scholarly journals Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells: A Double-Edged Sword in Cancer?

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3452
Author(s):  
Enrico Maggi ◽  
Irene Veneziani ◽  
Lorenzo Moretta ◽  
Lorenzo Cosmi ◽  
Francesco Annunziato

Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells (ILC2s) belong to the family of helper ILCs which provide host defense against infectious agents, participate in inflammatory responses and mediate lymphoid organogenesis and tissue repair, mainly at the skin and mucosal level. Based on their transcriptional, phenotypic and functional profile, ILC2s mirror the features of the adaptive CD4+ Th2 cell subset, both contributing to the so-called type 2 immune response. Similar to other ILCs, ILC2s are rapidly activated by signals deriving from tissue and/or other tissue-resident immune cells. The biologic activity of ILCs needs to be tightly regulated in order to prevent them from contributing to severe inflammation and damage in several organs. Indeed, ILC2s display both enhancing and regulatory roles in several pathophysiological conditions, including tumors. In this review, we summarize the actual knowledge about ILC2s ability to induce or impair a protective immune response, their pro- or antitumor activity in murine models, human (children and adults) pathologies and the potential strategies to improve cancer immunotherapy by exploiting the features of ILC2s.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melina Messing ◽  
Sia Cecilia Jan-Abu ◽  
Kelly McNagny

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are recently discovered innate counterparts to the well-established T helper cell subsets and are most abundant at barrier surfaces, where they participate in tissue homeostasis and inflammatory responses against invading pathogens. Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) share cytokine and transcription factor expression profiles with type-2 helper T cells and are primarily associated with immune responses against allergens and helminth infections. Emerging data, however, suggests that ILC2s are also key regulators in other inflammatory settings; both in a beneficial context, such as the establishment of neonatal immunity, tissue repair, and homeostasis, and in the context of pathological tissue damage and disease, such as fibrosis development. This review focuses on the interactions of ILC2s with stromal cells, eosinophils, macrophages, and T regulatory cells that are common to the different settings in which type-2 immunity has been explored. We further discuss how an understanding of these interactions can reveal new avenues of therapeutic tissue regeneration, where the role of ILC2s is yet to be fully established.


2017 ◽  
Vol 214 (6) ◽  
pp. 1581-1592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Laffont ◽  
Eve Blanquart ◽  
Magali Savignac ◽  
Claire Cénac ◽  
Gilles Laverny ◽  
...  

Prevalence of asthma is higher in women than in men, but the mechanisms underlying this sex bias are unknown. Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are key regulators of type 2 inflammatory responses. Here, we show that ILC2 development is greatly influenced by male sex hormones. Male mice have reduced numbers of ILC2 progenitors (ILC2Ps) and mature ILC2s in peripheral tissues compared with females. In consequence, males exhibit reduced susceptibility to allergic airway inflammation in response to environmental allergens and less severe IL-33–driven lung inflammation, correlating with an impaired expansion of lung ILC2s. Importantly, orchiectomy, but not ovariectomy, abolishes the sex differences in ILC2 development and restores IL-33–mediated lung inflammation. ILC2Ps express the androgen receptor (AR), and AR signaling inhibits their differentiation into mature ILC2s. Finally, we show that hematopoietic AR expression limits IL-33–driven lung inflammation through a cell-intrinsic inhibition of ILC2 expansion. Thus, androgens play a crucial protective role in type 2 airway inflammation by negatively regulating ILC2 homeostasis, thereby limiting their capacity to expand locally in response to IL-33.


