IL18 Receptor Signaling Inhibits Intratumoral CD8<sup>+</sup> T-Cell Migration in a Murine Pancreatic Cancer Model

oleh: Elena Nasiri, Malte Student, Katrin Roth, Nadya Siti Utami, Magdalena Huber, Malte Buchholz, Thomas M. Gress, Christian Bauer

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2023-01-01

Deskripsi

In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the infiltration of CD8<sup>+</sup> cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) is an important factor in determining prognosis. The migration pattern and interaction behavior of intratumoral CTLs are pivotal to tumor rejection. NLRP3-dependent proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18 play a prominent role for CTL induction and differentiation. Here, we investigate the effects of T-cellular IL-1R and IL-18R signaling for intratumoral T-cell motility. Murine adenocarcinoma cell line Panc02 was stably transfected with ovalbumin (OVA) and fluorophore H2B-Cerulean to generate PancOVA H2B-Cerulean tumor cells. Dorsal skinfold chambers (DSFC) were installed on wild-type mice, and PancOVA H2B-Cerulean tumor cells were implanted into the chambers. PancOVA spheroids were formed using the Corning<sup>®</sup> Matrigel<sup>®</sup>-based 3D cell culture technique. CTLs were generated from OT-1 mice, <i>Il1r<sup>−/−</sup></i> OT-1 mice, or <i>Il18r<sup>−/−</sup></i> OT-1 mice and were marked with fluorophores. This was followed by the adoptive transfer of CTLs into tumor-bearing mice or the application into tumor spheroids. After visualization with multiphoton microscopy (MPM), Imaris software was used to perform T-cell tracking. Imaris analysis indicates a significantly higher accumulation of <i>Il18r<sup>−/−</sup></i> CTLs in PancOVA tumors and a significant reduction in tumor volume compared to wild-type CTLs. <i>Il18r<sup>−/−</sup></i> CTLs covered a longer distance (track displacement length) in comparison to wild-type (WT) CTLs, and had a higher average speed (mean track speed). The analysis of instantaneous velocity suggests a higher percentage of arrested tracks (arrests: <4 μm/min) for <i>Il18r<sup>−/−</sup></i> CTLs. Our data indicate the contribution of IL-18R signaling to T-cell effector strength, warranting further investigation on phenomena such as intratumoral T-cell exhaustion.