Preparation and polarization activity research of astragalus polysaccharide-superparamagnetic iron oxide nanocomposite / 药学学报

Size and surface modification are the two key factors affecting the effect of macrophages polarization induced by superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs). The smaller the particle size, the better the polarization effect of SPIONs. Besides, the reasonable SPIONs surface modification method can also be used to enhance the polarization effect. In this study, SPIONs was prepared by solvothermal method and optimized by Box-Benhnken center combination design and response surface method. Furthermore, astragalus polysaccharide-superparamagnetic iron oxide nanocomplex (APS-SPIONs) was successfully constructed by EDC/NHS esterification method. The structure of APS-SPIONs was confirmed by dynamic light scatter and infrared spectrometer, and the contents of iron and polysaccharide were characterized by spectrophotometry. The effect of APS-SPIONs on inducing mouse macrophages RAW264.7 polarization was investigated by flow cytometry. The RAW264.7 macrophages-HepG2 human hepatoma cancer cells Transwell co-culture system was established to investigate APS-SPIONs improve anti-tumor function of macrophages in vitro, and the proliferation activity of APS-SPIONs on RAW264.7 detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) method. The results showed that the average particle size and zeta potential of APS-SPIONs were (82.93 ± 1.47) nm and (-24.00 ± 0.47) mV. Polysaccharide and Fe content were 8.69% and 7.04%, respectively. APS-SPIONs effectively induced the polarization of RAW264.7 into M1 type in vitro, improving the anti-tumor ability of macrophages in a co-culture system, without effecting the proliferation of macrophages. Our study provides a drug development strategy and preliminary research results to educate macrophages and reshape the tumor immune microenvironment to achieve tumor-killing effects.

The suppression of cervical cancer ferroptosis by macrophages: The attenuation of ALOX15 in cancer cells by macrophages-derived exosomes

Induction of cancer cell ferroptosis has been proposed as a potential treatment in several cancer types. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a key role in promoting tumor malignant progression and therapy resistance. However, the roles and mechanisms of TAMs in regulating tumor ferroptosis is still unexplored and remains enigmatic. This study shows ferroptosis inducers has shown therapeutic outcomes in cervical cancer in vitro and in vivo. TAMs have been found to suppress cervical cancer cells ferroptosis. Mechanistically, macrophage-derived miRNA-660-5p packaged into exosomes are transported into cancer cells. In cancer cells, miRNA-660-5p attenuates ALOX15 expression to inhibit ferroptosis. Moreover, the upregulation of miRNA-660-5p in macrophages depends on autocrine IL4/IL13-activated STAT6 pathway. Importantly, in clinical cervical cancer cases, ALOX15 is negatively associated with macrophages infiltration, which also raises the possibility that macrophages reduce ALOX15 levels in cervical cancer. Moreover, both univariate and multivariate Cox analyses show ALOX15 expression is independent prognostic factor and positively associated with good prognosis in cervical cancer. Altogether, this study reveals the potential utility of targeting TAMs in ferroptosis-based treatment and ALOX15 as prognosis indicators for cervical cancer.

Research progress in drugs targeting tumor associated macrophage / 药学学报

Tumor brings great threat to human public health. In recent years, incidence rate and mortality of tumor were rapidly increased in the world. Anti-tumor therapies have undergone the development of cytotoxic therapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. Among them, tumor immunotherapy is rapidly developed and becomes an important anti-tumor therapy in recent years, although it also brings some related side effects. Tumor microenvironment (TME) is composed of immune cells, vascular vessels, fibroblasts, the extracellular matrix, etc. TME significantly affects the efficacy of immunotherapy. Macrophages in the TME are named as tumor associated macrophages (TAMs). Recently, increasing studies have shown that TAMs play an important role in the regulation of tumor immunity, especially in tumor immune surveillance and immune escape. Currently, more and more anti-tumor immunotherapy strategies targeting TAMs are at the development stage. Based on the important role of TAMs in the TME and their potential as therapeutic targets in tumor immunotherapy, we first reviewed the subtypes and functions of TAMs, as well as the roles of TAMs in tumors. Furthermore, we summarized the research progress on anti-tumor strategies targeting TAMs and the current status of drug targeting TAMs. The current review will provide new ideas and novel insights for tumor immunotherapy.

