April 25, 2024

How High-Fat Diets Allow Cancer Cells To Go Unnoticed by the Immune System

Digestive tract cells of a mouse that were fed a high-fat diet plan. The digestive tract cells express less of the MHC-II tag than discovered in a gut from mice fed a typical diet plan. Credit: Beyaz lab/CSHL, 2021
A number of germs, including ones called Helicobacter, boost MHC-II, which might help immune cells locate irregular cells. The “tidy” mice became contaminated with the Helicobacter germs and produced more of the MHC-II tag.
The researchers findings recommend a new way to improve current immunotherapy treatments versus cancer. Increasing the production of this MHC-II tag, either by diet, drugs, or altering the microbes in the body, can help the immune system eliminate and acknowledge cancer cells. Beyaz states:
” This interaction in between diet, microbes, and immune acknowledgment has the potential to assist us describe how lifestyle aspects can contribute to tumor reaction, development, or initiation to treatment.”
Cancer cells utilize numerous tricks to avoid being recognized as abnormal by the body immune system, however Beyaz hopes hes discovered several ways to outwit them.
Recommendation: “Dietary suppression of MHC class II expression in intestinal tract epithelial cells enhances intestinal tract tumorigenesis” by Semir Beyaz, Charlie Chung, Haiwei Mou, Khristian E. Bauer-Rowe, Michael E. Xifaras, Ilgin Ergin, Lenka Dohnalova, Moshe Biton, Karthik Shekhar, Onur Eskiocak, Katherine Papciak, Kadir Ozler, Mohammad Almeqdadi, Brian Yueh, Miriam Fein, Damodaran Annamalai, Eider Valle-Encinas, Aysegul Erdemir, Karoline Dogum, Vyom Shah, Aybuke Alici-Garipcan, Hannah V. Meyer, Deniz M.Özata, Eran Elinav, Alper Kucukural, Pawan Kumar, Jeremy P. Mc Aleer, James G. Fox, Christoph A. Thaiss, Aviv Regev, Jatin Roper, Stuart H. Orkin and Ömer H. Yilmaz, 15 September 2021, Cell Stem Cell.DOI: 10.1016/ j.stem.2021.08.007.
Funding: National Cancer Institute, Oliver S. and Jennie R. Donaldson Charitable Trust, Mathers Foundation, STARR Cancer Consortium, Mark Foundation For Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stem Cell Initiative, Pew Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, American Association of Immunologists Career Reentry Fellowship.

A microscopic picture of a normal mouse small intestinal tract. Cells stained red reveal typical quantities of cell-surface tags (MHC-II) needed by immune cells to discover threats like infections or cancer. High-fat diets minimize the levels of MHC-II tags in intestinal tract cells, and so the body immune system has a more difficult time recognizing digestive growths. Credit: Beyaz lab/CSHL, 2021
The body immune system counts on cell surface tags to recognize cancer cells. CSHL researchers found mice who ate high-fat diets produced less of these tags on their digestive tract cells, reducing the capability of immune cells to identify and remove intestinal tumors. The high-fat diet also decreased the existence of particular germs in the mices gut, which generally helps maintain the production of these tags.
A high-fat diet plan increases the occurrence of colorectal cancer. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Fellow Semir Beyaz and collaborators from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have actually discovered that in mice, fat interrupts the relationship in between intestinal tract cells and the immune cells that patrol them looking for emerging growths. Reconfiguring the gut microbiome may be a method to heal the relationship.
The immune system patrols tissues trying to find and eliminating hazards. Specific immune cells try to find tags that identify between typical and irregular cells. One tag, called MHC-II, assists target cells for destruction. Cell-surface MHC-II triggers the immune system to damage that cell, whether it is simply worn out or about to become cancerous. Beyaz and his coworkers discovered that when mice consumed diet plans high in fat, MHC-II levels were reduced in digestive cells. Cells with decreased levels of these tags were not recognized as abnormal and thus might grow into tumors. Charlie Chung, a Stony Brook University graduate student-in-residence in Beyazs laboratory, states, “If we change the level of these immune acknowledgment particles in a favorable method, then the tumor will most likely be recognized by the immune cell. We hope this can be combined with the existing techniques, such as immunotherapy, to get rid of tumors.”

Cells stained red reveal normal quantities of cell-surface tags (MHC-II) needed by immune cells to discover risks like infections or cancer. The immune system relies on cell surface area tags to acknowledge cancer cells. CSHL scientists found mice who consumed high-fat diet plans produced less of these tags on their digestive cells, suppressing the ability of immune cells to recognize and eliminate intestinal tract tumors. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Fellow Semir Beyaz and collaborators from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have actually discovered that in mice, fat disrupts the relationship between digestive cells and the immune cells that patrol them looking for emerging growths. Certain immune cells look for tags that distinguish in between irregular and normal cells.