New immune system hope for killing cancer cells
Wednesday June 2nd, 2010
Human cells have been identified that may help the body destroy foreign invaders like viruses and cancer cells.
The cells, a form of dendritic cells known as CD8alpha+ DCs, were initially discovered in mice. They seemed to be important in the regulation of T cell responses, and were thought to be a promising target for cancer vaccination. But until now, scientists have been unable to identify the equivalent cells in humans.
Dr
Caetano Reis e Sousa and colleagues of Cancer Research UK's London Research
Institute, UK, found human spleen cells that resemble the activity of
the mouse cells. The team were able to grow more of these so-called "watchman"
cells in the lab.
They say the cells are better than ordinary dendritic cells at instructing T cells to attack and destroy cancer cells and cells infected with viruses.
Dr Sousa said: "Our discovery is a crucial step towards harnessing the power of the immune system to fight disease. We know these cells are effective 'watchmen' in mice. We now know that these 'watchmen' also exist in humans, which paves the way for the development of better vaccines for diseases such as cancer, tuberculosis and HIV infection.
"We're excited to see whether research that follows on from this discovery will lead to a vaccine we can use to treat cancer patients, but we can't yet say whether this will be the case."
Full details are published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Dr Lesley Walker of Cancer Research UK commented: "These exciting results open a door for researchers to develop an effective therapy that uses the body's own immune system to fight disease."
Poulin, L. F. et al. Characterization of human DNGR-1+ BDCA3+ leukocytes as putative equivalents of mouse CD8alpha+ dendritic cells. The Journal of Experimental Medicine, published online May 17, 2010.
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