Role of NK Cells in Solid Tumor Metastasis in Beige Mice, Nude Mice and Normal Mice

2015 ◽  
pp. 353-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuo Shimanura ◽  
Koji Maruo ◽  
Yoshito Ueyama ◽  
Sonoko Habu ◽  
Ko Okumura ◽  
...  
2001 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. A38-A38
Author(s):  
F LAROUX ◽  
L GRAY ◽  
S BHARWANI ◽  
D MERRILL ◽  
J FUSELER ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
Nk Cells ◽  

2001 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. A38
Author(s):  
F. Stephen Laroux ◽  
Laura Gray ◽  
Sulaiman Bharwani ◽  
Dana Merrill ◽  
John Fuseler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
Nk Cells ◽  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Juan Chen ◽  
Bin Hu ◽  
Zhi-Qiang Han ◽  
Jian Ni ◽  
Yong-Ming Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Intriguingly, microRNA-20a (miR-20a) has been recently witnessed to be involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis (EMS) but the molecular mechanism controlled by miR-20a is to be undefined. The present study is designed to probe into how miR-20a acts to regulate the cytotoxicity of natural killer (NK) cells. Methods: Most of all, consistent with the clinical determination in EMS patients, miR-20a was determined to be down-regulated in NK cells isolated from nude mice. miR-20a could specifically bind to ERG and negatively regulates its expression in NK cells. Additionally, shRNA-mediated silencing of ERG decreased the expression of HLX. HLX up-regulated STAT4 by inducing proteasome degradation and inhibited NK cell cytotoxicity. Results: Of great importance, forced expression of miR-20a consequently induced NK cell cytotoxicity in vitro by increasing perforin expression via enhancement of STAT4 that was caused by impairing the binding of ERG to HLX enhancer. The in vivo experiments further confirmed the promoting role of miR-20a in the cytotoxicity of NK cells isolated from EMS nude mice and subsequent protective role of miR-20a against EMS-induced endometrial injury. Conclusion: The aforementioned data suggest that miR-20a potentiates the cytotoxicity of NK via up-regulating perforin mediated by ERG/HLX/STAT4, highlighting potential novel mechanisms associated with EMS progression.


Open Medicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 338-350
Author(s):  
Rui Xiang ◽  
Min Feng ◽  
Xin Zhou ◽  
Lihong Ma ◽  
Ningfei Dong

Abstract Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the deadliest cancers in the world. Increasing evidence suggests that circular RNAs (circRNAs) are implicated in CRC pathogenesis. This study aimed to determine the role of circAPLP2 and explore a potential mechanism of circAPLP2 action in CRC. Methods The expression of circAPLP2, miR-335-5p and helicase lymphoid-specific (HELLS) mRNA in CRC tissues and cells was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The functional effects of circAPLP2 on cell cycle progression/cell apoptosis, colony formation, cell migration, invasion and glycolysis metabolism were investigated by flow cytometry assay, colony formation assay, wound healing assay, transwell assay and glycolysis stress test. Glycolysis metabolism was also assessed by the levels of glucose uptake and lactate production. The protein levels of HELLS and HK2 were detected by western blot. The interaction between circAPLP2 and miR-335-5p, or miR-335-5p and HELLS was verified by dual-luciferase reporter assay. The role of circAPLP2 on solid tumor growth in nude mice was investigated. Results circAPLP2 and HELLS were overexpressed, but miR-335-5p was downregulated in CRC tissues and cells. Functional analyses showed that circAPLP2 knockdown suppressed CRC cell cycle progression, colony formation, migration, invasion and glycolysis metabolism, induced cell apoptosis and blocked solid tumor growth in nude mice. Moreover, miR-335-5p was a target of circAPLP2, and miR-335-5p could also bind to HELLS. Rescue experiments presented that miR-335-5p inhibition reversed the effects of circAPLP2 knockdown, and HELLS overexpression abolished the role of miR-335-5p restoration. Importantly, circAPLP2 could positively regulate HELLS expression by mediating miR-335-5p. Conclusion circAPLP2 triggered CRC malignant development by increasing HELLS expression via targeting miR-335-5p, which might be a novel strategy to understand and treat CRC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Schmied ◽  
Petter Höglund ◽  
Stephan Meinke

The growing insights in the complex interactions between metastatic cancer-cells and platelets have revealed that platelet tumor cell interactions in the blood stream are an important factor supporting tumor metastasis. An increased coagulability of platelets facilitates the vascular evasion and establishment of solid tumor metastasis. Furthermore, platelets can support an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment or shield tumor cells directly from engagement of cytotoxic lymphocytes as e.g., natural killer (NK) cells. Platelets are both in the tumor microenvironment and systemically the quantitatively most important source of TGF-β, which is a key cytokine for immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment. If similar platelet-tumor interactions are of physiological relevance in hematological malignancies remains less well-studied. This might be important, as T- and NK cell mediated graft vs. leukemia effects (GvL) are well-documented and malignant hematological cells have a high exposure to platelets compared to solid tumors. As NK cell-based immunotherapies gain increasing attention as a therapeutic option for patients suffering from hematological and other malignancies, we review the known interactions between platelets and NK cells in the solid tumor setting and discuss how these could also apply to hematological cancers. We furthermore explore the possible implications for NK cell therapy in patients with solid tumors and patients who depend on frequent platelet transfusions. As platelets have a protective and supportive effect on cancer cells, the impact of platelet transfusion on immunotherapy and the combination of immunotherapy with platelet inhibitors needs to be evaluated.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 902
Author(s):  
Eva Costanzi ◽  
Carolina Simioni ◽  
Gabriele Varano ◽  
Cinzia Brenna ◽  
Ilaria Conti ◽  
...  

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have attracted interest as mediators of intercellular communication following the discovery that EVs contain RNA molecules, including non-coding RNA (ncRNA). Growing evidence for the enrichment of peculiar RNA species in specific EV subtypes has been demonstrated. ncRNAs, transferred from donor cells to recipient cells, confer to EVs the feature to regulate the expression of genes involved in differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis, and other biological processes. These multiple actions require accuracy in the isolation of RNA content from EVs and the methodologies used play a relevant role. In liver, EVs play a crucial role in regulating cell–cell communications and several pathophysiological events in the heterogeneous liver class of cells via horizontal transfer of their cargo. This review aims to discuss the rising role of EVs and their ncRNAs content in regulating specific aspects of hepatocellular carcinoma development, including tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, and tumor metastasis. We analyze the progress in EV-ncRNAs’ potential clinical applications as important diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for liver conditions.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1802
Author(s):  
Nayoung Kim ◽  
Mi Yeon Kim ◽  
Woo Seon Choi ◽  
Eunbi Yi ◽  
Hyo Jung Lee ◽  
...  

Natural killer (NK) cells are innate cytotoxic lymphocytes that provide early protection against cancer. NK cell cytotoxicity against cancer cells is triggered by multiple activating receptors that recognize specific ligands expressed on target cells. We previously demonstrated that glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3β, but not GSK-3α, is a negative regulator of NK cell functions via diverse activating receptors, including NKG2D and NKp30. However, the role of GSK-3 isoforms in the regulation of specific ligands on target cells is poorly understood, which remains a challenge limiting GSK-3 targeting for NK cell-based therapy. Here, we demonstrate that GSK-3α rather than GSK-3β is the primary isoform restraining the expression of NKG2D ligands, particularly ULBP2/5/6, on tumor cells, thereby regulating their susceptibility to NK cells. GSK-3α also regulated the expression of the NKp30 ligand B7-H6, but not the DNAM-1 ligands PVR or nectin-2. This regulation occurred independently of BCR-ABL1 mutation that confers tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) resistance. Mechanistically, an increase in PI3K/Akt signaling in concert with c-Myc was required for ligand upregulation in response to GSK-3α inhibition. Importantly, GSK-3α inhibition improved cancer surveillance by human NK cells in vivo. Collectively, our results highlight the distinct role of GSK-3 isoforms in the regulation of NK cell reactivity against target cells and suggest that GSK-3α modulation could be used to enhance tumor cell susceptibility to NK cells in an NKG2D- and NKp30-dependent manner.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. eabc2331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose M. Ayuso ◽  
Shujah Rehman ◽  
Maria Virumbrales-Munoz ◽  
Patrick H. McMinn ◽  
Peter Geiger ◽  
...  

Solid tumors generate a suppressive environment that imposes an overwhelming burden on the immune system. Nutrient depletion, waste product accumulation, hypoxia, and pH acidification severely compromise the capacity of effector immune cells such as T and natural killer (NK) cells to destroy cancer cells. However, the specific molecular mechanisms driving immune suppression, as well as the capacity of immune cells to adapt to the suppressive environment, are not completely understood. Thus, here, we used an in vitro microfluidic tumor-on-a-chip platform to evaluate how NK cells respond to the tumor-induced suppressive environment. The results demonstrated that the suppressive environment created by the tumor gradually eroded NK cell cytotoxic capacity, leading to compromised NK cell surveillance and tumor tolerance. Further, NK cell exhaustion persisted for an extended period of time after removing NK cells from the microfluidic platform. Last, the addition of checkpoint inhibitors and immunomodulatory agents alleviated NK cell exhaustion.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 2184
Author(s):  
Valentina Cazzetta ◽  
Sara Franzese ◽  
Claudia Carenza ◽  
Silvia Della Bella ◽  
Joanna Mikulak ◽  
...  

Natural killer (NK) and dendritic cells (DCs) are innate immune cells that play a crucial role in anti-tumor immunity. NK cells kill tumor cells through direct cytotoxicity and cytokine secretion. DCs are needed for the activation of adaptive immune responses against tumor cells. Both NK cells and DCs are subdivided in several subsets endowed with specialized effector functions. Crosstalk between NK cells and DCs leads to the reciprocal control of their activation and polarization of immune responses. In this review, we describe the role of NK cells and DCs in liver cancer, focusing on the mechanisms involved in their reciprocal control and activation. In this context, intrahepatic NK cells and DCs present unique immunological features, due to the constant exposure to non-self-circulating antigens. These interactions might play a fundamental role in the pathology of primary liver cancer, namely hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Additionally, the implications of these immune changes are relevant from the perspective of improving the cancer immunotherapy strategies in HCC and ICC patients.


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