Abstract
Tumor-associated tertiary lymphoid structures are ectopic lymphoid aggregates that have considerable morphological, cellular, and molecular similarity to secondary lymphoid organs, particularly lymph nodes. Tumor vessels expressing peripheral node addressin (PNAd) are hallmark features of these structures. Previous work from our laboratory demonstrated that PNAd is displayed on intratumoral vasculature of murine tumors, and its expression is controlled by the engagement of lymphotoxin-α3, secreted by effector CD8 T cells, with tumor necrosis factor receptors (TNFR) on tumor endothelial cells (TEC). The goals of the present work were: 1) to identify differences in expression of genes encoding the scaffolding proteins and glycosyl transferases associated with PNAd biosynthesis in TEC and lymph node blood endothelial cells (LN BEC); and 2) to determine which of these PNAd associated components are regulated by TNFR signaling. We found that the same genes encoding scaffolding proteins and glycosyl transferases were upregulated in PNAd+ LN BEC and PNAd+ TEC relative to their PNAdneg counterparts. The lower level of PNAd expression on TEC vs LN BEC was associated with relatively lower expression of these genes, particularly the carbohydrate sulfotransferase Chst4. Loss of PNAd on TEC in the absence of TNFR signaling was associated with lack of upregulation of these same genes. A small subset of PNAd+ TEC remaining in the absence of TNFR signaling showed normal upregulation of a subset of these genes, but reduced upregulation of genes encoding the scaffolding proteins podocalyxin and nepmucin, and carbohydrate sulfotransferase Chst2. Lastly, we found that checkpoint immunotherapy augmented both the fraction of TEC expressing PNAd and their surface level of this ligand. This work points to strong similarities in the regulation of PNAd expression on TEC by TNFR signaling and on LN BEC by lymphotoxin-β receptor signaling, and provides a platform for the development of novel strategies that manipulate PNAd expression on tumor vasculature as an element of cancer immunotherapy.
Introduction
Trafficking of leukocytes, including T- and B-cells, into lymphoid and inflamed non-lymphoid tissues involves sequential interactions of a set of homing receptors (HR) on leukocytes with cognate ligands on blood endothelial cells (BEC) (). During an immune response, effector T cells acquire the ability to enter inflamed tissues by upregulating HR that bind to ligands that are upregulated on activated BEC. HR and HR ligands that are utilized for T-cell infiltration into tumors have been identified (–). However, tumor endothelial cells (TEC) express HR ligands at low levels (–), and a number of studies have showed a correlation between the levels of HR ligands on the tumor vasculature and the numbers of intratumoral T cells (, –). A better understanding of how HR ligands are regulated in TEC may provide significant opportunities to increase the number of intratumoral T cells.
Since naïve T cells do not generally enter peripheral tissue, it had been assumed that all intratumoral lymphocytes are effectors that differentiate in tumor-draining LN and home to the tumor thereafter. However, naïve T cells infiltrated tumors that had been genetically modified to secrete homotrimeric lymphotoxin-α (LTα3) (, ) or LIGHT (). Similar results were also obtained through the intratumoral injection of either homeostatic chemokine CCL21 (, ) or DCs genetically modified to express this molecule (). Naïve T cells enter lymph nodes (LN) based on their expression of L-selectin and CCR7, which bind to peripheral node addressin (PNAd) and the chemokines CCL19/CCL21, respectively (). These HR ligands are normally expressed on specialized LN blood vessels called high endothelial venules. However, they have been detected in a variety of human tumors, and their presence is associated with a positive clinical prognosis (–). Recently, our laboratory demonstrated that PNAd and CCL21 were co-expressed on a small fraction of blood vessels in murine melanomas and lung carcinomas growing in multiple anatomical locations (). The primary source of CCL21 was cancer associated fibroblasts, and to a lesser extent, TEC. PNAd+ CCL21+ vessels developed spontaneously, and supported the infiltration of naive CD8 T cells that differentiated into functional effectors after intratumoral activation and significantly delayed tumor outgrowth (, ). Thus, PNAd+ CCL21+ intratumoral vessels contribute to anti-tumor immunity by generating a self-sustaining infiltration of naïve T cells into the tumor mass.
PNAd refers to the 6-sulfo sialyl Lewis X carbohydrate structure that is displayed on O-linked glycans that decorate multiple mucin-domain containing scaffolding proteins, including GlyCAM-1, CD34, sgp200, podocalyxin, endomucin, and nepmucin, and recognized by L-selectin (, ). Generation of 6-sulfo sialyl Lewis X involves a series of post-translational modifications, described in detail in Figure 1. The glycosyl transferases GALNT1, C1GALT1, B3gnt3, and GCNT1 construct a biantennary structure (–). The terminal GlcNAc residues of the Core 1 and Core 2 branches are each modified in 3 additional ways: fucosylation by FUT7 and FUT4 (, ); galactosylation and sialylation by B4GALT and one of several sialyl transferases (–); and sulfation by GlcNAc6ST-1 and GlcNAc6ST-2. While GLCNAC6ST-2 efficiently attaches sulfate onto both Core 1 and Core 2 GlcNAc residues, GLCNAC6ST-1 acts primarily on Core 2, and only inefficiently modifies Core 1 (–). This completes formation of the 6-sulfo sialyl Lewis X structure that is recognized by L-selectin expressed on naïve and central memory T- and B-cells.
Figure 1
In adult LN, transcripts of genes encoding the scaffolding protein GlyCAM-1 (Glycam1), and the transferases B3GNT3 (B3gnt3), GCNT1 (Gcnt1), GLCNAC6ST-1 (Chst2), GLCNAC6ST-2 (Chst4), and FUT7 (Fut7) are elevated in PNAd+ compared to PNAdneg BEC, while transcripts of genes encoding the scaffolding proteins CD34 (Cd34), podocalyxin (Podxl), endomucin (Emcn), and nepmucin (Cd300lg) are comparable (
Previous work from this lab demonstrated that PNAd expression on murine melanoma TEC was not induced by either DC or LTβR signaling, and was instead controlled by effector CD8 T cells secreting LTα3, which signaled through TNF receptors (TNFR) expressed on TEC (
Results
PNAd is expressed at substantially lower levels on tumor endothelial cells than on lymph node blood endothelial cells
Transplantable murine tumors growing intraperitoneally (I.P.) and subcutaneously (S.C.) develop CD31+ blood vessels that express PNAd (
Figure 2

PNAd expression is significantly lower on tumor-associated endothelium than on lymph node endothelium. C57BL/6 mice were S.C. or I.P. injected with B16-OVA cells. Tumors were harvested 14 days later. LN were harvested from non-tumor-bearing mice. Resected tissues were prepared for IF microscopy (A, B) or flow cytometry (C) as described in Methods. (A) Representative images of unamplified and tyramide signal amplified LN and tumor sections stained with indicated markers. Scale bar = 100 µm. (B) Quantitative image summary data for unamplified and amplified tissue sections. PNAd percentages and pixel intensities were calculated on a CD31+ mask. Data represents two experiments, n = 8 sections per group. (C) Representative flow cytometry plot, percentages, and gMFI intensities of PNAd on CD45neg Ter119neg PDPNneg CD31+ endothelial cells in CD45+ depleted LN and I.P. tumors suspensions. PNAd gMFIs were calculated on cells gated above the fluorescence minus one (FMO) control. Data represents one experiment, n = 5 LN or tumors per group. (B, C) Results are mean standard deviation (SD) analyzed by unpaired Welch’s t-test. ns: p>0.05, *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001, and ****p<0.0001.
Lower expression of PNAd on tumor endothelial cells is associated with lower expression of both glycosyl transferases and scaffolding proteins
The lower level of PNAd on TEC might reflect lower expression of either glycosyl transferases that synthesize PNAd or scaffolding proteins that display it. We flow sorted PNAd+ and PNAdneg cells from I.P. tumors and LN and evaluated expression of these molecules by quantitative PCR (qPCR). Consistent with other work (
Figure 3

Glycosyl transferases are expressed at significantly lower levels in PNAd+ TEC than in LN PNAd+ BEC. C57BL/6 mice were I.P. injected with B16-OVA cells and tumors were harvested 14 days after implantation. LN were harvested from non-tumor-bearing mice. Endothelial cells were sorted from CD45+ depleted LN and I.P. tumor suspensions, and the expression levels of indicated RNA transcripts were determined by quantitative PCR (qPCR), as described in Methods. Data from one experiment presented as 2-ΔCT relative to Hprt, n=5 LN or I.P. tumors per group. Results are mean ± SD analyzed by unpaired Welch’s t-test. **p<0.01.
Transcript levels for scaffolding proteins Cd34 and Emcn were comparable between LN BEC and TEC, regardless of whether they expressed PNAd (Figure 4). Podxl was also expressed comparably by PNAd+ and PNAdneg cells from either LN or I.P. tumors, but the transcript levels for this molecule were significantly less in TEC than in LN BEC. On the other hand, Glycam1 and Cd300lg were more highly expressed in PNAd+ cells than in PNAdneg cells in both LN BEC and TEC, although as with Podxl, they were expressed at significantly lower levels in TEC than in LN BEC (Figure 4). The ~2-7-fold differences in expression of Podxl, Glycam1, and Cd300lg between PNAd+ LN BEC and PNAd+ TEC are again consistent with the 6-fold lower gMFI of surface PNAd on PNAd+ TEC. Collectively, these results suggest that PNAd expression on TEC is achieved by upregulation of the same subsets of glycosyl transferases and scaffolding proteins as on LN BEC. However, the magnitude of these upregulations in TEC is significantly lower in every case, and the substantially deficient upregulation of Chst4 could also affect PNAd structure.
Figure 4

Scaffolding proteins are expressed at significantly lower levels in PNAd+ TEC than in LN PNAd+ BEC. C57BL/6 mice were I.P. injected with B16-OVA cells and tumors were harvested 14 days after implantation. LN were harvested from non-tumor-bearing mice. Endothelial cells were sorted from CD45+ depleted LN and I.P. tumor suspensions, and the expression levels of indicated RNA transcripts were determined by qPCR, as described in Methods. Data from one experiment presented as 2-ΔCT relative to Hprt, n=5 LN or I.P. tumors per group. Results are mean ± SD analyzed by unpaired Welch’s t-test. **p<0.01, all other paired bar comparisons are not significant (p>0.05) and have been omitted for clarity.
Tumor necrosis factor receptor signaling regulates the transcript levels of some scaffolding proteins and glycosyl transferases in tumor endothelial cells.
PNAd expression on LN BEC depends on signaling through LTβR (
Figure 5

Tumor necrosis factor receptor signaling controls PNAd expression in most TEC but not in LN BEC. C57BL/6 WT or TNFR1/2-/- mice were I.P. injected with B16-OVA cells and tumors were harvested 14 days later. LN were harvested from non-tumor-bearing mice. Resected tissues were prepared for flow cytometry as described in Methods. Representative flow cytometry plot, percentages, and gMFI of PNAd on CD45neg Ter119neg PDPNneg CD31+ endothelial cells in CD45+ depleted LN and I.P. tumors suspensions. PNAd gMFIs were calculated on cells gated above FMO control. Data represents one experiment, n = 5 LN or tumors per group. Results are mean ± SD analyzed by unpaired Welch’s t-test. ns: p>0.05, *p<0.05, **p<0.01.
Figure 6

Tumor necrosis factor receptor signaling regulates Chst2 expression in PNAd+ TEC. C57BL/6 WT or TNFR1/2-/- mice were I.P. injected with B16-OVA cells and tumors were harvested 14 days after implantation. LN were harvested from non-tumor-bearing mice. (A, B) Endothelial cells were sorted from CD45+ depleted LN and I.P. tumor suspensions, and the expression levels of indicated RNA transcripts were determined by qPCR, as described in Methods. Data from one experiment presented as 2-ΔCT relative to Hprt, n=5 LN or I.P. tumors per group. (A, B) Results are mean ± SD analyzed by unpaired Welch’s t-test. **p<0.01, all other paired bar comparisons are not significant (p>0.05) and have been omitted for clarity.
Figure 7

Tumor necrosis factor receptor signaling regulates Podxl and Cd300lg expression in PNAd+ TEC. C57BL/6 WT or TNFR1/2-/- mice were I.P. injected with B16-OVA cells and tumors were harvested 14 days after implantation. LN were harvested from non-tumor-bearing mice. (A, B) Endothelial cells were sorted from CD45+ depleted LN and I.P. tumor suspensions, and the expression levels of indicated RNA transcripts were determined by qPCR, as described in Methods. Data from one experiment presented as 2-ΔCT relative to Hprt, n=5 LN or I.P. tumors per group. (A-B) Results are mean ± SD analyzed by unpaired Welch’s t-test. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, all other paired bar comparisons are not significant (p>0.05) and have been omitted for clarity.
