Fig. 2.

The role of adipocytes in immune microenvironment modulation. Adipocyte death leads to macrophage infiltration into adipose tissue, where they encircle the dying adipocytes to form crown-like structures (CLS). These macrophages are associated with the secretion of multiple inflammatory factors, which modulate the microenvironment to a state of chronic low-grade inflammation. Moreover, increased expression level of PD-L1 in mature adipocytes could interact with T cell surface PD-1 to impair CD8+ T cell activation and cause immunosuppression. Together, these roles of adipocytes facilitate evolution of the immune microenvironment and EOC progression