Diversity of immune checkpoints in cancer immunotherapy

Zhangyan Guo; Rui Zhang; An-Gang Yang; Guoxu Zheng

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1121285

Diversity of immune checkpoints in cancer immunotherapy

Front Immunol. 2023 Mar 7:14:1121285. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1121285. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Zhangyan Guo¹, Rui Zhang^{1

2}, An-Gang Yang¹, Guoxu Zheng¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.

Abstract

Finding effective treatments for cancer remains a challenge. Recent studies have found that the mechanisms of tumor evasion are becoming increasingly diverse, including abnormal expression of immune checkpoint molecules on different immune cells, in particular T cells, natural killer cells, macrophages and others. In this review, we discuss the checkpoint molecules with enhanced expression on these lymphocytes and their consequences on immune effector functions. Dissecting the diverse roles of immune checkpoints in different immune cells is crucial for a full understanding of immunotherapy using checkpoint inhibitors.

Keywords: NK cell; T cell; immune checkpoint; immunotherapy; macrophage.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Humans
Immunotherapy*
Killer Cells, Natural
Molecular Targeted Therapy
Neoplasms* / pathology
T-Lymphocytes / metabolism

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (No. 81872326 to ZG, 82203675 to GZ), the Wu Jieping Medical Foundation (320.6750.2022-19-2 to GZ), the Fund of Air Force Medical University (2022KXKT002 to GZ) and the Fund of State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology (CBSKL2022ZZ46 to GZ).