Objective To investigate the anti-tumor effects of NKG2A inhibitor on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSCC).Methods The single-cell expression of NKG2A,its ligand HLA-E and their correlations with patient prognosis and immune microenvironment were analyzed in GEO and TCGA databases.The subcutaneous tumor model of HNSCC was constructed,and the effects of chemotherapy on the expression of NKG2A on T and B lymphocytes were detected by flow cytometry.Animal experiments were used to confirmed the anti-tumor effects of NKG2A inhibitor and NKG2A inhibitors combined with docetaxel.Results NKG2A(KLRC1)was mainly expressed in NK cells,and a small amount was expressed in T lymphocytes.The high expression of NKG2A/HLA-E in HNSCC tumors(P＜0.01)were closely related to poor prognosis.NKG2A/HLA-E in tumor microenvironment were closely related to the infiltration of multiple immune cells and the expression of immune checkpoints(P＜0.01).Animal experiments showed that chemotherapy could up-regulate the expression of NKG2A in T and B lymphocytes(P＜0.01).Chemotherapy in combination with NKG2A inhibitor could mediate more effective antitumor effects in HNSCC(P=0.013).Conclusions Combined with NKG2A inhibitor on the basis of chemotherapy can mediate more effective anti-tumor effects,and this study may provide experimental and theoretical basis for exploring new clinical strategies of HNSCC.
关键词
头颈部鳞状细胞癌/NKG2A抑制剂/化疗/抗肿瘤作用
Key words
head and neck squamous cell carcinoma/NKG2A inhibitor/chemotherapy/anti-tumor effect
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