ELK3-CXCL16 axis determines natural killer cell cytotoxicity via the chemotactic activity of CXCL16 in triple negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most challenging subtype of breast cancer because of its aggressive behavior and the limited therapeutic strategies available. In the last decade, immunotherapy has become a promising treatment to prolong survival in advanced solid cancers including TNBC....

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Main Authors: Hae-Yun Jung, Dae-Keum Lee, Minwook Lee, Seung Hee Choi, Joo Dong Park, Eun-Su Ko, Jongwon Lee, Kyung-Soon Park
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:OncoImmunology
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2162402X.2023.2190671
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author Hae-Yun Jung
Dae-Keum Lee
Minwook Lee
Seung Hee Choi
Joo Dong Park
Eun-Su Ko
Jongwon Lee
Kyung-Soon Park
Hae-Yun Jung
author_facet Hae-Yun Jung
Dae-Keum Lee
Minwook Lee
Seung Hee Choi
Joo Dong Park
Eun-Su Ko
Jongwon Lee
Kyung-Soon Park
Hae-Yun Jung
author_sort Hae-Yun Jung
collection DOAJ
description Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most challenging subtype of breast cancer because of its aggressive behavior and the limited therapeutic strategies available. In the last decade, immunotherapy has become a promising treatment to prolong survival in advanced solid cancers including TNBC. However, the efficacy of immunotherapy in solid cancers remains limited because solid tumors contain few tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Here, we show that targeting an ETS transcription factor ELK3 (ELK3) recruits immune cells including natural killer (NK) cells into tumors via the chemotactic activity of chemokine. ELK3 depletion increases CXCL16 expression level and promotes NK cell cytotoxicity through CXCL16-mediated NK cell recruitment in TNBC. In silico analysis showed that ELK3 is negatively correlated with CXCL16 expression in breast cancer patient samples. Low expression of ELK3 and high expression of CXCL16 were associated with a better prognosis. Low expression of ELK3 and high expression of CXCL16 were associated with increased expression of NK cell-related genes. Our findings demonstrate that the ELK3-CXCL16 axis modulates NK cell recruitment to increase NK cell cytotoxicity, suggesting that targeting the ELK3 gene could be an adjuvant strategy for increasing the efficacy of immunotherapy in TNBC.
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issn 2162-402X
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publishDate 2023-12-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
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series OncoImmunology
spelling doaj-art-1cedfa1b2b9d4585a21472ff92ee5c922025-08-20T02:01:30ZengTaylor & Francis GroupOncoImmunology2162-402X2023-12-0112110.1080/2162402X.2023.2190671ELK3-CXCL16 axis determines natural killer cell cytotoxicity via the chemotactic activity of CXCL16 in triple negative breast cancerHae-Yun Jung0Dae-Keum Lee1Minwook Lee2Seung Hee Choi3Joo Dong Park4Eun-Su Ko5Jongwon Lee6Kyung-Soon Park7Hae-Yun Jung8Department of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of KoreaBrain Korea 21 Plus Project for Biomedical Science, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of KoreaTriple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most challenging subtype of breast cancer because of its aggressive behavior and the limited therapeutic strategies available. In the last decade, immunotherapy has become a promising treatment to prolong survival in advanced solid cancers including TNBC. However, the efficacy of immunotherapy in solid cancers remains limited because solid tumors contain few tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Here, we show that targeting an ETS transcription factor ELK3 (ELK3) recruits immune cells including natural killer (NK) cells into tumors via the chemotactic activity of chemokine. ELK3 depletion increases CXCL16 expression level and promotes NK cell cytotoxicity through CXCL16-mediated NK cell recruitment in TNBC. In silico analysis showed that ELK3 is negatively correlated with CXCL16 expression in breast cancer patient samples. Low expression of ELK3 and high expression of CXCL16 were associated with a better prognosis. Low expression of ELK3 and high expression of CXCL16 were associated with increased expression of NK cell-related genes. Our findings demonstrate that the ELK3-CXCL16 axis modulates NK cell recruitment to increase NK cell cytotoxicity, suggesting that targeting the ELK3 gene could be an adjuvant strategy for increasing the efficacy of immunotherapy in TNBC.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2162402X.2023.2190671CXCL16ELK3immunosuppressive tumor microenvironmentNK cell cytotoxicityNK cell recruitmenttriple-negative breast cancer
spellingShingle Hae-Yun Jung
Dae-Keum Lee
Minwook Lee
Seung Hee Choi
Joo Dong Park
Eun-Su Ko
Jongwon Lee
Kyung-Soon Park
Hae-Yun Jung
ELK3-CXCL16 axis determines natural killer cell cytotoxicity via the chemotactic activity of CXCL16 in triple negative breast cancer
OncoImmunology
CXCL16
ELK3
immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment
NK cell cytotoxicity
NK cell recruitment
triple-negative breast cancer
title ELK3-CXCL16 axis determines natural killer cell cytotoxicity via the chemotactic activity of CXCL16 in triple negative breast cancer
title_full ELK3-CXCL16 axis determines natural killer cell cytotoxicity via the chemotactic activity of CXCL16 in triple negative breast cancer
title_fullStr ELK3-CXCL16 axis determines natural killer cell cytotoxicity via the chemotactic activity of CXCL16 in triple negative breast cancer
title_full_unstemmed ELK3-CXCL16 axis determines natural killer cell cytotoxicity via the chemotactic activity of CXCL16 in triple negative breast cancer
title_short ELK3-CXCL16 axis determines natural killer cell cytotoxicity via the chemotactic activity of CXCL16 in triple negative breast cancer
title_sort elk3 cxcl16 axis determines natural killer cell cytotoxicity via the chemotactic activity of cxcl16 in triple negative breast cancer
topic CXCL16
ELK3
immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment
NK cell cytotoxicity
NK cell recruitment
triple-negative breast cancer
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2162402X.2023.2190671
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