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UrduThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back.
Tag: T cell
Predicting Ovarian Cancer Relapse
Using spatial analysis of tissue samples, Cedars-Sinai investigators have identified patterns that could predict whether patients with the most common type of ovarian cancer will experience early relapse after treatment.
We Now Know Why Killer T Cells Lose Energy Inside of Solid Tumors
Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine have found that a metabolic enzyme called Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase causes T cells to store fat when they are in solid tumors, rather than burning fat for energy.
LJI welcomes new faculty member Miguel Reina-Campos, Ph.D.
Cancer researcher Miguel Reina-Campos, Ph.D., has joined the faculty of La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) as an Assistant Professor to lead the Laboratory of Tissue Immune Networks. His laboratory at LJI aims to investigate the basis of CD8+ T cell tissue immunity to improve life-saving cancer immunotherapies.
New LJI research has major implications for controlling T cell activity
According to new research in the journal Immunity, T cells have a nuclear receptor doing something very odd—but very important—to help them fight pathogens and destroy cancer cells.
Pan-cancer T cell atlas reveals new details of tumor microenvironment
A new study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, published today in Nature Medicine, provides a deeper understanding of the vast diversity of T cell states as well as their relationships and roles within the complex tumor microenvironment, bringing a fresh perspective to understanding immunotherapy efficacy in cancer.
Improved Gene Editing Method Could Power the Next Generation of Cell and Gene Therapies
A new approach to the genetic engineering of cells promises significant improvements in speed, efficiency, and reduction in cellular toxicity compared to current methods. The approach could also power the development of advanced cell therapies for cancers and other diseases, according to a study from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
How Gut Microbes Help Mend Damaged Muscles
Now, in a surprising new discovery, Harvard Medical School researchers have found that a class of regulatory T cells (Tregs) made in the gut play a role in repairing injured muscles and mending damaged livers.
In an even more unexpected twist, the researchers found that gut microbes fuel the production of Tregs, which act as immune healers that go on patrol around the body and respond to distress signals from distant sites of injury.
Embargoed news from UCLA: First use of CRISPR to substitute genes to treat patients with cancer
For the first time, scientists have used CRISPR technology to insert genes that allow immune cells to focus their attack on cancer cells, potentially leaving normal cells unharmed and increasing the effectiveness of immunotherapy.
UCSF-Led Research Team Reveals Mechanisms at Work in Progression of Pancreatic Cysts to Cancer
A UC San Francisco-led team of international researchers has outlined the comprehensive immune landscape and microbiome of pancreatic cysts as they progress from benign cysts to pancreatic cancer. Their findings, publishing August 31 in Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, could reveal the mechanism of neoplastic progression and provide targets for immunotherapy to inhibit progression or treat invasive disease.
CDI Laboratory Identifies Critical Regulators Controlling T-Cell Homeostasis Which Could Improve Cancer Therapies, Vaccines of the Future
The laboratory of Hai-Hui “Howard” Xue at the CDI published the findings of the complex and cascading molecular interactions modulating T-cell immunology in the August issue of the journal Nature Immunology.
Mount Sinai Researchers Develop a Rapid Test to Measure Immunity to COVID-19
Mount Sinai researchers have developed a rapid blood assay that measures the magnitude and duration of someone’s immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This test will allow large-scale monitoring of the population’s immunity and the effectiveness of current vaccines to help design revaccination strategies for vulnerable immunosuppressed individuals, according to a study published in Nature Biotechnology in June.
LJI scientists publish first head-to-head comparison of four COVID-19 vaccines
“Just understanding the immune responses to these vaccines will help us integrate what is successful into vaccine designs going forward.”
Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Show Robust T-Cell Responses to mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines
New research shows that Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients undergoing anti-CD20 (aCD20) treatment – which depletes the B cells that contribute to the MS attacks – are able to mount robust T-cell responses to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, despite having a muted antibody response to the vaccines.
Low on Antibodies, Blood Cancer Patients Can Fight off COVID-19 with T Cells
Antibodies aren’t the only immune cells needed to fight off COVID-19 — T cells are equally important and can step up to do the job when antibodies are depleted, suggests a new Penn Medicine study of blood cancer patients with COVID-19 published in Nature Medicine.
