Scientists have discovered a way to stop tumors from shedding certain proteins that the immune system uses to identify and attack tumors. The new method reduces the spread of melanoma and lung cancer in mice, a new study shows.
Many human cancers exhibit the stress proteins MICA and MICB, which the immune system, particularly natural killer cells, use to identify cells that should be eliminated. In an act of defiance, cancer cells produce enzymes that cleave these anchored proteins, essentially shedding the proteins and evading detection.
Researchers suspected that it would be possible to stop tumors from shedding these proteins using antibodies that target the site where MICA and MICB proteins are cleaved. They studied the effect of such an antibody, mAb 7C6, in mouse models of melanoma and lung cancer, finding that the antibody not only increased the presence of MICA and MICB on cancer cells, but also increased the infiltration of natural killer cells within tumors.
In mice with metastatic melanoma that had spread to the lungs, treatment with mAb 7C6 helped reduce tumor load, the authors report. In a related Perspective, other researchers write, "The study introduces an exciting concept for a therapeutic monoclonal antibody with the potential to improve natural killer cell-based cancer immunotherapy."
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6383/1537
Latest News
Protease action on controll…
By newseditor
Posted 25 May
Maternal inflammation activ…
By newseditor
Posted 25 May
How cells deal with extra c…
By newseditor
Posted 25 May
Flicker stimulation modulat…
By newseditor
Posted 25 May
Multi-dose TB vaccines prot…
By newseditor
Posted 24 May
Other Top Stories
CRISPR-based test for COVID-19 uses a smartphone camera
Read more
How COVID-19 virus causes multiple organ failure in mice
Read more
A leukemia patient sheds infectious SARS-CoV-2 for at least 70 days
Read more
A host factor that helps viruses replicate and infect other cells i…
Read more
Gut microbiota act via endocannabinoid system to regulate depressiv…
Read more
Protocols
Spatially resolved lipidomi…
By newseditor
Posted 24 May
Efficient expansion and CRI…
By newseditor
Posted 21 May
Massively parallel in vivo…
By newseditor
Posted 20 May
Breast cancer-on-chip for p…
By newseditor
Posted 16 May
Methods for making and obse…
By newseditor
Posted 15 May
Publications
Cryo-EM reveals that iRhom2…
By newseditor
Posted 25 May
Fetal brain response to mat…
By newseditor
Posted 25 May
Children born after assiste…
By newseditor
Posted 25 May
Macrophage-induced integrin…
By newseditor
Posted 25 May
Copy number alterations: a…
By newseditor
Posted 25 May
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar