scholarly journals Complement in Tumourigenesis and the Response to Cancer Therapy

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1209
Author(s):  
Rebecca M. O’Brien ◽  
Aoife Cannon ◽  
John V. Reynolds ◽  
Joanne Lysaght ◽  
Niamh Lynam-Lennon

In recent years, our knowledge of the complement system beyond innate immunity has progressed significantly. A modern understanding is that the complement system has a multifaceted role in malignancy, impacting carcinogenesis, the acquisition of a metastatic phenotype and response to therapies. The ability of local immune cells to produce and respond to complement components has provided valuable insights into their regulation, and the subsequent remodeling of the tumour microenvironment. These novel discoveries have advanced our understanding of the immunosuppressive mechanisms supporting tumour growth and uncovered potential therapeutic targets. This review discusses the current understanding of complement in cancer, outlining both direct and immune cell-mediated roles. The role of complement in response to therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy is also presented. While complement activities are largely context and cancer type-dependent, it is evident that promising therapeutic avenues have been identified, in particular in combination therapies.

Antibodies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Margot Revel ◽  
Marie V. Daugan ◽  
Catherine Sautés-Fridman ◽  
Wolf H. Fridman ◽  
Lubka T. Roumenina

Constituent of innate immunity, complement is present in the tumor microenvironment. The functions of complement include clearance of pathogens and maintenance of homeostasis, and as such could contribute to an anti-tumoral role in the context of certain cancers. However, multiple lines of evidence show that in many cancers, complement has pro-tumoral actions. The large number of complement molecules (over 30), the diversity of their functions (related or not to the complement cascade), and the variety of cancer types make the complement-cancer topic a very complex matter that has just started to be unraveled. With this review we highlight the context-dependent role of complement in cancer. Recent studies revealed that depending of the cancer type, complement can be pro or anti-tumoral and, even for the same type of cancer, different models presented opposite effects. We aim to clarify the current knowledge of the role of complement in human cancers and the insights from mouse models. Using our classification of human cancers based on the prognostic impact of the overexpression of complement genes, we emphasize the strong potential for therapeutic targeting the complement system in selected subgroups of cancer patients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (14) ◽  
pp. 3550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilvi Riihilä ◽  
Liisa Nissinen ◽  
Jaakko Knuutila ◽  
Pegah Rahmati Nezhad ◽  
Kristina Viiklepp ◽  
...  

Epidermal keratinocyte-derived cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the most common metastatic skin cancer with high mortality rates in the advanced stage. Chronic inflammation is a recognized risk factor for cSCC progression and the complement system, as a part of innate immunity, belongs to the microenvironment of tumors. The complement system is a double-edged sword in cancer, since complement activation is involved in anti-tumor cytotoxicity and immune responses, but it also promotes cancer progression directly and indirectly. Recently, the role of several complement components and inhibitors in the regulation of progression of cSCC has been shown. In this review, we will discuss the role of complement system components and inhibitors as biomarkers and potential new targets for therapeutic intervention in cSCC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Paul Morgan ◽  
Jennifer L. Gommerman ◽  
Valeria Ramaglia

The last 15 years have seen an explosion of new findings on the role of complement, a major arm of the immune system, in the central nervous system (CNS) compartment including contributions to cell migration, elimination of synapse during development, aberrant synapse pruning in neurologic disorders, damage to nerve cells in autoimmune diseases, and traumatic injury. Activation of the complement system in multiple sclerosis (MS) is typically thought to occur as part of a primary (auto)immune response from the periphery (the outside) against CNS antigens (the inside). However, evidence of local complement production from CNS-resident cells, intracellular complement functions, and the more recently discovered role of early complement components in shaping synaptic circuits in the absence of inflammation opens up the possibility that complement-related sequelae may start and finish within the brain itself. In this review, the complement system will be introduced, followed by evidence that implicates complement in shaping the developing, adult, and normal aging CNS as well as its contribution to pathology in neurodegenerative conditions. Discussion of data supporting “outside-in” vs. “inside-out” roles of complement in MS will be presented, concluded by thoughts on potential approaches to therapies targeting specific elements of the complement system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Copenhaver ◽  
Chack-Yung Yu ◽  
Robert P. Hoffman

Introduction: Increased systemic inflammation plays a significant role in the development of adult cardiometabolic diseases such as insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, and hypertension. The complement system is a part of the innate immune system and plays a key role in the regulation of inflammation. Of particular importance is the activation of complement components C3 and C4. C3 is produced primarily by the liver but is also produced in adipocytes, macrophages and endothelial cells, all of which are present in adipose tissues. Dietary fat and chylomicrons stimulate C3 production. Adipocytes in addition to producing C3 also have receptors for activated C3 and other complement components and thus also respond to as well as produce a target for complement. C3adesArg, also known as acylation stimulation factor, increases adipocyte triglyceride synthesis and release. These physiological effects play a significant role in the development of metabolic syndrome. Epidemiologically, obese adults and non-obese adults with cardiometabolic disease who are not obese have been shown to have increased complement levels. C4 levels also correlate with body mass index. Genetically, specific C3 polymorphisms have been shown to predict future cardiovascular events and. D decreased C4 long gene copy number is associated with increased longevity. Conclusion: Future research is clearly needed to clarify the role of complement in the development of cardiovascular disease and mechanisms for its action. The complement system may provide a new area for intervention in the prevention of cardiometabolic diseases.


