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Gregory CD. Hijacking homeostasis: Regulation of the tumor microenvironment by apoptosis. Immunol Rev 2023; 319:100-127. [PMID: 37553811 PMCID: PMC10952466 DOI: 10.1111/imr.13259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023]
Abstract
Cancers are genetically driven, rogue tissues which generate dysfunctional, obdurate organs by hijacking normal, homeostatic programs. Apoptosis is an evolutionarily conserved regulated cell death program and a profoundly important homeostatic mechanism that is common (alongside tumor cell proliferation) in actively growing cancers, as well as in tumors responding to cytotoxic anti-cancer therapies. Although well known for its cell-autonomous tumor-suppressive qualities, apoptosis harbors pro-oncogenic properties which are deployed through non-cell-autonomous mechanisms and which generally remain poorly defined. Here, the roles of apoptosis in tumor biology are reviewed, with particular focus on the secreted and fragmentation products of apoptotic tumor cells and their effects on tumor-associated macrophages, key supportive cells in the aberrant homeostasis of the tumor microenvironment. Historical aspects of cell loss in tumor growth kinetics are considered and the impact (and potential impact) on tumor growth of apoptotic-cell clearance (efferocytosis) as well as released soluble and extracellular vesicle-associated factors are discussed from the perspectives of inflammation, tissue repair, and regeneration programs. An "apoptosis-centric" view is proposed in which dying tumor cells provide an important platform for intricate intercellular communication networks in growing cancers. The perspective has implications for future research and for improving cancer diagnosis and therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher D. Gregory
- Centre for Inflammation ResearchInstitute for Regeneration and Repair, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh BioQuarterEdinburghUK
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2
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Lang C, Roy S, Wang Y, Graves D, Xu Y, Serezani CH, Korrer M, Kim YJ. Efferocytosis drives myeloid NLRP3 dependent inflammasome signaling secretion of IL-1β to promote tumor growth. Front Immunol 2022; 13:993771. [PMID: 36439171 PMCID: PMC9681818 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.993771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Caspase-1 signaling in myeloid suppressor cells can promote T-cell independent cancer progression, but the regulation of inflammasome signaling within the highly heterogeneous myeloid population in the tumor milieu remains elusive. To resolve this complexity, single cell transcriptomic profile of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) identified distinct inflammasome-associated genes within specific clusters of tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells. Among these myeloid cells, the sensor protein, NLRP3, and downstream effector IL-1β transcripts were enriched in discreet monocytic and macrophage subtypes in the TME. We showed that deletion of NLRP3, but not AIM2, phenocopied caspase-1/IL-1β dependent tumor progression in vivo. Paradoxically, we found myeloid-intrinsic caspase-1 signaling increased myeloid survival contrary to what would be predicted from the canonical pyroptotic function of caspase-1. This myeloid NLRP3/IL-1β signaling axis promotion of tumor growth was found to be gasdermin D independent. Mechanistically, we found that phagocyte-mediated efferocytosis of dying tumor cells in the TME directly activated NLRP3-dependent inflammasome signaling to drive IL-1β secretion. Subsequently we showed that NLRP3-mediated IL-1β production drives tumor growth in vivo. Dynamic RNA velocity analysis showed a robust directional flow from efferocytosis gene-set high macrophages to an inflammasome gene-set high macrophage population. We provide a novel efferocytosis-dependent inflammasome signaling pathway which mediates homeostatic tumor cell apoptosis that characterizes chronic inflammation-induced malignancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cara Lang
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Sohini Roy
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Yu Wang
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Center for Quantitative Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Diana Graves
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Yaomin Xu
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Center for Quantitative Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - C. Henrique Serezani
- Vanderbilt Center for Immunobiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Michael Korrer
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Young J. Kim
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- *Correspondence: Young J. Kim,
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Colson C, Byrne HM, Maini PK. Combining Mechanisms of Growth Arrest in Solid Tumours: A Mathematical Investigation. Bull Math Biol 2022; 84:80. [PMID: 35773547 PMCID: PMC9246818 DOI: 10.1007/s11538-022-01034-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The processes underpinning solid tumour growth involve the interactions between various healthy and tumour tissue components and the vasculature, and can be affected in different ways by cancer treatment. In particular, the growth-limiting mechanisms at play may influence tumour responses to treatment. In this paper, we propose a simple ordinary differential equation model of solid tumour growth to investigate how tumour-specific mechanisms of growth arrest may affect tumour response to different combination cancer therapies. We consider the interactions of tumour cells with the physical space in which they proliferate and a nutrient supplied by the tumour vasculature, with the aim of representing two distinct growth arrest mechanisms. More specifically, we wish to consider growth arrest due to (1) nutrient deficiency, which corresponds to balancing cell proliferation and death rates, and (2) competition for space, which corresponds to cessation of proliferation without cell death. We perform numerical simulations of the model and a steady-state analysis to determine the possible tumour growth scenarios described by the model. We find that there are three distinct growth regimes: the nutrient- and spatially limited regimes and a bi-stable regime, in which both growth arrest mechanisms are simultaneously active. Thus, the proposed model has the features required to investigate and distinguish tumour responses to different cancer treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloé Colson
- Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK.
