Nature reports the subversive new function of PD-1 protein

The car has an emergency braking system, the electrical appliances have a safe power-off system, what "emergency safety" system does the cell have? A team at the University of technology in Munich recently published an article in nature, which reported a cellular mechanism to ensure that defective cells do not undergo cancer   There is a kind of immune cell called T cell in human body, which is usually responsible for timely detection and strangulation of cancer cells But some of these cell "police" genomes also have defects If the defect touches the genes related to cell growth, T cells will lose control of cancer Originally the main immune cell of anticancer, oneself first cancer changed, how to do?
This is a very bad cancer: T cell T cell Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, although the incidence rate is very low, but it is highly invasive, and the success rate and survival rate of T cells are also low   Professor J ü rgen Ruland, director of the Institute of clinical chemistry and pathobiology, University of technology, Munich, is leading his research team to explore the molecular mechanism of this cancer and to seek more effective treatment
Insufficient PD-1 production leads to cancer?
Recently, the team successfully took a crucial step: found a key emergency brake switch, namely, the programmed cell death protein 1 of T cells, which can stop loss in time in the early stage of T cell defect   For the first time, the researchers confirmed the actual function of PD-1 protein in a T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma mouse model Once the oncogenes are defective, PD-1 protein will live Its existence is to stop the influence of these genes, so T cells will not fall into the endless crazy growth mode   Is it helpful for tumor treatment?
Scientists investigated genetic data from 150 patients "We paid special attention to PD-1 As a result, nearly one-third of patients showed varying degrees of variation in the regions that affect the expression of PD-1 The most immediate catastrophic consequence is that when T cells are about to become cancerous, they cannot mobilize PD-1 to perform an emergency shutdown mode Finally, the defective T cells regenerate indefinitely and are not controlled, "explains Tim wartewig   "There are drugs that can reverse the loss of PD-1 signaling, in fact, these drugs have been used in other cancer treatments, and in my opinion, T-cell non Hodgkin's lymphoma should also consider these drugs," said J ü rgen Ruland   PD-1 inhibitors are the most famous tumor immunotherapy drugs Now scientists tell us that promoting PD-1 production can also treat cancer This is not a contradiction, but emphasizes that different tumor types and individual differences lead to different drug decisions Patients should be carefully evaluated and personalized tests before taking drugs   In addition, does PD-1 inhibitor have potential interference on T cell self defect monitoring? How to avoid drinking doves to quench thirst and how to use checkpoint inhibitors to reduce side effects? Experiments lead to new discoveries and at the same time bring us new ideas.