Cancers Subvert the Immune System to Create a Protective Population of Regulatory T Cells

Researchers here identify distinctive markers for a population of regulatory T cells that act to protect at least some types of tumor tissue from the rest of the immune system. Cancers subvert the immune system in a range of ways, making it blind to cancer cells, and even making immune cells assist in the growth of the cancer. In principle destroying these protective, subverted immune cells could produce a renewed attack on a tumor, or at the very least make it more vulnerable to present therapies, particularly those that encourage immune cells to attack cancer cells. Some types of T cells work to calm their over-active brethren. Known as regulatory T cells, or T-regs, they typically tamp down inflammation, quieting that mob and thereby protecting nearby healthy tissues. In tumor tissue, researchers found a different flavor of T-regs. These immune-suppressing cells, swarming in tumor-environment specimens, were different from T-regs found elsewhere in the body. Their cell surfaces are marked by two distinct protein receptors. These specially marked T-regs were particularly good at tamping down inflammation, expanding in number and protecting the tumor cells from attack by other types of T cells. To a casual observer, the T-regs from the tumor samples would look no different from those found elsewhere in the body. But the team used new techniques that allow scientists to identify characteristics of tens of thousands of individual cells in a sample, and advanced...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs