2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Functional analysis of intratumoral platelets: a novel regulator of tumor immune microenvironment
Project/Area Number |
19K22572
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
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Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Review Section |
Medium-sized Section 50:Oncology and related fields
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Research Institution | Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research |
Principal Investigator |
TAKAGI Satoshi 公益財団法人がん研究会, がん化学療法センター 基礎研究部, 研究員 (20582240)
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Project Period (FY) |
2019-06-28 – 2021-03-31
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Keywords | 腫瘍微小環境 / 血小板 / PDPN |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The aim of this study is to clarify the role of platelets in tumor microenvironment and to identify the key molecules and pathways for the anti-tumor immune that can improve the therapeutic response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. As a result, we found that expression of the platelet-activating molecule PDPN in cancer cells alters the ratio of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and causes changes in the expression of chemokines that contribute to immune cell invasion. These results suggest that regulation of the chemokines might improve the anti-tumor immune response.
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Free Research Field |
腫瘍生物学
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Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
血小板は、核こそないもののRNAを豊富に内包し、エクソソーム様小胞の放出と吸収を行うなど、止血応答のみならず生理的に多様な役割を持つ機能性膜分子である一方で、その小ささ故に解析が困難であることなどの理由から、腫瘍微小環境における役割は不明なままであった。本研究の遂行により、腫瘍内部の血小板が腫瘍微小環境を制御するその機序の一端を解明することができ、将来的には、免疫チェックポイント阻害剤の治療応答性の改善にも繋がり得る成果を提示することができた。
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