Tumor-infiltrating immature innate lymphoid cells in colorectal cancer are biased toward ILC1/tissue-resident NK cell differentiation - PubMed
5 hours ago
- #tumor immunology
- #colorectal cancer
- #innate lymphoid cells
- Peritoneal metastases (PM) in colorectal cancer (CRC) occur in 10% of patients and lead to poor outcomes, with the role of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) unclear.
- Using single-cell RNA sequencing, flow cytometry, and differentiation assays, CRC and CRC-PM tumors show depletion of ILC3 but enrichment of ILC1, tissue-resident (tr)NK cells, and conventional (c)NK cells compared to healthy colons.
- Two immature ILC populations—early NK and naïve ILCs (nILCs)—are found in tumors, with nILCs transcriptionally biased toward ILC1 and trNK cell differentiation.
- In co-culture experiments, nILCs differentiate into ILC1/trNK-like cells when cultured with OP9-DL1 cells, highlighting their potential role in tumor immunity.
- These insights into ILC differentiation may aid in understanding CRC immune pathogenesis and inform future ILC1 and NK cell-based therapies.