Progress in antitumor effect of tumor-associated macrophages in co-culture system / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Macrophages are important cells of the immune system. Tumor-associated macrophages are enriched macrophages near tumor cells or tissues. Their role is mainly to promote the construction of tumor inflammatory microenvironment and inhibit tumor immune response. Cell co-culture system is a symbiotic culture system formed by mimicking the internal environment of the body in vitro. The co-culture condition is relatively consistent with the environment in vivo, enabling better information exchange and material exchange between cells, which is a supplement to the monolayer cell culture and animal experiments. Tumor-associated macrophages and tumor cells co-exist in the tumor microenvironment. Thus, constructing a co-culture system for tumor-associated macrophages and tumor cells would be conducive to studying the antitumor effect of tumor-associated macrophages and developing new immunotherapy drugs. The co-culture system would provide a new direction for treating malignant tumors. This article mainly reviewed the co-culture patterns of macrophages and the antitumor effects of different phenotypes of macrophages, and highlighted the importance of using immunotherapy to treat malignant tumors in the tumor microenvironment.

Advances in Tumor-associated Macrophages in Cancer Radiotherapy / 肿瘤防治研究

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are one of the most abundant immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. As a heterogenous cell population, TAMs usually affect tumor growth, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance. Currently, TAM has attracted wide attention as a promising therapy target for human cancers. As one of the basic treatments of malignant tumors, radiotherapy can regulate the phenotypes and functions of TAM. Meanwhile, TAM can affect the response of cancer cells to radiation. This paper reviews the research advances of TAM in cancer radiotherapy.

Strategies for targeting and remodeling tumor microenvironment / 药学学报

Tumor microenvironment (TME) is composed of abnormal tumor vasculature, extracellular matrix components, endothelial cells, pericytes, tumor associated fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells and immune cells, which is characterized by hypoxia, acidosis and high interstitial fluid pressure. Hypoxia and acidosis within the TME trigger an adjustment of the extracellular matrix (ECM), a response from neighbor stromal cells (e.g., fibroblasts) and immune cells (lymphocytes and macrophages), inducing tumor growth, angiogenesis, and ultimately, resulting in metastasis. What's more, the components of TME including abnormal tumor vasculature, rich composition of the ECM, and abundant stroma cells impair tumoral distribution and penetration of the drugs. At the same time, this stromal microenvironment plays a vital role in creating an immunosuppressive environment.Over the past years, more and more researches focus on targeting and remolding TME to improve therapeutic effects against tumors. Herein, we reviewed current strategies developed to target and remodel TME, including modulating tumor hypoxia, tumor vasculature, tumor associated fibroblasts, extracellular matrix components, tumor associated macrophage phenotypes and dendritic cells. Also, potential problems and future directions are pointed out in this review.

The effect of HOXC10 gene on biological behaviors of glioma cells and mechanism in tumor microenvironment / 中华肿瘤杂志