Author(s):  
Tetsuro Kobayashi ◽  
Yasutaka Motomura ◽  
Kazuyo Moro

Abstract Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s), discovered in 2010, have been recognized as immune cells with unique functions and their involvement in various diseases has been clarified. Before 2010, the antigen-specific response was a primary focus of immunology research, and immune responses were considered almost equivalent to biological responses to foreign antigens. However, with the emergence of ILC2s, the importance of ‘antigen-independent responses’ was confirmed, and this concept has permeated basic and clinical research as well as drug development. When ILC2s were discovered, their function in the acute phase of diseases garnered attention because of their rapid and potent type 2 immune response. However, several studies have revealed that the main role of ILC2s is more closely related to the chronicity of diseases, such as allergy and fibrosis, than to the induction of diseases. In this review, we discuss how ILC2 research has affected the concept of ‘Taishitsu’, a Japanese term describing the overall nature of an individual as determined by the interaction of genetic and acquired predisposition.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong Li ◽  
Xiao-xia Jiang ◽  
Lin-fang Zhang ◽  
Xiao-ming Liu ◽  
Ting-zi Hu ◽  
...  

H. pylori induces a complicated local and systematic immune response and contributes to the carcinogenesis of gastric cancer. A primary type 1 immune response is evoked by H. pylori since its occurrence. However, it is not unusual that an inhibitory immunity is dominant in H. pylori-associated diseases, which are promoted by the formation of immunosuppressive microenvironment. But whether group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) plays a critical role in H. pylori-induced skewed type 2 immunity is still unclear. In the present study, firstly, we confirmed that type 1 immunity was inhibited and type 2 immunity were undisturbed or promoted after H. pylori infection in vitro and in vivo. Secondly, GATA-3 was firstly found to be increased in the interstitial lymphocytes from H. pylori-associated gastric cancer, among them, Lin−GATA-3+ cells and Lin+GATA-3+ cells were also found to be enhanced, which indicated an important role for ILC2s in H. pylori infection. More importantly, ILC2s were found to be increased after H. pylori infection in clinical patients and animal models. In conclusion, our results indicated that ILC2-mediated innate immune response might play a potential role in dominant type 2 phenotype and immunosuppressive microenvironment in H. pylori infection.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (21) ◽  
pp. 5493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meunier ◽  
Chea ◽  
Garrido ◽  
Perchet ◽  
Petit ◽  
...  

Innate lymphoid cells (ILC) are important players of early immune defenses in situations like lymphoid organogenesis or in case of immune response to inflammation, infection and cancer. Th1 and Th2 antagonism is crucial for the regulation of immune responses, however mechanisms are still unclear for ILC functions. ILC2 and NK cells were reported to be both involved in allergic airway diseases and were shown to be able to interplay in the regulation of the immune response. CXCR6 is a common chemokine receptor expressed by all ILC, and its deficiency affects ILC2 and ILC1/NK cell numbers and functions in lungs in both steady-state and inflammatory conditions. We determined that the absence of a specific ILC2 KLRG1+ST2– subset in CXCR6-deficient mice is probably dependent on CXCR6 for its recruitment to the lung under inflammation. We show that despite their decreased numbers, lung CXCR6-deficient ILC2 are even more activated cells producing large amount of type 2 cytokines that could drive eosinophilia. This is strongly associated to the decrease of the lung Th1 response in CXCR6-deficient mice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 407-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yurina Miyajima ◽  
Kafi N Ealey ◽  
Yasutaka Motomura ◽  
Miho Mochizuki ◽  
Natsuki Takeno ◽  
...  

Abstract Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are type 2 cytokine-producing cells that have important roles in helminth infection and allergic inflammation. ILC2s are tissue-resident cells, and their phenotypes and roles are regulated by tissue-specific environmental factors. While the role of ILC2s in the lung, intestine and bone marrow has been elucidated in many studies, their role in adipose tissues is still unclear. Here, we report on the role of ILC2-derived bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) in adipocyte differentiation and lipid accumulation. Co-culture of fat-derived ILC2s with pluripotent mesenchymal C3H10T1/2 cells and committed white preadipocyte 3T3-L1 cells resulted in their differentiation to adipocytes and induced lipid accumulation. Co-culture experiments using BMP7-deficient ILC2s revealed that BMP7, produced by ILC2s, induces differentiation into brown adipocytes. Our results demonstrate that BMP7, produced by ILC2s, affects adipocyte differentiation, particularly in brown adipocytes.


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