Melanoma-derived gangliosides impair migratory and antigen-presenting function of human epidermal Langerhans cells and induce their apoptosis

Gangliosides are ubiquitous, membrane-associated, glycosphingolipids, the composition and production of which is altered in many tumour cells. They have been shown to inhibit the in vitro generation and differentiation of dendritic cells (DCs) from progenitors, but their effect on human tissue-residing DCs is yet to be investigated. In the present study, we analysed the effect of GM3 and GD3 gangliosides purified from human melanoma tumours on the phenotypic and functional maturation of human epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs), the first immune barrier against the tumour cells. We showed that both gangliosides impaired spontaneous LC maturation induced by a short in vitro culture, as assessed by significant down-regulation of co-stimulation (CD40, CD54, CD80, CD86) and maturation markers (CD83, CCR7), which correlated to an impaired ability of the cells to mount allogeneic T cell proliferation. Furthermore, the ganglioside-treated cells displayed less ability to migrate towards CCL19/macrophage inflammatory protein 3 beta, the chemokine that specifically binds CCR7 and mediates LC migration to lymph nodes. Lastly, we showed that both GM3 and GD3 gangliosides enhance LC spontaneous apoptosis. Globally, these in vitro results might explain, at least in part, the altered number and distribution of LCs in melanoma-bearing patients. They underscore a new mechanism for gangliosides to impede the host immune response by inducing LC dysfunction in the tumour microenvironment.