Memory CD4+ T cell subsets in tumor draining lymph nodes of breast cancer patients: A focus on T stem cell memory cells

Y Vahidi, Z Faghih, AR Talei, M Doroudchi, A Ghaderi - Cellular Oncology, 2018 - Springer
Cellular Oncology, 2018Springer
Background The compartments of memory T cells play a fundamental role in the immune
system by substantiating specific and acquired immunity. A new subset of memory cells, T
stem cell memory (T SCM) cells, with stem cell-like properties, a high capacity to proliferate,
a long survival, and an ability to differentiate into all effector and memory cells has recently
been introduced. In the present study, we aimed to determine the frequency of CD4+ T SCM
and other T memory cell subsets in tumor draining lymph nodes of breast cancer patients …
Background
The compartments of memory T cells play a fundamental role in the immune system by substantiating specific and acquired immunity. A new subset of memory cells, T stem cell memory (TSCM) cells, with stem cell-like properties, a high capacity to proliferate, a long survival, and an ability to differentiate into all effector and memory cells has recently been introduced. In the present study, we aimed to determine the frequency of CD4+ TSCM and other T memory cell subsets in tumor draining lymph nodes of breast cancer patients.
Materials and methods
Mononuclear cells were obtained from axillary lymph nodes of 52 untreated patients with breast cancer (BC) and stained with fluorochrome conjugated anti-CD4, −CCR7, −CD45RO and -CD95 antibodies to detect different subtypes of memory cells in CD4+ lymphocyte populations. Data were acquired using a four-color FACSCalibur flow cytometer and analyzed using CellQuest Pro software.
Results
We found that >70% of CD4+ lymphocytes in draining lymph nodes of BC patients exhibited a memory phenotype of which 7.04 ± 1.04% had a TSCM phenotype (CD4+CCR7+CD45ROCD95+). The frequency of TSCM cells was significantly higher in tumor positive lymph nodes compared to tumor negative lymph nodes (p = 0.026) as well as among those patients who had at least one affected lymph node (p = 0.012). Moreover, we found that the total frequency of central memory T cells (TCM) with a low expression of CD45RO was significantly higher among these patients. The percentage of CD45ROLow TCM cells was also found to increase with tumor progression from stage I to stage III (p = 0.020). On the other hand, we found that the percentage of CD95Hi effector memory T cells (TEM) was significantly decreased in involved lymph nodes (p = 0.009).
Conclusion
Our data suggest that following long-term exposure to putative tumor antigens, TSCM cells proliferate to generate a pool of committed memory and effector T cells. As the tumor progresses, the immunosuppressive milieu induced by tumor cells may slow down the differentiation of CD45ROLow TCM cells to more functional sub-populations.
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