OncoImmunology (Dec 2023)

CD4+ T cell-derived IL-22 enhances liver metastasis by promoting angiogenesis

  • Tao Zhang,
  • Ramez Wahib,
  • Dimitra E. Zazara,
  • Jöran Lücke,
  • Ahmad Mustafa Shiri,
  • Jan Kempski,
  • Lilan Zhao,
  • Theodora Agalioti,
  • Andres Pablo Machicote,
  • Olympia Giannou,
  • Ioannis Belios,
  • Rongrong Jia,
  • Siwen Zhang,
  • Joseph Tintelnot,
  • Hannes Seese,
  • Julia Kristin Grass,
  • Baris Mercanoglu,
  • Louisa Stern,
  • Pasquale Scognamiglio,
  • Mohammad Fard-Aghaie,
  • Philipp Seeger,
  • Jonas Wakker,
  • Marius Kemper,
  • Benjamin Brunswig,
  • Anna Duprée,
  • Panagis M. Lykoudis,
  • Anastasia Pikouli,
  • Emmanouil Giorgakis,
  • Pablo Stringa,
  • Natalia Lausada,
  • Maria Virginia Gentilini,
  • Gabriel E. Gondolesi,
  • Kai Bachmann,
  • Philipp Busch,
  • Rainer Grotelüschen,
  • Ioannis C. Maroulis,
  • Petra C. Arck,
  • Ryosuke Nakano,
  • Angus W. Thomson,
  • Tarik Ghadban,
  • Michael Tachezy,
  • Nathaniel Melling,
  • Eike-Gert Achilles,
  • Victor G. Puelles,
  • Felix Nickel,
  • Thilo Hackert,
  • Oliver Mann,
  • Jakob R. Izbicki,
  • Jun Li,
  • Nicola Gagliani,
  • Samuel Huber,
  • Anastasios D. Giannou

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/2162402X.2023.2269634
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1

Abstract

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ABSTRACTMetastasis is a cancer-related systemic disease and is responsible for the greatest mortality rate among cancer patients. Interestingly, the interaction between the immune system and cancer cells seems to play a key role in metastasis formation in the target organ. However, this complex network is only partially understood. We previously found that IL-22 produced by tissue resident iNKT17 cells promotes cancer cell extravasation, the early step of metastasis. Based on these data, we aimed here to decipher the role of IL-22 in the last step of metastasis formation. We found that IL-22 levels were increased in established metastatic sites in both human and mouse. We also found that Th22 cells were the key source of IL-22 in established metastasis sites, and that deletion of IL-22 in CD4+ T cells was protective in liver metastasis formation. Accordingly, the administration of a murine IL-22 neutralizing antibody in the establishment of metastasis formation significantly reduced the metastatic burden in a mouse model. Mechanistically, IL-22-producing Th22 cells promoted angiogenesis in established metastasis sites. In conclusion, our findings highlight that IL-22 is equally as important in contributing to metastasis formation at late metastatic stages, and thus, identify it as a novel therapeutic target in established metastasis.

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