According to a study in Nature Medicine, a promising new technique could potentially turn immune system killer T cells into more effective weapons against infections and possibly cancer by delivering DNA into the immune system’s instructor cells, where the DNA instructs these cells to overproduce a specific protein that jumpstarts important killer T cells.
Senior author, José A. Guevara-Patino, MD, PhD, an Associate Professor in the Oncology Institute of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine says that these killer cells are commonly repressed in patients with HIV or cancer. Guevara and his team demonstrated their technique’s effectiveness in jumpstarting defective immune systems in immuno-compromised mice and in human killer T cells obtained HIV infected individuals. According to Guevara a clinical trial in cancer patients could commence in approximately three years.
The researchers used killer cells, known as CD8 T cells, and their instructor cells, i.e. antigen-presenting cells in their study, and found that the instructor cells, also known as antigen-presenting cells, instruct CD8 T, the killer cells, to become killer T cells to destroy infected cells or cancer cells, and to stay on guard if pathogens or the cancer returns.
The technique only works properly, if the CD8 T cells are assisted by helper T cells, in addition to receiving instructions from the antigen-presenting cells.
The virus destroys helper T cells in patients with HIV and cancer. Andrew Zloza, MD, PhD states that tumors are able to prevent an attack by killer T cells by putting helper T cells into a suppressed stage, which restricts their ability to assist CD8 T cells.
The researchers delivered snippets of DNA into skin instructor cells by using a device called gene gun, which subsequently directed the instructor cells to produce specific proteins that act similar to molecular keys. When CD8 T cells interact with the instructor cells, the keys unlock the CD8 T cells’ killer properties and jumpstart them to go out and kill pathogens and cancer cells.
By using this technique, the killer T cells would not require the helper T cells assistance, which means that even if a tumor were to put the helper T cells in a suppressive cage, the killer T cells would still be able to go out and destroy cancer cells.
In conclusion, the researchers expect future studies to apply this technique for many diseases, including cancer.
Written by Petra Rattue