Background
Eosinophils are bone marrow-derived, tissue-dwelling granulocytes found transiently in the blood circulation en route to tissue inflammatory sites. They are prominent cells in allergic inflammation, asthma and parasitic helminth infections [
1]. Tumor associated tissue eosinophilia (TATE) has long been recognized as a pathological feature associated with a number of malignant tumor types, including cancer of the mouth, esophagus, larynx, pharynx, breast, lung, intestine and genitourinary tract [
2]. Although mononuclear cells, and to a lesser extent neutrophils, are also found in oral cancers, eosinophils when present, form the predominant inflammatory cell population [
3‐
5]. While there is evidence of a positive prognosis associated with eosinophil infiltration of grade II and III tumours [
6], in well-differentiated oral cancer of grade III and IV, the presence of TATE indicates a poor prognosis [
7]. Regardless, data on the prognostic value of TATE in other cancer types remain inconclusive [
2].
OSC are known to express cycloxygenase-2 (COX-2) and to generate PGE
2[
8‐
11]. In fact, expression of COX-2 and PGE
2 was thought to be related the proliferation and invasiveness of OSC [
12‐
15]. PGE
2 does not possess chemotactic activity for eosinophils, but share the same precursor, PGH
2, with a potent eosinophil chemotactic molecule, PGD
2[
16‐
18]. In this study we hypothesized that OSC synthesize and release PGD
2 which in turn is responsible for specific chemotaxis of eosinophils towards OSC.
Methods
Paraffin embedded tissues of the corresponding sections were sectioned at 4 microns. The sections were then deparaffinized and hydrated in distilled water and stained in a Weigert’s iron hematoxylin and Biebrich scarlet solution (9:1). A differentiation step in 1% acid alcohol was then performed on the sections until the eosinophil granules stained bright red, followed by rinsing in tap water. The sections were then stained in a 0.5% lithium carbonate solution until they turned blue. A final rinsing step was performed before the final slide mounting steps.
Blood eosinophil isolation
Approval for the study was obtained from the local Ethics Research Board at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (University of Alberta) and all adult subjects gave their informed consent according to the Helsinki protocol. Blood eosinophils from atopic donors were purified as previously described [
19]. Briefly, venous blood (100 ml) was collected in tubes with heparin. Red cells were sedimented using Dextran 6% (Sigma-Aldrich Canada Ltd. Oakville, Ontario, Canada). Granulocytes were separated from mononuclear cells by centrifugation on Ficoll Paque. Eosinophils were separated from neutrophils by CD16 immunomagnetic negative selection using a magnetic cell sorter (Miltenyi Biotec GmbH, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany). Purity of eosinophil preparations was always greater than 98%, the contaminating cells being neutrophils and/or lymphocytes.
Co-culture assay
SCC9 (American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), Manassas, Virginia) were seeded at 5 × 104 cells/ml in 12 well plates 24h prior addition of eosinophils at a range of eosinophil-SCC9 concentrations. Plates were cultured until confluence of SCC9 cells was reached in control wells. Eosinophils were then removed and adherent cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde (Sigma-Aldrich Canada Ltd. Oakville, Ontario, Canada) for 20 minutes and stained with crystal violet 1% (Sigma-Aldrich Canada Ltd. Oakville, Ontario, Canada). After a PBS wash, cells were lysed with 15% acetic acid and absorbance (550 nm) was measured. Absorbance was in the linear range for 2 × 102 to 2 × 106 eosinophils/well.
Transmigration assay
The transmigration of eosinophils through the basement membrane components was evaluated in 24-well Biocoat Matrigel Invasion Chambers® (Becton Dickinson, Bedford, MA) as previously described [
20]. Before the assay, SCC-9 cells were allowed to grow to confluence in the lower chambers, washed and fresh media replaced before the addition of 0.5 × 10
6 eosinophils in the upper chamber. PGD
2 synthase inhibitor HQL-79 (Cayman Chemical, Ann Arbor, MI.) (0.1-100 μM) was added to lower chambers to block the production of PGD
2. HQL-79 is an orally available selective inhibitor of hematopoietic prostaglandin synthase specific with an IC50 of 100 uM for PGD2 but marginally affect the production of other prostanoids [
21,
22]. The percentage of transmigration was calculated by dividing the number of cells in the lower chamber of the Matrigel Invasion Chamber® by total number of cells in the lower (migrated) and upper chamber (non-migrated). The proportion of cells recovered was always >95% of the number of added cells and viability always above 98% as determined by annexin V/PI assay (n = 3).
EPO assay
Measurement of EPO release has been previously described [
19,
23]. Briefly, eosinophil suspensions (5 × 10
5 cells/ml HBSS + CaCl
2 1.6 mM, 0.1% gelatin) were distributed in 96-well plate. Cells were incubated for 30 min at 37°C. Peroxidase substrate solution for the measurement of EPO was prepared by adding 800 μL of 5 mM O-phenylenediamine HCl (OPD) (Sigma-Aldrich Canada Ltd. Oakville, Ontario, Canada) to 4 ml of 1M Tris buffer (pH 8.0) and 1.25 μL of 30% hydrogen peroxide (Sigma). Distilled water was added to a total volume of 10 ml. The OPD solution was added to each well of eosinophils, incubated for 2 minutes before the reaction was stopped with the addition of 4M H
2SO
4 (Sigma-Aldrich Canada Ltd. Oakville, Ontario, Canada). Each experiment was done in triplicate and absorbance reading at 490 nm wavelength was done for this colorimetric assay (Softmax, 490 nm wavelength).
