Frontiers in Immunology (Aug 2023)

Marsdenia tenacissima enhances immune response of tumor infiltrating T lymphocytes to colorectal cancer

  • Ben Yi,
  • Ben Yi,
  • Shuai Zhang,
  • Suying Yan,
  • Suying Yan,
  • Yanfei Liu,
  • Yanfei Liu,
  • Zhiqiang Feng,
  • Zhiqiang Feng,
  • Tianhao Chu,
  • Tianhao Chu,
  • Jun Liu,
  • Wei Wang,
  • Jun Xue,
  • Chunze Zhang,
  • Yijia Wang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1238694
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14

Abstract

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IntroductionTumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes in the tumor microenvironment are critical factors influencing the prognosis and chemotherapy outcomes. As a Chinese herbal medicine, Marsdenia tenacissima extract (MTE) has been widely used to treat cancer in China. Its immunoregulatory effects on tumor-associated macrophages is well known, but whether it regulates tumor-infiltrating T-cell functions remains unclear.MethodWe collected 17 tumor samples from MTE-administered colorectal cancer patients, 13 of which showed upregulation of CD3+/CD8+ tumor-infiltrating T cells. Further in vitro and in vivo experiments were performed to investigate the regulatory effects of MTE on tumor-infiltrating T cells and immune escape of tumors.ResultsUnder single and co-culture conditions, MTE inhibited TGF-β1 and PD-L1 expression in the colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines HCT116 and LoVo. In Jurkat cells, MTE inhibited FOXP3 and IL-10 expression, increased IL-2 expression, but had no effect on PD-1 expression. These findings were confirmed in vitro using subcutaneous and colitis-associated CRC mouse models. MTE also increased the density of CD3+/CD8+ tumor-infiltrating T cells and exhibited considerable tumor-suppressive effects in these two tumor mouse models.ConclusionsOur findings suggested that MTE inhibits the immune escape of cancer cells, a precipitating factor increasing the immune response of T lymphocytes.

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