Cell Reports (Feb 2024)

Inflammatory dendritic cells restrain CD11b+CD4+ CTLs via CD200R in human NSCLC

  • Mingjie Lin,
  • Di Chen,
  • Zheyu Shao,
  • Qinyuan Liu,
  • Zhixing Hao,
  • Zhongwei Xin,
  • Yongyuan Chen,
  • Wenxuan Wu,
  • Xiaoke Chen,
  • Teng He,
  • Dang Wu,
  • Pin Wu

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 43, no. 2
p. 113767

Abstract

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Summary: CD4+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CD4+ CTLs) are suggested to play a crucial role in inflammatory diseases, including cancer, but their characteristics in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain unknown. Here, using the cell surface marker CD11b, we identify CD11b+CD4+ CTLs as a cytotoxic subset of CD4+ T cells in multiple tissues of NSCLC patients. In addition, tumor-infiltrating CD11b+CD4+ CTLs show a dysfunctional phenotype with elevated expression of CD200 receptor (CD200R), a negatively immunomodulatory receptor. CD4+ regulatory T (Treg) cells restrain the anti-tumor role of CD11b+CD4+ CTLs via CD200. Mechanistically, inflammatory dendritic cells promote the CD200R expression of CD11b+CD4+ CTLs by secreting interleukin-1β (IL-1β). Finally, we demonstrate that CD200 blockade can revive the tumor-killing role of CD11b+CD4+ CTLs and prolong the survival of tumor-bearing mice. Taken together, our study identifies CD11b+CD4+ CTLs in NSCLC with decreased cytotoxicity that can be reinvigorated by CD200 blockade, suggesting that targeting CD200 is a promising immunotherapy strategy in NSCLC.

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