PGD2 dosage
Detection of PGD2 in media after transmigration was achieved using by EAI according to manufacturer instructions (Prostaglandin D2 EIA Kit, Cayman chemical, Ann Arbor, MI).
Viability assay
The apoptosis/viability assay was performed using the BD Bioscience Annexin-V-A488 detection kit according to manufacturer instructions. Acquisition was performed using BD FACS-CANTO flow cytometer. Viable cells were double negatives for ToPRO-3 and Annexin-V-A488.
Flow cytometry
Eosinophils were incubated in the presence of anti-CRTH-2-PE (MB16, RatIgG2a, Miltenyi Biotec, Auburn, CA) or matched isotype control antibody. Direct staining was used to detect the presence of specific surface binding with BD FACScanto flow cytometer.
Statistical methods
All results are expressed as mean ± standard error of mean. Comparison between the groups was made using analysis of variance (ANOVA; Statview 5.0, SAS Institute, Cary, NC). A p-value <0.05 was considered significant.
Discussion
Eosinophil infiltration around tumor nests is a frequent feature of OSC and is accompanied by a mixed lymphocyte response [
6]. This infiltration often correlates with deposition of eosinophils cytotoxic proteins with favorable prognosis but the mechanism remains unclear [
24]. The
de novo secretion of PGD
2 by the OSC cell line, SCC-9, the matrigel transmigration experiments, and inhibition with the PGD
2 synthase inhibitor, HQL-79, all combine to suggest that PGD
2 may be an important mediator in tumor-induced recruitment of eosinophils.
Previous studies have reported PGE
2 secretion by OSC [
15,
25,
26] but there has been no evidence that this prostaglandin exerts chemoattractive activity on eosinophils; however a closely related prostaglandin, PGD
2, is known for its chemotactic activity on eosinophils [
16‐
18]. In this study we report that eosinophils exhibit potent growth-inhibitory activity against the oral cancer cell line, SCC9 which was associated with eosinophil specific EPO release in culture medium. There is no evidence to date that cytotoxic eosinophil granule deposition plays a role
in vivo and no data so far exist to support a correlation between granule deposition in OSC and favorable prognosis. In our experiments, we observed that inhibition of OSC growth correlated with detectable cytotoxic granule enzyme EPO activity in culture medium. This association between OSC growth inhibition and eosinophil mediator release was observed regardless of eosinophil viability in the absence of factors that sustain viability (IL-5) thus disrupting eosinophil cell membranes resulting in a non-specific cytolytic release of granular content.
Immunotherapy using IL-2 has been shown to have moderate success against some tumors and is often associated with “unexpected” but significant eosinophilia [
27], which resulted in assumptions suggesting that eosinophils possess anti-tumor activity, at least
in vitro[
28]. Indeed, IL-2 is recognized as a potent regulator of eosinophil activation,
in vitro[
29,
30]
. The effects of IL-2 include the release of cytotoxic granules, generation of superoxide radicals [
31,
32] and production of autocrine IL-2 [
29,
30]. IL-2-induced TATE (corollary to treatment of renal cancer), close proximity of activated eosinophils with bladder tumor cells and the subsequent deposition of eosinophil cationic granules were shown to be associated with a favourable outcome [
33]. In contrast, the presence of IL-2-induced eosinophilia was considered predictive of the failure of therapy in renal cancer [
34].
Despite the significant
in vitro effects we observed with OSC, eosinophils appeared to be mostly recruited around, but not within OSC masses. As well, there was very little evidence of eosinophil granule deposition
ex vivo. Regardless, basic proteins from eosinophil granules are extremely cytotoxic, thus, small concentration of free exocytosed granules may be sufficient to exert a potent inflammatory/cytotoxic response against tumor cells [
35]. Recent studies from our group suggested that cell-free granules from eosinophils can secrete their content
via direct stimulation of functional cytokine and chemokine membrane receptors for present on the granule membrane, in the absence of an intact cell [
36]. In addition to these potential cytotoxic effector activities, eosinophils are also capable of exerting an immunoregulatory role in relation to the tumor environment. Eosinophils secrete a wide range of cytokines chemokines and growth factors [
37] and these may further contribute to the biological and immunological role of the eosinophil in OSC.
Finally, the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor, NS398, was reported to inhibit OSC proliferation by suppressing PGE
2 secretion [
26]. However, PGE
2 is not a chemoattractant for eosinophils. In contrast, we show that PGD
2 is a potent chemoattractant for eosinophils, and may contribute to eosinophilic infiltration via its specific PGD
2 receptor on eosinophil, CRTH2, which is also a marker of TH-2 subset of helper T-cells [
16]. Whether PGD
2 also enhances the potential of eosinophils to kill target cells by inducing exocytosis and subsequent deposition of cytotoxic granule proteins remains unknown and is the subject of a separate study. Thus, our data suggest that eosinophils may contribute to the inflammatory response observed in OSC and may limit tumor progression.
Competing interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests
Authors’ contribution
FD wrote the manuscript and was primarily responsible for the acquisition of data, analysis and data interpretation. FD and RM also designed the study. AS, CT, SF, YW and CE were also involved in acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data. YW contributed to the design of the EPO assay and collection of data. LP, DY and TMcG contributed to the collection and supervision of the pathological specimen collection and review of the scientific content of the manuscript. LC provided important intellectual input specifically regarding PGD2 and CRTH2 on eosinophil migration, and was also involved in the intellectual aspect of the scientific content of the manuscript. RM, DA and DY were co-supervisors of FD, with RM being the principal investigator for this study from conception, design, analysis, and interpretation to writing of the manuscript and final approval of the submitted and revised version of the ms. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.