Mapping myeloid cell function: Spatial diversity in tumor and neuronal microenvironment.

In this issue of Cancer Cell, Zhong et al. explore the dual role of TREM2 in glioblastoma-associated myeloid cells, demonstrating its function in promoting inflammation at the tumor-neural interface and suppression within the tumor core, influenced by the local microenvironment. These findings open up promising prospects for advancements in neuro-oncological immunotherapy.

"Myeloid" Mutations in ALL Are Not Uncommon: Implications for Etiology and Therapies.

SUMMARY: In Blood Cancer Discovery, Saygin and colleagues report that somatic variants that are recurrent in myeloid malignancies can also occur with high frequency (16%) in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) where they correlate with older age, diagnosis following genotoxic therapy for a prior malignancy and worse outcome to chemotherapy. Mutations in these "myeloid" genes can precede ALL diagnosis and arise in hematopoietic stem or progenitor cells that clonally expand and differentiate into both lymphoblasts and nonmalignant myeloid cells, supporting a role for clonal hematopoiesis as premalignant state outside the context of myeloid malignancies and providing implications for both ALL etiology and therapeutic intervention. See related article by Saygin et al., p. 164 (4).

Hypoxia coordinates the spatial landscape of myeloid cells within glioblastoma to affect survival.

Myeloid cells are highly prevalent in glioblastoma (GBM), existing in a spectrum of phenotypic and activation states. We now have limited knowledge of the tumor microenvironment (TME) determinants that influence the localization and the functions of the diverse myeloid cell populations in GBM. Here, we have utilized orthogonal imaging mass cytometry with single-cell and spatial transcriptomic approaches to identify and map the various myeloid populations in the human GBM tumor microenvironment (TME). Our results show that different myeloid populations have distinct and reproducible compartmentalization patterns in the GBM TME that is driven by tissue hypoxia, regional chemokine signaling, and varied homotypic and heterotypic cellular interactions. We subsequently identified specific tumor subregions in GBM, based on composition of identified myeloid cell populations, that were linked to patient survival. Our results provide insight into the spatial organization of myeloid cell subpopulations in GBM, and how this is predictive of clinical outcome.

Proteinase 3 depletion attenuates leukemia by promoting myeloid differentiation.

Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) that have impaired differentiation can transform into leukemic blasts. However, the mechanism that controls differentiation remains elusive. Here, we show that the genetic elimination of Proteinase 3 (PRTN3) in mice led to spontaneous myeloid differentiation. Mechanistically, our findings indicate that PRTN3 interacts with the N-terminal of STAT3, serving as a negative regulator of STAT3-dependent myeloid differentiation. Specifically, PRTN3 promotes STAT3 ubiquitination and degradation, while simultaneously reducing STAT3 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation during G-CSF-stimulated myeloid differentiation. Strikingly, pharmacological inhibition of STAT3 (Stattic) partially counteracted the effects of PRTN3 deficiency on myeloid differentiation. Moreover, the deficiency of PRTN3 in primary AML blasts promotes the differentiation of those cells into functional neutrophils capable of chemotaxis and phagocytosis, ultimately resulting in improved overall survival rates for recipients. These findings indicate PRTN3 exerts an inhibitory effect on STAT3-dependent myeloid differentiation and could be a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.

Immune cell senescence and exhaustion promote the occurrence of liver metastasis in colorectal cancer by regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

