Cardamonin anticancer effects through the modulation of the tumor immune microenvironment in triple-negative breast cancer cells

The tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) plays a critical role in cancer development and response to immunotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors aim to reverse the immunosuppressive effects of the TIME, but their success has been limited. Immunotherapy directed at PD-1/PD-L1 has been widely employed, yielding positive results. Unfortunately, the gradual emergence of resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibition has diminished the effectiveness of this immunotherapy in cancer patients, emphasizing the need for new compounds that will be more effective in managing immunotherapy. This study investigated the effect of the natural compound cardamonin on PD-L1 expression and its ability to modulate the TIME, which could overcome immunotherapy resistance in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). This investigation used two genetically distinct triple-negative breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 (MDA-231) and MDA-MB-468 (MDA-468). The results show that TNBC cell treatment with cardamonin inhibited PD-L1 expression and reduced JAK1 and STAT3 levels in MDA-231 cells, while it increased JAK1 expression in MDA-468 cells. Also, cardamonin increased the expression of Nrf2 in both cell lines. In addition, cardamonin decreased MUC1, NF-κB1, and NF-κB2 expression in MDA-MB-231 cells and selectively reduced NF-κB1 expression in MDA-468 cells. Furthermore, cardamonin very potently reduced the inflammatory cytokine CCL2 levels. The decrease in CCL2 release reduces the chemoattraction of macrophages in the tumor microenvironment, which may increase the effectiveness of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibition and allow T-cell infiltration. These findings suggest that the cardamonin modulation of TIME holds promise in reversing resistance of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibition when it is used along with immunotherapy in TNBC treatment.