A combinatorial αβ T cell receptor expressed by macrophages in the tumor microenvironment

• Published in: Immunobiology (1979) 2017-01, Vol.222 (1), p.39-44
• Main Authors: Fuchs, Tina, Hahn, Martin, Riabov, Vladimir, Yin, Shuiping, Kzhyshkowska, Julia, Busch, Svenja, Püllmann, Kerstin, Beham, Alexander W, Neumaier, Michael, Kaminski, Wolfgang E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advanced Basic Science; Allergy and Immunology; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Binding Sites; CD11b Antigen - metabolism; Female; Gene Expression; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Immunophenotyping; Macrophages - immunology; Macrophages - metabolism; Macrophages in the tumor microenvironment; Mice; Mice, Knockout; Neoplasms - genetics; Neoplasms - immunology; Neoplasms - metabolism; Neoplasms - pathology; Protein Binding; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta - chemistry; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta - genetics; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta - metabolism; Receptors, Immunologic - genetics; Receptors, Immunologic - metabolism; TCRαβ; Tumor Microenvironment - genetics; Tumor Microenvironment - immunology; Variable immune receptor
• ISSN: 0171-2985; 1878-3279
• DOI: 10.1016/j.imbio.2015.09.022

Abstract Recent evidence indicates the presence of macrophage subpopulations that express the TCRαβ in two major inflammatory diseases, tuberculosis and atherosclerosis. Inflammation is also a well-established attribute of cancer progression and macrophages are one of the major immune cells that infiltrate tumors. Here, we demonstrate that the macrophage-TCRαβ is expressed in the tumor microenvironment of human and murine malignancies. We identify TCRαβ+ macrophages in each case of four randomly selected distinct human tumor entities. In human tumor tissues, the TCRαβ expressed by macrophages in the tumor microenvironment is a combinatorial and individual-specific immune receptor. Furthermore, we routinely find TCRαβ+ macrophage subpopulations in experimental tumors (TS/A, mammary adenocarcinoma) which we induced both in normal mice and mice deficient in the macrophage receptor stabilin-1. Expression of the combinatorial murine tumor macrophage TCRαβ is individual-specific and independent of stabilin-1. These results demonstrate that TCRαβ expression is a characteristic feature of macrophages in the tumor microenvironment and identify an as yet unrecognized flexible element in the macrophage-based host response to tumors.