BACKGROUND: Liver metastasis (LM) stands as a primary cause of mortality in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), posing a significant impediment to long-term survival benefits from targeted therapy and immunotherapy. However, there is currently a lack of comprehensive investigation into how senescent and exhausted immune cells contribute to LM. METHODS: We gathered single-cell sequencing data from primary colorectal cancer (pCRC) and their corresponding matched LM tissues from 16 mCRC patients. In this study, we identified senescent and exhausted immune cells, performed enrichment analysis, cell communication, cell trajectory, and cell-based in vitro experiments to validate the results of single-cell multi-omics. This process allowed us to construct a regulatory network explaining the occurrence of LM. Finally, we utilized weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and 12 machine learning algorithms to create prognostic risk model. RESULTS: We identified senescent-like myeloid cells (SMCs) and exhausted T cells (TEXs) as the primary senescent and exhausted immune cells. Our findings indicate that SMCs and TEXs can potentially activate transcription factors downstream via ANGPTL4-SDC1/SDC4, this activation plays a role in regulating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) program and facilitates the development of LM, the results of cell-based in vitro experiments have provided confirmation of this conclusion. We also developed and validated a prognostic risk model composed of 12 machine learning algorithms. CONCLUSION: This study elucidates the potential molecular mechanisms underlying the occurrence of LM from various angles through single-cell multi-omics analysis in CRC. It also constructs a network illustrating the role of senescent or exhausted immune cells in regulating EMT.

Landscape of brain myeloid cell transcriptome along the spatiotemporal progression of Alzheimer's disease reveals distinct sequential responses to Aß and tau.

Human microglia are critically involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression, as shown by genetic and molecular studies. However, their role in tau pathology progression in human brain has not been well described. Here, we characterized 32 human donors along progression of AD pathology, both in time-from early to late pathology-and in space-from entorhinal cortex (EC), inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), prefrontal cortex (PFC) to visual cortex (V2 and V1)-with biochemistry, immunohistochemistry, and single nuclei-RNA-sequencing, profiling a total of 337,512 brain myeloid cells, including microglia. While the majority of microglia are similar across brain regions, we identified a specific subset unique to EC which may contribute to the early tau pathology present in this region. We calculated conversion of microglia subtypes to diseased states and compared conversion patterns to those from AD animal models. Targeting genes implicated in this conversion, or their upstream/downstream pathways, could halt gene programs initiated by early tau progression. We used expression patterns of early tau progression to identify genes whose expression is reversed along spreading of spatial tau pathology (EC > ITG > PFC > V2 > V1) and identified their potential involvement in microglia subtype conversion to a diseased state. This study provides a data resource that builds on our knowledge of myeloid cell contribution to AD by defining the heterogeneity of microglia and brain macrophages during both temporal and regional pathology aspects of AD progression at an unprecedented resolution.

Aspecific binding of anti-NK1.1 antibodies on myeloid cells in an experimental model for malaria-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Conventional natural killer (cNK) cells play an important role in the innate immune response by directly killing infected and malignant cells and by producing pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Studies on their role in malaria and its complications have resulted in conflicting results. METHODS: Using the commonly used anti-NK1.1 depletion antibodies (PK136) in an in-house optimized experimental model for malaria-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (MA-ARDS), the role of cNK cells was investigated. Moreover, flow cytometry was performed to characterize different NK cell populations. RESULTS: While cNK cells were found to be dispensable in the development of MA-ARDS, the appearance of a NK1.1+ cell population was observed in the lungs upon infection despite depletion with anti-NK1.1. Detailed characterization of the unknown population revealed that this population consisted of a mixture of monocytes and macrophages that bind the anti-NK1.1 antibody in an aspecific way. This aspecific binding may occur via Fcγ receptors, such as FcγR4. In contrast, in vivo depletion using anti-NK1.1 antibodies was proved to be specific for cNK cells. CONCLUSION: cNK cells are dispensable in the development of experimental MA-ARDS. Moreover, careful flow cytometric analysis, with a critical mindset in relation to potential aspecific binding despite the use of commercially available Fc blocking reagents, is critical to avoid misinterpretation of the results.

CCR2 and CCR5 co-inhibition modulates immunosuppressive myeloid milieu in glioma and synergizes with anti-PD-1 therapy.

Immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of cancers. Reinvigorating lymphocytes with checkpoint blockade has become a cornerstone of immunotherapy for multiple tumor types, but the treatment of glioblastoma has not yet shown clinical efficacy. A major hurdle to treat GBM with checkpoint blockade is the high degree of myeloid-mediated immunosuppression in brain tumors that limits CD8 T-cell activity. A potential strategy to improve anti-tumor efficacy against glioma is to use myeloid-modulating agents to target immunosuppressive cells, such as myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in the tumor microenvironment. We found that the co-inhibition of the chemokine receptors CCR2 and CCR5 in murine model of glioma improves the survival and synergizes robustly with anti-PD-1 therapy. Moreover, the treatment specifically reduced the infiltration of monocytic-MDSCs (M-MDSCs) into brain tumors and increased lymphocyte abundance and cytokine secretion by tumor-infiltrating CD8 T cells. The depletion of T-cell subsets and myeloid cells abrogated the effects of CCR2 and CCR5 blockade, indicating that while broad depletion of myeloid cells does not improve survival, specific reduction in the infiltration of immunosuppressive myeloid cells, such as M-MDSCs, can boost the anti-tumor immune response of lymphocytes. Our study highlights the potential of CCR2/CCR5 co-inhibition in reducing myeloid-mediated immunosuppression in GBM patients.

Tumor microenvironment restricts IL-10 induced multipotent progenitors to myeloid-lymphatic phenotype.

Lymphangiogenesis is induced by local pro-lymphatic growth factors and bone marrow (BM)-derived myeloid-lymphatic endothelial cell progenitors (M-LECP). We previously showed that M-LECP play a significant role in lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis in clinical breast cancer (BC) and experimental BC models. We also showed that differentiation of mouse and human M-LECP can be induced through sequential activation of colony stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) and Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) pathways. This treatment activates the autocrine interleukin-10 (IL-10) pathway that, in turn, induces myeloid immunosuppressive M2 phenotype along with lymphatic-specific proteins. Because IL-10 is implicated in differentiation of numerous lineages, we sought to determine whether this pathway specifically promotes the lymphatic phenotype or multipotent progenitors that can give rise to M-LECP among other lineages. Analyses of BM cells activated either by CSF-1/TLR4 ligands in vitro or orthotopic breast tumors in vivo showed expansion of stem/progenitor population and coincident upregulation of markers for at least four lineages including M2-macrophage, lymphatic endothelial, erythroid, and T-cells. Induction of cell plasticity and multipotency was IL-10 dependent as indicated by significant reduction of stem cell markers and those for multiple lineages in differentiated cells treated with anti-IL-10 receptor (IL-10R) antibody or derived from IL-10R knockout mice. However, multipotent CD11b+/Lyve-1+/Ter-119+/CD3e+ progenitors detected in BM appeared to split into a predominant myeloid-lymphatic fraction and minor subsets expressing erythroid and T-cell markers upon establishing tumor residence. Each sub-population was detected at a distinct intratumoral site. This study provides direct evidence for differences in maturation status between the BM progenitors and those reaching tumor destination. The study results suggest preferential tumor bias towards expansion of myeloid-lymphatic cells while underscoring the role of IL-10 in early BM production of multipotent progenitors that give rise to both hematopoietic and endothelial lineages.

Aberrant METTL14 gene expression contributes to malignant transformation of benzene-exposed myeloid cells.

