TY - JOUR
T1 - YuDetecting the percent of peripheral blood mononuclear cells displaying p-STAT-3 in malignant glioma patients
AU - Humphries, William
AU - Wang, Yongtao
AU - Qiao, Wei
AU - Reina-Ortiz, Chantal
AU - Abou-Ghazal, Mohamed K.
AU - Crutcher, Lamonne M.
AU - Wei, Jun
AU - Kong, Ling Yuan
AU - Sawaya, Raymond
AU - Rao, Ganesh
AU - Weinberg, Jeffrey
AU - Prabhu, Sujit S.
AU - Fuller, Gregory N.
AU - Heimberger, Amy B.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from the Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation, the National Brain Tumor Society, and the National Institutes of Health (R01 CA120813). We would like to thank Adelina Fuentes and Sue Moreau for their editorial assistance.
PY - 2009/11/9
Y1 - 2009/11/9
N2 - Background: The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT-3) is frequently overexpressed in cancer cells, propagates tumorigenesis, and is a key regulator of immune suppression in cancer patients. The presence of phosphorylated STAT-3 (p-STAT-3) in the tumor can induce p-STAT-3 in tumor-associated immune cells that can return to the circulatory system. We hypothesized that the number of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) displaying p-STAT-3 would be increased in glioma patients, which would correlate with the extent of tumor-expressed p-STAT-3, and that higher p-STAT-3 levels in peripheral blood would correlate with a higher fraction of immune-suppressive regulatory T cells (Tregs). Methods: We measured the percentage of PBMCs displaying p-STAT-3 in 19 healthy donors and 45 patients with primary brain tumors. The level of p-STAT-3 in tumor tissue was determined by immunohistochemistry. The degree of immune suppression was determined based on the fraction of Tregs in the CD4 compartment. Results: Healthy donors had 4.8 ± 3.6% of PBMCs that expressed p-STAT-3, while the mean proportion of PBMCs displaying p-STAT-3 in patients with GBM was 11.8 ± 13.5% (P = 0.03). We did not observe a correlation by Spearman correlation between the degree of p-STAT-3 levels in the tumor and the percent of PBMCs displaying p-STAT-3. Furthermore, the percent of PBMCs displaying p-STAT-3 in glioma patients was not directly correlated with the fraction of Tregs in the CD4 compartment. Conclusion: We conclude that the percent of PBMCs displaying p-STAT-3 may be increased in malignant glioma patients.
AB - Background: The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT-3) is frequently overexpressed in cancer cells, propagates tumorigenesis, and is a key regulator of immune suppression in cancer patients. The presence of phosphorylated STAT-3 (p-STAT-3) in the tumor can induce p-STAT-3 in tumor-associated immune cells that can return to the circulatory system. We hypothesized that the number of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) displaying p-STAT-3 would be increased in glioma patients, which would correlate with the extent of tumor-expressed p-STAT-3, and that higher p-STAT-3 levels in peripheral blood would correlate with a higher fraction of immune-suppressive regulatory T cells (Tregs). Methods: We measured the percentage of PBMCs displaying p-STAT-3 in 19 healthy donors and 45 patients with primary brain tumors. The level of p-STAT-3 in tumor tissue was determined by immunohistochemistry. The degree of immune suppression was determined based on the fraction of Tregs in the CD4 compartment. Results: Healthy donors had 4.8 ± 3.6% of PBMCs that expressed p-STAT-3, while the mean proportion of PBMCs displaying p-STAT-3 in patients with GBM was 11.8 ± 13.5% (P = 0.03). We did not observe a correlation by Spearman correlation between the degree of p-STAT-3 levels in the tumor and the percent of PBMCs displaying p-STAT-3. Furthermore, the percent of PBMCs displaying p-STAT-3 in glioma patients was not directly correlated with the fraction of Tregs in the CD4 compartment. Conclusion: We conclude that the percent of PBMCs displaying p-STAT-3 may be increased in malignant glioma patients.
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U2 - 10.1186/1479-5876-7-92
DO - 10.1186/1479-5876-7-92
M3 - Article
C2 - 19900287
AN - SCOPUS:70749147185
SN - 1479-5876
VL - 7
SP - 92
JO - Journal of translational medicine
JF - Journal of translational medicine
M1 - 1479
ER -