Objective: To study the effects of Homeobox C10 (HOXC10) on biological characteristics such as migration, invasion and proliferation of glioma cancer cells and to explore the role of HOXC10 gene in glioma microenvironment. Methods: The expression level of HOXC10 in high grade glioma (glioblastoma) and low grade glioma and its effect on patient survival were analyzed by using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) database. Hoxc10-siRNA-1, HOXC10-siRNA-2 and siRNA negative control (NC) were transfected into U251 cells according to the operation instructions of HOXC10-siRNA transfection. 100 ng/ mL recombinant protein chemokine ligand 2 (reCCL2) was added into the transfection group, and was labeled as HOXC10-siRNA-1+ reCCL2 and HOXC10-siRNA-2+ reCCL2 groups. The expressions of HOXC10 mRNA and target protein in each group was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blot. The proliferation ability of cells in each group was detected by cell counting kit 8 (CCK8) method. The migration ability of cells was detected by Transwell assay and Nick assay, and cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The expression of chemokines in each group was detected by multiple factors. Co-incubation assays were performed to determine the role of HOXC10 and chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) in recruiting and polarizing tumor-associated macrophages (M2-type macrophages). Results: The median expression level of HOXC10 in high grade gliomas was 8.51, higher than 1.00 in low grade gliomas (P<0.001) in TCGA database. The median expression level of HOXC10 in high grade gliomas was 0.83, higher than 0.00 in low grade gliomas (P=0.002) in CGGA database. The 5-year survival rate of patients with high HOXC10 expression in TCGA database was 28.2%, lower than 78.7% of those with low HOXC10 expression (P<0.001), and the 5-year survival rate of patients with high HOXC10 expression in CGGA database was 20.3%, lower than 58.0% of those with low HOXC10 expression (P<0.001). The numbers of cell migration in HOXC10-siRNA-1 group and HOXC10-siRNA-2 group were (45±3) and (69±4) respectively, lower than (159±3) in NC group (P<0.05). The cell mobility of HOXC10-siRNA-1 group and HOXC10-siRNA-2 group at 48 hours were (15±2)% and (28±4)% respectively, lower than (80±5)% of NC group (P<0.05). The expressions of vimentin in HOXC10-siRNA-1 group and HOXC10-siRNA-2 group were (141 740.00±34 024.56) and (94 655.00±5 687.97), N-cadherin were (76 810.00±14.14) and (94 254.00±701.45), β-catenin were (75 786.50±789.84) and (107 296.50±9 614.53), lower than (233 768.50±34 114.37), (237 154.50±24 715.50) and (192 449.50±24 178.10) of NC group (P<0.05). The A value of HOXC10-siRNA-1 group and HOXC10-siRNA-2 group were (0.44±0.05) and (0.32±0.02) at 96 hours, lower than 0.92±0.12 of NC group (P<0.05). The apoptosis rates of HOXC10-siRNA-1 group and HOXC10 siRNA-2 group were (10.23±1.24)% and (13.81±2.16)%, higher than (4.60±0.07)% of NC group (P<0.05). The expression levels of CCL2 in U251 cells in HOXC10-siRNA-1 and HOXC10-siRNA-2 groups were (271.63±44.27) and (371.66±50.21), lower than (933.93±29.84) in NC group (P<0.05). The expression levels of CCL5 (234.81±5.95 and 232.62±5.72), CXCL10 (544.13±48.14 and 500.87±15.65) and CXCL11 (215.75±15.30 and 176.18±16.49) in HOXC10-siRNA-1 and HOXC10-siRNA-2 groups were higher than those in NC group (9.98±0.71, 470.54±18.84 and 13.55±0.73, respectively, P<0.05). The recruited numbers of CD14(+) THP1 in HOXC10-siRNA-1 and HOXC10-siRNA-2 groups were (159.33±1.15) and (170.67±1.15), respectively, lower than (360.00±7.81) in NC group (P<0.05), while addition of reCCL2 promoted the recruitment of CD14(+) THP1 cells (287.00±3.61 and 280.67±2.31 in HOXC10-siRNA-1+ reCCL2 group and HOXC10-siRNA-2+ reCCL2 group, respectively, P<0.05). The expressions level of M2-type macrophage-related gene TGF-β in HOXC10-siRNA-1 group and HOXC10-siRNA-2 group were (0.30±0.02) and (0.28±0.02), respectively, lower than (1.06±0.10) in NC group (P<0.05). The expressions level of M1-related gene NOS2 in HOXC10-siRNA-1 and HOXC10-siRNA-2 were (11 413.95±1 911.85) and (5 894.00±945.21), respectively, higher than (13.39±4.32) in NC group (P<0.05). Conclusions: The expression of HOXC10 in glioma is high and positively correlated with the poor prognosis of glioma patients. Knockdown of HOXC10 can inhibit the proliferation, migration and metastasis of human glioma U251 cells. HOXC10 may play an immunosuppressive role in glioma microenvironment by promoting the expression of CCL2 and recruiting and polarizing tumor-associated macrophages (M2 macrophages).