Benzene is a known contributor to human leukaemia through its toxic effects on bone marrow cells, and epigenetic modification is believed to be a potential mechanism underlying benzene pathogenesis. However, the specific roles of N6-methyladenosine (m6A), a newly discovered RNA post-transcriptional modification, in benzene-induced hematotoxicity remain unclear. In this study, we identified self-renewing malignant proliferating cells in the bone marrow of benzene-exposed mice through in vivo bone marrow transplantation experiments and Competitive Repopulation Assay. Subsequent analysis using whole transcriptome sequencing and RNA m6A methylation sequencing revealed a significant upregulation of RNA m6A modification levels in the benzene-exposed group. Moreover, RNA methyltransferase METTL14, known as a pivotal player in m6A modification, was found to be aberrantly overexpressed in Lin-Sca-1+c-Kit+ (LSK) cells of benzene-exposed mice. Further analysis based on the GEO database showed a positive correlation between the expression of METTL14, mTOR, and GFI and benzene exposure dose. In vitro cellular experiments, employing experiments such as western blot, q-PCR, m6A RIP, and CLIP, validated the regulatory role of METTL14 on mTOR and GFI1. Mechanistically, continuous damage inflicted by benzene exposure on bone marrow cells led to the overexpression of METTL14 in LSK cells, which, in turn, increased m6A modification on the target genes' (mTOR and GFI1) RNA. This upregulation of target gene expression activated signalling pathways such as mTOR-AKT, ultimately resulting in malignant proliferation of bone marrow cells. In conclusion, this study offers insights into potential early targets for benzene-induced haematologic malignant diseases and provides novel perspectives for more targeted preventive and therapeutic strategies.

Mitochondrial complex I activity in microglia sustains neuroinflammation.

Sustained smouldering, or low-grade activation, of myeloid cells is a common hallmark of several chronic neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis1. Distinct metabolic and mitochondrial features guide the activation and the diverse functional states of myeloid cells2. However, how these metabolic features act to perpetuate inflammation of the central nervous system is unclear. Here, using a multiomics approach, we identify a molecular signature that sustains the activation of microglia through mitochondrial complex I activity driving reverse electron transport and the production of reactive oxygen species. Mechanistically, blocking complex I in pro-inflammatory microglia protects the central nervous system against neurotoxic damage and improves functional outcomes in an animal disease model in vivo. Complex I activity in microglia is a potential therapeutic target to foster neuroprotection in chronic inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system3.

Characterization of lysosomal acid lipase in Ly6G+ and CD11c+ myeloid-derived suppressor cells.

Lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) is a key enzyme in the metabolic pathway of neutral lipids, whose deficiency (LAL-D) induces the differentiation of myeloid lineage cells into myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which promotes tumor growth and metastasis. This protocol provides detailed procedures for assessment of various LAL biochemical and physiological activities in Ly6G+ and CD11c+ MDSCs, including isolation of Ly6G+ and CD11c+ cells from the bone marrow and blood of mice, assays of LAL-D-induced cellular metabolic and mitochondrial activities, assessment of LAL-D-induced pathogenic immunosuppressive activity and tumor stimulatory activity. Pharmacological inhibition of the LAL activity was also described in both murine myeloid cells and human white blood cells.

Assessment of myeloid-derived suppressor cell differentiation ex vivo.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are major promoters of progression and metastasis in cancer. MDSCs inhibit the anti-tumor immune response through multiple mechanisms. The main MDSC functions in cancer are related to the inactivation of T cells and the establishment of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) through the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, among other mechanisms. MDSCs are phenotypically similar to conventional myeloid cells, so their identification is challenging. Moreover, they infiltrate the tumors in limited numbers, and their purification from within the tumors is technically difficult and makes their study a challenge. Therefore, several ex vivo differentiation methods have been established. Our differentiation method leads to MDSCs that closely model tumor-infiltrating counterparts. In this protocol, MDSCs are differentiated from bone marrow precursors by incubation in differentiation medium produced by murine tumor cell lines engineered to constitutively express granulocyte-monocyte colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). These ex vivo-generated MDSC subsets show high fidelity compared to their natural tumor-infiltrated counterparts. Moreover, the high yields of purification from these ex vivo differentiated MDSC enable their use for validation of new treatments in high-throughput assays. In this chapter we describe the engineering of a stable cell line overexpressing GM-CSF, followed by production and collection of conditioned media supporting MDSC differentiation. Finally, we detail the isolation procedure of bone marrow cells and the specific MDSC differentiation protocol.

Potential genetic mechanisms driving B/myeloid conversion in patients with follicular lymphoma and Langerhans cell neoplasms.

Transformation of follicular lymphoma (FL) to a Langerhans cell (LC) neoplasm is extremely uncommon. The shared IGH::BCL2 rearrangement is a robust finding in most transformed tumors underscoring that the cell of origin is perhaps a pre-B cell harboring IGH::BCL2 with the propensity to undergo further genetic alterations in the germinal centers of lymph nodes: does IGH::BCL2 in pre-B cells set off a plasticity cell state? Do FL and LC neoplasms develop separately through a common progenitor or via a multistep process of transdifferentiation or dedifferentiation/redifferentiation? Here, we review the literature and relevant cases presented in the Society for Hematopathology/European Association of Haematopathology 2021 Workshop to better understand this rare and complex phenomenon. We discuss clinical data, clonal relationship, and the mutational profile of these tumors and review proposed mechanisms of B/myeloid conversion based on in vitro and in vivo models.

Myeloid Deletion of Cdc42 Protects Liver From Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury via Inhibiting Macrophage-Mediated Inflammation in Mice.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (HIRI) often occurs in liver surgery, such as partial hepatectomy and liver transplantation, in which myeloid macrophage-mediated inflammation plays a critical role. Cell division cycle 42 (Cdc42) regulates cell migration, cytoskeleton rearrangement, and cell polarity. In this study, we explore the role of myeloid Cdc42 in HIRI. METHODS: Mouse HIRI models were established with 1-hour ischemia followed by 12-hour reperfusion in myeloid Cdc42 knockout (Cdc42mye) and Cdc42flox mice. Myeloid-derived macrophages were traced with RosamTmG fluorescent reporter under LyzCre-mediated excision. The experiments for serum or hepatic enzymic activities, histologic and immunologic analysis, gene expressions, flow cytometry analysis, and cytokine antibody array were performed. RESULTS: Myeloid deletion of Cdc42 significantly alleviated hepatic damages with the reduction of hepatic necrosis and inflammation, and reserved hepatic functions following HIRI in mice. Myeloid Cdc42 deficiency suppressed the infiltration of myeloid macrophages, reduced the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, restrained M1 polarization, and promoted M2 polarization of myeloid macrophages in livers. In addition, inactivation of Cdc42 promoted M2 polarization via suppressing the phosphorylation of STAT1 and promoting phosphorylation of STAT3 and STAT6 in myeloid macrophages. Furthermore, pretreatment with Cdc42 inhibitor, ML141, also protected mice from hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury. CONCLUSIONS: Inhibition or deletion of myeloid Cdc42 protects liver from HIRI via restraining the infiltration of myeloid macrophages, suppressing proinflammatory response, and promoting M2 polarization in macrophages.

Phenotypic Analysis of Circulating Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells and Their Subpopulations in Egyptian Females with Breast Cancer: A Single-Centre Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND: Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are immature myeloid cells with suppressive function that has been thoroughly documented in the setting of cancer. Our purpose was to evaluate levels of MDSC and their subsets in a cohort of Egyptian patients with breast cancer. METHODS: Evaluation of peripheral blood total MDSC and its subset was done using multicolor flowcytometry in 30 malignant, 10 benign breast tumor patients and 10 healthy control females. RESULTS: BC patients had higher total MDSC levels compared to controls (p= 0.01) particularly the Monocytic MDSC (M-MDSC) and abnormal MDSC subsets (p = 0.001 and p <0.001, respectively). A tumor size > 2 cm exhibited significantly higher granulocytic MDSCs (G-MDSCs) compared to tumor size < 2 cm (p= 0.02) whereas abnormal MDSCs were significantly higher in patients with a tumor size < 2 cm (p = 0.037). CONCLUSION: MDSC and its subsets can be used as a prognostic marker of tumor size as well as a potential targets for treatment in breast cancer patients.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells in cancer and cancer therapy.

