Journal
ONCOTARGET
Volume 7, Issue 32, Pages 52294-52306Publisher
IMPACT JOURNALS LLC
DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.10561
Keywords
SNAIL; TGF-beta; macrophage polarization; tumor-associated macrophage; immunotherapy
Categories
Funding
- National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) [2011CB935803]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [81272311, 81502104]
- Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province [2015CFB206]
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Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are a major component of leukocytic infiltrate in tumors, which facilitates tumor progression and promotes inflammation. TGF-beta promotes the differentiation of non-activated macrophages into a TAM-like (M2-like) phenotype; however, the underlying mechanisms are not clear. In this study, we found that TGF-beta induces a M2-like phenotype characterized by up-regulation of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, and down-regulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-12. In human THP-1 macrophages, overexpression of SNAIL caused M2-like differentiation by inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokine release and promoting the expression of M2-specific markers. By contrast, SNAIL knockdown promoted M1 polarization through up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and abolished TGF-beta-mediated M2-polarization of THP-1 macrophages. The SMAD2/3 and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways were crucial for TGF-beta-induced SNAIL overexpression in THP-1 cells. These findings suggest that TGF-beta skews macrophage polarization towards a M2-like phenotype via SNAIL up-regulation, and blockade of TGF-beta/SNAIL signaling restores the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This study provides new understanding of the role of SNAIL in M2 polarization of macrophages, and suggests a potential therapeutic target for antitumor immunity.
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