Tumor-associated macrophages in osteosarcoma / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone tumor in children and adolescents. It is an aggressive tumor with a tendency to spread to the lung, which is the most common site of metastasis. Patients with advanced OS with metastases have poor prognoses despite the application of chemotherapy, thus highlighting the need for novel therapeutic targets. The tumor microenvironment (TME) of OS is confirmed to be essential for and supportive of tumor growth and dissemination. The immune component of the OS microenvironment is mainly composed of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). In OS, TAMs promote tumor growth and angiogenesis and upregulate the cancer stem cell-like phenotype. However, TAMs inhibit the metastasis of OS. Therefore, much attention has been paid to investigating the mechanism of TAMs in OS development and the progression of immunotherapy for OS. In this article, we aim to summarize the roles of TAMs in OS and the major findings on the application of TAMs in OS treatment.

MicroRNAs in tumor immunity: functional regulation in tumor-associated macrophages / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are the most abundant immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and are critical for cancer initiation and progression. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) could notably influence the phenotype of TAMs through various targets and signal pathways during cancer progression due to their post-transcriptional regulation. In this review, we discuss mainly the regulatory function of miRNAs on macrophage differentiation, functional polarization, and cellular crosstalk. Firstly, during the generation process, miRNAs take part in the differentiation from myeloid cells to mature macrophages, and this maturation process directly influences their recruitment into the TME, attracted by tumor cells. Secondly, macrophages in the TME can be either tumor-promoting or tumor-suppressing, depending on their functional polarization. Large numbers of miRNAs can influence the polarization of macrophages, which is crucial for tumor progression, including tumor cell invasion, intravasation, extravasation, and premetastatic site formation. Thirdly, crosstalk between tumor cells and macrophages is essential for TME formation and tumor progression, and miRNAs can be the mediator of communication in different forms, especially when encapsulated in microvesicles or exosomes. We also assess the potential value of certain macrophage-related miRNAs (MRMs) as diagnostic and prognostic markers, and discuss the possible development of MRM-based therapies.

Effect of tumor-associated macrophages on malignant biological behaviors of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells / 中国肿瘤生物治疗杂志

@# Objective: To investigate the effects of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) on proliferation, migration, invation and apoptosis of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells and the possible mechanisms. Methods: Human monocyte THP-1 was cultured in vitro. After being added with PMA and IL-4, the levels of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in cell supernatant were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). MGC-803 cells at logarithmic phase and M2-type TAM cells were divided into single cell culture group, non-contact co-culture group and contact co-culture group according to different culture methods. MTT assay was used to detect the proliferation of MGC-803 cells, Transwell assay was used to detect cell migration and invasion, andAnnexin V-FITC/ PI staining flow cytometry was used to examine the apoptosis and cell cycle changes of MGC-803 cells; In addition, the mRNAand protein expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and MMP-2 were detected by Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR) and Western blotting. Results: Compared with PMA group, the level of IL-12 in cell supernatant of PMA+IL-4 group decreased significantly while the level of IL-10 increased significantly (all P<0.05), indicating THP-1 cells were successfully induced to differentiate into M2-type TAM. Compared with the single cell culture group, the non-contact co-culture group and the contact co-culture group exhibited: (1) significantly increased proliferation rate of MGC-803 cells (P<0.05)； (2) increased number of migrated and invaded cells (all P < 0.05)； (3) significantly decreased apoptotic rate (P<0.05)； (4) increased proportion of S, G2 phase cells and decreased proportion of G1 phase cells (all P<0.05)；and (5) significantly increased mRNA and protein expressions of MMP-9 and MMP-2 (all P<0.05). Conclusion: TAM can promote the proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells, relieve G1 phase arrest and reduce cell apoptosis, which may be related to the up-regulation of MMP-9 and MMP-2 expression in gastric cancer cells.

