Group 2 innate lymphoid cells boost CD8+ T-cell activation in anti-tumor immune responses

Jing Wen; Shipeng Cheng; Ran Wang; Yuying Huang; Long Xu; Liyan Ma; Zhiyang Ling; Jinfu Xu; Deping Zhao; Yaguang Zhang; Bing Sun

doi:10.1080/2162402X.2023.2243112

Group 2 innate lymphoid cells boost CD8⁺ T-cell activation in anti-tumor immune responses

Oncoimmunology. 2023 Aug 9;12(1):2243112. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2023.2243112. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jing Wen^{1

2}, Shipeng Cheng¹, Ran Wang³, Yuying Huang¹, Long Xu⁴, Liyan Ma¹, Zhiyang Ling¹, Jinfu Xu⁵, Deping Zhao⁴, Yaguang Zhang^{1

6}, Bing Sun¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
² School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China.
³ School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
⁴ Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
⁵ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Institute of Respiratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
⁶ Med-X institute, Center for Immunological and Metabolic Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an JiaoTong University, Xi'an JiaoTong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.

Abstract

Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are essential for orchestrating type 2 immune responses during allergic airway inflammation and infection. ILC2s have been reported to play a regulatory role in tumors; however, this conclusion is controversial. In this study, we showed that IL-33-activated ILC2s could boost CD8⁺ T-cell function through direct antigen cross-presentation. After activation by IL-33, ILC2s showed an enhanced potential to process antigens and prime CD8⁺ T cell activation. Activated ILC2s could phagocytose exogenous antigens in vivo and in vitro, promoting antigen-specific CD8⁺ T cell function to enhance antitumor immune responses. Administration of OVA-loaded ILC2s induces robust antitumor effects on the OVA-expressing tumor model. These findings suggested that the administration of tumor antigen-loaded ILC2s might serve as a potential strategy for cancer treatment.

Keywords: CD8 T cell; ILC2; anti-tumor response; antigen presentation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes
Humans
Immunity, Innate*
Inflammation
Interleukin-33
Lymphocytes*

Substances

Interleukin-33

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFA0507402), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32000667), the Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Action (21ZR1470600, 21JC1405800 and 20S11901800), Shanghai Hospital Development Center (SHDC22021217), and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2022264).