How murine neutrophils are hijacked within the microenvironment of pancreatic cancer

J Leukoc Biol. 2024 Feb 23:qiae042. doi: 10.1093/jleuko/qiae042. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTDiscoveries made in the last decades have brought out that, in addition to their classical primary defensive functions against infections, polymorphonuclear neutrophils play key effector roles not only in chronic inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases but also in cancer. In addition, depending on their differentiation/activation status, and/or on the physiological or pathological microenvironment in which they reside, neutrophils have been shown to behave as highly plastic cells, able to acquire new phenotypes/functional states. All these features are well manifested in cancer and modulated during tumor progression. Herein, we discuss intriguing data by Lai Ng's group, that have shed light on the origin and development of terminally differentiated, proangiogenic, tumor-associated neutrophils, facilitating tumor growth in a murine orthotopic model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. These findings help to progress toward the ambitious goal of selectively targeting only the skewed pathological neutrophil populations present within the tumor microenvironment.PMID:38394343 | DOI:10.1093/jleuko/qiae042
Source: Journal of Leukocyte Biology - Category: Hematology Authors: Source Type: research