Infiltration of tumor associated macrophages in multiple myeloma and its clinical significance / 中华血液学杂志

Objective@#To investigate the clinical significance of tumor associated macrophages (TAM) in multiple myeloma (MM) and the relationship with angiogenesis and immunosuppression.@*Methods@#Seventy cases of MM patients diagnosed from August 2015 to June 2017 were enrolled in the study as experimental group, 20 cases of benign hematological diseases (13 with iron deficiency anemia and 7 with megaloblastic anemia) patients as control group. Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of CD163, CD34 and VEGF in bone marrow samples, and flow cytometry was used to detect the proportion of regulatory T cell (Treg cells), ELISA was used to detect the level of IL-10, and the clinical features were analyzed.@*Results@#①Among the 70 patients, there were 31 males and 39 females with a median age of 65 (50~78) years old. TAM infiltration density, microvascular density (MVD), VEGF expression level, Treg ratio and IL-10 level in bone marrow samples of 70 MM patients were significantly higher than those of benign hematological diseases (P<0.05). ②In the MM group, the above indexes of the patients with disease stabilized (15 cases) were lower than those of the newly diagnosed group (35 cases) and the relapse refractory group (20 cases) (P<0.05), those of relapse refractory group were higher than those of newly diagnosed group (P>0.05). ③Of the 35 newly diagnosed MM patients, 27 completed 4 courses of treatment. In the effective group (15 cases), the TAM infiltration density after treatment was significantly lower than that before treatment, the difference was statistically significant[(20.20±7.66) vs (28.87±11.97), t=2.362, P=0.025]; while in the ineffective group of 12 cases, the difference of the TAM infiltration density before and after treatment was not statistically significant[(42.00±13.76) vs (48.25±13.59), t=1.119, P=0.275]. ④TAM infiltration density in the effective group after bortezomib treatment (21 cases) were lower than those in the non-bortezomib treatment group (18 cases)[(16.52 ±4.26) vs (19.27 ±5.82), t=1.662, P=0.170]. ⑤The TAM infiltration density in MM patients was positively correlated with MVD, VEGF expression level, Treg cell ratio and IL-10 level (P<0.001).@*Conclusion@#The infiltration of TAM in the microenvironment of MM, which may promoting angiogenesis and inhibiting immune response, is related to the occurrence, development, therapeutic effect and drug resistance of MM.

Roles of human leukocyte antigen-G ( HLA-G) in MDSC proliferation, M1/M2 macrophage differ-entiation and tumor immune evasion / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Objective To investigate the roles of human leukocyte antigen-G ( HLA-G) in mye-loid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) proliferation and M1/M2 macrophage differentiation in C57BL/6-NCI-H446-G tumor-bearing mice for better understanding the mechanisms of HLA-G involved in tumor immune evasion. Methods NCI-H446 ( human small cell lung cancer cells) and NCI-H446-G ( NCI-H446 cells ex-pressing HLA-G) cells were labeled with CFSE at a final concentration of 1μmol/L. CFSE fluorescence lev-els were measured by flow cytometry at different time points. Mouse tumor models were established by subcu-taneous injection of C57BL/6 mice with NCI-H446 and NCI-H446-G cells, respectively. PBS was used to set up negative control group. The mice in each group were sacrificed to collect tissue samples on 5 d, 10 d, 15 d and 20 d after injection. The percentages of splenic CD11b+Gr1+MDSCs, F4/80+CD80+M1 and F4/80+CD206+M2 macrophages were analyzed by flow cytometry. Results Steady expression of HLA-G in NCI-H446-G cells was confirmed by Western blot and flow cytometry. HLA-G enhanced the proliferation of NCI-H446 cells. Tumor size increased dramatically in tumor-bearing mice in the first five days and then de-creased over time. The tumor-bearing mice in the NCI-H446-G group had larger tumor than those in the NCI-H446 group in every time point (P<0. 05) and required longer time to fully reject the tumor. Compared with the PBS and NCI-H446 groups, the percentage of splenic MDSCs in tumor-bearing mice was significantly in-creased in the NCI-H446-G group (P<0. 05). Moreover, the ratio of M1/M2 in NCI-H446-G tumor-bearing mice was much lower than that in the other two groups (P<0. 05). Conclusion This study indicated that HLA-G could increase the percentage of MDSCs and decrease the ratio of M1/M2, which might illustrate the role of HLA-G in tumor immune evasion and its potential clinical significance in cancer immunotherapy.

