title: Monocyte CD40 expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
abstract: CD40, an antigen-presenting cell expressed costimulatory receptor molecule, binds to T cell expressed CD40-ligand (CD40-L). Using a mouse tumor model, we showed previously that lower CD40/CD40-L expression levels promoted tumor growth whereas higher CD40/CD40-L expression levels led to tumor regression indicating duality in CD40 functions. Whether CD40/CD40-L expressions are regulated in cancer patients is unknown. Herein, we show that the CD40 and CD40-L expressions on monocytes and T cells, respectively, decrease as the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients progress from stage-I through stage-IV suggesting a novel CD40/CD40-L expression based staging of HNSCC tumor. The staging is confirmed by TNM and histo-pathological staging. The levels of soluble CD40 (sCD40) and sCD40-L are also modulated in patients' plasma. As CD40 expressing monocytes increase in the post-operative patients, CD40 expression levels are possibly regulated by tumor load. This change is accompanied by increased IL-12 expressing monocytes and decreased IL-10 expression levels. Thus, our findings on CD40/CD40-L expression in HNSCC patients bear significant implications.
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Cell Science, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007, India.
authors.forename: Devendra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sathawane
authors.forename: Ravindran S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Kharat
authors.forename: Subhadra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Halder
authors.forename: Somenath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Swami
authors.forename: Ritim
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Bhaskar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Saha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019013:CD40 Antigens / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D023201:CD40 Ligand / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009000:Monocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D015398:Signal Transduction; D012995:Solubility; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D019013:CD40 Antigens; D023201:CD40 Ligand