Bahabayi Ayibaota, Zheng Mohan, Hasimu Ainizati, Kang Rui, Li Qi, Xiong Ziqi, Guan Zhao, Zhang Zhonghui, Liu Tianci, Zeng Xingyue, Liu Chen
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, PR China.
School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, PR China.
Immunol Lett. 2025 Dec;276:107034. doi: 10.1016/j.imlet.2025.107034. Epub 2025 May 20.
This study aimed to investigate the role of T-cell factor-1 (TCF1) in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients and explore its clinical significance for diagnosing early LUAD.
Blood samples were collected from 34 stage IA LUAD patients and 31 healthy controls. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the levels of TCF1 in circulating T cell subpopulations. Functional characteristics of TCF1-related cells were investigated by staining with CD62L and Ki-67. Changes in TCF1-related proportions in T cell subsets of early LUAD patients were analyzed. The role of Notch signaling was clarified by adding the Notch signal activator Jagged1 (JAG1). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the diagnostic value of TCF1-related T cell subsets for screening early LUAD.
The expression level of TCF1 in follicular regulatory T(Tfr) and regulatory T(Treg) cells was decreased in early LUAD patients, and TCF1+CD62L+ follicular helper (Tfh) cells were also decreased. TCF1+CD62L+ cells in both Treg and Tfr were decreased in early LUAD patients. Decreased TCF1 in Treg and Tfr recovered in early LUAD after adding JAG1. TCF1-related indicators showed good auxiliary diagnostic significance for early LUAD. TCF1+, TCF1+CD62L+, and TCF1-CD62L+ percentages in Treg and Tfr cells were with areas under the curve (AUCs) between 0.827 and 0.897 to distinguish early LUAD from healthy individuals.
Downregulation of Notch signaling contributes to the decrease in TCF1+ Treg subsets in LUAD patients, which is of significant value for screening early-stage lung adenocarcinoma.
本研究旨在探讨T细胞因子1（TCF1）在早期肺腺癌（LUAD）患者中的作用，并探索其对早期LUAD诊断的临床意义。
收集34例IA期LUAD患者和31例健康对照者的血样。采用流式细胞术分析循环T细胞亚群中TCF1的水平。通过CD62L和Ki-67染色研究TCF1相关细胞的功能特性。分析早期LUAD患者T细胞亚群中TCF1相关比例的变化。通过添加Notch信号激活剂Jagged1（JAG1）来阐明Notch信号的作用。采用受试者操作特征（ROC）曲线评估TCF1相关T细胞亚群对早期LUAD筛查的诊断价值。
早期LUAD患者中，滤泡调节性T细胞（Tfr）和调节性T细胞（Treg）中TCF1的表达水平降低，TCF1+CD62L+滤泡辅助性T细胞（Tfh）也减少。早期LUAD患者Treg和Tfr中TCF1+CD62L+细胞均减少。添加JAG1后，早期LUAD患者Treg和Tfr中降低的TCF1恢复。TCF1相关指标对早期LUAD具有良好的辅助诊断意义。Treg和Tfr细胞中TCF1+、TCF1+CD62L+和TCF1-CD62L+百分比的曲线下面积（AUC）在0.827至0.897之间，可区分早期LUAD患者与健康个体。
Notch信号下调导致LUAD患者中TCF1+ Treg亚群减少，这对早期肺腺癌的筛查具有重要价值。
