CCL8 secreted by tumor-associated macrophages promotes invasion and stemness of glioblastoma cells via ERK1/2 signaling.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) constitute a large population of glioblastoma and facilitate tumor growth and invasion of tumor cells, but the underlying mechanism remains undefined. In this study, we demonstrate that chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 8 (CCL8) is highly expressed by TAMs and contributes to pseudopodia formation by GBM cells. The presence of CCL8 in the glioma microenvironment promotes progression of tumor cells.

The landscape of immune microenvironment in lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma based on PD-L1 expression and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the tumor microenvironment immune types (TMIT) based on tumor cell programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) distribution and whether distinct TMIT subtypes (TMIT I, PD-L1 /TIL ; TMIT II, PD-L1 /TIL ; TMIT III, PD-L1 /TIL ; and TMIT IV, PD-L1 /TIL ) differentially affect clinical outcomes of patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Methods And Results: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was applied to evaluate the expression of PD-L1 and the spatial distribution of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and CD8 TILs on the surgically resected specimens from 205 cases of LAC and 149 cases of SCC. PD-1 and CD8 TILs were more frequently distributed in SCC than those in LAC, regardless of their infiltrating in the tumor islets or stroma.

Hybrids by tumor-associated macrophages × glioblastoma cells entail nuclear reprogramming and glioblastoma invasion.

Hybrid formation is a fundamental process in normal development and tissue homeostasis, while the presence and the biological role of hybrids between tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and glioblastoma (GBM) cells remain elusive. In this study, we observed that TAM-GBM cell hybrids existed in human GBM specimens as demonstrated by co-expression of glioma biomarkers (GFAP, IDH1 and PDGFRA) and macrophage biomarkers (CD68 and CD14). Furthermore, TAM-GBM cell hybrids could also be found in C57BL/6 mice orthotopically inoculated with mouse GBM cells labeled with RFP and after co-culture of bone marrow-derived macrophages from GFP-expressed mice with RFP-labeled GBM cells.

[Construction of lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA targeting human STAT3 gene].

Aim: To construct and identify a lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting human signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) gene.

Methods: The shRNA chains targeting to human STAT3 gene were designed and synthesized, and then inserted into lentivirus expression vector pSicoR containing U6 promoter and green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene by gene recombination technique. The constructed recombinant plasmid pSicoR-STAT3-shRNA was identified by double restriction enzyme digestion and DNA sequencing, and then mixed with the 3rd generation of lentiviral packaging system and co-transfected to HEK293 cells using new generation of Roche X-tremeGENE HP DNA Transfection Reagent mediated transfection method.