Lab of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
Immunobiology. 2011 Nov;216(11):1192-202. doi: 10.1016/j.imbio.2011.06.007. Epub 2011 Jun 30.
Mononuclear phagocytes are amongst the most versatile cells of the body, contributing to tissue genesis and homeostasis and safeguarding the balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory reactions. Accordingly, these cells are notoriously heterogeneous, functioning in distinct differentiation forms (monocytes, MDSC, macrophages, DC) and adopting different activation states in response to a changing microenvironment. Accumulating evidence exists that mononuclear phagocytes contribute to all phases of the cancer process. These cells orchestrate the inflammatory events during de novo carcinogenesis, participate in tumor immunosurveillance, and contribute to the progression of established tumors. At the tumor site, cells such as tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) are confronted with different tumor microenvironments, leading to TAM subsets with specialized functions. A better refinement of the molecular and functional heterogeneity of tumor-associated mononuclear phagocytes might pave the way for novel cancer therapies that directly target these tumor-supporting cells.
单核吞噬细胞是体内最具多功能性的细胞之一，它们有助于组织发生和稳态，并维持促炎和抗炎反应之间的平衡。因此，这些细胞具有明显的异质性，以不同的分化形式（单核细胞、MDSC、巨噬细胞、DC）发挥作用，并根据不断变化的微环境采用不同的激活状态。越来越多的证据表明单核吞噬细胞参与癌症过程的所有阶段。这些细胞在新发生的致癌作用中协调炎症事件，参与肿瘤免疫监视，并有助于已建立的肿瘤的进展。在肿瘤部位，肿瘤相关巨噬细胞（TAM）等细胞面临着不同的肿瘤微环境，导致具有特定功能的 TAM 亚群。更好地细化肿瘤相关单核吞噬细胞的分子和功能异质性可能为直接针对这些肿瘤支持细胞的新型癌症治疗方法铺平道路。
