5D), the number of MR+ cells was significantly lower in the mice lacking CD73 (Fig. 5E). The decrease in the numbers of these cells was not merely a consequence of smaller tumor volumes, since

tumors of overlapping sizes (from different experiments) still showed a selective reduction of MR+ cells in the CD73-deficient host (Fig. 5E). Staining for Clever-1/stabilin-1, which is also highly enriched in Natural Product Library in vitro type 2 macrophages 22, confirmed this observation of CD73-dependent macrophage differentiation defect (Fig. 5F). Additional staining of intratumoral cells for FIZZ/RELM-α did not reveal differences between the genotypes (132±11 and 145±13 cells/mm2 in WT and CD73-deficient mice respectively). In this context it should be noted that although FIZZ/RELM-α is considered to be a type 2 macrophage marker, it is also expressed on other hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic cells such as adipocytes, epithelial cells and eosinophils 22–24, 28. We found fewer intratumoral macrophages expressing CD169 (sialoadhesin), which has been proposed to be central in cross-presentation R428 solubility dmso of tumor antigens to T cells 29, in the tumors growing in CD73-deficient mice (28±1 cells/mm2) than in WT mice (53±2 cells/mm2, p<0.01). Together, these data show that the numbers of macrophages expressing MR and Clever-1, markers compatible with the type 2 phenotype

22–24, are decreased within the tumors, if the host lacks CD73. We used the tumor-infiltrating leukocytes for quantitative PCR analyses of immune-related genes. The results showed that intratumoral CD45+ cells isolated from CD73-deficient mice had twofold more IFN-γ mRNA and also the expression of several INF-γ-inducible genes such as Smad 3, Smad 7 and Socs 2 was induced (Fig. 5G, and Supporting Information Table 1). Notably, intratumoral leukocytes from CD73-deficient mice had more than eight times higher expression of Nos2 when compared with those from WT controls. The level of IL-10 Selleck Hydroxychloroquine mRNA was not different between the genotypes, and IL-4 was not detectable in any sample. IFN-γ and Nos2 are well-established markers of

type 1 macrophage polarization 22. Therefore, these results are in line with our immunohistological data that in the absence of CD73 activity fewer tumor macrophages show a type 2-like phenotype (and consequently, since there is no difference in the total numbers of all macrophages (F4/80+ cells), more macrophages exhibit the type 1-like phenotype). Since we found that many tumor vessels were CD73+, we studied the role of this molecule in recruitment of leukocytes into the tumor. Tumor-infiltrating leukocytes were isolated from WT melanomas, and their adherence to melanoma vessels in tumors grown either in the WT or CD73-deficient mice were analyzed. When compared to the WT vasculature (100%), the binding of tumor-infiltrating leukocytes to CD73-deficient vasculature was only 45±8% (mean±SEM, p<0.02).