Abstract :
[en] The recruitment of immune cells into solid tumors is an essential prerequisite of tumor development. Depending on the prevailing polarization profile of these infiltrating leucocytes, tumorigenesis is either promoted or blocked. Here, we identify IkappaB kinase alpha (IKKalpha) as a central regulator of a tumoricidal microenvironment during intestinal carcinogenesis. Mice deficient in IKKalpha kinase activity are largely protected from intestinal tumor development that is dependent on the enhanced recruitment of interferon gamma (IFNgamma)-expressing M1-like myeloid cells. In IKKalpha mutant mice, M1-like polarization is not controlled in a cell-autonomous manner but, rather, depends on the interplay of both IKKalpha mutant tumor epithelia and immune cells. Because therapies aiming at the tumor microenvironment rather than directly at the mutated cancer cell may circumvent resistance development, we suggest IKKalpha as a promising target for colorectal cancer (CRC) therapy.
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