Relationship between infiltrating lymphocytes in cancerous ascites and dysfunction of Cajal mesenchymal cells in the small intestine

Xiuli Wang; Jing Li; Duanyang Liu; Lei Zhang; Baoshan Zhao; Jing Tang; Meisi Yan; Dan Kong; Xiaoming Jin

Relationship between infiltrating lymphocytes in cancerous ascites and dysfunction of Cajal mesenchymal cells in the small intestine

Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2018 Apr 1;11(4):2201-2213. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Xiuli Wang¹, Jing Li¹, Duanyang Liu¹, Lei Zhang¹, Baoshan Zhao², Jing Tang¹, Meisi Yan¹, Dan Kong³, Xiaoming Jin¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Harbin Medical University Harbin, Heilongjiang, P. R. China.
² Department of Pathology, Harbin Medical University Daqing, Heilongjiang, P. R. China.
³ Department of Gynecology, Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University Harbin, Heilongjiang, P. R. China.

PMID: 31938332
PMCID: PMC6958188

Abstract

Malignant ascites changes the microenvironment of the peritoneal cavity and damages abdominal functional host cells such as interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), causing gastrointestinal dysfunction and poor prognosis. Besides tumor cells, malignant ascites contains large numbers of lymphocytes and macrophagocytes. These inflammatory cells act as a 'double arrow' and it is not clear whether they cause injury to ICCs. Our study demonstrates the presence of T lymphocytes in malignant ascites and shows that these cells may have a critical role in inducing damage to ICC via Caspases and Fas/FasL. These inflammatory cells were contributory to gastric dysfunction in our GI tumor-induced ascites mouse models.

Keywords: Malignant ascites; apoptosis; gastrointestinal dysfunctions; interstitial cells of Cajal; tumor associated lymphocytes.