Presence of Membrane-Bound TGF-β1 and Its Regulation by IL-2-Activated Immune Cell-Derived IFN-γ in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines

Abstract

The presence of membrane-bound TGF-β1 (mTGF-β1) has been recently observed in regulatory T cells, but only a few studies have reported the same phenomenon in cancer cells. In this study, we investigate the regulation of mTGF-β1 expression in five head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines using FACS analysis. Through blocking Ab and exogenous cytokine treatment experiments, we found that expression of mTGF-β1 is significantly induced by the activated immune cell-derived factor IFN-γ. In addition, IFN-γ and TNF-α are shown to have a synergistic effect on mTGF-β1 expression. Moreover, we found that exogenous TNF-α induces endogenous TNF-α mRNA expression in an autocrine loop. In contrast to previous reports, we confirm that, in this model, mTGF-β1 is neither a rebound form of once-secreted TGF-β1 nor an activated form of its precursor membrane latency-associated peptide. Inhibitors of transcription (actinomycin D), translation (cycloheximide), or membrane translocation (brefeldin A) effectively block the induction of mTGF-β1, which suggests that induction of mTGF-β1 by IFN-γ and/or TNF-α occurs through de novo synthesis. These findings suggest that some cancer cells can detect immune activating cytokines, such as IFN-γ and TNF-α, and actively block antitumor immunity by induction of mTGF-β1.