Table 2.

Summary of how the factors in the TME impact CD4+ T cell functions

TME factor/Cell typeImpact on CD4+ T cell functionsReferences
Acidity/lactate I ↑ Treg differentiation Comito et al. (2019)  
↓ Th1/Th17 effector programs Comito et al. (2019), Krol et al. (2022)  
↓ TCR signaling via induction of Cbl-b Bosticardo et al. (2001), Pilon-Thomas et al. (2016), Huber et al. (2017), Tsai et al. (2023)  
Hypoxia ↑ Treg differentiation Ben-Shoshan et al. (2008), Neildez-Nguyen et al. (2015)  
↑ Suppressive IL10+ Th17 CD4s Volchenkov et al. (2017)  
↓ Th1 effector program via IL10 signaling Shehade et al. (2015)  
ER stress ↓ Activation and effector functions in CD4+ T cells Song et al. (2018), Cao et al. (2019)  
↓ Th1 polarization 
CAFs ↓ Effector function in CD4+ T cells Erez et al. (2010), Fiori et al. (2019), Butti et al. (2021), Chen et al. (2024a)  
↑ Suppressive Tregs Liao et al. (2009), Monte et al. (2011), Huang et al. (2022)  
↑ Th2-CD4+ T cells Barnas et al. (2010), Kerdidani et al. (2022)  
Prime anti-tumor Th1/Th17 CD4+ T cells 
Tumor-associated suppressive myeloid cells Produce suppressive factors that inhibit Th1 effector programs in CD4+ T cells Beltra et al. (2020), Xia et al. (2022), Zhou et al. (2024)  
↓ Amino acids essential for T cell function 
Prime CD4+ T cells to become anergic/Tregs 
Induce tumor-promoting Th17 CD4+ T cells 
cDC2s, cDC1s, and M1-like macrophages Prime anti-tumor CD4+ T cells Ferris et al. (2020), Iwanowycz et al. (2021), Patterson et al. (2023)  
TME factor/Cell typeImpact on CD4+ T cell functionsReferences
Acidity/lactate I ↑ Treg differentiation Comito et al. (2019)  
↓ Th1/Th17 effector programs Comito et al. (2019), Krol et al. (2022)  
↓ TCR signaling via induction of Cbl-b Bosticardo et al. (2001), Pilon-Thomas et al. (2016), Huber et al. (2017), Tsai et al. (2023)  
Hypoxia ↑ Treg differentiation Ben-Shoshan et al. (2008), Neildez-Nguyen et al. (2015)  
↑ Suppressive IL10+ Th17 CD4s Volchenkov et al. (2017)  
↓ Th1 effector program via IL10 signaling Shehade et al. (2015)  
ER stress ↓ Activation and effector functions in CD4+ T cells Song et al. (2018), Cao et al. (2019)  
↓ Th1 polarization 
CAFs ↓ Effector function in CD4+ T cells Erez et al. (2010), Fiori et al. (2019), Butti et al. (2021), Chen et al. (2024a)  
↑ Suppressive Tregs Liao et al. (2009), Monte et al. (2011), Huang et al. (2022)  
↑ Th2-CD4+ T cells Barnas et al. (2010), Kerdidani et al. (2022)  
Prime anti-tumor Th1/Th17 CD4+ T cells 
Tumor-associated suppressive myeloid cells Produce suppressive factors that inhibit Th1 effector programs in CD4+ T cells Beltra et al. (2020), Xia et al. (2022), Zhou et al. (2024)  
↓ Amino acids essential for T cell function 
Prime CD4+ T cells to become anergic/Tregs 
Induce tumor-promoting Th17 CD4+ T cells 
cDC2s, cDC1s, and M1-like macrophages Prime anti-tumor CD4+ T cells Ferris et al. (2020), Iwanowycz et al. (2021), Patterson et al. (2023)  

cDC2, type-2 conventional DCs; cDC1, type-1 conventional DCs.

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