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Editorial
. 2023 Mar 15;11(5):226.
doi: 10.21037/atm-22-6548. Epub 2023 Jan 16.

Lipids link immune suppression to effective immunotherapy in steatotic hepatocellular carcinoma

Bing Li  1 , Edward R Sauter  2
Affiliations
Editorial

Lipids link immune suppression to effective immunotherapy in steatotic hepatocellular carcinoma

Bing Li et al. Ann Transl Med. .
No abstract available

Keywords: Steatosis; fatty acid binding proteins (FA binding proteins); hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); immunotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: Both authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://atm.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/atm-22-6548/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Lipid accumulation induces immune exhaustion and effective ICI therapy in steatotic HCC. HCC cells containing long chain FAs (e.g., PA) have immune cell infiltration and exhaustion, which contributes to effective ICI therapy. The mechanism(s) by which FAs induce PD-L1 upregulation and immunosuppression in HCC remain unclear. FABPs facilitate FA uptake, trafficking and response. It has been shown that FABP1, FABP4, FABP5 are highly expressed in hepatocytes, macrophages and CD8+ cytotoxicity T cells, respectively, which could contribute to FA-mediated PD-1/PD-L1 expression in the tumor microenvironment of HCC. HCC, hepatocellular cell carcinoma; ICI, immune checkpoint inhibitor; FABP, FA binding protein; FA, fatty acid; PD-1, programmed death 1; PD-L1, programmed death ligand-1; CTL, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte; PA, palmitic acid.
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Comment on

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