MDSC and macrophages are present in most solid tumors and are important drivers of immune suppression and inflammation. It is established that cross-talk between MDSC and macrophages impacts anti-tumor immunity; however, interactions between tumor cells and MDSC or macrophages are less well studied. To examine potential interactions between these cells, we studied the impact of MDSC, macrophages, and four murine tumor cell lines on each other, both in vitro and in vivo. We focused on IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, TNF-α, and NO, as these molecules are produced by macrophages, MDSC, and many tumor cells; are present in most solid tumors; and regulate inflammation. In vitro studies demonstrated that MDSC-produced IL-10 decreased macrophage IL-6 and TNF-α and increased NO. IL-6 indirectly regulated MDSC IL-10. Tumor cells increased MDSC IL-6 and vice versa. Tumor cells also increased macrophage IL-6 and NO and decreased macrophage TNF-α. Tumor cell-driven macrophage IL-6 was reduced by MDSC, and tumor cells and MDSC enhanced macrophage NO. In vivo analysis of solid tumors identified IL-6 and IL-10 as the dominant cytokines and demonstrated that these molecules were produced predominantly by stromal cells. These results suggest that inflammation within solid tumors is regulated by the ratio of tumor cells to MDSC and macrophages and that interactions of these cells have the potential to alter significantly the inflammatory milieu within the tumor microenvironment.

Tumor-induced myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) contribute to immune suppression in tumor-bearing individuals and are a major obstacle to effective immunotherapy. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are one of the mechanisms used by MDSC to suppress T cell activation. Although ROS are toxic to most cells, MDSC survive despite their elevated content and release of ROS. Nuclear factor erythroid derived 2-like 2 (Nrf2) is a transcription factor that regulates a battery of genes which attenuates oxidative stress. Therefore, we hypothesized that MDSC resistance to ROS may be regulated by Nrf2. To test this hypothesis, we utilized Nrf2+/+ and Nrf2−/− BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice bearing 4T1 mammary carcinoma and MC38 colon carcinoma, respectively. Nrf2 enhanced MDSC suppressive activity by increasing MDSC production of H2O2, and increased the quantity of tumor-infiltrating MDSC by reducing their oxidative stress and rate of apoptosis. Nrf2 did not affect circulating levels of MDSC in tumor-bearing mice since the decreased apoptotic rate of tumor-infiltrating MDSC was balanced by a decreased rate of differentiation from bone marrow progenitor cells. These results demonstrate that Nrf2 regulates the generation, survival and suppressive potency of MDSC, and that a feedback homeostatic mechanism maintains a steady-state level of circulating MDSC in tumor-bearing individuals.

Lipoproteins are complex molecular assemblies that are key participants in the intricate cascade of extracellular lipid metabolism with important consequences in the formation of atherosclerotic lesions and the development of cardiovascular disease. Multiplexed mass spectrometry (MS) techniques have substantially improved the ability to characterize the composition of lipoproteins. However, these advanced MS techniques are limited by traditional pre-analytical fractionation techniques that compromise the structural integrity of lipoprotein particles during separation from serum or plasma. In this work, we applied a highly effective and gentle hydrodynamic size based fractionation technique, asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (AF4), and integrated it into a comprehensive tandem mass spectrometry based workflow that was used for the measurement of apolipoproteins (apos A-I, A-II, A-IV, B, C-I, C-II, C-III and E), free cholesterol (FC), cholesterol esters (CE), triglycerides (TG), and phospholipids (PL) (phosphatidylcholine (PC), sphingomyelin (SM), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylinositol (PI) and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)). Hydrodynamic size in each of 40 size fractions separated by AF4 was measured by dynamic light scattering. Measuring all major lipids and apolipoproteins in each size fraction and in the whole serum, using total of 0.1 ml, allowed the volumetric calculation of lipoprotein particle numbers and expression of composition in molar analyte per particle number ratios. Measurements in 110 serum samples showed substantive differences between size fractions of HDL and LDL. Lipoprotein composition within size fractions was expressed in molar ratios of analytes (A-I/A-II, C-II/C-I, C-II/C-III. E/C-III, FC/PL, SM/PL, PE/PL, and PI/PL), showing differences in sample categories with combinations of normal and high levels of Total-C and/or Total-TG. The agreement with previous studies indirectly validates the AF4-LC-MS/MS approach and demonstrates the potential of this workflow for characterization of lipoprotein composition in clinical studies using small volumes of archived frozen samples.

Progress toward better diagnosis and treatment of lipid metabolism-related diseases requires high throughput approaches for multiplexed quantitative analysis of structurally diverse lipids, including phospholipids (PLs). This work demonstrates a simplified "one-pot" phospholipid extraction protocol, as an alternative to conventional liquid-liquid extraction. Performed in a 96well format, the extraction was coupled with high throughput UPLC and multiplexed tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) detection, allowing non-targeted quantification of phosphatidylcholines (PC), sphingomyelins (SM), lysophosphatidylcholines (LPC), phosphatidylethanolamines (PE), and phosphatidylinositols (PI). Using 50 μL aliquots of serum samples from 110 individuals, lipoproteins were fractionated by size, and analyzed for phospholipids and non-polar lipids including free cholesterol (FC), cholesteryl esters (CEs) and triglycerides (TGs). Analysis of serum samples with wide range of Total-TG levels showed significant differences in PL composition. The correlations of molar ratios in lipoprotein size fractions, SM/PL with FC/PL, PE/PL with TG/CE, and PE/PL with PI/PL, demonstrate the applicability of the method for quantitative composition analysis of high, low and very-low density lipoproteins (HDL, LDL and VLDL), and characterization of lipid metabolism related disease states.