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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Hepatology. 2015 Jul 1;62(4):1304–1312. doi: 10.1002/hep.27867

Figure 2.

Figure 2

The immunosuppressive and tumor-promoting functions of TAMs and MDSCs in HCC. HCC TAMs and MDSCs suppress T cell effector functions through their expression of IDO, arginase, B7-H1 (PD-L1) and Galectin-9, induction and recruitment of regulatory T cells, as well as MDSC-mediated suppression of NK cells. TAMs promote HCC development and proliferation through TNFα and IL-6-activated NF-κB and C/EBPβ pathway. TAM-derived SDF-1α, VEGF and MMPs induce angiogenesis in HCC. HCC TAMs enhance CSCs through IL-6-activated STAT3 signaling. HCC TAMs are found at the invasive front of tumors and associated with invasion and metastasis. TAM-derived TGFβ induce EMT and enhance HCC metastasis. MMPs disrupt basement membrane and also facilitate tumor cell invasion. Surface markers used to identify HCC TAMs and MDSCs in mouse and human are listed in blue.