Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Mar;25(6):2900-2908.
doi: 10.1111/jcmm.16320. Epub 2021 Jan 27.

Grain-sized moxibustion promotes NK cell antitumour immunity by inhibiting adrenergic signalling in non-small cell lung cancer

Affiliations

Grain-sized moxibustion promotes NK cell antitumour immunity by inhibiting adrenergic signalling in non-small cell lung cancer

Dan Hu et al. J Cell Mol Med. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 85% of lung cancer diagnoses. As an ancient therapy, moxibustion has been used to treat cancer-related symptoms in clinical practice. However, its antitumour effect on NSCLC remains largely unexplored. In the present study, a Lewis lung cancer (LLC) xenograft tumour model was established, and grain-sized moxibustion (gMoxi) was performed at the acupoint of Zusanli (ST36). Flow cytometry and RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) were used to access the immune cell phenotype, cytotoxicity and gene expression. PK136, propranolol and epinephrine were used for natural killer (NK) cell depletion, β-adrenoceptor blockade and activation, respectively. Results showed that gMoxi significantly inhibited LLC tumour growth. Moreover, gMoxi significantly increased the proportion, infiltration and activation of NK cells, whereas it did not affect CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. NK cell depletion reversed gMoxi-mediated tumour regression. LLC tumour RNA-Seq indicated that these effects might be related to the inhibition of adrenergic signalling. Surely, β-blocker propranolol clearly inhibited LLC tumour growth and promoted NK cells, and gMoxi no longer increased tumour regression and promoted NK cells after propranolol treatment. Epinephrine could inhibit NK cell activity, and gMoxi significantly inhibited tumour growth and promoted NK cells after epinephrine treatment. These results demonstrated that gMoxi could promote NK cell antitumour immunity by inhibiting adrenergic signalling, suggesting that gMoxi could be used as a promising therapeutic regimen for the treatment of NSCLC, and it had a great potential in NK cell-based cancer immunotherapy.

