Research Papers:
Regulatory B cells induced by pancreatic cancer cellderived interleukin18 promote immune tolerance via the PD1/PDL1 pathway
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Yan Zhao1, Ming Shen1, Yecheng Feng1, Ruizhi He1, Xiaodong Xu1, Yu Xie1, Xiuhui Shi1, Min Zhou1, Shutao Pan1, Min Wang1, Xingjun Guo1 and Renyi Qin1
1Department of Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Affiliated Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Correspondence to:
Xingjun Guo, email: [email protected]
Renyi Qin, email: [email protected]
Keywords: pancreatic cancer; interleukin-18; regulatory B cells; immune tolerance; PD-1/PD-L1 pathway
Received: May 19, 2017 Accepted: November 14, 2017 Epub: December 07, 2017 Published: March 13, 2018
ABSTRACT
Dysregulation of regulatory B cells (Bregs), a type of immunosuppressive lymphocyte, are associated with development of autoimmune diseases and cancers. Bregs produce immune tolerance-inducing cell surface molecules and tolerogenic cytokines (interleukin [IL]-10 and transforming growth factor-beta). We previously showed that levels of the inflammatory cytokine IL-18 were increased in patients with pancreatic cancer. In the present study study, we found that pancreatic cancer cell-derived IL-18 increases Breg-induced immunosuppression. IL-18 also promoted B-cell proliferation and IL-10 expression in vivo and in vitro. In addition, IL-18 upregulated membrane PD-1 in B cells and inhibited the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity of Tc cells and natural killer cells. Finally, the combination of a natural IL-18 inhibitor (IL-18BP) and a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor suppressed tumor growth and metastasis in a murine pancreatic cancer model. Our results show that IL-18 and PD-1/PD-L1 could be therapeutic targets in pancreatic cancer.