Galectin-3 contributes to cisplatin-induced myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) recruitment in Lewis lung cancer-bearing mice

Recently the recruitment/migration of myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) to tumor microenvironment after chemotherapy has attracted much attention. To determine the detailed mechanism for the responses of MDSCs to these chemotherapies, we investigated the changes of galectin-3 and MDSCs in response to cisplatin(0.4 mg/kg, 4 mg/kg) treatment both in vivo and ex vivo. In the process of cisplatin, we assessed levels of galectin-3 and MDSCs in the Lewis lung cancer (LLC) bearing mice using immunohistochemistry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunofluorence and flow cytometry (FCM). The expression and changes of galectin-3 in the LLC cell line were detected by western blot, immunofluorence and ELISA. The ligand for galectin-3 on MDSCs and the chemotaxis of galectin-3 to MDSCs were confirmed using FCM and transwell. Parallel increased level of galectin-3 with the number of MDSCs in vivo was detected after cisplatin treatment. LLC cells expressed galectin-3 and cisplatin increased galectin-3 level in the culture medium. Furthermore, MDSCs were detected to express CD98, the ligand of galectin-3, and could be recruited by galectin-3. Our results suggested that the elevated expression of gelectin-3 in LLC tumor cells may contribute to the migration of MDSCs to the tumor microenvironment in response to cisplatin.