Laboratory Affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Department of Molecular Medicine, "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology, National Research Council (CNR), 00185 Rome, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 May 30;24(11):9467. doi: 10.3390/ijms24119467.
Natural Killer (NK) cells are innate cytotoxic lymphoid cells that play a crucial role in cancer immunosurveillance. NKG2D is an activating receptor that binds to MIC and ULBP molecules typically induced on damaged, transformed, or infected cells. The secretion of NKG2D ligands (NKG2DLs) through protease-mediated cleavage or in an extracellular vesicle (EV) is a mode to control their cell surface expression and a mechanism used by cancer cells to evade NKG2D-mediated immunosurveillance. EVs are emerging as important players in mediating cell-to-cell communication due to their ability to transfer biological material to acceptor cells. Herein, we investigated the spreading of NKG2DLs of both MIC and ULBP molecules through the EV-mediated cross-dressing on multiple myeloma (MM) cells. We focused our attention on two MICA allelic variants, namely MICA008 and MICA019, representing the prototype of short and long MICA alleles, respectively, and on ULBP-1, ULBP-2, and ULBP-3. Our findings demonstrate that both ULBP and MICA ligands can be acquired from tumor cells through EVs enhancing NK cell recognition and killing. Moreover, besides MICA, EVs expressing ULBP-1 but not ULBP-2 and 3 were detected in bone marrow aspirates derived from a cohort of MM patients. Our findings shed light on the role of EV-associated MICA allelic variants and ULBP molecules in the modulation of NKG2D-mediated NK cell immunosurveillance in the tumor microenvironment. Moreover, the EV-mediated transfer of NKG2DLs could suggest novel therapeutic approaches based on the usage of engineered nanoparticles aimed at increasing cancer cell immunogenicity.
自然杀伤 (NK) 细胞是先天的细胞毒性淋巴样细胞,在癌症免疫监视中发挥着关键作用。NKG2D 是一种激活受体,它与 MIC 和 ULBP 分子结合,这些分子通常在受损、转化或感染的细胞上诱导表达。通过蛋白酶介导的切割或细胞外囊泡 (EV) 的分泌来释放 NKG2D 配体 (NKG2DLs),是控制其细胞表面表达的一种方式,也是癌细胞逃避 NKG2D 介导的免疫监视的一种机制。EV 作为细胞间通讯的重要参与者而出现,这是因为它们能够将生物物质转移到受体细胞中。在此,我们研究了通过 EV 介导的交叉着装在多发性骨髓瘤 (MM) 细胞上传播 MIC 和 ULBP 分子的 NKG2DLs。我们将注意力集中在两种 MICA 等位基因变体上,即 MICA008 和 MICA019,分别代表短和长 MICA 等位基因的原型,以及 ULBP-1、ULBP-2 和 ULBP-3。我们的研究结果表明,通过 EV 增强 NK 细胞的识别和杀伤作用,ULBP 和 MICA 配体都可以从肿瘤细胞中获得。此外,除了 MICA 外,还在来自 MM 患者队列的骨髓抽吸物中检测到表达 ULBP-1 而不是 ULBP-2 和 3 的 EV。我们的研究结果揭示了 EV 相关的 MICA 等位基因变体和 ULBP 分子在肿瘤微环境中调节 NKG2D 介导的 NK 细胞免疫监视中的作用。此外,EV 介导的 NKG2DLs 的转移可能提示基于使用旨在增加癌细胞免疫原性的工程化纳米颗粒的新的治疗方法。
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