title: Mechanisms involved in the down-regulation of TCR zeta chain in tumor versus peripheral blood of oral cancer patients.
abstract: Immune dysfunction is the hallmark of patients with oral cancer. Down-regulation of T cell receptor (TCR) zeta chain expression was observed in T cells from patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. In peripheral blood, the decrease in TCR zeta chain showed an inverse correlation with the tumor stage as demonstrated by western blotting, confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. The mechanism of TCR zeta chain degradation in the peripheral blood involves ubiquitination and subsequent targeting of TCR zeta for degradation in the lysosome. Decreased expression of PKC theta and the subsequent decrease of TCR zeta chain transcription factor Elf-1 and its binding to DNA may contribute to the decreased/or absent TCR zeta chain transcripts in the tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. Oral cancer patients exhibiting TCR zeta chain defect also showed impaired lymphocyte proliferation, cytokine profile and intracellular calcium release upon stimulation with anti CD3 mAb. Our data shows that posttranslational degradation is primarily responsible for decreased TCR zeta chain expression in the peripheral blood, while a transcriptional defect is observed in the tumor compartment. The down-regulation of TCR zeta chain culminates into impaired lymphocyte responses in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Chiplunkar Laboratory, Immunology, Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer, Tata Memorial Centre, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Dakshayini P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Kulkarni
authors.forename: Persis P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Wadia
authors.forename: Trupti N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Pradhan
authors.forename: Alok Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Pathak
authors.forename: Shubhada V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Chiplunkar
mesh_terms: D015153:Blotting, Western; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015536:Down-Regulation; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D036388:Ephrin-B2 / Q000378:metabolism; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D036388:Ephrin-B2; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell