Immunological synapse formation between T regulatory cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts promotes tumour development.
Nat Commun
; 15(1): 4988, 2024 Jun 11.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38862534
ABSTRACT
Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have emerged as a dominant non-hematopoietic cell population in the tumour microenvironment, serving diverse functions in tumour progression. However, the mechanisms via which CAFs influence the anti-tumour immunity remain poorly understood. Here, using multiple tumour models and biopsies from cancer patients, we report that α-SMA+ CAFs can form immunological synapses with Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in tumours. Notably, α-SMA+ CAFs can phagocytose and process tumour antigens and exhibit a tolerogenic phenotype which instructs movement arrest, activation and proliferation in Tregs in an antigen-specific manner. Moreover, α-SMA+ CAFs display double-membrane structures resembling autophagosomes in their cytoplasm. Single-cell transcriptomic data showed an enrichment in autophagy and antigen processing/presentation pathways in α-SMA-expressing CAF clusters. Conditional knockout of Atg5 in α-SMA+ CAFs promoted inflammatory re-programming in CAFs, reduced Treg cell infiltration and attenuated tumour development. Overall, our findings reveal an immunosuppressive mechanism entailing the formation of synapses between α-SMA+ CAFs and Tregs in an autophagy-dependent manner.
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Autofagia
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Linfocitos T Reguladores
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Sinapsis Inmunológicas
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Microambiente Tumoral
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Fibroblastos Asociados al Cáncer
Límite:
Animals
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Female
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Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Nat Commun
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA
/
CIENCIA
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Grecia