Long noncoding RNA Pvt1 regulates the immunosuppression activity of granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells in tumor-bearing mice

BACKGROUND: Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) participate in tumor-elicited immunosuppression by dramatically blocking T-cell-induced antitumor responses, thereby influencing the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies. Treatments that alter the differentiation and function of MDSCs can partially restore antitumor immune responses. The long noncoding RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (lncRNA Pvt1) is a potential oncogene in a variety of cancer types. However, whether lncRNA Pvt1 is involved in the regulation of MDSCs has not been thoroughly elucidated to date. METHODS: MDSCs or granulocytic MDSCs (G-MDSCs) were isolated by microbeads and flow cytometry. Bone marrow derived G-MDSCs were induced by IL-6 and GM-CSF. The expression of lncRNA Pvt1 was measured by qRT-PCR. Specific siRNA was used to knockdown the expression of lncRNA Pvt1 in G-MDSCs. RESULTS: In this study, we found that knockdown of lncRNA Pvt1 significantly inhibited the immunosuppressive function of G-MDSCs in vitro. Additionally, lncRNA Pvt1 knockdown reduced the ability of G-MDSCs to delay tumor progression in tumor-bearing mice in vivo. Notably, lncRNA Pvt1 was upregulated by HIF-1α under hypoxia in G-MDSCs. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results demonstrate a critical role for lncRNA Pvt1 in regulating the immunosuppression activity of G-MDSCs, and lncRNA Pvt1 might thus be a potential antitumor immunotherapy target. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12943-019-0978-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.