Researchers devise more efficient, enduring CAR gene therapy to combat HIV
A UCLA research team has shown that using a truncated form of the CD4 molecule as part of a gene therapy to combat HIV yielded superior and longer-lasting results in mouse models than previous similar therapies using the CD4 molecule.
Researchers map metabolic signaling machinery for producing memory T cells
Discovery of a metabolic pathways that inhibit memory T cell production has potential for enhancing the immune system’s ability to fight infections and cancers.
Discovery offers potential for stripping tumors of T cell protection
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has discovered a mechanism that tumors use to switch on protective regulatory T cells, raising the potential for drug treatments that render tumors more vulnerable to cancer immunotherapy.
New immunotherapy target discovered for malignant brain tumors
Scientists say they have discovered a potential new target for immunotherapy of malignant brain tumors, which so far have resisted the ground-breaking cancer treatment based on harnessing the body’s immune system. The discovery, reported in the journal CELL, emerged from laboratory experiments and has no immediate implications for treating patients.
Key Pathway for Activated T-cells Might Be Targeted to Fight GVHD
The study demonstrates that T cell activation increases intracellular trafficking via the endoplasmic-reticulum-to-Golgi pathway, and that a protein known as SEC23B — a subunit of the COPII complex — regulates T cells’ production of these important secretory proteins after activation. The work points toward a new potential therapeutic target for decreasing the severity of graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), a potentially fatal complication of bone marrow transplantation.
Drug-Induced Liver Injury, Translational microRNA Biomarkers, and More Featured in January 2021 Toxicological Sciences
in the January 2021 issue, Toxicological Sciences offers an engaging slate of research in toxicology, from endocrine toxicology and biomarkers to genetic and epigenetic toxicology and mixtures toxicology.
UCLA scientists develop method to more efficiently isolate and identify rare T cells
Scientists from the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have developed a technique that will enable researchers to more efficiently isolate and identify rare T cells that are capable of targeting viruses, cancer and other diseases.
T Cell Therapy, Gut Microbiome, Tumorigenicity, and More Featured in September 2020 Toxicological Sciences
Toxicological Sciences features leading research in toxicology in the areas of biomarkers, environmental toxicology, and more in the September 2020 issue.
Deep Look at Immune Cells in Patients’ Tumors Reveals Insights on Timing for Treatment Combinations
It’s clear that radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, an approach used to treat cancer since the early 20th century, can be an effective companion to newer, immune-stimulating approaches known as immunotherapy. Research from a team from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center explains how radiation helps boost the immune system’s ability to fight cancer in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors — and provides new evidence that the timing of these therapies can make a big difference in how effectively they work together.
New research gives further evidence that autoimmunity plays a role in Parkinson’s disease
A new study co-led by scientists at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) adds increasing evidence that Parkinson’s disease is partly an autoimmune disease. In fact, the researchers report that signs of autoimmunity can appear in Parkinson’s disease patients years before their official diagnosis.
Ludwig MSK Study Reveals Bile Metabolite of Gut Microbes Boosts Immune Cells
A Ludwig Cancer Research study has discovered a novel means by which bacterial colonies in the small intestine support the generation of regulatory T cells—immune cells that suppress autoimmune reactions and inflammation.
Biological ‘atlas’ shows dual personality for immune cells that cause Type 1 diabetes
Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital mapped the epigenetic controls on T cells, which could aid Type 1 diabetes diagnosis and treatment, as well as cancer immunotherapy.
Cancer treatment: researcher makes breakthrough immunotherapy discovery
Dr. Christopher E. Rudd has discovered a new cell therapy approach that boosts the immune response of T lymphocytes to malignant tumours.
Controlling the immune system’s brakes to treat cancer, autoimmune disorders
Immunologists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered key biological switches that control regulatory T cells—specialized white blood cells that keep the immune system in check.
Creatine powers T cells’ fight against cancer
The study, conducted in mice, is the first to show that creatine uptake is critical to the anti-tumor activities of killer T cells, the foot soldiers of the immune system.
Engineered killer T cells could provide long-lasting immunity against cancer
In experiments with mice, UCLA researchers have shown they can harness the power of iNKT cells to attack tumor cells and treat cancer. The new method, described in the journal Cell Stem Cell, suppressed the growth of multiple types of human tumors that had been transplanted into the animals.