Reprogramming Tumor Cells into Antigen-Presenting Cells

Today's research materials describe a clever approach to cancer immunotherapy, focused on the goal of enabling the immune system to better identify cancerous cells. In the past, researchers have made some inroads in training the immune system to attack specific target molecules characteristic of cancerous cells, but this is a slow and expensive process when progressing from single target to single target. Further, any given cancer might be capable of evolving to function without exhibiting any one specific target molecule, and only some cancers of a particular type will exhibit that specific signature molecule to start with. How might one dramatically improve on the number of targets presented to the immune system? Here, researchers report on reprogramming cancer cells into antigen presenting cells, such as macrophages. Antigen presenting cells, as the name suggests, inform T cells of the adaptive immune system as to targets that they might engage. A macrophage normally ingests potential antigens, fragments them, and then presents the fragments as a part of its distinctive cell surface. These converted cancer cells contain all of the characteristic biochemistry of the cancer, but also act as macrophages, fragmenting and displaying those molecules to educate the adaptive immune system as to the full range of targets it might use to identify and kill the other cells of that cancer. Scientists transform cancer cells into weapons against cancer Some of the...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs