Macrophage-associated immune checkpoint CD47 blocking ameliorates endometriosis

Jing Li, Shumin Yan, Qiuju Li, Yufei Huang, Miaomiao Ji, Xue Jiao, Ming Yuan, Guoyun Wang
Molecular human reproduction · 2022 · vol. 28(5) · doi:10.1093/molehr/gaac010 · PMID:35404426 · W4223512004
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 16 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Targeting CD47 in endometriosis increased macrophage phagocytosis and induced apoptosis of ectopic endometrial cells, suggesting potential therapeutic benefits via the CD47-SIRPα pathway.

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Abstract

Peritoneal macrophages play a significant role in the progression of endometriosis (EM), but their functional differentiation is still unclear, and their phagocytic ability is weak. CD47-signal-regulated protein α (SIRPα) and PD-L1-PD-1 are considered immune checkpoints associated with macrophage phagocytosis. A specific blockade of these two pathways had been shown to increase the phagocytic clearance of cancer cells by macrophages in most cancers. We hypothesized that targeting CD47/PD-L1 in EM could improve the phagocytosis of macrophages, thereby delaying the progression of EM. From localization to quantification, from mRNA to protein, we comprehensively evaluated the expression of CD47 and PD-L1 in EM. We demonstrated that the CD47 expression in ectopic endometrium from patients with EM was significantly increased, but PD-L1 was not. We performed direct co-culture experiments of endometrial stromal cells with macrophages in vitro and in vivo to assess whether ectopic endometrial stromal cells escape macrophage phagocytosis through the CD47-SIRPα signaling pathway. The results showed that targeting CD47 increased the phagocytic capacity of macrophages. Interestingly, we also found that the reduction of CD47 expression promoted apoptosis of endometrial stromal cells. In conclusion, these data suggested that targeting CD47 can effectively target ectopic endometrial stromal cells through a dual mechanism of increased phagocytosis of macrophages and induced apoptosis of ectopic endometrial stromal cells. Thus, immunotherapy based on the CD47-SIRPα signaling pathway has some potential in treating EM, but further mechanistic studies are needed to explore more effective and specific antibodies.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Neoplasms Neoplasms Neoplasms Neoplasms Neoplasms Neoplasms Antigens, Differentiation Antigens, Differentiation Antigens, Differentiation Antigens, Differentiation Antigens, Differentiation Antigens, Differentiation B7-H1 Antigen B7-H1 Antigen

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (41)

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