Cited by 259Cancer Immunotherapy and BiomarkersTGF-β signaling in diseasesImmune cells in cancer

Characterization of human lung tumor-associated fibroblasts and their ability to modulate the activation of tumor-associated T cells

Open access
Nazareth, Michael R, Broderick, Lori, Simpson-Abelson, Michelle R, Kelleher, Raymond J, Yokota, Sandra J, Bankert, Richard B·2007·The Journal of Immunology

Abstract

The tumor microenvironment of human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is composed largely of stromal cells, including fibroblasts, yet these cells have been the focus of few studies. In this study, we established stromal cell cultures from primary NSCLC through isolation of adherent cells. Characterization of these cells by flow cytometry demonstrated a population which expressed a human fibroblast-specific 112-kDa surface molecule, Thy1, α-smooth muscle actin, and fibroblast activation protein, but failed to express CD45 and CD11b, a phenotype consistent with that of an activated myofibroblast. A subset of the tumor-associated fibroblasts (TAF) was found to express B7H1 (PD-L1) and B7DC (PD-L2) constitutively, and this expression was up-regulated by IFN-γ. Production of cytokines and chemokines, including IFN-γ, monokine induced by IFN-γ, IFN-γ-inducible protein-10, RANTES, and TGF-β1 was also demonstrated in these cells. Together, these characteristics provide multiple opportunities for the TAF to influence cellular interactions within the tumor microenvironment. To evaluate the ability of TAF to modulate tumor-associated T cell (TAT) activation, we conducted coculture experiments between autologous TAF and TAT. In five of eight tumors, TAF elicited a contact-dependent enhancement of TAT activation, even in the presence of a TGF-β1-mediated suppressive effect. In the three other tumors, TAF had a net suppressive effect upon TAT activation, and, in one of these cases, blockade of B7H1 or B7DC was able to completely abrogate the TAF-mediated suppression. We conclude that TAF in human NSCLC are functionally and phenotypically heterogeneous and provide multiple complex regulatory signals that have the potential to enhance or suppress TAT function in the tumor microenvironment.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.4049/jimmunol.178.9.5552

Cites

72 of 72 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Nazareth, M. R., Broderick, L., Simpson-Abelson, M. R., Kelleher, R. J., Yokota, S. J., & Bankert, R. B.
Affiliations
University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
Venue
The Journal of Immunology
Published
2007-05-01
Volume
178
Issue
9
Pages
5552-5562
ISSN
  • 0022-1767 (ISSN-L)
  • 1550-6606
OpenAlex
W2105055793
Cited by
259
References
72
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 8
FWCI
4.37
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Journal of Immunology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • John R. Oishei Foundation
  • U.S. Public Health Service
  • National Cancer Institute (R01 CA 10897)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › TGF-β signaling in diseases
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immune cells in cancer
Keywords
cancer-associated fibroblasts, non-small cell lung cancer, tumor microenvironment, tumor-associated T cells, T cell activation, PD-L1, PD-L2, myofibroblasts, interferon-gamma, TGF-β1, cytokine and chemokine production, stromal cells, immunosuppression, contact-dependent suppression
MeSH terms
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung, Fibroblasts, Humans, Interferon-gamma, Lung Neoplasms, Lymphocyte Activation, Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, T-Lymphocytes, Tumor Cells, Cultured, Biomarkers, Tumor, Antigens, CD, Cytokines, Transforming Growth Factor beta, B7-1 Antigen, Coculture Techniques, Chemokines, B7-H1 Antigen, Programmed Cell Death 1 Ligand 2 Protein

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review