Alveolar macrophages in lung cancer: opportunities challenges

Frontiers in Immunology

Immunology

Cheng-Yen Chang¹  Dominique Armstrong¹  Farrah Kheradmand²  David B. Corry² 

[1] Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States;Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States;Department of Pathology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States;Biology of Inflammation Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States;Center for Translational Research on Inflammatory Diseases, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, TX, United States;

关键词: tissue-resident alveolar macrophages;    smoking;    lung cancer;    immune checkpoint inhibitors;    tumor-associated macrophages;    tumor microenvironment;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fimmu.2023.1268939

 received in 2023-07-28, accepted in 2023-09-12,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Alveolar macrophages (AMs) are critical components of the innate defense mechanism in the lung. Nestled tightly within the alveoli, AMs, derived from the yolk-sac or bone marrow, can phagocytose foreign particles, defend the host against pathogens, recycle surfactant, and promptly respond to inhaled noxious stimuli. The behavior of AMs is tightly dependent on the environmental cues whereby infection, chronic inflammation, and associated metabolic changes can repolarize their effector functions in the lungs. Several factors within the tumor microenvironment can re-educate AMs, resulting in tumor growth, and reducing immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) efficacy in patients treated for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The plasticity of AMs and their critical function in altering tumor responses to ICIs make them a desirable target in lung cancer treatment. New strategies have been developed to target AMs in solid tumors reprograming their suppressive function and boosting the efficacy of ICIs. Here, we review the phenotypic and functional changes in AMs in response to sterile inflammation and in NSCLC that could be critical in tumor growth and metastasis. Opportunities in altering AMs’ function include harnessing their potential function in trained immunity, a concept borrowed from memory response to infections, which could be explored therapeutically in managing lung cancer treatment.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Chang, Armstrong, Corry and Kheradmand