Table 1 Tissue-resident innate immune cells in common organ sites of metastasis
From: Suppressing immunotherapy by organ-specific tumor microenvironments: what is in the brain?
Metastasis target organ | Innate immune cell type | Function and contribution |
|---|---|---|
Bone | Osteoclasts | Multinucleated cells transformed from monocytes that breaks down and absorbs the bone tissue, critical in the bone homeostasis |
Brain | Microglia | Myeloid lineage glial cells accounting for 10-15% of all cells in the brain, mediating immune surveillance and inflammation in homeostasis and diseases of the central nervous system |
Liver | Kupffer cells | Specialized macrophages lining the walls of the liver sinusoids, serving as the primary clearing cell for critical metabolic and detoxification functions of the liver |
Lung | Alveolar macrophages | High activity macrophages located in pulmonary alveoli, the terminal units of gaseous exchange, primarily responsible for removing respiratory dust and pathogens |
Omentum | Peritoneal macrophages | Omental milky spot-located macrophage cells playing house-keeping roles in immune surveillance, cell debris clearance and resolution of local inflammation |