Skip to main content

MINI REVIEW article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Immunology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1525143

The role of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in pediatric pathology

Provisionally accepted
Jordan Brauner Jordan Brauner 1Anna Wilt Anna Wilt 2Katherine Bline Katherine Bline 1*
  • 1 Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, United States
  • 2 University of Minnesota Health Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) were first recognized over twenty years ago as a key immunomodulatory cell population. Since their initial identification, a growing body of literature points to the importance of MDSC as a heterogeneous, immunosuppressive cell population and as a therapeutic target in adults with cancer. MDSC are potent suppressors of T cells and Natural Killer (NK) cells and can be helpful or harmful to the host depending on the pathophysiology. For example, MDSC are beneficial in pregnancy and prevent spontaneous abortion by promoting maternal-fetal tolerance. Increased MDSC are also associated with improved outcomes in patients with graft versus host disease by decreasing T cell-driven inflammation. However, MDSC can also be harmful and are known to be pathologic in adults with cancer and chronic infections by promoting tumor escape and impairing pathogen clearance, respectively. Despite the widespread recognition of the importance of MDSC and their immune suppression effects in adults, much less is known regarding the role of MDSC in children. Research investigating MDSC in children lags significantly behind adult studies. In fact, while over 5,000 publications on PubMed discuss MDSC in immune regulation, fewer than 50 of these publications focus specifically on their role in children. This review aims to summarize the existing literature on the role of MDSC in children and identify important directions for future research, including targeting these cells in the pediatric population to improve clinical outcomes.

    Keywords: pediatric, Myeloid-derive suppressor cells (MDSCs), T cell, immune suppression, NK cell

    Received: 08 Nov 2024; Accepted: 05 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Brauner, Wilt and Bline. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Katherine Bline, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.