Theranostics 2021; 11(3):1016-1030. doi:10.7150/thno.51777 This issue Cite
Review
1. Institute of Cancer, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China
2. Department of Blood Transfusion, Lab of Radiation biology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China
3. Chongqing Key Laboratory of Immunotherapy, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China
#These authors contributed equally: Degao Chen and Xiaomei Zhang.
Macrophages phagocytize pathogens to initiate innate immunity and products from the tumor microenvironment (TME) to mediate tumor immunity. The loss of tumor-associated macrophage (TAM)-mediated immune responses results in immune suppression. To reverse this immune disorder, the regulatory mechanism of TAMs in the TME needs to be clarified. Immune molecules (cytokines and chemokines) from TAMs and the TME have been widely accepted as mutual mediators of signal transduction in the past few decades. Recently, researchers have tried to seek the intrinsic mechanism of TAM phenotypic and functional changes through metabolic connections. Numerous metabolites derived from the TME have been identified that induce the cell-cell crosstalk with TAMs. The bulk tumor cells, immune cells, and stromal cells produce metabolites in the TME that are involved in the metabolic regulation of TAMs. Meanwhile, some products from TAMs regulate the biological functions of the tumor as well. Here, we review the recent reports demonstrating the metabolic regulation between TME and TAMs.
Keywords: Tumor-associated macrophage, tumor microenvironment, metabolism, tumor immunotherapy