Keywords: NK cells; adrenergic signalling; antitumour immunity; moxibustion; non-small cell lung cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interest exists.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
gMoxi suppresses Lewis lung cancer (LLC) tumour growth. LLC cells were inoculated on the upper back of C57BL6 mice on day 0, and gMoxi was performed at the acupoint Zusanli (ST36) with three or seven moxa cones every other day from day 1. Mice were killed on day 21, and tumours were excised and photographed. A, Tumour growth curve, and gMoxi‐3 and gMoxi‐7 represented gMoxi with three and seven moxa cones, respectively; B, tumour photograph; C, tumour weight. Independent experiments were repeated twice. **P < .01; NS, non‐statistically significant
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
gMoxi increases NK cell antitumour immunity. Lewis lung cancer (LLC) cells were inoculated on the upper back of C57BL6 mice on day 0, and gMoxi was performed at the acupoint Zusanli (ST36) with three moxa cones every other day from day 1. Mice were killed on day 21, and tumours and spleens were isolated and analysed by flow cytometry or immunofluorescence staining. A, Spleen cells were stained with anti‐NKp46 and anti‐CD3; B, tumour cells were stained with anti‐NKp46 and anti‐CD3; C, spleen cells were stained with anti‐CD3, anti‐CD4 and anti‐CD8; D, tumour cells were stained with anti‐CD3, anti‐CD4 and anti‐CD8; E, the proportion of CD3NKp46+ NK cells in spleens; F, the proportion of CD3+CD4+ T cells in spleens; G, the proportion of CD3+CD8+ T cells in spleens; H, the proportion of CD3NKp46+ NK cells in tumours; I, the proportion of CD3+CD4+ T cells in tumours; J, the proportion of CD3+CD8+ T cells in tumours; K, frozen tumour sections were stained with anti‐NKp46 antibody and DAPI; L, the proportion of NKp46+ NK cells in tumours; M, splenocytes were co‐cultured with YAC1 cells at 10:1, and tumour lysis was detected by apoptosis analysis. Independent experiments were repeated twice. *P < .05; **P < .01; ***P < .001; NS, non‐statistically significant
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
NK cell depletion reverses gMoxi‐mediated tumour regression. Lewis lung cancer (LLC) cells were inoculated on the upper back of C57BL6 mice on day 0, and gMoxi was performed at the acupoint Zusanli (ST36) with three moxa cones every other day from day 1. A total of 100 μg of PK136 per mouse was administered by IP injection on days 0, 7 and 14. Mice were killed on day 21, and tumours and spleens were isolated and analysed by flow cytometry. A, The proportion of CD3NKp46+ NK cells in spleens; B, the proportion of CD3+CD4+ T cells in spleens; C, the proportion of CD3+CD8+ T cells in spleens; D, the proportion of CD3NKp46+ NK cells in tumours; E, the proportion of CD3+CD4+ T cells in tumours; F, the proportion of CD3+CD8+ T cells in tumours; G, tumour growth curve; H, tumour photograph; I, tumour weight; J, splenocytes were co‐cultured with YAC1 cells at 10:1, and tumour lysis was detected by apoptosis analysis. Independent experiments were repeated twice. *P < .05; **P < .01; ***P < .001; NS, non‐statistically significant
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Tumour RNA‐Seq indicates that gMoxi might inhibit adrenergic signalling. Lewis lung cancer (LLC) cells were inoculated on the upper back of C57BL6 mice on day 0, and gMoxi was performed at the acupoint Zusanli (ST36) with three moxa cones every other day from day 1. Mice were killed on day 21, and tumours were isolated and analysed by RNA‐Seq. A, The hot map of DEGs. B, The top 30 KEGG pathways
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
gMoxi‐mediated tumour regression and NK cell promotion depend on adrenergic signalling. Lewis lung cancer (LLC) cells were inoculated on the upper back of C57BL6 mice on day 0, and gMoxi was performed at the acupoint Zusanli (ST36) with three moxa cones every other day from day 1. Propranolol (Prop) in drinking water was given 1 wk before LLC inoculation. Epinephrine (Epi) was daily administered by IP injection from day 1. Mice were killed on day 21, and tumours and spleens were isolated and analysed by flow cytometry. A, Tumour growth curve; B, tumour photograph; C, tumour weight; D, splenocytes were co‐cultured with YAC1 cells at 10:1, and tumour lysis was detected by apoptosis analysis. E, the proportion of CD3NKp46+ NK cells in spleens; F, the proportion of CD3+CD4+ T cells in spleens; G, the proportion of CD3+CD8+ T cells in spleens; H, the proportion of CD3NKp46+ NK cells in tumours; I, the proportion of CD3+CD4+ T cells in tumours; J, the proportion of CD3+CD8+ T cells in tumours; K, splenocytes were incubated in the present or absent Prop or Epi with or without PK136 antibody for 24 h and then co‐cultured with YAC1 cells at 5:1 for 2.5 h, and tumour lysis was detected by apoptosis analysis. Independent experiments were repeated twice. *P < .05; **P < .01; ***P < .001; NS, non‐statistically significant

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2018. CA Cancer J Clin. 2018;68(1):7‐30. - PubMed
    1. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2017. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017;67(1):7‐30. - PubMed
    1. Mao H, Mao JJ, Chen J, et al. Effects of infrared laser moxibustion on cancer‐related fatigue in breast cancer survivors: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(34):e16882. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kim M, Kim JE, Lee HY, et al. Moxibustion for cancer‐related fatigue: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017;17(1):353. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shin S, Jang BH, Park SH, et al. Effectiveness, safety, and economic evaluation of adjuvant moxibustion therapy for aromatase inhibitor‐induced arthralgia of postmenopausal breast cancer stage I to III patients: study protocol for a prospective, randomized, assessor‐blind, usual‐care controlled, parallel‐group, pilot clinical trial. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(38):e17260. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances