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Phosphatidylserine is a global immunosuppressive signal in efferocytosis, infectious disease, and cancer

Birge, RB; Boeltz, S; Kumar, S; Carlson, J; Wanderley, J; Calianese, D; Barcinski, M; ... Herrmann, M; + view all (2016) Phosphatidylserine is a global immunosuppressive signal in efferocytosis, infectious disease, and cancer. Cell Death & Differentiation , 23 (6) pp. 962-978. 10.1038/cdd.2016.11. Green open access

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Abstract

Apoptosis is an evolutionarily conserved and tightly regulated cell death modality. It serves important roles in physiology by sculpting complex tissues during embryogenesis and by removing effete cells that have reached advanced age or whose genomes have been irreparably damaged. Apoptosis culminates in the rapid and decisive removal of cell corpses by efferocytosis, a term used to distinguish the engulfment of apoptotic cells from other phagocytic processes. Over the past decades, the molecular and cell biological events associated with efferocytosis have been rigorously studied, and many eat-me signals and receptors have been identified. The externalization of phosphatidylserine (PS) is arguably the most emblematic eat-me signal that is in turn bound by a large number of serum proteins and opsonins that facilitate efferocytosis. Under physiological conditions, externalized PS functions as a dominant and evolutionarily conserved immunosuppressive signal that promotes tolerance and prevents local and systemic immune activation. Pathologically, the innate immunosuppressive effect of externalized PS has been hijacked by numerous viruses, microorganisms, and parasites to facilitate infection, and in many cases, establish infection latency. PS is also profoundly dysregulated in the tumor microenvironment and antagonizes the development of tumor immunity. In this review, we discuss the biology of PS with respect to its role as a global immunosuppressive signal and how PS is exploited to drive diverse pathological processes such as infection and cancer. Finally, we outline the rationale that agents targeting PS could have significant value in cancer and infectious disease therapeutics.

Type: Article
Title: Phosphatidylserine is a global immunosuppressive signal in efferocytosis, infectious disease, and cancer
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1038/cdd.2016.11
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/cdd.2016.11
Language: English
Additional information: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1483176
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