Nakashima Hiroyuki, Kinoshita Manabu
Department of Immunology and Microbiology, National Defense Medical College, Saitama 359-8513, Japan.
J Clin Med. 2023 Jan 21;12(3):866. doi: 10.3390/jcm12030866.
The liver plays crucial roles in systemic immunity and greatly contributes to the systemic defense mechanism. Antitumor immunity in the liver is especially critical for the defense against systemic tumor cell dissemination. To achieve effective defense against metastatic tumor cells, liver immune cells with powerful cytotoxic activities construct a potent defense mechanism. In the liver, as compared with other organs, there is a significantly more intense percentage of innate immune lymphocytes, such as natural killer (NK) and NKT cells. These characteristic lymphocytes survey the portal blood transferred to the liver from the alimentary tract and eliminate malignant cells with their robust cytotoxic ability. Additionally, with their active cytokine-producing capacity, these innate lymphocytes initiate immunological sequences by adaptive immune cells. Therefore, they are crucial contributors to systemic antitumor immunity. These attractive immune cells help conduct a fundamental investigation of tumor immunity and act as a target of clinical measures for cancer therapies. This review discusses the mechanisms of these innate lymphocytes regarding recognition and cytotoxicity against tumor cells and the possibility of clinical applications for therapeutic measures.
肝脏在全身免疫中发挥着关键作用，并对全身防御机制有很大贡献。肝脏中的抗肿瘤免疫对于抵御全身肿瘤细胞播散尤为关键。为了实现对转移性肿瘤细胞的有效防御，具有强大细胞毒性活性的肝脏免疫细胞构建了一种有效的防御机制。与其他器官相比，肝脏中天然免疫淋巴细胞（如自然杀伤细胞和自然杀伤T细胞）的比例显著更高。这些具有特征性的淋巴细胞监测从消化道转移至肝脏的门静脉血，并以其强大的细胞毒性能力清除恶性细胞。此外，这些天然淋巴细胞凭借其活跃的细胞因子产生能力，启动适应性免疫细胞的免疫反应序列。因此，它们是全身抗肿瘤免疫的关键贡献者。这些引人注目的免疫细胞有助于开展肿瘤免疫的基础研究，并成为癌症治疗临床措施的靶点。本综述讨论了这些天然淋巴细胞识别肿瘤细胞及对其产生细胞毒性的机制，以及治疗措施临床应用的可能性。
