Progressive Impairment of NK Cell Cytotoxic Degranulation Is Associated With TGF-β1 Deregulation and Disease Progression in Pancreatic Cancer

Frontiers in Immunology

Seong Who Kim¹  Ji-Wan Choi²  Hyeon Ho Lee²  Ah Young Song²  Mi-Yeon Kim²  Yenan Bryceson³  Eunsung Jun⁴  Dae-Hyun Ko⁵  Hyo Jeong Kang⁷  Song Cheol Kim⁸  Hun Sik Kim⁹ 

[1] Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea;Department of Biomedical Sciences, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea;Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway;Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea;Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea;Department of Medicine Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden;Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea;Division of Hepato-Biliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Asan Medical Center, AMIST, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea;Stem Cell Immunomodulation Research Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea;

关键词: natural killer cells;    pancreatic cancer;    cytotoxicity;    TGF-β1;    prognosis;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fimmu.2019.01354

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Natural killer (NK) cells are key effectors in cancer immunosurveillance and can be used as a prognostic biomarker in diverse cancers. Nonetheless, the role of NK cells in pancreatic cancer (PC) remains elusive, given conflicting data on their association with disease prognosis. In this study, using conventional K562 target cells and complementary engineered target cells providing defined and synergistic stimulation for NK cell activation, a correlation between impaired NK cell cytotoxic degranulation and PC progression was determined. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 31 patients with newly diagnosed PC, 24 patients with non-malignant tumors, and 37 healthy controls were analyzed by flow cytometry. The frequency, phenotype, and effector functions of the NK cells were evaluated, and correlations between NK cell functions and disease stage and prognosis were analyzed. The results demonstrated that effector functions, but not frequency, of NK cells was progressively decreased on a per-cell basis during PC progression. Impaired cytotoxic degranulation, but not IFN-γ production, was associated with clinical features indicating disease progression, such as high serum CA19-9 and high-grade tumors. Significantly, this impairment correlated with cancer recurrence and mortality in a prospective analysis. Furthermore, the impaired cytotoxic degranulation was unrelated to NKG2D downregulation but was associated with increased circulating and tumor-associated TGF-β1 expression. Thus, NK cell cytotoxic activity was associated with PC progression and may be a favorable biomarker with predictive and prognostic value in PC.

【 授权许可】

Unknown