Cancer Immunol Res: Increase the production of T-cell proteins to kill cancer cells!

, June 19, 2020 /
BiovalleyBIOON // A team of scientists from the Hollins Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) has developed a new flow cytokine technology that can quantify the production of proteins in T cells for the first timeT-cells are immune cells that effectively attack and kill cancer cellsHowever, when T-cells are near the tumor, cancer cells consume their energy, causing them to produce less proteinThis change causes T cells to lose the ability to killtumorthe new technology, developed by the MUSC team, could be used to monitor the production of proteins in T cells and understand how they are suppressed in tumor microenvironmentsInterventions can then be developed to restore protein production and the ability of T-cells to produce and controltumorgrowthThe team, led by DrJessica EThaxton, recently reported their findings on Cancer Logic ResearchDrThaxton is an assistant professor at MUSC Orthopaedics, Physical Medicine, Microbiology andImmunology and a member of the Hollins Cancer Center picture source: "This study reveals our first attempt to understand how T cells produce proteins," Taxton explains "Before this paper or the technology, scientists knew very little about how many proteins T cells could produce It's a guess But now that we have quantitative data that shows how many proteins T cells produce, we can start asking the question, 'What kind of protein is that?' 'And' How are they made? Over the past four years, the team looked at more than 50 human tumors, and in most of them, they noticed the presence of T-cells that produce very little protein The findings led them to speculate that t-cells that cannot produce proteins tumors According to Thaxton, the new technology will help them monitor these T-cells and re-awaken their protein production mechanisms and cancer-fighting capabilities "This paper confirms that T-cells can make proteins in tumors and have a significant ability to control tumor growth," Thaxton explained We ultimately wanted to reshape the existing T-cell population in tumor , which is where our lab is headed "
to gain a more complete picture of the production of proteins in tumor T cells, the scientists used two different types of signaling molecules (cytokines), IL-15 and IL-2 Other studies have shown that IL-15-treated T cells are good at controlling tumor growth, but those treated with IL-2 have poor effect on tumor growth The team found that IL-15-treated T cells were able to produce proteins in tumor microenvironments and tumors, while Il-2-treated T cells produced fewer proteins in tumor these results will help scientists understand how to wake up tumor T cells and increase their protein yields, thereby enhancing their ability to control tumor growth Thaxton believes that a simple combination of modulators that alters the way T cells produce energy will allow T-cells to continue to produce proteins in tumor and provide patients with more effective immunotherapy unlike many today's expensive immunotherapy, which is cost-effective and therefore a more realistic strategy for treating cancer patients in all walks of life Thaxton believes that the current study is the first to begin to clarify the role of protein production in anti-
tumor
immunity Thaxton explains: "We are now finding more from this series of basic experiments This paper is our first observation of how protein production in T cells is regulated, and we are looking at which parts of regulation are most important for tumor control (BioValleyBioon.com) References: Katie E Hurst et al, Remodeling Translation Primes CD8- to T-cell Antitumor Immunity
, Cancer-Based Research (2020) DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-19-0516
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