Altered phenotypic and functional characteristics of CD3+CD56+ NKT-like cells in human gastric cancer

CD3+CD56+ natural killer T (NKT)-like cells are a group of CD3+ T cells sharing characteristics of NK and T cells and constitute a major component of host anti-tumor immune response in human cancer. However, the nature, function and clinical relevance of CD3+CD56+ NKT-like cells in human gastric can...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oncotarget 2016-08, Vol.7 (34), p.55222-55230
Main Authors: Peng, Liu-Sheng, Mao, Fang-Yuan, Zhao, Yong-Liang, Wang, Ting-Ting, Chen, Na, Zhang, Jin-Yu, Cheng, Ping, Li, Wen-Hua, Lv, Yi-Pin, Teng, Yong-Sheng, Guo, Gang, Luo, Ping, Chen, Weisan, Zou, Quan-Ming, Zhuang, Yuan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CD3 Complex - analysis
CD56 Antigen - analysis
Humans
Leukocyte Common Antigens - analysis
Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating - immunology
Natural Killer T-Cells - immunology
Phenotype
Research Paper
Stomach Neoplasms - immunology
Tumor Microenvironment
Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 7 - analysis
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:CD3+CD56+ natural killer T (NKT)-like cells are a group of CD3+ T cells sharing characteristics of NK and T cells and constitute a major component of host anti-tumor immune response in human cancer. However, the nature, function and clinical relevance of CD3+CD56+ NKT-like cells in human gastric cancer (GC) remain unclear. In this study, we showed that the frequencies of CD3+CD56+NKT-like cells in GC tumors were significantly decreased and low levels of tumor-infiltrating CD3+CD56+ NKT-like cells were positively correlated with poor survival and disease progression. Most CD3+CD56+NKT-like cells in GC tumors were CD45RA-CD27+/- central/effector-memory cells with decreased activity and lower expression levels of CD69, NKG2D and DNAM-1 than those in non-tumor tissues. We further observed that tumor-infiltrating CD3+CD56+ NKT-like cells had impaired effector function as shown by decreased IFN-γ, TNF-α, granzyme B and Ki-67 expression. Moreover, in vitro studies showed that soluble factors released from GC tumors could induce the functional impairment of CD3+CD56+ NKT-like cells. Collectively, our data indicate that decreased tumor-infiltrating CD3+CD56+ NKT-like cells with impaired effector function are associated with tumor progression and poor survival of GC patients, which may contribute to immune escape of GC.
ISSN:1949-2553
1949-2553
DOI:10.18632/oncotarget.10484