Lactate from the tumor microenvironment - A key obstacle in NK cell-based immunotherapies.

ABSTRACT: Recent findings about the new roles of lactate have changed our understanding of this end product of glycolysis or fermentation that was once considered only a waste product. It is now well accepted that lactate acts as a signaling molecule and fuel source for cancer cells in a glucose-restricted environment. Moreover, lactate and lactate dehydrogenase are markers of poor prognosis of many cancers and regulate many functions of immune cells. The presence of lactate in the tumor microenvironment (TME) leads to polarization of the immunosuppressive phenotypes of dendritic cells and impairs the cytotoxic abilities of T cells and NK cells, and as such lactate is a major obstacle to immune-cell effector functions and the efficacy of cell-based immunotherapies. Emerging evidence suggests that la

SUBMITTER: Jedlicka M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9623302 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature