Wei Xuyong, Xie Wentao, Yin Weiwei, Yang Mengfan, Khan Abdul Rehman, Su Renyi, Shu Wenzhi, Pan Binhua, Fan Guanghan, Wang Kun, Yang Fan, Lu Di, Li Changbiao, Pan Linhui, Cen Beini, Xie Haiyang, Zhuang Li, Zheng Shusen, Zeng Xun, Chen Wei, Xu Xiao
Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Center for Integrated Oncology and Precision Medicine, Affiliated Hangzhou First People's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine Hangzhou 310006, China.
NHFPC Key Laboratory of Combined Multi-Organ Transplantation Hangzhou 310003, China.
Am J Cancer Res. 2022 Sep 15;12(9):4160-4176. eCollection 2022.
Recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after liver transplantation (LT) is a marker of poor prognosis. However, the reliable biomarkers of post-LT HCC recurrence remain to be identified. In this study, serial peripheral blood samples from the LT recipients with and without HCC recurrence were collected at five time points. Single-cell mass cytomertry (CyTOF) was utilized for the in-depth analysis of peripheral blood monocellular cells (PBMCs). CyTOF analysis showed that at 3 weeks post-LT, the activated immune cell population was increased, while the fraction of immune cells with suppressive functions (myeloid-derived suppressive cells) was reduced. The post-LT immune composition in patients with LT for HCC was enormously different from that in patients with LT for causes other than HCC. Furthermore, at 3 weeks after LT, compared with patients without recurrence, the patients with HCC recurrences were high in two subsets of T cells: CD57 HLA-DR CD8 and CD28γδ. The CD57 HLA-DR CD8 T cells presented high levels of perforin, granzyme B, and Ki-67 and displayed a highly cytotoxic and proliferative phenotype, while the CD28γδ T cells had reduced levels of IFN-γ and, hence, were less activated compared to CD28 cells. Based on these findings, we concluded that analyzing the PBMCs of LT recipients by CyTOF can predict the post-LT HCC recurrence. The distinct immune features can stratify patients with the risk of HCC recurrence at 3 weeks after LT, which will help clinician in further management plan and improve the prognosis of patients.
肝移植(LT)后肝细胞癌(HCC)复发是预后不良的一个标志。然而,LT后HCC复发的可靠生物标志物仍有待确定。在本研究中,在五个时间点收集了有或无HCC复发的LT受者的系列外周血样本。利用单细胞质谱流式细胞术(CyTOF)对外周血单个核细胞(PBMC)进行深入分析。CyTOF分析显示,LT后3周,活化的免疫细胞群体增加,而具有抑制功能的免疫细胞(髓系来源的抑制细胞)比例降低。HCC患者LT后的免疫组成与非HCC原因导致LT的患者有很大不同。此外,LT后3周,与未复发的患者相比,HCC复发患者的两个T细胞亚群水平较高:CD57 HLA-DR CD8和CD28γδ。CD57 HLA-DR CD8 T细胞表现出高水平的穿孔素、颗粒酶B和Ki-67,并表现出高度细胞毒性和增殖表型,而CD28γδ T细胞的IFN-γ水平降低,因此与CD28细胞相比活化程度较低。基于这些发现,我们得出结论,通过CyTOF分析LT受者的PBMC可以预测LT后HCC复发。这些独特的免疫特征可以在LT后3周对有HCC复发风险的患者进行分层排序,这将有助于临床医生制定进一步的管理计划并改善患者的预后。