Characterization of presence and role of Th17 lymphocytes in murine B-cell lymphomas microenvironment ; Etude de la présence et du rôle des lymphocytes Th17 dans le micro-environnement des lymphomes B murins

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the main B cell non hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) sub-type which is the most common form of hematologic malignancy. A rich T-cell infiltrate in the B-NHL microenvironment is clearly associated with a good survival rate. B-NHL could take origin in different kind of tissues of which immune privileged sites as eyes and brain where immune reactions are inhibited or delayed. My PhD project was to study tumor-immune microenvironment interactions in immune privileged sites. We studied immune infiltrate in intrasplenic, intracerebral or intraocular large B-cell murine models with flow cytometry. T lymphocytes, mainly composed of CD4+ T cells, infiltrate B-cell lymphomas independently of the localization. Th17 cells, an IL-17-producing CD4+ T cell sub-population, are present in the micro-environment of the three tumor sites and we demonstrated their anti-tumor role in the intraocular lymphoma. Nevertheless, we highlighted the suppressor impact of Treg on effector T cells only in immune privileged sites, by ex vivo stimulation and in vivo Treg depletion. When the inhibition was unactivated, tumor growth slowed and other CD4+ T-cells sub-populations are favored : Th2 in eyes and Th17 in brain. Overall, these data showed the strong importance of effector T cells for the large B cell lymphoma growth control, including in immune privileged sites. Stimulating effector T cells, taking to account tumor localization, should be further investigated to enhance DLBCL treatment. ; Le principal cancer hématologique est le lymphome B non-hodgkinien (LNH) dont la forme la plus courante est le lymphome B diffus à grande cellule (DLBCL). La présence d'un infiltrat lymphocytaire T dans le micro-environnement d'un LNH-B nodal a été clairement associée à un bon pronostic vital des patients. Le LNH-B peut se développer dans divers tissus dont certains organes immunologiquement privilégiés, comme les yeux et le cerveau, où les réponses immunitaires sont inhibées ou retardées. Mon projet de thèse a consisté à ...