CELL INTELLIGENCE · 肿瘤细胞治疗研究

Phenotypic characterization of T cells in the MALs (malignant ascites lymphocytes), TILs (tumor infiltrating lymphocytes), and PBLs (peripheral blood lymphocytes) of ovarian cancer (OvCA) patients is lacking. Therefore, we quantified T cell prevalence in MAL, TIL, and PBL specimens from n = 18 OvCA patients and PBL from age-matched healthy donors (HD, n = 14). Multicolor flow cytometry was performed to evaluate the expression of inhibitory receptors (TIGIT, PD-1 and TIM-3), stimulatory receptors (Ox40), and purinergic ectoenzymes (CD39 and CD73) on T cell subsets. We identified an abundant infiltration of V 1 T cells in the MALs and TILs. These cells varied in their differentiation: The majority of V 1 TILs displayed an effector memory (EM) phenotype, whereas V 1 MALs had a more mature phenotype of terminally differentiated effector memory cells (TEMRA) with high CD45RA expression. TIGIT and TIM-3 were abundantly expressed in both MALs and PBLs, whereas V 1 TILs exhibited the highest levels of PD-1, CD39, and Ox40. We also observed specific clusters on mature differentiation stages for the analyzed molecules. Regarding co-expression, V 1 TILs showed the highest levels of cells co-expressing TIGIT with PD-1 or CD39 compared to MALs and PBLs. In conclusion, the V 1 T cell population showed a high prevalence in the MALs and primary tumors of OvCA patients. Due to their (co-)expression of targetable immune receptors, in particular TIGIT with PD-1 and CD39 in TILs, V 1 T cell-based approaches combined with the inhibition of these targets might represent a promising strategy for OvCA.