Sex parity in stimulation of murine lymphocyte trafficking in response to fever-range systemic thermal therapy

Murine preclinical studies established that hyperthermia regimens stimulate immunity by mobilizing lymphocyte homing to lymph nodes and tumors. Enhanced lymphocyte trafficking during fever-range systemic thermal therapy (FR-STT) is driven by interleukin-6 (IL-6) upregulation of intercellular adhesio...

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Main Authors: Michelle M. Appenheimer, Arwen A. Tisdale, Daniel T. Fisher, Han Yu, Elizabeth A. Repasky, Sharon S. Evans
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:International Journal of Hyperthermia
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/02656736.2025.2526118
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author Michelle M. Appenheimer
Arwen A. Tisdale
Daniel T. Fisher
Han Yu
Elizabeth A. Repasky
Sharon S. Evans
author_facet Michelle M. Appenheimer
Arwen A. Tisdale
Daniel T. Fisher
Han Yu
Elizabeth A. Repasky
Sharon S. Evans
author_sort Michelle M. Appenheimer
collection DOAJ
description Murine preclinical studies established that hyperthermia regimens stimulate immunity by mobilizing lymphocyte homing to lymph nodes and tumors. Enhanced lymphocyte trafficking during fever-range systemic thermal therapy (FR-STT) is driven by interleukin-6 (IL-6) upregulation of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) on blood vessels in lymph nodes and tumors. However, since hyperthermia regulation of lymphocyte homing was only evaluated in female mice, the response of male mice remains unknown. Here, we investigated the potential sex bias in response to FR-STT by assessing the function of lymph node high endothelial venules (HEV) that are a thermally-responsive vascular site. Although it was feasible to elevate core temperatures to 39.5 ± 0.5 °C for 6 h in female and male mice, males were significantly less tolerant to FR-STT. Under normothermic controls, there was no difference between females and males in baseline intranodal (a) HEV frequency, (b) HEV area, (c) IL-6 concentration, and (d) lymphocyte trafficking. FR-STT further induced similar increases in ICAM-1 expression on HEV and lymphocyte trafficking in lymph nodes in both sexes. While FR-STT did not alter intranodal IL-6 concentrations, findings that IL-6 was higher in lymph nodes than the circulation in both sexes suggest that local IL-6 is responsible for systemic vascular responses to FR-STT. Collectively, these data demonstrate that despite sexual dimorphism in thermal regulation in mice, there was no evidence of a sex bias for lymphocyte homing at checkpoint HEV. Thus, hyperthermia treatment is predicted to be equally effective in boosting immunity in male and female mice when combined with immunotherapy.
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spelling doaj-art-6b117a9f92a64d2889777f6706dfe5232025-08-20T03:28:47ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Hyperthermia0265-67361464-51572025-12-0142110.1080/02656736.2025.2526118Sex parity in stimulation of murine lymphocyte trafficking in response to fever-range systemic thermal therapyMichelle M. Appenheimer0Arwen A. Tisdale1Daniel T. Fisher2Han Yu3Elizabeth A. Repasky4Sharon S. Evans5Department of Immunology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USADepartment of Immunology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USADepartment of Immunology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USADepartment of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USADepartment of Immunology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USADepartment of Immunology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USAMurine preclinical studies established that hyperthermia regimens stimulate immunity by mobilizing lymphocyte homing to lymph nodes and tumors. Enhanced lymphocyte trafficking during fever-range systemic thermal therapy (FR-STT) is driven by interleukin-6 (IL-6) upregulation of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) on blood vessels in lymph nodes and tumors. However, since hyperthermia regulation of lymphocyte homing was only evaluated in female mice, the response of male mice remains unknown. Here, we investigated the potential sex bias in response to FR-STT by assessing the function of lymph node high endothelial venules (HEV) that are a thermally-responsive vascular site. Although it was feasible to elevate core temperatures to 39.5 ± 0.5 °C for 6 h in female and male mice, males were significantly less tolerant to FR-STT. Under normothermic controls, there was no difference between females and males in baseline intranodal (a) HEV frequency, (b) HEV area, (c) IL-6 concentration, and (d) lymphocyte trafficking. FR-STT further induced similar increases in ICAM-1 expression on HEV and lymphocyte trafficking in lymph nodes in both sexes. While FR-STT did not alter intranodal IL-6 concentrations, findings that IL-6 was higher in lymph nodes than the circulation in both sexes suggest that local IL-6 is responsible for systemic vascular responses to FR-STT. Collectively, these data demonstrate that despite sexual dimorphism in thermal regulation in mice, there was no evidence of a sex bias for lymphocyte homing at checkpoint HEV. Thus, hyperthermia treatment is predicted to be equally effective in boosting immunity in male and female mice when combined with immunotherapy.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/02656736.2025.2526118Hyperthermiafever-range thermal therapysex biaslymphocyte traffickingcancer immunotherapy
spellingShingle Michelle M. Appenheimer
Arwen A. Tisdale
Daniel T. Fisher
Han Yu
Elizabeth A. Repasky
Sharon S. Evans
Sex parity in stimulation of murine lymphocyte trafficking in response to fever-range systemic thermal therapy
International Journal of Hyperthermia
Hyperthermia
fever-range thermal therapy
sex bias
lymphocyte trafficking
cancer immunotherapy
title Sex parity in stimulation of murine lymphocyte trafficking in response to fever-range systemic thermal therapy
title_full Sex parity in stimulation of murine lymphocyte trafficking in response to fever-range systemic thermal therapy
title_fullStr Sex parity in stimulation of murine lymphocyte trafficking in response to fever-range systemic thermal therapy
title_full_unstemmed Sex parity in stimulation of murine lymphocyte trafficking in response to fever-range systemic thermal therapy
title_short Sex parity in stimulation of murine lymphocyte trafficking in response to fever-range systemic thermal therapy
title_sort sex parity in stimulation of murine lymphocyte trafficking in response to fever range systemic thermal therapy
topic Hyperthermia
fever-range thermal therapy
sex bias
lymphocyte trafficking
cancer immunotherapy
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/02656736.2025.2526118
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