Fondazione per la Medicina Solidale, via San Cosimo 8 Pellaro, 89134 Reggio Calabria, Italy.
Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, via Trentacoste 2, 20134 Milan, Italy.
Cells. 2019 May 15;8(5):460. doi: 10.3390/cells8050460.
Carcinoma cells that undergo an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and display a predominantly mesenchymal phenotype (hereafter EMT tumor cells) are associated with immune exclusion and immune deviation in the tumor microenvironment (TME). A large body of evidence has shown that EMT tumor cells and immune cells can reciprocally influence each other, with EMT cells promoting immune exclusion and deviation and immune cells promoting, under certain circumstances, the induction of EMT in tumor cells. This cross-talk between EMT tumor cells and immune cells can occur both between EMT tumor cells and cells of either the native or adaptive immune system. In this article, we review this evidence and the functional consequences of it. We also discuss some recent evidence showing that tumor cells and cells of the immune system respond to similar stimuli, activate the expression of partially overlapping gene sets, and acquire, at least in part, identical functionalities such as migration and invasion. The possible significance of these symmetrical changes in the cross-talk between EMT tumor cells and immune cells is addressed. Eventually, we also discuss possible therapeutic opportunities that may derive from disrupting this cross-talk.
经历上皮-间充质转化 (EMT) 并表现出主要间充质表型的癌细胞 (以下简称 EMT 肿瘤细胞) 与肿瘤微环境 (TME) 中的免疫排斥和免疫偏离有关。大量证据表明，EMT 肿瘤细胞和免疫细胞可以相互影响，EMT 细胞促进免疫排斥和偏离，而在某些情况下，免疫细胞促进肿瘤细胞 EMT 的诱导。EMT 肿瘤细胞和免疫细胞之间的这种串扰既可以发生在 EMT 肿瘤细胞与固有或适应性免疫系统的细胞之间，也可以发生在 EMT 肿瘤细胞与固有或适应性免疫系统的细胞之间。在本文中，我们回顾了这方面的证据及其功能后果。我们还讨论了一些最近的证据，表明肿瘤细胞和免疫细胞对相似的刺激做出反应，激活部分重叠的基因集的表达，并获得至少部分相同的功能，如迁移和侵袭。探讨了 EMT 肿瘤细胞和免疫细胞之间这种串扰中对称性变化的可能意义。最后，我们还讨论了可能从破坏这种串扰中获得的治疗机会。
