Abnormal activation of calcium channels has been shown to play crucial roles in tumor occurrence and development. However, the role of inhibitors targeting calcium channels in tumor progression and immune regulation remains unclear, and their clinical applications are still limited. We show that nifedipine (NIFE), a calcium channel blocker, inhibits calcium influx to impair nuclear factor of activated T cell 2 (NFAT2) dephosphorylation, activation, and nuclear translocation, thus preventing transcriptional activation of downstream signaling molecules to suppress colorectal cancer (CRC) proliferation and metastasis. In addition, NIFE decreases expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) on CRC cells and programmed death-1 (PD-1) on CD8 T cells and reactivates tumor immune monitoring, which may stimulate or enhance PD-1-based antitumor immunotherapy. Our findings provide direct evidence that NIFE is a promising clinical therapy to treat patients with advanced CRC by affecting the tumor itself and tumor immunity. NIFE may be a promising therapeutic option to enhance effectiveness of immune checkpoint blockade therapy in CRC.Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About The Expert
Ling Wu
Weihao Lin
Qing Liao
Hui Wang
Chuang Lin
Lihua Tang
Weidong Lian
Zetao Chen
Kaitao Li
Lijun Xu
Rui Zhou
Yanqing Ding
Liang Zhao
References
PubMed