The gut microbiota influences both local and systemic inflammation. Inflammation contributes to development, progression, and treatment of cancer, but it remains unclear whether commensal bacteria affect inflammation in the sterile tumor microenvironment. Here, we show that disruption of the microbiota impairs the response of subcutaneous tumors to CpG-oligonucleotide immunotherapy and platinum chemotherapy. In antibiotics-treated or germ-free mice, tumor-infiltrating myeloid-derived cells responded poorly to therapy, resulting in lower cytokine production and tumor necrosis after CpG-oligonucleotide treatment and deficient production of reactive oxygen species and cytotoxicity after chemotherapy. Thus, optimal responses to cancer therapy require an intact commensal microbiota that mediates its effects by modulating myeloid-derived cell functions in the tumor microenvironment. These findings underscore the importance of the microbiota in the outcome of disease treatment.

The Suppressor Of Cytokine Signalling (SOCS) proteins were, as their name suggests, first described as inhibitors of cytokine signalling. While their actions clearly now extend to other intracellular pathways, they remain key negative regulators of cytokine and growth factor signalling. In this review we focus on the mechanics of SOCS action and the complexities of the mouse models that have underpinned our current understanding of SOCS biology.

Since its discovery two decades ago, the activation of the JAK/STAT pathway by numerous cytokines and growth factors has resulted in it becoming one of the most well studied intracellular signalling networks. The field has progressed from the identification of the individual components, to high-resolution crystal structures of both JAK and STAT, and an understanding of the complexities of the molecular activation and deactivation cycle which results in a diverse, yet highly specific and regulated pattern of transcriptional responses. While there is still more to learn, we now appreciate how disruption and de-regulation of this pathway can result in clinical disease and look forward to adoption of the next generation of JAK inhibitors in routine clinical treatment.

RA is an autoimmune disease characterized by sustained imbalance between pro-and antiinflammatory immune mechanisms. The SOCS proteins are negative regulators of cytokine signaling, but to date there has been little information on their function in disease. The generation of Socs3 -/Dvav mice, which lack SOCS-3 in the hematopoietic and endothelial cell compartment, allowed us to explore the role of endogenous SOCS-3 during acute inflammatory arthritis. Joint inflammation in Socs3 -/Dvav mice was particularly severe and was characterized by increased numbers of neutrophils in the inflamed synovium, bone marrow, peripheral blood, and spleen. These features were most likely due to increased production of and enhanced responsiveness to G-CSF and IL-6 during arthritis in these mice. Local osteoclast generation and bone destruction were also dramatically increased in the absence of SOCS-3, as was macrophage activation. Finally, SOCS-3 was found to negatively regulate CD4 + T lymphocyte activation, including production of the pleiotropic cytokine IL-17. The absence of SOCS-3 therefore had dramatic effects in this disease model, with a broader impact on cellular responses than SOCS-1 deficiency. These findings provide direct in vivo evidence that endogenous SOCS-3 is a critical negative regulator of multiple cell types orchestrating inflammatory joint disease.

The lack of expression of the Suppressor of Cytokine Signalling-3 (SOCS3) or inactivation of the negative regulatory capacity of SOCS3 has been well documented in rheumatoid arthritis, viral hepatitis and cancer. The specific qualitative and quantitative consequences of SOCS3-deficiency on IL-6-mediated pro- and anti-inflammatory responses remain controversial in vitro and unknown in vivo. Mice with a conditional deletion of SOCS3 in hematopoietic cells develop lethal inflammatory disease during adult life and develop gross histopathological changes during experimental arthritis, typified by elevated IL-6 levels. To clarify the nature of the IL-6 responses in vivo, we generated mice deficient in SOCS3 (SOCS3−/Δvav) or both SOCS3 and IL-6 (IL-6−/−/SOCS3−/Δ vav) and examined responses in models of acute and chronic inflammation. Acute responses to IL-1β were lethal to SOCS3−/Δ vav mice but not IL-6−/−/SOCS3−/Δ vav mice, indicating that IL-6 was required for the lethal inflammation induced by IL-1β. Administration of IL-1β to SOCS3−/Δ vav mice induced systemic apoptosis of lymphocytes in the thymus, spleen and lymph nodes that was dependent on the presence of IL-6. IL-6-deficiency prolonged survival of SOCS3−/Δ vav mice and ameliorated spontaneous inflammatory disease developing during adult life. Infection of SOCS3−/Δ vav mice with LCMV induced a lethal inflammatory response that was dependent on IL-6, despite SOCS3−/Δ vav mice controlling viral replication. We conclude that SOCS3 is required for survival during inflammatory responses and is a critical regulator of IL-6 in vivo.