Macrophage migration inhibitory factor predicts an unfavorable outcome after transarterial chemoembolization for hepatic malignancies

Immunoglobulin-like transcript 2 as an impaired anti-tumor cytotoxicity marker of natural killer cells in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Introduction

Natural killer (NK) cells play a pivotal role in immune surveillance in the liver. We aimed to identify potential targets for NK cell-mediated immune intervention by revealing the functional molecules on NK cells in HCC patients.

Methods

To evaluate the impact of aging on NK cell phenotypes, we examined NK cells from healthy volunteers (HVs) of various ages. Because ILT2 expression on CD56dim NK cells increased with increasing age, we enrolled age-matched HCC patients and HVs. We determined the NK cell phenotypes in blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and intrahepatic lymphocytes (IHLs) from cancerous and non-cancerous tissues. We evaluated cytotoxicity and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) of NK cells in vitro.

Results

ILT2-positive CD56dim NK cells in PBMCs were increased in HCC patients compared with HVs. In HCC patients, ILT2-positive CD56dim NK cells were increased in cancerous IHLs compared with non-cancerous IHLs and PBMCs. We examined the impact of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) on ILT2 expression in co-cultures of HCC cells and NK cells. The enhanced expression of ILT2 on CD56dim NK cells from HCC patients was inhibited by masking antibodies against MIF and CXCR4. ILT2-positive CD56dim NK cells exhibited lower capacities for cytotoxicity and ADCC than ILT2-negative cells, which were partially restored by ILT2 blockade.

Conclusions

In HCC patients, ILT2 is a signature molecule for cancerous CD56dim NK cells with impaired cytolytic capacity. The MIF-CXCR4 interaction is associated with ILT2 induction on CD56dim NK cells and ILT2 serves as a target for functional NK cell restoration.

Altered profiles of circulating cytokines in chronic liver diseases (NAFLD/HCC): Impact of the PNPLA3I148M risk allele

BACKGROUND

Individuals carrying the risk variant p.I148M of patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 (PNPLA3) have a higher susceptibility to fatty liver diseases and associated complications, including HCC, a cancer closely linked to chronic inflammation. Here, we assessed circulating cytokine profiles for patients with chronic liver diseases genotyped for PNPLA3.

METHODS

Serum concentrations of 22 cytokines were measured by multiplex sandwich-ELISA. The cohort comprised 123 individuals: 67 patients with NAFLD without cirrhosis (57 steatosis, 10 NASH), 24 patients with NAFLD with cirrhosis, 21 patients with HCC (15 cirrhosis), and 11 healthy controls. Receiver operator characteristic analyses were performed to assess the suitability of the cytokine profiles for the prediction of steatosis, cirrhosis, and HCC.

RESULTS

HGF, IL-6, and IL-8 levels were increased in patients, with ∼2-fold higher levels in patients with cirrhosis versus healthy, while platelet derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) and regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) showed lower concentrations compared to controls. Migration inhibitory factor and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) were found at higher levels in NAFLD samples (maximum: NAFLD-cirrhosis) versus healthy controls and HCC samples. In receiver operator characteristic analyses, migration inhibitory factor, IL-8, IL-6, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 yielded high sensitivity scores for predicting noncirrhotic NAFLD (vs. healthy). The top combination to predict cirrhosis was HGF plus PDGF-BB. Migration inhibitory factor performed best to discriminate HCC from NAFLD; the addition of monokine induced gamma (MIG), RANTES, IL-4, macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), or IL-17A as second parameters further increased the AUC values (> 0.9). No significant impact of the PNPLA3I148M allele on cytokine levels was observed in this cohort.

CONCLUSIONS

Cytokines have biomarker potential in patients with fatty liver, possibly suited for early HCC detection in patients with fatty liver. Patients carrying the PNPLA3 risk allele did not present significantly different levels of circulating cytokines.

How Biology Guides the Combination of Locoregional Interventional Therapies and Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Cytokines and Their Roles

As most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are diagnosed at the intermediate or advanced stage and are no longer eligible for curative treatment, the overall survival rate of HCC remains unsatisfactory. Locoregional interventional therapies (LITs), and immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based immunotherapy, focus on treating HCC, but the efficacy of their individual application is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to discuss the biological roles of cytokines and their therapeutic potential in the combination therapy of LITs and ICI-based immunotherapy. The two common techniques of LITs are ablative and transarterial therapies. Whether LITs are complete or incomplete can largely affect the antitumor immune response and tumor progression. Cytokines that induce both local and systemic responses to LITs, including interferons, interleukins, chemokines, TNF-α, TGF-β, VEGF, and HGF, and their roles are discussed in detail. In addition, specific cytokines that can be used as therapeutic targets to reduce immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are introduced. Overall, incomplete LITs in a tumor, combined with specific cytokines, are thought to be effective at improving the therapeutic efficacy and reducing treatment-induced irAEs, and represent a new hope for managing unresectable HCC.

Activity-Based Imaging of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor with a Two-Photon Fluorescent Probe

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), as a cytokine, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cancer and some other diseases, and it is also one of the potential drug targets for disease treatment. However, due to the lack of simple and effective MIF imaging detection tools, the fluctuation and distribution of MIF in living cells or at lesion sites remain difficult to track precisely and in real time. Here, we report activity-based fluorescent probes, named MIFP1-MIFP3, which are used for real-time imaging and tracking of intracellular MIF, thus establishing a relationship between the fluctuation of MIF and the change of fluorescence signal during the cancer disease process. With the excellent optical properties of two-photon probe imaging, we can easily distinguish multiple cancer cells from normal cells with the representative probe, MIFP3. Moreover, MIFP3 has also been successfully used to directly identify the pathological tissues of patients with clinical liver cancer. These potential MIF probes could provide powerful tools for further study of the physiological function of MIF and will be helpful to promote the accurate diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation of MIF-associated malignancies.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor exerts pro-proliferative and anti-apoptotic effects via CD74 in murine hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an inflammatory and chemokine-like protein expressed in different inflammatory diseases as well as solid tumours. CD74-as the cognate MIF receptor-was identified as an important target of MIF. We here analysed the role of MIF and CD74 in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in vitro and in vivo.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

Multilocular HCC was induced using the diethylnitrosamine/carbon tetrachloride (DEN/CCl₄ ) model in hepatocyte-specific Mif knockout (Mif ^Δhep ), Cd74-deficient, and control mice. Tumour burden was compared between the genotypes. MIF, CD74 and Ki67 expression were investigated in tumour and surrounding tissue. In vitro, the effects of the MIF/CD74 axis on the proliferative and apoptotic behaviour of hepatoma cells and respective signalling pathways were assessed after treatment with MIF and anti-CD74 antibodies.

KEY RESULTS

DEN/CCl₄ treatment of Mif ^Δhep mice resulted in reduced tumour burden and diminished proliferation capacity within tumour tissue. In vitro, MIF stimulated proliferation of Hepa 1-6 and HepG2 cells, inhibited therapy-induced cell death and induced ERK activation. The investigated effects could be reversed using a neutralizing anti-CD74 antibody, and Cd74^-/- mice developed fewer tumours associated with decreased proliferation rates.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

We identified a pro-tumorigenic role of MIF during proliferation and therapy-induced apoptosis of HCC cells. These effects were mediated via the MIF cognate receptor CD74. Thus, inhibition of the MIF/CD74 axis could represent a promising target with regard to new pharmacological therapies aimed at HCC.