Translational Research Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States.
Front Immunol. 2021 Feb 3;11:621254. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.621254. eCollection 2020.
Natural killer (NK) cells and dendritic cells (DCs) are crucial mediators of productive immune responses to infection and disease. NK cells and a subtype of DCs, the type 1 conventional DCs (cDC1s), are individually important for regulating immune responses to cancer in mice and humans. Recent work has found that NK cells and cDC1s engage in intercellular cross-talk integral to initiating and coordinating adaptive immunity to cancer. This NK cell-cDC1 axis has been linked to increased overall survival and responses to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in metastatic melanoma patients. Here, we review recent findings on the role of NK cells and cDC1s in protective immune responses to cancer and immunotherapy, as well as current therapies targeting this NK cell-cDC1 axis. Further, we explore the concept that intercellular cross-talk between NK cells and cDC1s may be key for many of the positive prognostic associations seen with NK cells and DCs individually. It is clear that increasing our understanding of the NK cell-cDC1 innate immune cell axis will be critical for the generation of novel therapies that can modulate anti-cancer immunity and increase patient responses to common immunotherapies.
自然杀伤 (NK) 细胞和树突状细胞 (DC) 是感染和疾病中产生有效免疫反应的关键介质。NK 细胞和 DC 的一种亚型，即 1 型传统 DC（cDC1），在调节小鼠和人类对癌症的免疫反应方面各自具有重要作用。最近的研究发现，NK 细胞和 cDC1 之间的细胞间串扰对于启动和协调适应性免疫反应至关重要。在转移性黑色素瘤患者中，该 NK 细胞-cDC1 轴与总生存期延长和对抗 PD-1 免疫治疗的反应有关。在这里，我们回顾了 NK 细胞和 cDC1 在癌症和免疫治疗中的保护性免疫反应中的作用，以及针对该 NK 细胞-cDC1 轴的当前治疗方法。此外，我们还探讨了这样一种观点，即 NK 细胞和 cDC1 之间的细胞间串扰可能是 NK 细胞和 DC 各自与许多阳性预后相关的关键。显然，增加我们对 NK 细胞-cDC1 先天免疫细胞轴的理解对于产生能够调节抗癌免疫并增加患者对常见免疫疗法反应的新疗法至关重要。
