Tumor Cell-derived HMGB1-initiated Activation of Treg Abstract High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) in tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME) is tied to the hallmarks of tumor development and progression, but its role in tumor-induced immune suppression is unclear. We found that stable silencing of HMGB1 in tumor cells or specific inhibiting of extracellular HMGB1 in the TME reduced tumor-induced activation of regulatory T cells (Treg) and uncovered spontaneous CD8 T cell-dependent antitumor immunity in multiple murine tumor models, suggesting that tumor cell-derived HMGB1 may trigger Treg activation. Also, we found that tumor cell-derived HMGB1 promoted the production of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) by tumor cells. Further, we found that tumor cell-derived HMGB1 and TSLP acted together to modulate dendritic cells (DC) to activate Treg. We hypothesize that growing tumor cell-derived HMGB1 acts as an extracellular signal on tumor cells to heighten TSLP, which in turn `partners' with HMGB1, to modulate DC to activate Treg. We will test this central hypothesis with 2 specific aims: 1) Define how HMGB1 heightens TSLP in tumor cells 2) Dissect how HMGB1 modulates DC to activate Treg This study will have led to a novel concept that HMGB1 is immune suppressive during tumor progression. Novel findings -- that uncover a previously unknown function of HMGB1 as an extracellular signal elevating TSLP in tumor cells and reveal an innovative mechanistic connection between HMGB1 and TSLP in Treg activation via DC -- will advance our understanding of how tumors induce Treg activation.
This study identifies a novel tumor-derived factor for mediating tumor immune suppression and provides new insights into understanding the tumor-induced suppression of antitumor activity. Understanding molecular and cellular mechanisms of tumor-derived factors in mediating tumor immune suppression might raise the hope to circumvent the negative regulator, thus opening the door to novel approaches to cancer treatment and prevention.
| Zhang, Yi; Liu, Zuqiang; Hao, Xingxing et al. (2018) Tumor-derived high-mobility group box 1 and thymic stromal lymphopoietin are involved in modulating dendritic cells to activate T regulatory cells in a mouse model. Cancer Immunol Immunother 67:353-366 |
| Liu, Zuqiang; Hao, Xingxing; Zhang, Yi et al. (2017) Intratumoral delivery of tumor antigen-loaded DC and tumor-primed CD4+ T cells combined with agonist ?-GITR mAb promotes durable CD8+ T-cell-dependent antitumor immunity. Oncoimmunology 6:e1315487 |
