TABLE 1.
Signaling pathways regulate pericyte interaction with immune cells.
| Signalling | Stimuli/context | Immune cell interaction | Biological effect | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDGFR-β | PDGF-BB tumors | TAM recruitment via IL-33 secretion by pericytes | Increase in metastasis via MMP9 produced by TAM | Yang et al., 2016; Andersson et al., 2018 |
| Glioma-derived pericytes | CECR-1 expression by macrophages | Pro-angiogenic activity via ECM component modulation | Zhu et al. (2017) | |
| PDGFR-α | Mammary carcinoma-derived pericytes | PDGF-CC Lyve-1 TAM | Tumor growth | Opzoomer et al. (2021) |
| FGFR-1 | FGF-2 from tumors | TAM recruitment via CXCL14-secretion | Increase in metastasis | Wang et al. (2022) |
| MCAM | Human microvascular pericytes | M2 macrophage polarization | MCAM/C1D63 prognostic signature in GBM | Zhang et al. (2022) |
| sGC | Lewis lung carcinoma-derived pericytes | sGC deletion promotes M2 macrophage polarization mediated by MIF | Promotion of immune evasion | Zhu et al. (2024) |
| CD80, CD86, and MHC-II | IL-6 from the TME | CD4+ T cell anergy with a decreased secretion of IL-4 and IFN-Υ | Pericytes as immunosuppressive weapons | Bose et al. (2013) |
| RGS-5 | Melanoma tumour-derived pericytes | CD4+ T cell anergy mediated by tumor-derived pericyte-ICAM1 upregulation | Pericytes as immunosuppressive weapons | Bose et al. (2013) |
| TGF-β from the TME | CD4+ T cell anergy | Irregular vascularization and NLPG treatment restore T-cell functionality, leading to RGS-5high pericyte apoptosis | Dasgupta et al. (2022) | |
| Endosialin | RCC-derived pericytes | Reduction in CD8+ T-cell infiltration | Anti-EN improves immune-checkpoint blockade therapy in RCC | Lu et al. (2023) |
| MFG-E8 | NG2+ melanoma-derived MSCs | M2 macrophage activation | Tumor growth | Yamada et al. (2016) |
| IL-10 | Glioma-derived pericytes | CD4+ T-cell inhibition with a decreased secretion of IL-2 | Tumor growth | Valdor et al. (2017) |
| Glioma-derived pericytes upregulating chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) | CD4+ T-cell inactivation decreasing IL-2 production | CMA-pericyte ablation reduces tumor growth | Valdor et al., 2019; Molina et al., 2022 | |
| TGF-β | Glioma-derived pericytes | CD4+ T-cell inhibition with a decreased secretion of IL-2 | Tumor growth | Valdor et al. (2017) |
| Glioma-derived pericytes | T-cell inhibition | Immunosuppressive pericytes | Ochs et al. (2013) | |
| Glioma-derived pericyte upregulating CMA | CD4+ T-cell inactivation decreasing IL-2 production | CMA-pericyte ablation reduces tumor growth | Valdor et al., 2019; Molina et al., 2022 | |
| CXCL9 | Primary central nervous system lymphoma-derived pericytes | CD8+ T-cell and B-cell recruitment following CXCL9-CXCL12 heterocomplex formation | The perivascular microenvironment regulates immune effector cells | Venetz et al. (2010) |
| Pericyte coverage | MMP-9 from neutrophils | Tumor-associated neutrophils | Enlarged vessel partially covered by pericytes | Deryugina et al. (2014) |
| IL-6 in TME | Decrease in MDSCs | Favorable outcome | Hong et al. (2015) | |
| MMP-9 from MDSCs in pre-metastatic niche | Gr-1+CD11b+ MDSCs | Aberrant metastatic vasculature formation | Yan et al. (2010) |