Nature: Li Ming's team discovered a new type of T cells with stronger anti-cancer ability, bringing new hope for solid tumor immunotherapy

Cancer immunosurveillance mainly relies on traditional CD8 T cells to recognize tumor neoantigens (Neoantigen) to kill cancer cells

Cancer immunosurveillance mainly relies on traditional CD8 T cells to recognize tumor neoantigens (Neoantigen) to kill cancer cells

In the past ten years, immunotherapy using targeted antibodies to inhibit PD-1 or PD-L1 to restore the utility function of traditional T cells has achieved certain clinical results and won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine

However, while researchers and clinical oncologists hold great promise for immune checkpoint inhibition therapy, its efficacy is often limited by tumor neoantigen mass

At 23:00 on April 20, 2022, the team of Professor Li Ming from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (Dr.

In the latest study, the research team first discovered a type of innate killer T cells (Killer Innate -T cells ) that lack PD-1 but highly express the Natural Killer Cell receptor in a mouse breast cancer model (PyMT).

In the latest study, the research team first discovered a type of innate killer T cells (Killer Innate -T cells ) that lack PD-1 but highly express the Natural Killer Cell receptor in a mouse breast cancer model (PyMT).

The research team found that ILTCK does not differentiate from naïve CD8 T cells, but rather from another cell lineage independent of traditional T cells

Li Ming 's team further revealed that interleukin 15 (IL-15) is the key to the activation of ILTCK by cancer cells.

Figure 1: Left: CD8 T cell-depleted tumor immune evasion

Figure 1: Left: CD8 T cell-depleted tumor immune evasion

The discovery of ILTCK provides a new option for tumor immunotherapy

Figure 2: There is a significant positive correlation between the number of T cells similar to mouse ILTCK in the tumor of colorectal cancer patients and the expression of IL-15 in cancer cells

Figure 2: There is a significant positive correlation between the number of mouse ILTCK-like T cells in the tumor of colorectal cancer patients and the expression of IL-15 in cancer cells

Finally, while much of this study focused on mouse models, the team also found ILTCK-like T cells in tissues from human colorectal cancer patients (Figure 2)

Paper link:

https://