Reprogramming of Treg cells in the inflammatory microenvironment during immunotherapy: a literature review

Xinyan Wu; Zhigang Zhou; Qiang Cao; Yuquan Chen; Junling Gong; Qi Zhang; Yi Qiang; Yanfeng Lu; Guangzhu Cao

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1268188

Reprogramming of Treg cells in the inflammatory microenvironment during immunotherapy: a literature review

Front Immunol. 2023 Sep 11:14:1268188. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1268188. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xinyan Wu^{1

2}, Zhigang Zhou³, Qiang Cao^{1

4}, Yuquan Chen⁵, Junling Gong⁶, Qi Zhang⁷, Yi Qiang¹, Yanfeng Lu¹, Guangzhu Cao¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth Sciences, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China.
² College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China.
³ Department of Oncology, Changde Hospital, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changde, China.
⁴ School of Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, Macau SAR, China.
⁵ Institute of Medical Information/Library, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁶ School of Public Health, Nanchang University, Qianhu, Nanchang, China.
⁷ Undergraduate Department, Taishan University, Taian, China.

Abstract

Regulatory T cells (Treg), as members of CD4+ T cells, have garnered extensive attention in the research of tumor progression. Treg cells have the function of inhibiting the immune effector cells, preventing tissue damage, and suppressing inflammation. Under the stimulation of the tumor inflammatory microenvironment (IM), the reprogramming of Treg cells enhances their suppression of immune responses, ultimately promoting tumor immune escape or tumor progression. Reducing the number of Treg cells in the IM or lowering the activity of Treg cells while preventing their reprogramming, can help promote the body's anti-tumor immune responses. This review introduces a reprogramming mechanism of Treg cells in the IM; and discusses the regulation of Treg cells on tumor progression. The control of Treg cells and the response to Treg inflammatory reprogramming in tumor immunotherapy are analyzed and countermeasures are proposed. This work will provide a foundation for downregulating the immunosuppressive role of Treg in the inflammatory environment in future tumor immunotherapy.

Keywords: Foxp3; Tregs; cancer progression; immune evasion; immunotherapy; inflammatory microenvironment.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes*
Humans
Immunosuppressive Agents
Immunotherapy
Inflammation
T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory*

Substances

Immunosuppressive Agents

Grants and funding

The authors declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.42267063).