Tumors induce immune tolerance through activation of β-catenin/TCF4 signaling in dendritic cells: A novel therapeutic target for cancer immunotherapy

Abstract

Tumors promote immune suppression and dendritic cells (DCs) play a key role in this. However, signaling networks that program DCs to induce immune suppression are unknown. In our recent study, we showed that tumors activate β-catenin/TCF4 in DCs programming them to a regulatory state, which promotes T regulatory responses while suppresses effector T cell responses. Thus, targeting DCs-β-catenin pathway represents a promising target for anticancer immunotherapy.