Overexpression and Role of HHLA2, a Novel Immune Checkpoint, in Colorectal Cancer

The study aimed to investigate correlations between HHLA2 levels and parameters, including microsatellite instability (MSI) status, CD8+ cells, and histopathological features: budding, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), TNM scale, grading, cytokines, chemokines, and cell signaling moleculesin co...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kula, Agnieszka, Dawidowicz, Miriam, Mielcarska, Sylwia, Kiczmer, Paweł, Skiba, Hanna, Krygier, Małgorzata, Chrabańska, Magdalena, Piecuch, Jerzy, Szrot, Monika, Robotycka, Julia, Ochman, Błażej, Strzałkowska, Bogumiła, Czuba, Zenon, Świętochowska, Elżbieta, Waniczek, Dariusz
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Article
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10057377/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36982953
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms24065876
Descripción
Sumario:The study aimed to investigate correlations between HHLA2 levels and parameters, including microsatellite instability (MSI) status, CD8+ cells, and histopathological features: budding, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), TNM scale, grading, cytokines, chemokines, and cell signaling moleculesin colorectal cancer (CRC). Furthermore, the immune infiltration landscape and HHLA2-related pathways in colorectal cancer using available online datasets were analyzed. The study included 167 patients diagnosed with CRC. Expression of HHLA2 was detected by immunohistochemistry method (IHC) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The IHC was used to evaluate the MSI and CD8+ status. The budding and TILs were measured using a light microscope. The concentrations of cytokines, chemokines, and cell signaling molecules were measured to analyze the data by the Bio-Plex Pro Human cytokine screening panel, 48 cytokine assay, and principal component analysis (PCA). Geneset enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to identify HHLA2-related pathways. The biological function of HHLA2 was predicted by Gene Ontology (GO). Analysis of the immune infiltration landscape of HHLA2 in colorectal cancer was made by the web-based tool Camoip. High HHLA2 expression was detected in CRC tumor tissues compared to the adjacent noncancerous tissues. The percentage of HHLA2-positive tumors was 97%. GSEA and GO showed that HHLA2 upregulation correlated with cancer-related pathways and several biological functions. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes score correlated positively with IHC HHLA2 expression level percentage. There was a negative correlation between HHLA2, anti-tumor cytokines and pro-tumor growth factors. This study provides a valuable insight into the role of HHLA2 in CRC. We reveal the role of HHLA2 expression as well as a stimulatory and inhibitory immune checkpoint in colorectal cancer. Further research may verify the therapeutic values of the HHLA2-KIR3DL3/TMIGD2 pathway in colorectal cancer.

Ejemplares similares