Is has been established that the regulatory transcription factor FOXP3 (a member of the forkhead/winged-helix family of transcription factors) is imperative to immune system homeostasis through CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cell function. Distinctively, FOXP3 binds to specific regions of DNA to modulate the activity of genes that are involved in regulating the immune system. Interruption of FOXP3 activity leads to autoimmune disorder, due to Treg cells not having their full ability to act as an immune system balancer.
However, it has also been shared that FOXP3 is also expressed and correlated to a number of cancer tissues. This does not come as a surprise, given that FOXP3 regulates a broad spectrum of target genes through histone modifications of target promoters. The FOXP3 locus itself has CpG dinucleotides that are methylated in naïve CD4/CD25 T cells, activated CD4 T cells, and TGF induced adaptive Tregs. Now, the FOXP3 antibody is being used as a biomarker to follow Treg cells and tumor behavior alike.
FOXP3 Antibody [NB100-39002] - FOXP3 antibody was tested in mouse spleen using DAB with hematoxylin counterstain.
In fact, Ma et al used a FOXP3 antibody in IHC and Western Blot analysis to report that alternating FoxP3 expression in both local and general environments may account for tumor carcinogenesis and development in gastric cancer. Specifically, up regulation of FOXP3 inhibited tumor growth, potentially due to it’s effect on interactions between tumor cells and lymphocytes. Alongside these findings, Kreiter et al used a FOXP3 antibody as a marker to demonstrate that a CD4(+) T cell neo-epitope vaccination altered tumor microenvironment and induced cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses against an independent immunodominant antigen in mice. Furthermore, Zuo et al found that expression of the breast cancer oncogene SKP2 was significantly reduced in the presence of active FOXP3. These results were determined using the FOXP3 antibody in IHC in FOXP3+/SKP2 cells, as well as the FOXP3 antibody in IHC in FOXP3+/SKP2+ cells. Reduced expression of SKP2 was seen once doxycycline (an inhibitor of FOXP3 transcriptional function) was removed from the environment. This is an exciting finding, given SKP2’s potential for cancer therapy via increased levels of p27, leading to subsequent inhibition of abberant cell growth.
Alternatively, Karanikas et al used a FOX3P antibody to present the finding that FOXP3 expression may in fact promote tumor survival when it is no longer evading T-cell responses. Overall, there are many implications that the transcriptional activity of FOXP3 has a direct effect on tumor microenvironments in a variety of cancers, which points to FOXP3 as a potential therapeutic target for this disease.
Novus Biologicals offers FoxP3 reagents for your research needs including:
