Chan Shih-Hsuan, Lin Chin-Yu, Tseng Hsuan-Jung, Wang Lu-Hai
School of Chinese Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, No.91, Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung, 40402, Taiwan.
Chinese Medicine Research Center, China Medical University, Taichung, 40402, Taiwan.
J Biomed Sci. 2025 Aug 9;32(1):73. doi: 10.1186/s12929-025-01165-3.
BACKGROUND: CD24 plays a crucial role not only in promoting tumor progression and metastasis but also in modulating macrophage-mediated anti-tumor immunity. However, its impact on the immune landscape of the tumor microenvironment (TME) remains unexplored. Here, we investigated the role of CD24a, the murine CD24 gene, in tumor progression and TME immune dynamics in a murine triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) model. METHODS: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 knockout technology was employed to generate CD24a knockout in the murine TNBC cell line 4T1. Flow cytometry was utilized to analyze the immune cell populations, including myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), natural killer cells, T cells, and macrophages, within tumors, spleens, and bone marrow in the orthotopic mouse 4T1 breast cancer model. Immunofluorescence (IF) staining was used to detect the immune cells in tumor sections. High-speed confocal was used to perform three-dimensional (3D) mapping of immune cells in the 4T1 orthotopic tumors. RESULTS: Knocking out CD24a significantly reduced tumor growth kinetics and prolonged mouse survival in vivo. Flow cytometry and IF analysis of tumor samples revealed that CD24a loss significantly promoted the infiltration of M1 macrophages and cytotoxic CD8 T cells into the TME while reducing the recruitment and expansion of granulocytic MDSCs (gMDSCs). In vitro coculture experiments showed that CD24a deficiency significantly enhanced macrophage-mediated phagocytosis and CD8⁺ T cell-mediated cytotoxicity, effects that were partially reversed by re-expression of CD24a. Moreover, in vivo depletion of macrophages and CD8 T cells reverted the delayed tumor growth caused by CD24a knockout, underscoring their critical role in tumor growth suppression associated with CD24a knockout. 3D mapping of immune cells in the TME confirmed the anti-tumor immune landscape in the CD24a knockout 4T1 tumors. Furthermore, in vitro analysis showed that CD24a loss upregulated macrophage colony-stimulating factor expression while suppressed levels of CXCL1, CXCL5, and CXCL10, chemokines known to recruit gMDSCs, further providing a molecular basis for enhanced macrophage recruitment and diminished gMDSC accumulation. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that CD24a may regulate immune suppression within the TNBC TME. Targeting CD24a enhances macrophage- and CD8⁺ T cell-mediated anti-tumor immune responses and is associated with a shift in the TME toward a more immunogenic state, thereby suppressing tumor growth. These results may support CD24 as a promising immunotherapeutic target for TNBC.
背景:CD24不仅在促进肿瘤进展和转移中起关键作用,还在调节巨噬细胞介导的抗肿瘤免疫中发挥作用。然而,其对肿瘤微环境(TME)免疫格局的影响仍未得到探索。在此,我们在小鼠三阴性乳腺癌(TNBC)模型中研究了小鼠CD24基因CD24a在肿瘤进展和TME免疫动态中的作用。 方法:采用成簇规律间隔短回文重复序列(CRISPR)/Cas9基因敲除技术在小鼠TNBC细胞系4T1中产生CD24a基因敲除。利用流式细胞术分析原位小鼠4T1乳腺癌模型中肿瘤、脾脏和骨髓内的免疫细胞群体,包括髓源性抑制细胞(MDSCs)、自然杀伤细胞、T细胞和巨噬细胞。免疫荧光(IF)染色用于检测肿瘤切片中的免疫细胞。高速共聚焦显微镜用于对4T1原位肿瘤中的免疫细胞进行三维(3D)映射。 结果:敲除CD24a显著降低了体内肿瘤生长动力学并延长了小鼠生存期。对肿瘤样本的流式细胞术和IF分析显示,CD24a缺失显著促进了M1巨噬细胞和细胞毒性CD8 T细胞浸润到TME中,同时减少了粒细胞MDSCs(gMDSCs)的募集和扩增。体外共培养实验表明,CD24a缺陷显著增强了巨噬细胞介导的吞噬作用和CD8⁺ T细胞介导的细胞毒性,CD24a的重新表达部分逆转了这些作用。此外,体内清除巨噬细胞和CD8 T细胞可逆转由CD24a敲除引起的肿瘤生长延迟,强调了它们在与CD24a敲除相关的肿瘤生长抑制中的关键作用。TME中免疫细胞的3D映射证实了CD24a敲除的4T1肿瘤中的抗肿瘤免疫格局。此外,体外分析表明,CD24a缺失上调了巨噬细胞集落刺激因子的表达,同时抑制了已知可募集gMDSCs的趋化因子CXCL1、CXCL5和CXCL10的水平,进一步为增强巨噬细胞募集和减少gMDSC积累提供了分子基础。 结论:我们的研究结果表明,CD24a可能调节TNBC TME内的免疫抑制。靶向CD24a可增强巨噬细胞和CD8⁺ T细胞介导的抗肿瘤免疫反应,并与TME向更具免疫原性的状态转变相关,从而抑制肿瘤生长。这些结果可能支持CD24作为TNBC有前景的免疫治疗靶点。
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