MCT1 gene silencing enhances the immune effect of dendritic cells on cervical cancer cells

Background. Dendritic cells (DCs) are a key class of immune cells that migrate to the draining lymph nodes and present processed antigenic peptides to lymphocytes after being activated by external stimuli, thereby establishing adaptive immunity. Moreover, DCs play an important role in tumor immunity.Objectives. The aim of the study was to investigate whether MCT1 gene silencing in DCs affects their ability to mount an immune response against cervical cancer cells.Materials and methods. We silenced the expression of MCT1 in DCs from mouse bone marrow (BM) by infection with adenovirus. The surface antigen profile of DCs was analyzed by flow cytometry and cytokine secretion was evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) following sodium lactate (sLA) exposure and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Then, various groups of DC-induced cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) were prepared and their cytotoxicity against U14 was tested.Results. Without sLA exposure, silencing MCT1 did not affect the expression of CD1a, CD80, CD83, CD86, and major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII) in DCs after LPS challenge. Similar results were found for interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12 p70 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). After sLA exposure, silencing MCT1 significantly decreased the expression of CD1a, CD80, CD83, CD86, and MHCII in DCs after the LPS challenge, as well as the secretion of IL-6, IL-12 p70 and TNF-alpha. In addition, sLA exposure significantly reduced the toxicity and inhibited the proliferation of DC-induced CTLs compared to U14 cells in vitro and in vivo. However, silencing MCT1 significantly attenuated the changes caused by sLA exposure. At the same time, in the absence of sLA, silencing MCT1 did not affect the toxicity nor inhibit the proliferation of DC-induced CTLs on U14 cells. Conclusions. Lactate exposure reduces the immune effect of DCs on cervical cancer cells, but MCT1 gene silencing attenuates these alterations.