Correlation between circulating myeloid-derived suppressor cells and Th17 cells in esophageal cancer

Figure 1 Elevated levels of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and their products, arginase 1 and inducible NO synthase, in esophageal cancer compared with healthy controls. A: Flow cytometric analysis of MDSCs in the peripheral blood from ECA patients and healthy control (HC); B: Plasma arginase 1 (Arg1) level was determined by ELISA; C: The mRNA level of iNOS in the peripheral blood from ECA patients and HC were assessed by real-time PCR; D: Representative flow diagrams of a healthy volunteer with marked elevation of circulating MDSCs; E: Representative flow diagrams of an ECA patient with marked elevation of circulating MDSCs are shown. Data were analyzed by the Student’s t-test. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01 vs HC group. ECA: Esophageal cancer; MDSCs: Myeloid-derived suppressor cells; ELISA: Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay; iNOS: Inducible NO synthase; PCR: Polymerase chain reaction; FITC: Fluorescein isothiocyanate; FSC: Forward scatter; HLA-DR-PE: HLA-DR-phycoerythrin; APC: Allophycocyanin.

Figure 2 Levels of Th17 cells and Th17-related cytokines and transcriptional factor in the peripheral blood of esophageal cancer compared with healthy controls. A: Flow cytometric analysis of Th17 cells in the peripheral blood from ECA patients and healthy control (HC); B: The mRNA levels of IL-17 was determined by real-time PCR; C: The mRNA levels of ROR-γt was determined by real-time PCR; D: The mRNA levels of IL-6 was determined by real-time PCR; E: The mRNA levels of TNF-α was determined by real-time PCR; F: Representative flow diagrams of a healthy volunteer with marked elevation of circulating Th17 cells; G: Representative flow diagrams of an ECA patient with marked elevation of circulating Th17 cells are shown. Data were analyzed by the Student’s t-test. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01 vs HC group. ECA: Esophageal cancer; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α; IL: Interleukin; PCR: Polymerase chain reaction; FITC: Fluorescein isothiocyanate; FSC: Forward scatter; SSC: Side scatter.

Figure 3 Correlation between the frequencies of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and Th17 cells in the peripheral blood of esophageal cancer patients. Data were analyzed by the Spearman test. MDSCs: Myeloid-derived suppressor cells.

Figure 4 Correlations between the mRNA level of arginase 1 or inducible NO synthase and Th17-related molecules (interleukin-17, ROR-γt, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α) in the peripheral blood of esophageal cancer patients. Data were analyzed by the Spearman test. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01 vsβ-actin. TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α; IL: Interleukin; iNOS: Inducible NO synthase; Arg1: Arginase 1.