Epithelial IL-2 is critical for NK cell-mediated cancer immunosurveillance in mammary glands.

Autor: Wang L, Maharjan CK, Borcherding N, Master RP, Mo J, Tithi TI, Kim MC, Carelock ME, Master AP, Gibson-Corley KN, Kolb RH, Smith KA, Zhang W
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: BioRxiv : the preprint server for biology [bioRxiv] 2024 Apr 30. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Apr 30.
DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.25.591178
Abstrakt: Interleukin 2 (IL-2) is the first identified cytokine and its interaction with receptors has been known to shape the immune responses in many lymphoid or non-lymphoid tissues for more than four decades. Active T cells are the primary cellular source for IL-2 production and epithelial cells have never been considered the major cellular source of IL-2 under physiological conditions. It is, however, tempting to speculate that epithelial cells could potentially express IL-2 that regulates the intricate interactions between epithelial cells and lymphocytes. Datamining our recently published single-cell RNAseq in the mouse mammary gland identified IL-2 expression in mammary epithelial cells, which is induced by prolactin via the STAT5 signaling pathway. Furthermore, epithelial IL-2 plays a crucial role in maintaining the physiological functions of natural killer (NK) cells within the mammary glands. IL-2 deletion in the mammary epithelial cells leads to a significant reduction in the number and function of NK cells, which in turn results in defective immunosurveillance, expansion of luminal epithelial cells, and tumor development. Interestingly, T cells in the mammary glands are not changed, indicating the specific regulation of NK cells by epithelial IL-2 production. In agreement, we also found that human epithelial cells express IL-2 and NK cells express the highest level of IL2RB among all the immune cells. Here, we provide the first evidence that epithelial cells produce IL-2, which is critical for maintaining the physiological functions of NK cells in immunosurveillance.
Databáze: MEDLINE