhibition as a promising strategy to enhance tumour immunogenicity and suggests that targeting terminal NMD activity could represent a conceptually distinct avenue for cancer immunotherapy.