FIGURE 2.
Ion channels in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma—infiltrating lymphocytes. (A) Lymphocytes found in the PDAC microenvironment can be either pro- or antitumorigenic. The ratio of T-helper lymphocytes (Th1/Th2; dashed line) has a prognostic value in assessing therapy outcome. The presence of other lymphocytes can be either beneficial (NK and B cells) or detrimental (Treg and Th17) (yet, not univocally). These PDAC-infiltrating lymphocytes often show distinct channel activities, which could be considered in targeted PDAC therapies. (B) Both helper (Th) and cytotoxic (Tc) T lymphocytes can be further subdivided into naive, central memory (TC,M) or effector memory (TEM) T lymphocytes, the latter being the most abundant subtype in PDAC (indicated by the dashed line). Activation of T lymphocytes leads to characteristic changes in the numbers (#) of KCa3.1 and KV1.3 channels. Activation of naive and TCM is associated with an increase in KCa3.1 expression, whereas activation of TEM causes a distinct increase in the number of KV1.3 channels.