Research progress on role of macrophages in tumor immunotherapy / 中国免疫学杂志

Objective:Accumulating evidences prove that macrophages affect tumor initiation and prognosis. Especially,tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are considered to enhance tumor growth,progression,angiogenesis,invasion and metastasis. Furthermore,tumor suppressive microenvironment can " reeducate" and polarize the phenotype and function of TAM. Recently, researchers use different ways to interfere and modify the phenotype and function of macrophages,to improve the recognition, phagocytosis and antigen presentation of macrophage,and enhance its antitumor activity. We will discuss the pro-tumorigenic properties of macrophage and TAM-targeting therapy as a promising novel strategy for tumor immunotherapy.

Correlation between tumor-associated macrophages and the occurrence and development of Kazakh esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Xinjiang / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

Objective To investigate the correlation between tumor-associated macrophages(TAMs)and the occurrence and progression of Kazakh esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Methods We collected 200 cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC),cancer adjacent normal(CAN)tissues and clinical pathological data of the specimens.CD68 was used as the TAM marker,and immunohistochemistry(IHC)counts were used to detect the distribution of TAMs and quantify the density of TAMs in tumor nest/epithelial and surrounding stroma.At the same time,by combining with clinical pathological data and the patients' prognosis,we analyzed whether the high density of TAMs distribution was associated with the occurrence and development of Kazakh ESCC and the patients' poor prognosis.Results ① The density of TAMs in the tumor nests and stroma was significantly higher than that in CAN tissues(P＜0.05).② The density of TAMs in tumor nest had a significant positive correlation with lymph node metastasis and clinical pathological stage(advanced)in Kazakh ESCC(P＜ 0.05),and this correlation was more evident between the density of TAMs in tumor stroma and lymph node metastasis and clinical pathological stage (advanced)(P＜0.001).③ The survival analysis found that the high density of CD 68-positive TAMs in cancer nest showed a positive correlation with poor prognosis of ESCC(P＜0.05).Conclusion High density of TAMs can promote the occurrence and development of Kazakh ESCC in Xinjiang and can be used as a poor prognostic factor for ESCC in Kazakh population.

Role of Curcumin in Macraphage Polarization Induced by Breast Cancer Cells / 华中科技大学学报(医学版)

Objective To investigate the role of curcumin in macraphage polarization induced by breast cancer cells.Methods By using Transwell co-culture technique,murine breast cancer 4T1 cells were incubated with RAW264.7 mac-rophages for 5 days in vitro.Cells in the experiment group were pretreated with curcumin.Flow cytometry was used to detect the CD163 and F4/80 expression on macraphages and zymography to analyze the activity of MMP-9 secreted by co-cultured macrophages after treatment in the absence of serum for a night.Migration of macrophages towards breast cancer cell media was investigated by Transwell assay.Additionally,curcumin was orally administrated to mice bearing orthotopic transplantation tumors.Tumor growth was observed as well as overall survival.Furthermore,the CD163+/F4/80+macrophages in orthotopic transplantation tumor was measured by immunofluorescence.Results In vitro experiments showed that curcumin could dra-matically suppress the expression of CD163 and F4/80 on macrophages,the secretion of MMP-9 and the migration of macropha-ges.Furthermore,while the tumor growth was not significantly inhibited by curcumin,in vivo delivery of curcumin could pro-long the overall survival of tumor-bearing mice and downregulate the proportion of CD163+/F4/80+ macrophages in orthotopic transplantation tumors.Conclusion Curcumin could inhibit the macraphage polarization induced by breast cancer cells.

