HLA‐DR+ Schwann Cells Generate the Protumor Cancer‐Neuron‐Immune Niche in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Xiaoyan Meng, Zhonglong Liu, Shijian Zhang, Luoman Gan, Liren Cao, Jingjing Sun, Lingfang Zhang, Yue He · 2026
Read HLA‐DR+ Schwann Cells Generate the Protumor Cancer‐Neuron‐Immune Niche in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma by Xiaoyan Meng, Zhonglong Liu, Shijian Zhang, Luoman Gan, Liren Cao, Jingjing Sun, Lingfang Zhang, Yue He (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13336457.txt.
Description
Xiaoyan Meng and co-authors identified a nerve cell subpopulation that tumors recruit to build a protective niche in head and neck cancer in a 2026 study. Nerves thread densely through the mouth and face, and their role in squamous cell carcinoma growth is gaining attention.
The team traced Schwann cells through cancer development and found an HLA-DR positive subset that cancer cells induce and that accumulates as tumors progress. Cancer educates these cells through the NRG1/ERBB3 axis and JAK/STAT signaling, giving them immune-shaping, tumor-friendly traits. The converted Schwann cells release CCL2, summoning a macrophage subset that in turn draws CD4 T cells via CXCL10, completing a cancer-neuron-immune niche. Blocking CCL2 with pirfenidone or CXCR3 with AMG487 suppressed tumors in an orthotopic model.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Xiaoyan Meng, Zhonglong Liu, Shijian Zhang, Luoman Gan, Liren Cao, Jingjing Sun, Lingfang Zhang, Yue He |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 73827 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |