In vivo imaging of neutrophil-T-cell interactions in tumor-draining lymph nodes in a head and neck cancer model

Tumor-associated neutrophils may exhibit pro-tumor and anti-tumor properties. In the tumor microenvironment, they regulate immune responses via interaction with T-cells. Preliminary data suggest that activated neutrophils migrate into tumor-draining lymph nodes (LN). To date, no in vivo analysis of neutrophil function in LN has been performed. Tumor-draining LN are the first organs of metastasis in head and neck cancer and are crucial for the stimulation if anti-cancer immune responses. A better understanding of the LN microenvironment could help to develop new treatment strategies.

We performed in vivo two-photon microscopic imaging of inguinal tumor-draining LN in tumor-bearing mice. To monitor neutrophil migration, we used the Catchup mouse model with fluorescently labeled neutrophils. T-cells were labeled with fluorescent antibodies. Cell interactions in LN were evaluated in a mouse B16F10 melanoma and an MTEC NHSCC model. We compared tumor-beating and tumor-free immune-deficient and immune-competent mice.

Two-photon imaging showed highly specific labeling of neutrophils and T-cells in inguinal LN. Analysis of cell interactions is ongoing with initial results suggesting different cell-interaction patterns in tumor-bearing vs. non-tumor bearing, as well as in tumor-draining versus non-draining LN and immune-competent vs. immune-deficient mice.

We successfully established a mouse model for in vivo analysis of neutrophil-T-cell interactions in tumor-draining lymph nodes. The cell-interaction results of this study should significantly contribute to the understanding of the role of tumor-associated neutrophils in the regulation of adaptive immune responses in tumor-bearing individuals.

Publication History

Publication Date:
18 April 2018 (online)