Anticancer agents continue to dominate the list of newly approved drugs, approximately half of which are immunotherapies. This trend illustrates the considerable promise of cancer treatments that modulate the immune system. However, the immune system is complex and dynamic, and can have both tumour-suppressive and tumour-promoting effects. Understanding the full range of immune modulation in cancer is crucial to identifying more effective treatment strategies. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a heterogeneous population of myeloid cells that develop in association with chronic inflammation, which is a hallmark of cancer. Indeed, MDSCs accumulate in the tumour microenvironment, where they strongly inhibit anticancer functions of T cells and natural killer cells and exert a variety of other tumour-promoting effects. Emerging evidence indicates that MDSCs also contribute to resistance to cancer treatments, particularly immunotherapies. Conversely, treatment approaches designed to eliminate cancer cells can have important additional effects on MDSC function, which can be either positive or negative. In this Review, we discuss the interplay between MDSCs and various other cell types found in tumours as well as the mechanisms by which MDSCs promote tumour progression. We also discuss the relevance and implications of MDSCs for cancer therapy.

IRE1 endoribonuclease signaling promotes myeloid cell infiltration in glioblastoma.

BACKGROUND: Intrinsic or environmental stresses trigger the accumulation of improperly folded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), leading to ER stress. To cope with this, cells have evolved an adaptive mechanism named the unfolded protein response (UPR) which is hijacked by tumor cells to develop malignant features. Glioblastoma (GB), the most aggressive and lethal primary brain tumor, relies on UPR to sustain growth. We recently showed that IRE1 alpha (referred to IRE1 hereafter), 1 of the UPR transducers, promotes GB invasion, angiogenesis, and infiltration by macrophage. Hence, high tumor IRE1 activity in tumor cells predicts a worse outcome. Herein, we characterized the IRE1-dependent signaling that shapes the immune microenvironment toward monocytes/macrophages and neutrophils. METHODS: We used human and mouse cellular models in which IRE1 was genetically or pharmacologically invalidated and which were tested in vivo. Publicly available datasets from GB patients were also analyzed to confirm our findings. RESULTS: We showed that IRE1 signaling, through both the transcription factor XBP1s and the regulated IRE1-dependent decay controls the expression of the ubiquitin-conjugating E2 enzyme UBE2D3. In turn, UBE2D3 activates the NFκB pathway, resulting in chemokine production and myeloid infiltration in tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Our work identifies a novel IRE1/UBE2D3 proinflammatory axis that plays an instrumental role in GB immune regulation.

Integrin-linked kinase expression in myeloid cells promotes colon tumorigenesis.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common forms of cancer worldwide and treatment options for advanced CRC, which has a low 5-year survival rate, remain limited. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK), a multifunctional, scaffolding, pseudo-kinase regulating many integrin-mediated cellular processes, is highly expressed in many cancers. However, the role of ILK in cancer progression is yet to be fully understood. We have previously uncovered a pro-inflammatory role for myeloid-specific ILK in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis. To establish a correlation between chronic intestinal inflammation and colorectal cancer (CRC), we investigated the role of myeloid-ILK in mouse models of CRC. When myeloid-ILK deficient mice along with the WT control mice were subjected to colitis-associated and APCmin/+-driven CRC, tumour burden was reduced by myeloid-ILK deficiency in both models. The tumour-promoting phenotype of macrophages, M2 polarization, in vitro was impaired by the ILK deficiency and the number of M2-specific marker CD206-expressing tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) in vivo were significantly diminished in myeloid-ILK deficient mice. Myeloid-ILK deficient mice showed enhanced tumour infiltration of CD8+ T cells and reduced tumour infiltration of FOXP3+ T cells in colitis-associated and APCmin/+-driven CRC, respectively, with an overall elevated CD8+/FOXP3+ ratio suggesting an anti-tumour immune phenotypes. In patient CRC tissue microarrays we observed elevated ILK+ myeloid (ILK+ CD11b+) cells in tumour sections compared to adjacent normal tissues, suggesting a conserved role for myeloid-ILK in CRC development in both human and animal models. This study identifies myeloid-specific ILK expression as novel driver of CRC, which could be targeted as a potential therapeutic option for advanced disease.