The role of Foxp3 and Tbet co-expressing Treg cells in lung carcinoma.

Despite the opposite roles of Tbet and Foxp3 in the immune system as well as in tumour biology, recent studies have demonstrated the presence of of CD4 T cells, expressing both, Tbet and Foxp3. Although TbetFoxp3 T cells are currently a subject of intense research, less is known about their biological function especially in cancer. Here we found a considerable accumulation of TbetFoxp3CD4 T cells, mediated by the immunosuppressive cytokine TGFβ in the lungs of tumour bearing mice.

Enhanced Acid Sphingomyelinase Activity Drives Immune Evasion and Tumor Growth in Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma.

The lipid hydrolase enzyme acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) is required for the conversion of the lipid cell membrane component sphingomyelin into ceramide. In cancer cells, ASM-mediated ceramide production is important for apoptosis, cell proliferation, and immune modulation, highlighting ASM as a potential multimodal therapeutic target. In this study, we demonstrate elevated ASM activity in the lung tumor environment and blood serum of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

NFATc1 deficiency in T cells protects mice from experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

NFATc1 is a member of the nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) family of transcription factors. NFAT is activated upon T-cell receptor activation followed by intracytoplasmatic calcium influx where calmodulin, a calcium sensor protein, activates the phosphatase calcineurin that dephosphorylates NFAT proteins and results in NFAT nuclear import. Here, we show the analysis of conditional NFATc1-deficient mice bearing a deletion of NFATc1 in CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells.