Dai-Yu Sun,Jia-Qi Wu,Zhi-Heng He,Ming-Fang He,Hong-Bin Sun
Aims Prostate cancer (PCa) incidence rates are rising in China currently. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), as a major component of tumor microenvironment, are crucial for tumor progression. This study was aimed to explore the promotion effect of patient-derived CAFs on the proliferation and migration of prostate cancer cells. Main methods CAFs were isolated from tumor tissues of PCa patients. The promotion effect of CAFs on the proliferation and migration of PC-3 and LNCaP cells were evaluated in vitro and in vivo . The concentration of TGF-β1 was measured by Luminex assay. The blocking activity of LY2109761 on the promotion effect of CAFs was also evaluated. Key findings CAFs could significantly promote the proliferation and migration of PC-3 and LNCaP cells both in vitro and in vivo . TGF-β1 was identified as a highly increased factor in CAFs-CM compared with the normal culture medium of these two cancer cell lines. TGF-β receptor inhibitor LY2109761 could suppress the CAFs-induced cellular proliferation and migration of PC-3 cells but not LNCaP cells. Significance Our study suggested a crucial role for CAFs and TGF-β signaling in the progression of PCa. Zebrafish xenograft model was an ideal animal model for the study of CAFs and cancer cell interaction.
The antitumor immune response induced by chemotherapy has attracted considerable attention. However, the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment hinders the immune activation effect of cancer chemotherapy. TGF-β plays a key role in driving tumor immunosuppression and can prevent effective antitumor immune response through multiple roles. In this study, a dual-responsive prodrug micelle (PAOL) is designed to co-deliver LY2109761 (a TGF-β receptor I/II inhibitor) and oxaliplatin (OXA, a conventional chemotherapy) to remodel tumor microenvironment and trigger immunogenic cell death (ICD) to induce antitumor immunity response. Under hypoxia tumor environment, the polyethylene glycol shell of the micelle cleavages, along with the release of LY2109761 and OXA prodrug. Cytotoxic effect of OXA is then activated by glutathione-mediated reduction in tumor cells and the activated OXA significantly enhances tumor immunogenicity and promotes intratumoral accumulation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Meanwhile, TGF-β blockade through LY2109761 reprograms tumor microenvironment by correcting the immunosuppressive state and regulating tumor extracellular matrix, which further maintaining OXA induced immune response. Therefore, due to the capability of boosting tumor-specific antitumor immunity, the bifunctional micelle presents markedly synergistic antitumor efficacies and provides a potent therapeutic strategy for chemoimmunotherapy of solid tumors.
Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic respiratory condition primarily caused by inhalation of harmful particles such as tobacco smoke. Cellular senescence serves as a key driver in its pathogenesis. Although endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been shown to alleviate COPD by reducing inflammatory cell infiltration, the role and mechanisms underlying EPC senescence in this disease remain unclear. Methods A cigarette smoke (CS)-exposed COPD mouse model was established. Lung injury was assessed histologically, with concurrent quantification of neutrophil infiltration and cellular senescence levels in lung tissues. Pearson analysis evaluated the correlation between senescence severity and neutrophil numbers. In vivo neutrophil depletion was achieved using anti-Ly6G antibody, while GW4869 was used to inhibit exosome secretion from COPD-derived neutrophils. Neutrophils were then co-cultured with EPCs to assess their impact on EPC senescence and DNA damage. Proteomic analyses were employed to identify mechanisms of neutrophil-derived exosomes in COPD. Results COPD mice exhibited significant lung tissue damage, accelerated cellular senescence, and increased neutrophil infiltration. Senescence severity positively correlated with neutrophil proportion. Mechanistically, thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) was highly expressed in COPD-derived neutrophils. Knockdown of neutrophil-derived exosomal TSP-1 alleviated EPC senescence. Furthermore, TSP-1 expression was regulated by transcription factor FOS, whereas TGF-β inhibition attenuated the promoting effects of TSP-1 overexpression on cellular senescence and lung injury in COPD mice. Conclusion This study demonstrates that neutrophil-derived exosomal TSP-1 aggravates EPC senescence and lung injury in COPD, revealing the pathogenic role of TSP-1 in disease progression and highlighting its potential as a therapeutic target.