CXCL10/CXCR3 signaling contributes to an inflammatory microenvironment and its blockade enhances progression of murine pancreatic precancerous lesions.
Abstract
The development of pancreatic cancer requires recruitment and activation of different macrophage populations. However, little is known about how macrophages are attracted to the pancreas after injury or an oncogenic event, and how they crosstalk with lesion cells or other cells of the lesion microenvironment. Here, we delineate the importance of CXCL10/CXCR3 signaling during the early phase of murine pancreatic cancer. We show that CXCL10 is produced by pancreatic precancerous lesion cells in response to IFNγ signaling, and that inflammatory macrophages are recipients for this chemokine. CXCL10/CXCR3 signaling in macrophages mediates their chemoattraction to the pancreas, enhances their proliferation and maintains their inflammatory identity. Blocking of CXCL10/CXCR3 signaling in vivo shifts macrophage populations to a tumor promoting (Ym1+, Fizz+, Arg1+) phenotype, increases fibrosis and mediates progression of lesions, highlighting the importance of this pathway in PDA development. This is reversed when CXCL10 is overexpressed in PanIN cells.
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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. Source data have been included for all Figures and Supplemental Figures.
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Funding
National Cancer Institute (CA229560)
- Peter Storz
National Cancer Institute (CA200572)
- Peter Storz
National Cancer Institute (P50CA102701)
- Peter Storz
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. All animal experiments were conducted under IACUC approved protocols (A50214-14-R17, A30615-15-R18) and were run in accordance with institutional guidance and regulation.
Copyright
© 2021, Pandey et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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