Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Pharmacology Department, Cluj- Napoca, Romania.
Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2012 Jan-Mar;25(1):59-66. doi: 10.1177/039463201202500108.
Lymph node (LN) infiltration by neoplastic process involves important changes in lymph node immune microenvironment. In particular, regulatory T cells (Treg) seem to have a key role in altering the immunoediting function of the immune system which leads to the elusion of the tumor from immune surveillance. In this study, we evaluated the expression of T-cell markers in CD4+ and CD8+ subsets from tumor-positive and tumor-negative lymph nodes from the same, advanced stage breast cancer patient. The study was carried out on 3 patients and similar results were obtained. Flow cytometric analysis of CD8+ cells demonstrated a significant difference in the expression of CD25, CD45RA, CD45RO, and GITRL (Glucocorticoid-Induced TNF receptor-Related ligand). Flowcytometric analysis of CD4+ cells demonstrated a significant difference in the expression of GITR (Glucocorticoid-Induced TNF receptor-Related), CD25, FoxP3 (Forkhead box P3), CD28, and CD45RA. Multiple staining allowed the identification of two Treg subpopulations, CD4+ CD25 highGITR+ CD127-/low and CD4+ CD25 low GITR+ CD127+ cells, proving that both are increased in the positive nodes in comparison with the negative nodes from the same patient. We identified for the first time the CD4+ CD25 low GITR+ CD127+ Treg subpopulation in cancer, and the 2.6 fold increase in positive LN suggests that this Treg subpopulation could be a key player in metastasis. We also found GITRL expression in the CD8 lymphocytes, which may also contribute to the changes of metastatic lymph node microenvironment. These findings make both GITR and GITRL good possible co-candidates for future therapeutical intervention against metastasis and perhaps also as disease evolution biomarkers.
淋巴结(LN)中的肿瘤浸润过程涉及到淋巴结免疫微环境的重要变化。特别是,调节性 T 细胞(Treg)似乎在改变免疫系统的免疫编辑功能方面起着关键作用,从而使肿瘤逃避免疫监视。在这项研究中,我们评估了来自同一晚期乳腺癌患者的肿瘤阳性和肿瘤阴性淋巴结的 CD4+和 CD8+亚群中 T 细胞标志物的表达。该研究共纳入 3 名患者,均获得了类似结果。CD8+细胞的流式细胞术分析显示 CD25、CD45RA、CD45RO 和 GITRL(糖皮质激素诱导的 TNF 受体相关配体)的表达存在显著差异。CD4+细胞的流式细胞术分析显示 GITR(糖皮质激素诱导的 TNF 受体相关配体)、CD25、FoxP3(叉头框 P3)、CD28 和 CD45RA 的表达存在显著差异。多重染色允许鉴定出两种 Treg 亚群,即 CD4+CD25highGITR+CD127-/low 和 CD4+CD25lowGITR+CD127+细胞,证实与同一患者的阴性淋巴结相比,这两种细胞在阳性淋巴结中均增加。我们首次在癌症中鉴定出 CD4+CD25lowGITR+CD127+Treg 亚群,阳性淋巴结中该亚群增加了 2.6 倍,提示该 Treg 亚群可能是转移的关键因素。我们还发现 CD8 淋巴细胞中存在 GITRL 表达,这也可能导致转移淋巴结微环境的变化。这些发现表明 GITR 和 GITRL 都是未来针对转移的治疗干预的潜在候选物,也可能作为疾病进展的生物标志物。