IFNγ and TNFα drive an inflammatory secretion profile in cancer-associated fibroblasts from human non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the dominant nonmalignant component of the tumour microenvironment (TME). CAFs demonstrate a high level of inter- and intra-tumour heterogeneity in solid tumours, though the drivers of CAF subpopulations are not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient-derived CAFs upregulate the secretion of inflammatory cytokines (IL6, LIF, IL33, GM-CSF, IL1ra) and chemokines (CCL2, CCL3, CCL4, CCL20, CXCL8, CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL11) in response to in vitro co-culture with anti-CD3/anti-CD28-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) via IFNγ and TNFα. Furthermore, T-cell-derived IFNγ inhibits CXCL12 secretion by CAFs in vitro. Our results highlight the ability of T-cell effector cytokines to modulate the CAF secretome in NSCLC.