Checkpoint immunotherapy augments PNAd expression on I.P. tumor vasculature
Checkpoint immunotherapy has also been associated with enhanced expression of HR ligands on the tumor vasculature, such as ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 (
Figure 8

Checkpoint immunotherapy augments PNAd expression on I.P. tumor vasculature. C57BL/6 mice were I.P. injected with B16-OVA cells and tumor-bearing mice were treated with control IgG, anti-PDL1, or anti-CTLA4/PD1 beginning 3 days after implantation. Tumors were harvested 14 days after implantation and prepared for IF as described in Methods. (A) Representative images of tyramide signal amplified tumor sections stained with indicated markers. Scale bar = 100 µm. (B) Quantitative image summary data for amplified tissue sections. PNAd percentages and pixel intensities were calculated on a CD31+ mask. Data represents three experiments, n = 15 individual sections per group. (B) Results are mean ± SD analyzed by unpaired Welch’s t-test. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, and ****p<0.0001, all other paired bar comparisons are not significant (p>0.05) and have been omitted for clarity.
Discussion
In this report, we identified differences in the expression of genes encoding scaffolding proteins and glycosyl transferases involved in biosynthesis of PNAd that could account for its lower expression level in TEC, and its dependence on TNFR signaling. We found that TEC and LN BEC upregulated the same subsets of molecules in association with PNAd expression, but the extent of upregulation was less in PNAd+ TEC than in LN PNAd+ BEC, consistent with the lower level expression of PNAd on tumor endothelium. The glycosyl sulfotransferase Chst4 was particularly poorly induced, likely contributing to a significant underrepresentation of mature 6-sulfo sialyl Lewis X glycans on both Core 1 and Core 2 branches. Previously, we demonstrated that PNAd expression on the tumor vasculature was controlled by a mechanism involving intratumoral effector CD8 T cells secreting LTα3, which signaled through TNFR on TEC (
Our results provide new insights into the control of the biosynthetic pathway leading to expression of 6-sulfo-sialyl Lewis X on TEC. We found that B3gnt3, Gcnt1, Fut7, Chst2, and Chst4 were expressed at higher levels in PNAd+ TEC relative to their PNAdneg counterparts. This is consistent with their elevated expression in PNAd+ vs. PNAdneg LN BEC (
We found that PNAd+ TEC and LN BEC also express similar scaffolding proteins that have been shown to display PNAd and regulate them similarly. Cd34 and Emcn were expressed comparably by PNAd+ and PNAdneg endothelial cells from both LN and I.P. tumors. In contrast, Podxl expression also did not differ between PNAd+ and PNAdneg endothelial cells in either tissue, but its overall level of expression was substantially higher in LN BEC than TEC. Finally, Glycam1 and Cd300lg were expressed at higher levels in PNAd+ than in PNAdneg cells in both tissues, and again, the transcript levels for these molecules were significantly less in PNAd+ TEC than in PNAd+ LN BEC. These scaffolding proteins are redundant with one another in PNAd display, and at least partially redundant in promoting L-selectin engagement with PNAd, as mice deficient in Cd34 (
This report also identified components of the PNAd biosynthesis pathway in TEC that are regulated by TNFR signaling. The number of PNAd+ TEC is reduced by about 80% in TNFR1/2-/- mice. The resulting PNAdneg cells showed no reduction in any evaluated glycosyl transferases or scaffolding proteins and are thus indistinguishable from their counterparts in tumors from WT mice. By comparison of gene expression in PNAd+ and PNAdneg LN BEC and TEC, this suggests that TNFR signaling induces PNAd by acting on the same genes as LTβR signaling does in LN BEC, albeit less efficiently, and with a particular deficiency in upregulation of Chst4. However, a small percentage of TEC from these tumors continue to express a lower level of PNAd. These cells selectively express lower levels of Chst2, Podxl, and Cd300lg, and potentially Glycam1, all of which are also elevated in PNAd+ cells vs PNAdneg cells from WT mouse tumors. It is possible that TEC that retain PNAd in the absence of TNFR signaling are responsive to signals from LTβR as an alternative. However, in PNAd+ LN BEC, LTβR signaling upregulates Chst2 and Glycam1, but also Gcnt1, Chst4, Fut7, and not Podxl or Cd300lg (
Related to this, the reasons that all evaluated PNAd glycosyl transferases and several scaffolding proteins are expressed at significantly lower levels in PNAd+ TEC than in LN PNAd+ BEC are unclear. It is possible that this reflects the relative efficiency with which the TNFR and LTβR signaling pathways engage transcription factors that upregulate these genes. On the other hand, several studies have also shown that the epigenetic profile of BEC is different from TEC (reviewed in (
Materials and methods
Mice
Female C57BL/6 mice were from the National Cancer Institute. TNFR1/2-/- mice were from the Jackson Laboratory. All mice were bred and maintained in specific pathogen-free conditions. All experiments were carried out on female mice that were ~8-12 weeks of age. All protocols and experiments were approved by the University of Virginia Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.
Tumor cell lines
B16-OVA mouse melanoma cells expressing recombinant ovalbumin has previously been described (
Tumor induction and treatment mice
Tumor cells (4 x 105) were I.P. or S.C. (loose neck scruff) injected into mice and allowed to establish for 14 days prior to harvest. For checkpoint immunotherapy experiments, either monotherapy anti-PDL1 (250 µg per injection, 10F.9G2, BioXcell) or dual therapy anti-PD1 (250 µg per injection, RMP1-14, BioXcell) and anti-CTLA4 (250 µg per injection, 9D9, BioXcell) was injected I.P. into tumor-bearing mice three days after tumor implantation and then every three days until tumor harvest.
Digestion of resected tissues
Resected LN and tumors were minced and digested with a solution of 0.1 mg/ml DNase I (Sigma), 0.8 mg/ml Collagenase Dispase (Sigma), and 0.2 mg/ml Collagenase P (Sigma) for 30 minutes at 37°C. Every 5 minutes, tissue suspensions were pipetted up-and-down several times. Digested tissues were depleted of red blood cells using RBC Lysing Buffer Hybri-Max (Sigma) according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Enrichment of cells from digested tissues
Digested tumor suspensions were depleted of hematopoietic cells using CD45 magnetic beads (Miltenyi Biotec) on an AutoMACS Pro Separator (Miltenyi Biotec) according to manufacturer’s instructions. CD45+ depleted suspensions were stained with biotinylated anti-CD31 (0.5 µg/mL) for 15 minutes at 4°C and enriched using anti-biotin magnetic beads (Miltenyi Biotec) on an AutoMACS Pro Separator according to manufacturer’s instructions. BEC and TEC were sorted to highest purity according to the procedure below.
Flow cytometry and cell sorting
Cell surface staining was done in PBS containing 2% FBS, 2 mM EDTA (Sigma), and 2 mM NaN3 (Sigma) for 30 minutes at 4°C. Live/Dead Aqua (Invitrogen) or 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (Sigma) were used to exclude dead cells from analysis. Endothelial cells were defined as live, singlet, Ter119neg, CD45neg, PDPNneg, CD31+. Samples were run on a FACSCanto II (BD) or Attune NxT (ThermoFisher/Invitrogen) and analyzed using FlowJo Software (BD Bioscience). For qPCR experiments, pre-enriched endothelial cell populations were sorted on an Influx Cell Sorter (BD) directly into RNAlater Stabilization Solution (ThermoFischer Scientific) or PBS. A small aliquot of the sorted population was re-run to determine ~95% purity.
Antibodies for flow cytometry
| Antibody | Vendor | Clone | Catalog # | RRID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APC-Cy7 anti-mouse CD45 | Biolegend | 30-F11 | 102515 | AB_2161030 |
| PerCP-eFlour 710 anti-mouse CD31 | ThermoFisher | 390 | 46-0311-82 | AB_1834429 |
| Biotin anti-mouse CD31 | Biolegend | 390 | 102404 | AB_312899 |
| PE-Cy7 anti-mouse podoplanin (gp38) | Biolegend | 8.1.1 | 127412 | AB_10613648 |
| Biotin anti-mouse podoplanin (gp38) | Biolegend | 8.1.1 | 127404 | AB_1134222 |
| Alexa Fluor 488 PNAd | ThermoFischer | MECA-79 | 53-6036-82 | AB_10804391 |
Four-color IF microscopy
Preparation of tumor tissue for IF microscopy using formalin fixation and cutting frozen blocks on a -20°C cryostat has previously been described (
Reagents for four-color IF microscopy
| Antibody | Vendor | Clone | Catalog # | RRID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexa Fluor 647 anti-mouse CD31 | Biolegend | MEC13.3 | 102516 | AB_2161029 |
| Biotin anti-mouse/human PNAd | Biolegend | MECA-79 | 120804 | AB_493557 |
| DyLight™ 550 Streptavidin | ThermoFisher | N/A | 84542 | – |
Four-color IF image acquisition
One section per tumor was evaluated and all images were captured on an AxioImager with Apotome (Zeiss). Fluorescence minus one (FMO) or isotype staining controls were used to establish thresholds and exposure times to visualize positive signals while minimizing background fluorescence. Fifteen-20 low magnification images per tumor section were captured and stitched together using ImageJ Software (NIH) to create an image of the entire tumor section. Values across respective regional images were averaged together for each tumor section. In all experiments, the quantification of CD31+ and PNAd+ areas were performed using ImageJ software (NIH) on original fluorescence images taken at identical exposures. Consistent thresholds were applied to each image to identify CD31+ and PNAd+ pixels. The percentages and gMFI of PNAd+ pixels within the region of interest of CD31+ area was calculated using ImageJ Software (NIH). For image presentation, brightness and contrast were linearly adjusted and color-merged images were generated using Photoshop CS6 Software (Adobe).
