Mesenchymal stem cells are enriched in head neck squamous cell carcinoma, correlates with tumour size and inhibit T-cell proliferation
Open Access
- 3 February 2015
- journal article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in British Journal of Cancer
- Vol. 112 (4), 745-754
- https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2015.15
Abstract
Cancer is a multifactorial disease not only restricted to transformed epithelium, but also involving cells of the immune system and cells of mesenchymal origin, particularly mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Mesenchymal stem cells contribute to blood- and lymph- neoangiogenesis, generate myofibroblasts, with pro-invasive activity and may suppress anti-tumour immunity. In this paper, we evaluated the presence and features of MSCs isolated from human head neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Fresh specimens of HNSCC showed higher proportions of CD90+ cells compared with normal tissue; these cells co-expressed CD29, CD105, and CD73, but not CD31, CD45, CD133, and human epithelial antigen similarly to bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs). Adherent stromal cells isolated from tumour shared also differentiation potential with BM-MSCs, thus we named them as tumour-MSCs. Interestingly, tumour-MSCs showed a clear immunosuppressive activity on in vitro stimulated T lymphocytes, mainly mediated by indoelamine 2,3 dioxygenase activity, like BM-MSCs. To evaluate their possible role in tumour growth in vivo, we correlated tumour-MSC proportions with neoplasm size. Tumour-MSCs frequency directly correlated with tumour volume and inversely with the frequency of tumour-infiltrating leukocytes. These data support the concept that tumour-MSCs may favour tumour growth not only through their effect on stromal development, but also by inhibiting the anti-tumour immune response.Keywords
This publication has 43 references indexed in Scilit:
- Mesenchymal stem-like cells isolated from human esophageal carcinoma and adjacent non-cancerous tissuesOncology Letters, 2012
- Effector T cell plasticity: flexibility in the face of changing circumstancesNature Immunology, 2010
- Isolation and comparison of mesenchymal stem-like cells from human gastric cancer and adjacent non-cancerous tissuesZeitschrift für Krebsforschung und Klinische Onkologie, 2010
- Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and the tumor microenvironmentCancer and Metastasis Reviews, 2010
- Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transition to Tumor-Associated Fibroblasts Contributes to Fibrovascular Network Expansion and Tumor ProgressionPLOS ONE, 2009
- Human interleukin 17–producing cells originate from a CD161+CD4+ T cell precursorThe Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2008
- Carcinoma-Associated Fibroblast–Like Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem CellsCancer Research, 2008
- Isolation and identification of mesenchymal stem cells from human lipoma tissueBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2007
- Minimal criteria for defining multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells. The International Society for Cellular Therapy position statementCytotherapy, 2006
- Allogeneic Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Promote the Regeneration of Injured Skeletal Muscle without Differentiation into MyofibersTissue Engineering, 2004