Human myelocyte and metamyelocyte-stage neutrophils suppress tumor immunity and promote cancer progression

Abstract

Tumor-infiltrating neutrophils (TINs) are highly heterogeneous and mostly immunosuppressive in the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). Current biomarkers of TINs and treatment strategies targeting TINs have not yielded optimal responses in patients across cancer types. Here, we separated human and mouse neutrophils into three developmental stages, including promyelocyte (PM), myelocyte & metamyelocyte (MC & MM), and band & segmented (BD & SC) neutrophils. Based on this separation, we observed the predominance of human but not mouse MC & MM-stage neutrophils in bone marrow (BM), which exhibit potent immunosuppressive and tumor-promoting properties. MCs & MMs also occupy the majority of TINs among patients with 17 cancer types. Moreover, through the creation of a NOD/ShiLtJGpt-Prkdc^em26Cd52Il2rg^em26Cd22/Gpt (NCG)-Gfi1^−/− human immune system (HIS) mouse model, which supports efficient reconstitution of human TIN, we found a significant increase of BM MCs & MMs in tumor-bearing mice. By comparing the single-cell RNA sequencing analysis results of human neutrophils from both BM and tumors, we found that CD63 and Galectin-3 distinguish MC & MM from neutrophil populations in cancer patients. Furthermore, we proposed a strategy with Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand to specifically induce the trans-differentiation of MCs & MMs into monocytic cells, and trigger tumor control in NCG-Gfi1^−/− HIS mice. Thus, our findings establish an essential role of human MC & MM-stage neutrophils in promoting cancer progression, and suggest their potential as targets for developing potential biomarkers and immunotherapies for cancer.