Quantitative RT-PCR
RNA was purified from flow sorted endothelial cells using RNEasy kits (Qiagen). High-Capacity cDNA Reverse Transcription Kit (Applied Biosystems) and purified RNA was used to generate cDNA. Amplification was performed using TaqMan Fast Advanced Master Mix (Applied Biosystems) and QuantStudio 6 Flex Real-Time PCR system (Applied Biosystems) with the following program: 50°C for 2 minutes; 95°C for 2 minutes; 40 cycles of 95°C for 1 second, 60°C for 20 seconds.
Probes for quantitative RT-PCR
| Gene | Vendor | Assay ID |
|---|---|---|
| Podxl | ThermoFischer | Mm00628472_m1 |
| Cd34 | ThermoFischer | Mm00519283_m1 |
| Emcn | ThermoFischer | Mm00497495_m1 |
| Glycam1 | ThermoFischer | Mm00801716_m1 |
| Cd300lg | ThermoFischer | Mm01266006_m1 |
| Chst2 | ThermoFischer | Mm00490018_g1 |
| Chst4 | ThermoFischer | Mm00488783_s1 |
| Gcnt1 | ThermoFischer | Mm02010556_s1 |
| B3gnt3 | ThermoFischer | Mm00472247_g1 |
| Fut7 | ThermoFischer | Mm04242850_m1 |
Statistical analyses
Statistical details of each experiment in this work are reported in the figure legends. Normality of data distribution was determined by D’Agostino-Pearson omnibus normality test and variance between groups was assessed by the F-test. P-values for the comparison between two independent groups were calculated by Welch’s t-test. Error bars shown in graphical data represents mean ± standard deviation (S.D.) for normally distributed data. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. All statistics were calculated using Graph Pad Prism version 7.0, R version 4, and the SAS software suite version 9.4.
Funding
This work was supported by the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) Grants CA78400 and CA181794, the University of Virginia (UVA) Cancer Center Schiff Foundation Grant, USPHS Immunology Training Grant AI007496, USPHS Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA44579, and a Robert Wagner Fellowship from the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
Acknowledgments
We thank all the members of Dr. Victor H. Engelhard and Dr. Andrew Dudley laboratories for insightful discussion and suggestions. We also thank Dr. Kenneth Tung and members of his laboratory for aid in developing immunofluorescence protocols for capturing PNAd expression on tumor endothelial cells. Lastly, we thank the University of Virginia School of Medicine Histology Core for tissue sectioning and the Flow Cytometry Core for cell sorting experiments.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Statements
Data availability statement
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.
Ethics statement
The animal study was reviewed and approved by University of Virginia Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.
Author contributions
Experiments involving tumor implantation, flow cytometry, endothelial cell sorting, and quantitative PCR were performed and analyzed by AR and GP. Immunofluorescence image capture and analysis were performed by AR. VE supervised all experiments associated with this project and participated in experimental design and interpretation of results. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
blood endothelial cells, high endothelial venules, PNAd, B16, carbohydrate sulfotransferase, checkpoint immunotherapy, tertiary lymphoid structure
Citation
Rodriguez AB, Parriott G and Engelhard VH (2022) Tumor necrosis factor receptor regulation of peripheral node addressin biosynthetic components in tumor endothelial cells. Front. Immunol. 13:1009306. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1009306
Received
01 August 2022
Accepted
26 August 2022
Published
15 September 2022
Volume
13 - 2022
Edited by
Tong Xiang, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC), China
Reviewed by
Walter J. Storkus, University of Pittsburgh, United States; Takesha Watanabe, Kyoto University, Japan
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Copyright
© 2022 Rodriguez, Parriott and Engelhard.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Victor H. Engelhard, vhe@virginia.edu
†Present addresses: Anthony B. Rodriguez, Pyxis Oncology, Cambridge, MA, United States; Geoffrey Parriott, Department of Pathology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
This article was submitted to Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy, a section of the journal Frontiers in Immunology
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