| | - Helen M Byrne
- Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK
| | - Philip K Maini
- Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK
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Pfeifer E, Burchell JM, Dazzi F, Sarker D, Beatson R. Apoptosis in the Pancreatic Cancer Tumor Microenvironment-The Double-Edged Sword of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts. Cells 2021; 10:cells10071653. [PMID: 34359823 PMCID: PMC8305815 DOI: 10.3390/cells10071653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 06/27/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with poor prognosis. This is attributed to the disease already being advanced at presentation and having a particularly aggressive tumor biology. The PDAC tumor microenvironment (TME) is characterized by a dense desmoplastic stroma, dominated by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF), extracellular matrix (ECM) and immune cells displaying immunosuppressive phenotypes. Due to the advanced stage at diagnosis, the depletion of immune effector cells and lack of actionable genomic targets, the standard treatment is still apoptosis-inducing regimens such as chemotherapy. Paradoxically, it has emerged that the direct induction of apoptosis of cancer cells may fuel oncogenic processes in the TME, including education of CAF and immune cells towards pro-tumorigenic phenotypes. The direct effect of cytotoxic therapies on CAF may also enhance tumorigenesis. With the awareness that CAF are the predominant cell type in PDAC driving tumorigenesis with various tumor supportive functions, efforts have been made to try to target them. However, efforts to target CAF have, to date, shown disappointing results in clinical trials. With the help of sophisticated single cell analyses it is now appreciated that CAF in PDAC are a heterogenous population with both tumor supportive and tumor suppressive functions. Hence, there remains a debate whether targeting CAF in PDAC is a valid therapeutic strategy. In this review we discuss how cytotoxic therapies and the induction of apoptosis in PDAC fuels oncogenesis by the education of surrounding stromal cells, with a particular focus on the potential pro-tumorigenic outcomes arising from targeting CAF. In addition, we explore therapeutic avenues to potentially avoid the oncogenic effects of apoptosis in PDAC CAF.
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Gregory CD, Paterson M. An apoptosis-driven 'onco-regenerative niche': roles of tumour-associated macrophages and extracellular vesicles. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:rstb.2017.0003. [PMID: 29158317 PMCID: PMC5717442 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The cell-death programme, apoptosis, is well established as a tumour suppressor mechanism. Paradoxically, high levels of apoptosis in tumours are closely coupled with poor prognosis. Indeed, where it has been studied, cell loss is a striking feature of high-grade cancers, illustrating the importance of considering malignant disease as an imbalance between cell gain and cell loss that favours cell gain rather than as a unidirectional disorder of cell gain alone. In addition to orchestrating cell loss, apoptosis can signal regenerative responses—for example compensatory proliferation—in neighbouring cells. Accumulating evidence suggests that normal tissue repair and regenerative processes are hijacked in the malignant tissue microenvironment such that cancer may be likened to a ‘wound that fails to stop repairing’. We have proposed that a critical requirement for the successful growth, progression and re-growth of malignant tumours is a complex milieu, conceptually termed the ‘onco-regenerative niche’, which is composed, in addition to transformed neoplastic cells, of a network of normal cells and factors activated as if in tissue repair and regeneration. Our work is based around the hypothesis that tumour cell apoptosis, macrophage activation and endothelial activation are key, interlinked elements of the onco-regenerative niche and that apoptotic tumour cell–derived extracellular vesicles provide critical intercellular communication vehicles of the niche. In aggressive B-cell lymphoma, tumour cell apoptosis promotes both angiogenesis and the accumulation of pro-tumour macrophages in the lymphoma microenvironment. Furthermore, apoptotic lymphoma-derived extracellular vesicles have potent pro-tumour potential. These findings have important implications for the roles of apoptosis in regulation of malignant diseases and for the efficacy of apoptosis-inducing anti-cancer therapies. This article is part of the discussion meeting issue ‘Extracellular vesicles and the tumour microenvironment’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher D Gregory
- MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, Queen's Medical Research Institute, 47 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK
| | - Margaret Paterson
- MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, Queen's Medical Research Institute, 47 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK
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Auer S, Rinnerthaler M, Bischof J, Streubel MK, Breitenbach-Koller H, Geisberger R, Aigner E, Cadamuro J, Richter K, Sopjani M, Haschke-Becher E, Felder TK, Breitenbach M. The Human NADPH Oxidase, Nox4, Regulates Cytoskeletal Organization in Two Cancer Cell Lines, HepG2 and SH-SY5Y. Front Oncol 2017; 7:111. [PMID: 28620580 PMCID: PMC5449459 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2017.00111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2016] [Accepted: 05/12/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
NADPH oxidases of human cells are not only functional in defense against invading microorganisms and for oxidative reactions needed for specialized biosynthetic pathways but also during the past few years have been established as signaling modules. It has been shown that human Nox4 is expressed in most somatic cell types and produces hydrogen peroxide, which signals to remodel the actin cytoskeleton. This correlates well with the function of Yno1, the only NADPH oxidase of yeast cells. Using two established tumor cell lines, which are derived from hepatic and neuroblastoma tumors, respectively, we are showing here that in both tumor models Nox4 is expressed in the ER (like the yeast NADPH oxidase), where according to published literature, it produces hydrogen peroxide. Reducing this biochemical activity by downregulating Nox4 transcription leads to loss of F-actin stress fibers. This phenotype is reversible by adding hydrogen peroxide to the cells. The effect of the Nox4 silencer RNA is specific for this gene as it does not influence the expression of Nox2. In the case of the SH-SY5Y neuronal cell line, Nox4 inhibition leads to loss of cell mobility as measured in scratch assays. We propose that inhibition of Nox4 (which is known to be strongly expressed in many tumors) could be studied as a new target for cancer treatment, in particular for inhibition of metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Auer
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Mark Rinnerthaler
- Department of Cell Biology, Division of Genetics, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Johannes Bischof
- Department of Cell Biology, Division of Genetics, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Maria Karolin Streubel
- Department of Cell Biology, Division of Genetics, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | | | - Roland Geisberger
- Department of Internal Medicine III with Hematology, Medical Oncology, Hemostaseology, Infectious Diseases, Rheumatology, Oncologic Center, Laboratory for Immunological and Molecular Cancer Research, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Elmar Aigner
- First Department of Medicine, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.,Obesity Research Unit, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Janne Cadamuro
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Klaus Richter
- Department of Cell Biology, Division of Genetics, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Mentor Sopjani
- Faculty of Medicine of the University of Prishtina, Prishtina, Kosovo
| | | | - Thomas Klaus Felder
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.,Obesity Research Unit, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Michael Breitenbach
- Department of Cell Biology, Division of Genetics, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
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Wang RA, Li QL, Li ZS, Zheng PJ, Zhang HZ, Huang XF, Chi SM, Yang AG, Cui R. Apoptosis drives cancer cells proliferate and metastasize. J Cell Mol Med 2013; 17:205-11. [PMID: 23305095 PMCID: PMC3823150 DOI: 10.1111/j.1582-4934.2012.01663.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2012] [Accepted: 10/10/2012] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer has been considered to be the result of accumulated gene mutations, which result in uncontrolled cell proliferations for a long time. Cancers are also regarded to be capable of immune evasion. Furthermore, resistance to apoptosis was recognized as an important trait of cancer in the last score of years. However, there are numerous paradoxical issues in this whole set of theory. For example, there is no known set of genes of which mutations are responsible for human cancers. As for the trait of ‘resistance to apoptosis’, the fact is that cancer has increased frequency of apoptosis. The more malignant the tumour is, the more apoptosis shows. In this study, we propose a new theory that apoptosis plays a key role in the malignant progression and metastasis of cancer. The growth of tumour is the difference between tumour cell proliferation and attrition plus the hyperplastic growth of stroma. Increased and unpreventable death caused by innate or environmental factors such as ischaemia and inflammation drives the tumour cells to proliferate relentlessly, move to new lands to establish colonies. In short, increased cell death is the origin of malignancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui-An Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Tumor Biology, Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
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