Natural killer (NK) cells are a type of leukocyte that play an important role in the bodys body immune system. They focus on finding and destroying cells that are infected by viruses or have actually ended up being cancerous. Unlike other immune cells, NK cells can act without prior exposure to the target cell, making them a crucial very first line of defense against brand-new threats.
A research group headed by Prof. Tian Zhigang and Prof. Peng Hui from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), working alongside Prof. Zhang Zemin from Peking University, have actually shown the variations in natural killer (NK) cells across different cancer types and tissues. They identified a specific subgroup of NK cells that show unusual anti-tumor functions that prosper particularly within the tumor microenvironment. Their findings were just recently released in the journal Cell.
NK cell, called after its ability to directly eliminate cancer cells, has emerged as a formidable contender in immunotherapy, showcasing exceptional effectiveness in blood cancer treatments. However, the heterogeneity of NK cells, differing in phenotype and function within unique tissue microenvironments, has posed difficulties in its application in strong growth treatment.
Over the years, Prof. Tian and Prof. Pengs group have been studying the heterogeneity of NK cells throughout various tissues. They determined 5 unique subtypes of CD56brightCD16lo NK cells and 9 subtypes of CD56dimCD16hi NK cells at a detailed pan-cancer level for the very first time.
Natural killer (NK) cells are a type of white blood cell that play an essential role in the bodys immune system. Unlike other immune cells, NK cells can act without prior exposure to the target cell, making them an important very first line of defense against new hazards.
This subtype, called “Tumor-associated NK cells” (TaNK cells), defied the standard understanding that greater NK cell abundance is advantageous to growth clients. The scientists found that LAMP3+ dendritic cells (DCs) are crucial regulators of NK cell functionality.
Through the combination of this comprehensive dataset, the scientists observed a preference for NK cell subtype composition throughout different cancer types. Significantly, the circulation of NK cell subtypes within tumors, surrounding tissues, and peripheral blood showed significant variations. Leveraging advanced bioinformatics techniques, the researchers identified the gene RGS1 as being extremely revealed in non-blood NK cells. At the transcriptional level, RGS1 demonstrated exceptional uniqueness and level of sensitivity, compared to standard tissue residency markers.
By probing the tumor microenvironment, the scientists discovered that a group of DNAJB1+ CD56dimCD16hi NK cells were highly enhanced in growth concerns. This subtype, called “Tumor-associated NK cells” (TaNK cells), defied the traditional understanding that greater NK cell abundance is helpful to tumor patients.
The scientists found that LAMP3+ dendritic cells (DCs) are critical regulators of NK cell performance. Spatial circulation data analysis revealed that NK cells in close distance to LAMP3+ DCs exhibited lessened cytotoxic activity. This observation meant the potential of LAMP3+ DCs to apply irregular regulatory impacts on NK cell function in the growth microenvironment.
Reference: “A pan-cancer single-cell panorama of human natural killer cells” by Fei Tang, Jinhu Li, Lu Qi, Dongfang Liu, Yufei Bo, Shishang Qin, Yuhui Miao, Kezhuo Yu, Wenhong Hou, Jianan Li, Jirun Peng, Zhigang Tian, Linnan Zhu, Hui Peng, Dongfang Wang and Zemin Zhang, 21 August 2023, Cell.DOI: 10.1016/ j.cell.2023.07.034.