BackgroundThymic atrophy was discovered in tumor-bearing mice in recent years.MethodsFlow cytometry was carried out including Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining, PI staining, Terminal dUTP nick-end labeling, CD3-FITC/CD19-PE and CD8-FITC/CD4-PE double staining. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and polymerase chain reaction were also investigated.ResultsAccording to our experiments, we demonstrated that no signs of apoptosis in thymocytes were found in H22-bearing mice, while the proportions of CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells in thymuses were remarkably increased, the opposite tendency was found in peripheral bloods, and only CD3+CD8+ T cells were discovered in H22 solid tumors. We further discovered that the level of thymosin alpha 1 (Tα1) and the expression of Wnt4 in thymus of H22-bearing mice were significantly improved than control, which indicated the active proliferation and differentiation of thymocytes. Our study revealed that CD8+ T cells could not effectively eliminate H22 cells independently when CD4+ T cells were suppressed by tumors, while the body would only enhance the differentiation and maturation of T cells in thymuses and release them to solid tumor to reinforce antitumor immunocompetence, leading to a vicious cycle which finally led to thymic atrophy.ConclusionOur data propose a novel mechanism of tumor-induced thymic atrophy regulated by abnormal immunoreaction and may provide new ideas for the immunotherapy of tumors.
Degeneration of immune organs like thymus and spleen has been discovered in tumor-bearing mice; which increases the difficulties on oncotherapy. More effective drugs which target the protection of immune organs are expected to be researched. In this study; we aim to analyze the antitumor and immunoregulatory activities of seleno-β-lactoglobulin (Se-β-lg) on S180 tumor-bearing mice. Results indicated that Se-β-lg exhibited a remarkable inhibitory effect on S180 solid tumors with the inhibition rate of 48.38%; and protected the thymuses and spleens of S180-bearing mice. In addition, Se-β-lg could also balance the proportions of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in spleens; thymuses and peripheral bloods; and improve Levels of IL-2; IFN-γ; TNF-α in mice serums. β-lg showed weaker bioactivities while SeO2 showed stronger toxicity on mice. Therefore our results demonstrated that Se-β-lg possessed stronger antitumor and immunoregulatory activities with lower side effects and had the potential to be a novel immunopotentiator and antitumor agent.
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