Biomimetic albumin-modified gold nanorods for photothermo-chemotherapy and macrophage polarization modulation

Nanotechnology-based photothermal therapy has attracted great attention in the past decade. Nevertheless, photothermal therapy has some inherent drawbacks, such as the uneven heat production and limited laser penetration, often leading to insufficient treatment outcomes. Here, we developed a combination strategy to improve cancer therapy. The biomimetic albumin-modified gold nanorods (AuNRs) were prepared with incorporation of paclitaxel (PTX). This therapeutic system was characterized by several features. First, the albumin modification enhanced the biocompatibility and colloidal stability. Second, the surface-coated albumin promoted cellular uptake the albumin-binding protein pathway. Third, PTX was incorporated hydrophobic interaction between PTX and the albumin lipophilic domain. Fourth, the system can be used for combined photothermo-chemotherapy for yielding synergistic effects. The antitumor activity of the system was evaluated both and using the HCT116 colon cancer cell and tumor model. The combination therapy was found with an enhanced treatment efficiency and no obvious side effect. Most importantly, the thermal effect was also discovered with the ability to modulate the tumor microenvironments and suppress the macrophages polarization towards the M2 pro-tumor phenotype. It could be a mechanism for photothermal immunotherapy. The combination strategy and the system provide a potential method for cancer therapy.

Immunological pathology mechanism research of cervical cancer based on tumor related macrophage / 中国临床药理学与治疗学

AIM:To analyze the mechanism of tumor-associated macrophage (TAMs) in the development of cervical cancer and to investigate its correlation with Th1/Th2 and Th17/CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3 + Treg.METHODS:Twenty seven cases of cervical cancer and 53 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasias (including 22 cases of CIN Ⅱ and 31 cases of CIN Ⅲ) were selected as subjects.The venous blood of patients before treatment was extracted to detect Th1/Th2 and Th17/CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 + Treg with flow cytometry,and detect serum IFN-γ,IL-4,IL-17A,IL-17F,TGF-β1 and IL-10 levels with ELISA Kits.Furthermore,pathological tissues were extracted during operation,and its TAMsCD68 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry technique.RESULTS:The Th1/Th2 and Th17/CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 + Treg of cervical cancer were both lower than those of CIN Ⅲ,and those of CIN Ⅲ were both lower than CIN Ⅱ,the difference between groups had statistical significance (P ＜ 0.05).The serum IFN-γ,IL-4,IL-17A,IL-17F,TGF-β1 and IL-10 levels of cervical cancer were all higher than those of CIN Ⅲ,and those of CIN Ⅲ were all higher than CIN Ⅱ,the difference between groups had statistical significance (P ＜ 0.05).The TAMsCD68 expression level of cervical cancer was higher than that of CIN Ⅲ,and that of CIN Ⅲ was lower than CIN Ⅱ,the difference between groups had statistical significance (P ＜ 0.05).The correlation analysis results showed TAMsCD68 expression level had negative correlations with Th1/Th2,Th17/CD4+CD25+ Foxp3+ Treg,and serum IL-17A level,whereas presented positive correlations with serum IL-10 and IL-4 level (P ＜ 0.05).CONCLUSION:TAMs is closely related with Th1/Th2 and Th17/CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 + Treg in cervical cancer,and possibly is mediating the occurrence and development of cervical cancer through influencing the balance of these two systems.

Macrophage colony stimulating factor enhances non-small cell lung cancer invasion and metastasis by promoting macrophage M2 polarization / 中华肿瘤杂志

Objective@#To investigate the key cytokine which polarizes M2 macrophages and promotes invasion and metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).@*Methods@#After co-culture with A549 cells in vitro, the proportion of CD14+ CD163+ M2 macrophages in monocytes and macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) levels in culture supernatant were detected by flow cytometry, ELISA assay and real-time qPCR, respectively. The effects of CD14+ CD163+ M2 macrophages on invasion of A549 cells and angiogenesis of HUVEC cells were measured by transwell assay and tubule formation assay, respectively. The clinical and prognostic significance of M-CSF expression in NSCLC was further analyzed.@*Results@#The percentage of CD14+ CD163+ M2 macrophages in monocytes and the concentration of M-CSF in the supernatant followed by co-culture was (12.03±0.46)% and (299.80±73.76)pg/ml, respectively, which were significantly higher than those in control group [(2.80±1.04)% and (43.07±11.22)pg/ml, respectively, P< 0.05]. Human recombinant M-CSF promoted M2 polarization of macrophages in vitro. M2 macrophages enhanced the invasion of A549 cells (66 cells/field vs. 26 cells/field) and the angiogenesis of HUVEC cells (22 tubes/field vs. 8 tubes/field). The mRNA expression of M-CSF in stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ patients (16.23±4.83) was significantly lower than that in stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ (53.84±16.08; P<0.05). M-CSF levels were associated with poorer overall survival and disease-free survival in NSCLC patients (P<0.05).@*Conclusions@#Tumor-derived M-CSF can induce CD14+ CD163+ M2 polarization of macrophages, which can further promote the metastasis and angiogenesis of NSCLC. M-CSF could be used as a potential therapeutic target of NSCLC.

