Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33458446›Full record

ArticleHeliyon2021

Flow cytometry detection of cell type-specific expression of programmed death receptor ligand-1 (PD-L1) in colorectal cancer specimens.

Akira Saito, Mineyuki Tojo, Yuko Kumagai, Hideyuki Ohzawa, Hironori Yamaguchi, Hideyo Miyato, Ai Sadatomo, Daishi Naoi, Gaku Ota, Koji Koinuma and 4 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Heliyon, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 41% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Proteomic profiling of CD133 + and CD326 + (EpCAM) subpopulations in A549 cells: insights into pluripotency and tumor heterogeneity.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
    Article
  2. Spectral Flow Cytometry: The Current State and Future of the Technology.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Akira SaitoDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Mineyuki TojoDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Yuko KumagaiDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Hideyuki OhzawaDepartment of Clinical Oncology, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Hironori YamaguchiDepartment of Clinical Oncology, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Hideyo MiyatoDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Ai SadatomoDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Daishi NaoiDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Gaku OtaDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Koji KoinumaDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Hisanaga HorieDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Alan Kawarai LeforDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Naohiro SataDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Joji KitayamaDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Japan.
Jichi Medical University · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimPD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapy is now widely used for the treatment of advanced malignancies. Although PD-L1 is known to be expressed by various host cells as well as tumor cells, the role of PD-L1 on non-malignant cells and its clinical significance is unknown. We evaluated cell type-specific expression of PD-L1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) specimens using multicolor flow cytometry.

methodsSingle cell suspensions were made from 21 surgically resected CRC specimens, and immunostained with various mAbs conjugated with different fluorescent dyes. Tumor cells, stromal cells, and immune cells were identified as CD326(+), CD90(+) and CD45(+) phenotype, respectively. CD11b(+) myeloid cells, CD19(+) B cells and CD4(+) or CD8(+) T cells were also stained in different samples, and their frequencies in the total cell population and the ratio of PD-L1(+) cells to each phenotype were determined.

resultsPD-L1 was expressed by all the cell types. The ratio of PD-L1(+) cells to CD326(+) tumor cells was 19.1% ± 14.0%, lower than those for CD90(+) stromal cells (39.6% ± 16.0%) and CD11b(+) myeloid cells (31.9% ± 14.3%). The ratio of PD-L1(+) cells in tumor cells correlated strongly with the ratio in stromal cells, while only weakly with that in myeloid cells. Tumor cells were divided into two populations by CD326 expression levels, and the PD-L1 positive ratios were inversely correlated with the rate of CD326 highly expressing cells as well as mean fluorescein intensity of CD326 in tumor cells, while positively correlated with the frequencies of stromal cells or myeloid cells in CRC.

conclusionPD-L1 is differentially expressed on various cell types in CRC. PD-L1 on tumor cells may be upregulated together with CD326 downregulation in the process of epithelial mesenchymal transition. Quantification of cell type-specific expression of PD-L1 using multicolor flow cytometry may provide useful information for the immunotherapy of solid tumors.

Indexed as

CD326 (EpCAM)Colorectal cancerEpithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT)Flow cytometryPD-L1

Identifiers

PMID33458446
PMCPMC7797507
OpenAlexW3116541006

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.