1. Cancer Biology

Air pollution particles hijack peroxidasin to disrupt immunosurveillance and promote lung cancer

  1. Zhenzhen Wang
  2. Ziyu Zhai
  3. Chunyu Chen
  4. Xuejiao Tian
  5. Zhen Xing
  6. Panfei Xing
  7. Yushun Yang
  8. Junfeng Zhang  Is a corresponding author
  9. Chunming Wang  Is a corresponding author
  10. Lei Dong  Is a corresponding author
  1. Nanjing University, China
  2. University of Macau, China
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.75345
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Cite this article
  1. Zhenzhen Wang
  2. Ziyu Zhai
  3. Chunyu Chen
  4. Xuejiao Tian
  5. Zhen Xing
  6. Panfei Xing
  7. Yushun Yang
  8. Junfeng Zhang
  9. Chunming Wang
  10. Lei Dong
(2022)
Air pollution particles hijack peroxidasin to disrupt immunosurveillance and promote lung cancer
eLife 11:e75345.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.75345
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  3. Download .RIS

Abstract

Although fine particulate matter (FPM) in air pollutants and tobacco smoke is recognized as a strong carcinogen and global threat to public health, its biological mechanism for inducing lung cancer remains unclear. Here, by investigating FPM's bioactivities in lung carcinoma mice models, we discover that these particles promote lung tumor progression by inducing aberrant thickening of tissue matrix and hampering migration of anti-tumor immunocytes. Upon inhalation into lung tissue, these FPM particles abundantly adsorb peroxidasin (PXDN) - an enzyme mediating type IV collagen (Col IV) crosslinking - onto their surface. The adsorbed PXDN exerts abnormally high activity to crosslink Col IV via increasing the formation of sulfilimine bonds at the NC1 domain, leading to an overly dense matrix in the lung tissue. This disordered structure decreases the mobility of cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocytes into the lung and consequently impairs the local immune surveillance, enabling the flourishing of nascent tumor cells. Meanwhile, inhibiting the activity of PXDN abolishes the tumor-promoting effect of FPM, indicating the key impact of aberrant PXDN activity on the tumorigenic process. In summary, our finding elucidates a new mechanism for FPM-induced lung tumorigenesis and identifies PXDN as a potential target for treatment or prevention of the FPM-relevant biological risks.

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting file; Source Data files have been provided for Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Zhenzhen Wang

    State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  2. Ziyu Zhai

    State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. Chunyu Chen

    State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Xuejiao Tian

    State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  5. Zhen Xing

    State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  6. Panfei Xing

    State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  7. Yushun Yang

    State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  8. Junfeng Zhang

    State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
    For correspondence
    jfzhang@nju.edu.cn
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  9. Chunming Wang

    State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China
    For correspondence
    cmwang@umac.mo
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  10. Lei Dong

    State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
    For correspondence
    leidong@nju.edu.cn
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-2013-4191

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (31971309)

  • Lei Dong

National Natural Science Foundation of China (32001069)

  • Zhenzhen Wang

National Natural Science Foundation of China (81973273)

  • Junfeng Zhang

Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20200318)

  • Zhenzhen Wang

Fundo para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências e da Tecnologia (FDCT 0018/2019/AFJ,0060/2020/AGJ)

  • Chunming Wang

Universidade de Macau (MYRG2020-00084-ICMS)

  • Chunming Wang

National Natural Science Foundation of China (the funds for the International Cooperation and Exchange,31961160701)

  • Lei Dong

Nanjing University (the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,020814380115)

  • Lei Dong

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Paul W Noble, Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, United States

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 of the animals were handled according to approved institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) protocols (#08-133) of Nanjing University. The protocol was approved by the Animal Ethical and Welfare Committee of Nanjing University (Permit Number: 2008011). All surgery was performed under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia, and every effort was made to minimize suffering.

Version history

  1. Received: November 8, 2021
  2. Preprint posted: December 20, 2021 (view preprint)
  3. Accepted: April 6, 2022
  4. Accepted Manuscript published: April 19, 2022 (version 1)
  5. Version of Record published: April 29, 2022 (version 2)

Copyright

© 2022, Wang 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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  1. Zhenzhen Wang
  2. Ziyu Zhai
  3. Chunyu Chen
  4. Xuejiao Tian
  5. Zhen Xing
  6. Panfei Xing
  7. Yushun Yang
  8. Junfeng Zhang
  9. Chunming Wang
  10. Lei Dong
(2022)
Air pollution particles hijack peroxidasin to disrupt immunosurveillance and promote lung cancer
eLife 11:e75345.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.75345

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.75345

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