Polarization of M1 tumor associated macrophage promoted by the activation of TLR3 signal pathway

Objective To investigate the correlation between activation of toll-like receptors 3 (TLR3) signaling pathway and tumor-associated macrophage and its effect on the tumor growth. Methods The mice Lewis lung cancer cell lines 3LL and melanoma B16H10 were used to construct the subcutaneous transplantation tumor models and then they were treated with Poly-ICLC. The curative effect was observed and then the T cell and macrophage phenotypes infiltrated in local tumor were detected by flow cytometry. After the in vitro culture of mouse bone marrow-derived macrophage, the real-time PCR and western blot were applied to detect the expression of macrophage activation markers and the activation of intracellular signaling pathways. Results The survival time of mice with brown tumor treated with Poly-ICLC significantly increased and the tumor growth was inhibited. The ratio of local tumor-infiltrated Treg decreased, while the ratio of CD8

Pharmacodynamics of liposomes modified with different chain length of sialic acid derivatives / 药学学报

A large number of experimental and clinical data indicates that tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) were involved in the whole process of tumor growth, invasion and metastasis. Like macrophages in other tissues, TAMs originate from blood monocytes, which are recruited to the tumor tissues by cytokines and then differentiated into TAMs. It is interesting that the monocytes overexpress siglec receptor in their surface, which has a high binding specificity to sialic acid (SA). From this point of view, we hypothesize that if SA was used as a ligand in the surfaces of drug delivery systems, SA would enhance the targeting efficiency to monocytes, and thus to achieve a higher specificity to TAMs. In our previous study, an SA derivative of SA-octadecylamine (SA-18) was synthesized and was found to enhance cytotoxicity on TAMs in vitro. The chain length is a critical factor for SA efficiency in liposomes and it has a significant influence on the TAM targeting effects of the carriers. So in this study, four kinds of different chain length of SA fatty amine derivatives were synthesized, including SA-18, SA-hexadecylamine (SA-16), SA-tetradecylamine (SA-14) and SA-dodecylamine (SA-12), and were modified on the surfaces of blank liposomes (BLK-SnL, n=18, 16, 14, 12) and pixantrone maleate-loaded liposomes (Pix-SnL, n=18, 16, 14, 12). TAM targeting effects of these SA derivatives were evaluated by acute toxicity and antitumor efficacy in vivo. The results of acute toxicity experiments showed that the toxicities of the SA derivatives deceased gradually with the reduction in the length of lipophilic chain. The in vivo antitumor efficacies of SA-modified blank liposomes showed that these blank formulations had no effect on the tumor inhibition except BLK-S14L (61.4%±18.8%), and BLK-S16L even promoted the tumor growth (-31.7%±13.1%, the 18th day). The in vivo antitumor efficacies of SA-modified Pix liposomes showed that the tumor inhibition effects were Pix-S18L (97.4%±2.1%) > Pix-S14L (73.1%±21.1%) > Pix-S12L (53.9%±17.8%) > Pix-S16L (32.9%). Because of the relatively strong binding ability of SA-18, it was hard to fall off from the liposomes in the transport process, leading to a good TAM targeting ability and less toxicity to the normal tissues. Meanwhile, 50% of the mice in Pix-S18L group showed "tumor shedding" and "wound healing" phenomena without recurrence in two months following the treatment. Therefore, SA-18 is the most potential TAM targeting material among these SA fatty amine derivatives.