Mannose-binding lectin 2 secreted by hepatocellular carcinoma cells recruits and activates natural killer cells to reshape an immune-activated microenvironment

Hangyu Liao; Jun Yang; Lei Cai; Luhao Chi; Chunming Wang; Yuyan Xu; Juncheng Xie; Kunling Chen; Jingyuan Pei; Zesheng Jiang; Mingxin Pan; Liang Zhao

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3003793

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Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Mannose-binding lectin 2 secreted by hepatocellular carcinoma cells recruits and activates natural killer cells to reshape an immune-activated microenvironment

Hangyu Liao ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Hangyu Liao, Jun Yang, Lei Cai

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis

Affiliation General Surgery Center, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery II, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Organ and Tissue Engineering, Guangzhou Clinical Research and Transformation Center for Artificial Liver, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
⨯
Jun Yang ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Hangyu Liao, Jun Yang, Lei Cai

Roles Formal analysis, Methodology

Affiliation General Surgery Center, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery II, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Organ and Tissue Engineering, Guangzhou Clinical Research and Transformation Center for Artificial Liver, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
⨯
Lei Cai ,

Contributed equally to this work with: Hangyu Liao, Jun Yang, Lei Cai

Roles Conceptualization, Resources

Affiliation General Surgery Center, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery II, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Organ and Tissue Engineering, Guangzhou Clinical Research and Transformation Center for Artificial Liver, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
⨯
Luhao Chi,

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis

Affiliation General Surgery Center, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery II, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Organ and Tissue Engineering, Guangzhou Clinical Research and Transformation Center for Artificial Liver, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
⨯
Chunming Wang,

Roles Validation

Affiliation General Surgery Center, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery II, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Organ and Tissue Engineering, Guangzhou Clinical Research and Transformation Center for Artificial Liver, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
⨯
Yuyan Xu,

Roles Data curation

Affiliation General Surgery Center, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery II, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Organ and Tissue Engineering, Guangzhou Clinical Research and Transformation Center for Artificial Liver, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
⨯
Juncheng Xie,

Roles Investigation, Validation

Affiliation General Surgery Center, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery II, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Organ and Tissue Engineering, Guangzhou Clinical Research and Transformation Center for Artificial Liver, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
⨯
Kunling Chen,

Roles Visualization

Affiliation General Surgery Center, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery II, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Organ and Tissue Engineering, Guangzhou Clinical Research and Transformation Center for Artificial Liver, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
⨯
Jingyuan Pei,

Roles Software

Affiliation General Surgery Center, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery II, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Organ and Tissue Engineering, Guangzhou Clinical Research and Transformation Center for Artificial Liver, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
⨯
Zesheng Jiang ,

Roles Writing – original draft

* E-mail: jzsdxx@163.com (ZJ); panmx@smu.edu.cn (MP); liangsmu@foxmail.com (LZ)

Affiliation General Surgery Center, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery II, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Organ and Tissue Engineering, Guangzhou Clinical Research and Transformation Center for Artificial Liver, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
⨯
Mingxin Pan ,

Roles Funding acquisition, Supervision

* E-mail: jzsdxx@163.com (ZJ); panmx@smu.edu.cn (MP); liangsmu@foxmail.com (LZ)

Affiliation General Surgery Center, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery II, Guangdong Provincial Research Center for Artificial Organ and Tissue Engineering, Guangzhou Clinical Research and Transformation Center for Artificial Liver, Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
⨯
Liang Zhao

Roles Project administration, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: jzsdxx@163.com (ZJ); panmx@smu.edu.cn (MP); liangsmu@foxmail.com (LZ)

Affiliations Department of Pathology, Shunde Hospital of Southern Medical University, Foshan, China, Department of Pathology & Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Tumor Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1429-0884

⨯

Mannose-binding lectin 2 secreted by hepatocellular carcinoma cells recruits and activates natural killer cells to reshape an immune-activated microenvironment

Hangyu Liao,
Jun Yang,
Lei Cai,
Luhao Chi,
Chunming Wang,
Yuyan Xu,
Juncheng Xie,
Kunling Chen,
Jingyuan Pei,
Zesheng Jiang

Published: May 20, 2026
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003793

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