IL‐10, produced by a wide variety of cells, is a highly pleiotropic cytokine that plays a critical role in the control of immune responses. However, its regulatory activity in tumor immunity remains poorly understood. In this study, we report that IL‐10 deficiency robustly suppressed the formation of malignant pleural effusion (MPE) and significantly enhanced miR‐7116‐5p expression in pleural CD4+ T cells. We demonstrated that miR‐7116‐5p suppressed IL‐10‐mediated MPE formation by inhibiting pleural vascular permeability as well as tumor angiogenesis and tumor growth. IL‐10 promoted MPE formation by suppressing miR‐7116‐5p that enhances TH1 response. We identified G protein‐coupled receptor 55 (GPR55) as a potential target of miR‐7116‐5p, and miR‐7116‐5p promoted TH1 cell function by downregulating GPR55. Moreover, GPR55 promoted MPE formation by inhibiting TH1 cell expansion through the ERK phosphorylation pathway. These results uncover an IL‐10‐mediated pathway controlling TH1 cells and demonstrate a central role for miR‐7116‐5p/GPR55/ERK signaling in the physiological regulation of IL‐10‐driven pro‐malignant responses.

Background: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common medical problem caused by multiple malignancies, especially lung cancers, and always comes along with a poor outcome. Early detection and diagnosis are important for improving the prognosis in patients with MPE. Salivary microRNAs (miRNAs) may represent a relatively convenient way for diagnosing MPE. We investigated the characteristics of salivary miRNAs of MPE patients, benign pleural effusion (BPE) patients, patients with a malignant tumor but without pleural effusion (MT), and healthy controls (HCs). We believe that they may show potential as a non-invasive and convenient biomarker for diagnosing MPE.

Emerging evidence indicates that Myo9b is a cancer metastasis-related protein and functions in a variety of immune-related diseases. However, it is not clear whether and how Myo9b functions in malignant pleural effusion (MPE). In this study, our data showed that Myo9b expression levels correlated with lung cancer pleural metastasis, and nucleated cells in MPE from either patients or mice expressed a lower level of Myo9b than those in the corresponding blood. Myo9b deficiency in cancer cells suppressed MPE development via inhibition of migration. Myo9b deficiency in mice suppressed MPE development by decreasing T H 1 cells and increasing T H 17 cells. CD4 + naive T cells isolated from Myo9b 2/2 mouse spleens exhibited less T H 1 cell differentiation and more T H 17 cell differentiation in vitro. mRNA sequencing of nucleated cells showed that T cell-specific adaptor protein (TSAd) was downregulated in Myo9b 2/2 mouse MPE, and enrichment of the H3K27me3 mark in the TSAd promoter region was found in the Myo9b 2/2 group. Naive T cells purified from wild type mouse spleens transfected with TSAd-specific small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) also showed less T H 1 cell differentiation and more T H 17 cell differentiation than those from the siRNA control group. Furthermore, downregulation of TSAd in mice using cholesterol-conjugated TSAd-specific siRNA suppressed MPE development, decreased T H 1 cells, and increased T H 17 cells in MPE in vivo. Taken together, Myo9b deficiency suppresses MPE development not only by suppressing pleural cancer metastasis but also by regulating T H 1/T H 17 cell response via a TSAd-dependent pathway. This work suggests Myo9b and TSAd as novel candidates for future basic and clinical investigations of cancer.