Immune Evasion of Human Lung Carcinoma Cell A549 Suppressed by Human Lymphoma Cell Jurkat via Fas/FasL Pathway

Abstract

Background and objective Tumor escape from the host immune system has been a major problem in immunotherapy of human malignancies. FasL/Fas-induced apoptosis plays an important role in various immunological processes. The aim of this study is to investigate the immune evasion in human lung carcinoma cell A549 induced by human lymphoma cell Jurkat via Fas/FasL pathway. Methods Jurkat cells and A549 cells were co-cultured at different proportions. The apoptotic rates of A549 cells were determined by flow cytometry (FCM). Protein levels of Fas, FasL and Caspase-8 in A549 cells were detected by Western blot. Results Survival rates of A549 cells gradually decreased and apoptotic rates of A549 cells were significantly enhanced along with ratio increasing between Jurkat and A549. Meanwhile, the protein levels of Fas and Caspase-8 gradually increased in A549 cells, and the protein levels of FasL had no significant difference in all groups. Conclusion The Jurkat cells might decrease the survival rates of A549 cells and enhanced its apoptosis and immune evasion partly via Fas/FasL pathway.

Keywords

• Lung neoplasms
• Apoptosis
• Immune evasion