CTLs heterogeneity and plasticity: implications for cancer immunotherapy.
Mol Cancer
; 23(1): 58, 2024 03 21.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38515134
ABSTRACT
Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) play critical antitumor roles, encompassing diverse subsets including CD4+, NK, and γδ T cells beyond conventional CD8+ CTLs. However, definitive CTLs biomarkers remain elusive, as cytotoxicity-molecule expression does not necessarily confer cytotoxic capacity. CTLs differentiation involves transcriptional regulation by factors such as T-bet and Blimp-1, although epigenetic regulation of CTLs is less clear. CTLs promote tumor killing through cytotoxic granules and death receptor pathways, but may also stimulate tumorigenesis in some contexts. Given that CTLs cytotoxicity varies across tumors, enhancing this function is critical. This review summarizes current knowledge on CTLs subsets, biomarkers, differentiation mechanisms, cancer-related functions, and strategies for improving cytotoxicity. Key outstanding questions include refining the CTLs definition, characterizing subtype diversity, elucidating differentiation and senescence pathways, delineating CTL-microbe relationships, and enabling multi-omics profiling. A more comprehensive understanding of CTLs biology will facilitate optimization of their immunotherapy applications. Overall, this review synthesizes the heterogeneity, regulation, functional roles, and enhancement strategies of CTLs in antitumor immunity, highlighting gaps in our knowledge of subtype diversity, definitive biomarkers, epigenetic control, microbial interactions, and multi-omics characterization. Addressing these questions will refine our understanding of CTLs immunology to better leverage cytotoxic functions against cancer.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Linfócitos T Citotóxicos
/
Neoplasias
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Mol Cancer
Assunto da revista:
NEOPLASIAS
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
China