Based on the evidence that IL-17 is a key cytokine involved in various inflammatory diseases, we explored the critical role of IL-17-producing cd T cells for tumor development in tumor-bearing mouse model. IL-17 Ă/Ă mice exhibited a significant reduction of tumor growth, concomitantly with the decrease of vascular density at lesion area, indicating a pro-tumor property of IL-17. Among tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), cd T cells were the major cellular source of IL-17. Analysis of TCR repertoires in TIL-cd T cells showed that circulating cd T cells, but not skin resident Vc5 1 cd T cells, produced IL-17. Neutralizing antibodies against IL-23, IL-6, and TGF-b, which were produced within the tumor microenvironment, inhibited the induction of IL-17-producing cd T cells. IL-17 production by tumor-infiltrating cd T cells was blocked by anti-cdTCR or anti-NKG2D antibodies, indicating that these ligands, expressed within the tumor microenvironment, are involved in cd T-cell activation. The IL-17-producing TIL-cd T cells exhibited reduced levels of perforin mRNA expression, but increased levels of COX-2 mRNA expression. Together, our findings support the novel concept that IL-17-producing cd T cells, generated in response to tumor microenvironment, act as tumor-promoting cells by inducing angiogenesis.
IntroductionIn order to understand how tumor cells can escape immune surveillance mechanisms and thus develop anti-tumor therapies, it is critically important to investigate the mechanisms by which the immune system interacts with the tumor microenvironment. The tumor microenvironment, which is mainly composed of tumor cells, stromal cells, and tumor-infiltrating immune cells, is entirely different from noncancerous tissues. This unique microenvironment potently inhibits immune responses against tumor cells via various soluble mediators and contact-dependent mechanisms [1,2]. Previously, it was suggested that T-cell Eur. J. Immunol. 2010. 40: 1927-1937 DOI 10.1002 Cellular immune response 1927 responses within the local tumor tissue are completely inhibited. However, this concept was abandoned following the discovery of the regulatory T-cell and Th17 cell subsets, which are activated rather than suppressed in the tumor microenvironment via TGF-b and/or IL-6. Thus, the tumor microenvironment is conducive to IL-17 production. In fact, it has been shown that IL-17 is produced in human and murine tumor tissues [3][4][5]. Tumor cells promote neo-vascularization into tumor tissues through hyperproduction of angiogenic factors, which also support their own abnormal proliferation and survival [6]. It has been reported that tumor cells over-expressing IL-17 significantly promote new vessel growth into the tumor tissues [5]; however, physiological effects of IL-17 on tumor progression remain to be defined. Th17 differentiation from naĂŻve CD4 1 T cells is regulated by TGF-b and IL-6. Proliferation, maintenance and full maturation of these cells are controlled by . Recently, it has been shown that IL-17 is produced by diverse T...