Antibodies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Ronald P. Taylor

The complement system plays an important role in critical aspects of immune defense and in the maintenance of homeostasis in the bloodstream, as well as in essentially all tissues and organs [...]


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuxiang Lei ◽  
Dan Yang ◽  
Wenlin Chen ◽  
Haoxuan Kan ◽  
Fang Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) can be life-threatening due to the progressive weakening and dilatation of the aortic wall. Once the aortic wall has ruptured, no effective pharmaceutical therapies are available. However, studies on TAA at the gene expression level are limited. Our study aimed to identify the driver genes and critical pathways of TAA through gene coexpression networks. Methods We analyzed the genetic data of TAA patients from a public database by weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA). Modules with clinical significance were identified, and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were intersected with the genes in these modules. Gene Ontology and pathway enrichment analyses were performed. Finally, hub genes that might be driving factors of TAA were identified. Furthermore, we evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of these genes and analyzed the composition of immune cells using the CIBERSORT algorithm. Results We identified 256 DEGs and two modules with clinical significance. The immune response, including leukocyte adhesion, mononuclear cell proliferation and T cell activation, was identified by functional enrichment analysis. CX3CR1, C3, and C3AR1 were the top 3 hub genes in the module correlated with TAA, and the areas under the curve (AUCs) by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of all the hub genes exceeded 0.7. Finally, we found that the proportions of infiltrating immune cells in TAA and normal tissues were different, especially in terms of macrophages and natural killer (NK) cells. Conclusion Chemotaxis and the complement system were identified as crucial pathways in TAA, and macrophages with interactive immune cells may regulate this pathological process.


2017 ◽  
Vol 89 ◽  
pp. 59-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorottya Csuka ◽  
Nóra Veszeli ◽  
Lilian Varga ◽  
Zoltán Prohászka ◽  
Henriette Farkas

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Gil Melgaço ◽  
Carlos Eduardo Veloso ◽  
Lúcio Filgueiras Pacheco-Moreira ◽  
Claudia Lamarca Vitral ◽  
Marcelo Alves Pinto

The complement system plays an important role in innate immunity inducing liver diseases as well as signaling immune cell activation in local inflammation regulating immunomodulatory effects such as liver damage and/or liver regeneration. Our aim is to evaluate the role of complement components in acute liver failure (ALF) caused by viral hepatitis, involving virus-induced ALF in human subjects using peripheral blood, samples of liver tissues, and ex vivo assays. Our findings displayed low levels of C3a in plasma samples with high frequency of C3a, C5a, and C5b/9 deposition in liver parenchyma. Meanwhile, laboratory assays using HepG2 (hepatocyte cell line) showed susceptibility to plasma samples from ALF patients impairing in vitro cell proliferation and an increase in apoptotic events submitting plasma samples to heat inactivation. In summary, our data suggest that the complement system may be involved in liver dysfunction in viral-induced acute liver failure cases using ex vivo assays. In extension to our findings, we provide insights into future studies using animal models for viral-induced ALF, as well as other associated soluble components, which need further investigation.


Open Biology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 170006 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Calì ◽  
B. Molon ◽  
A. Viola

Host immunity plays a central and complex role in dictating tumour progression. Solid tumours are commonly infiltrated by a large number of immune cells that dynamically interact with the surrounding microenvironment. At first, innate and adaptive immune cells successfully cooperate to eradicate microcolonies of transformed cells. Concomitantly, surviving tumour clones start to proliferate and harness immune responses by specifically hijacking anti-tumour effector mechanisms and fostering the accumulation of immunosuppressive immune cell subsets at the tumour site. This pliable interplay between immune and malignant cells is a relentless process that has been concisely organized in three different phases: elimination, equilibrium and escape. In this review, we aim to depict the distinct immune cell subsets and immune-mediated responses characterizing the tumour landscape throughout the three interconnected phases. Importantly, the identification of key immune players and molecules involved in the dynamic crosstalk between tumour and immune system has been crucial for the introduction of reliable prognostic factors and effective therapeutic protocols against cancers.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document