Attacking Cancer by Disabling Macrophage Recognition of CD47 " Don ' t Eat Me " Marker

CD47 is a "don't eat me" decoration found on the surface of cells. This is a necessary mechanism for the prevention of autoimmunity, but it is also subverted by cancer in order to prevent the innate immune system from attacking tumor cells. The cancer research community has investigated a range of approaches to prevent CD47 from holding back the immune response to cancerous cells. One possibility, demonstrated here, is to engineer the innate immune cells known as macrophages in order to block the CD47 interaction and thus ensure an aggressive response to cancerous cells. Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. at over 600,000 deaths per year. Cancers that form solid tumors such as in the breast, brain, or skin are particularly hard to treat. Surgery is typically the first line of defense for patients fighting solid tumors. But surgery may not remove all cancerous cells, and leftover cells can mutate and spread throughout the body. "Due to a solid tumor's physical properties, it is challenging to design molecules that can enter these masses. Instead of creating a new molecule to do the job, we propose using cells that 'eat' invaders - macrophages." Macrophages, a type of white blood cell, immediately engulf and destroy - phagocytize - invaders such as bacteria, viruses, and even implants to remove them from the body. A macrophage's innate immune response teaches our bodies to remember and attack invading cells in the future. This learned i...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs