Hasnat Shrabon, Metsäniitty Marjut, Nurmi Katariina, Eklund Kari K, Salem Abdelhakim
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases, Clinicum, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
Translational Immunology Research Program (TRIMM), Research Program Unit (RPU), University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
Med Oncol. 2025 May 8;42(6):205. doi: 10.1007/s12032-025-02766-6.
Intracellular bacterial components represent an emerging tumor element that has recently been documented in multiple cancer types, yet their biological functions remain poorly understood. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a particularly aggressive malignancy lacking highly effective targeted treatments. Here, we explored the functional significance of intracellular bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in OSCC. Normal human oral keratinocytes (HOKs), HPV-transformed oral keratinocytes (IHGK), and three OSCC cell lines were transfected with ultrapure bacterial LPS. Cytotoxicity was assessed via lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assays. Production of interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 was measured using ELISA. Impact on tumor progression was evaluated using cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and tubulogenesis assays. Intracellular LPS-induced significant LDH release and increased secretion of IL-18 and IL-1β in IHGK and cancer cells, but not in normal HOKs, indicating selective cytotoxicity and pyroptosis. Notably, metastatic cancer cells exhibited enhanced invasive and vessel-like structures upon LPS exposure, while IHGK cells exhibited increased proliferation without changes in migration. Our findings suggest that intracellular LPS may not merely reside passively within the tumor milieu, but could contribute to OSCC progression by triggering noncanonical inflammasome activation and pyroptosis. This process may enhance pro-inflammatory signaling and more aggressive cellular phenotypes, especially in metastatic settings. Targeting intracellular LPS or its downstream inflammasome pathways may thus represent a promising therapeutic strategy for OSCC, warranting further in vivo and clinical investigations.
细胞内细菌成分是一种新出现的肿瘤成分,最近在多种癌症类型中都有记录,但其生物学功能仍知之甚少。口腔鳞状细胞癌(OSCC)是一种侵袭性特别强的恶性肿瘤,缺乏高效的靶向治疗方法。在此,我们探讨了细胞内细菌脂多糖(LPS)在OSCC中的功能意义。用超纯细菌LPS转染正常人口腔角质形成细胞(HOKs)、人乳头瘤病毒转化的口腔角质形成细胞(IHGK)和三种OSCC细胞系。通过乳酸脱氢酶(LDH)释放试验评估细胞毒性。使用酶联免疫吸附测定法(ELISA)检测白细胞介素(IL)-1β和IL-18的产生。使用细胞增殖、迁移、侵袭和管状形成试验评估对肿瘤进展的影响。细胞内LPS在IHGK和癌细胞中诱导显著的LDH释放,并增加IL-18和IL-1β的分泌,但在正常HOKs中未出现这种情况,表明存在选择性细胞毒性和细胞焦亡。值得注意的是,转移性癌细胞在暴露于LPS后表现出增强的侵袭性和血管样结构,而IHGK细胞表现出增殖增加但迁移未改变。我们的研究结果表明,细胞内LPS可能不仅仅被动存在于肿瘤微环境中,还可能通过触发非经典炎性小体激活和细胞焦亡促进OSCC进展。这一过程可能增强促炎信号传导和更具侵袭性的细胞表型,尤其是在转移情况下。因此,靶向细胞内LPS或其下游炎性小体途径可能是一种有前景的OSCC治疗策略,值得进一步进行体内和临床研究。