Regulatory T Cells Induce Metastasis by Increasing Tgf-β and Enhancing the Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition.

ABSTRACT: Malignant melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer; a substantial percentage of patients present with distant metastases. However, the mechanism of metastasis is not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that the administration of exogenous regulatory T cells (Tregs) into melanoma tumor-bearing mice results in a significant increase in lung metastasis. An increase in the invasive and metastatic phenotype of melanoma was mediated by cell-to-cell contact between melanoma cells and Tregs, which elevated the expression level of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and the subsequent induction of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT).B16-BL6 melanoma tumors co-cultured with Tregs showed a larger population of migrating cells compared to B16-BL6 tumors cultured without Tregs

SUBMITTER: Oh E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6912455 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature