Table 2.

Immune escape impacts of commonly dysregulated EMT-inducing pathways.

Signaling pathway	Mechanisms of immune escape in melanoma	References
PI3K/AKT/mTOR	Immunosuppressants ↑ (IL-1, IL-6, IL-10, IL-35, TGF-β) Treg activity ↑ Context-dependent roles in B and T lymphocytes B cell development ↑ MDSC recruitment ↑ Suppressive monocyte recruitment ↑ “M2” Macrophage Polarization ↑ APC suppression ↑ PD-L1 expression ↑↓	(69–73)
BRAF/MAPK	Immunosuppressants ↑ (IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, VEGF) Immunostimulants ↓ (IL-12, TNF-α) Antigen Presentation ↓ MHC Class I ↓ Lymphocyte infiltration ↓ MDSC recruitment ↑ Treg recruitment ↑ NK infiltration ↓ APC suppression ↑ STAT3 signaling ↑ PD-L1 expression ↑↓	(74–76)
TGF-β	Immunosuppressants ↑ (MCP-1, IL-8, IL-10, TGF-β, VEGF, CCL22, type 2 cytokines) Antigen Presentation ↓ MHC Class I and II ↓ CD40 expression ↓ Lymphocyte effectiveness and recruitment ↓ B cell infiltration ↓ MDSC recruitment ↑ Treg recruitment ↑ NK activation ↓ APC suppression ↑ Suppressive Dendritic Cell accumulation ↑ “M2” Macrophage Polarization ↑ Stimulation of MAPK, JAK/STAT, WNT ↑	(77–82)
WNT	Immunosuppressants ↑ (IL-6, VEGF, MMP-2, IL-8, IL-11, MCP-1) CD8+ T cell activity, infiltration, proliferation ↓ Treg accumulation and survival ↑ NK activation ↓ DC activity ↓ Enhanced MDSC suppression NF-κB activity ↑	(83–86)
JAK/STAT	Immunosuppressants ↑ (VEGF, MMP-2) MDSC recruitment ↑ Treg population ↑ CD8+ T cell killing ↓ NK tumor surveillance ↓ PD-L1 expression ↑ Interferon Resistance ↑ Immune stimulating cytokines ↓ HIF-1 ↑ p53 ↓ Macrophage crosstalk promoting WNT signaling ↑	(87–94)
SOX10	IRF1 ↓ CEACAM1 ↑ HVEM ↑ T cell activity ↓ PD-L1 expression ↑	(95–98)

↑: increased, ↓: decreased.