Group-2 Innate Lymphoid Cells Promote Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression via CXCL2-Neutrophil Induced Immunosuppression

We report a tissue-derived KLRG1-ILC2s highly expressing CD69 in HCC, which are distinguished from circulating ones from portal vein and peripheral blood. Relief of KLRG1 inhibitory signaling, the HCC-induced ILC2s tend to shape an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment through CXCL2/neutrophil axis. Furthermore, the abundance of ILC2s in HCC correlated with the recurrence and progression free survival (PFS) of HCC patients indicated ILC2s being an emerging target for HCC immunotherapy. mRNA profiles of ILC2s from HCC and non-tumoral tissues as well as naïve T cells from circulation