XML Feed for RxPG News   Add RxPG News Headlines to My Yahoo!   Javascript Syndication for RxPG News

Research Health World General
 
  Home
 
 Latest Research
 Cancer
 Psychiatry
 Genetics
 Surgery
 Aging
 Ophthalmology
 Gynaecology
 Neurosciences
 Pharmacology
 Cardiology
 Obstetrics
 Infectious Diseases
 Respiratory Medicine
 Pathology
 Endocrinology
 Immunology
  Autoimmune Diseases
  Immunosupressants
  Monoclonal Antibodies
 Nephrology
 Gastroenterology
 Biotechnology
 Radiology
 Dermatology
 Microbiology
 Haematology
 Dental
 ENT
 Environment
 Embryology
 Orthopedics
 Metabolism
 Anaethesia
 Paediatrics
 Public Health
 Urology
 Musculoskeletal
 Clinical Trials
 Physiology
 Biochemistry
 Cytology
 Traumatology
 Rheumatology
 
 Medical News
 Health
 Opinion
 Healthcare
 Professionals
 Launch
 Awards & Prizes
 
 Careers
 Medical
 Nursing
 Dental
 
 Special Topics
 Euthanasia
 Ethics
 Evolution
 Odd Medical News
 Feature
 
 World News
 Tsunami
 Epidemics
 Climate
 Business
Search

Last Updated: Aug 19th, 2006 - 22:18:38

Immunology Channel
subscribe to Immunology newsletter

Latest Research : Immunology

   DISCUSS   |   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Newly discovered killer cell "IKDC" fights cancer
Mar 6, 2006, 17:14, Reviewed by: Dr. Priya Saxena

"We thought we were looking at dendritic cells, but we were wrong - they were some type of NK-dendritic cell blend,"

 
A mouse immune cell that plays dual roles as both assassin and messenger, normally the job of two separate cells, has been discovered by an international team of researchers from the United States and France. The discovery has triggered a race among scientists to find a human equivalent of the multitasking cell, which could one day be a target for therapies that seek out and destroy cancer.

"In the same way that intelligence and law enforcement agencies can face deadly threats together instead of separately, this one cell combines the ability to kill foreign pathogens and distribute information about that experience," says Drew Pardoll, M.D., Ph.D., the Seraph Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

"We think this hybrid cell speeds up immune reactions and makes the system more efficient," adds Pardoll, whose findings are reported in the February issue of Nature Medicine.

The Hopkins investigators speculate that the hybrid, dubbed "IKDC" for interferon-producing killer dendritic cell, has been missed by cancer biologists because it is rare, making up one-tenth of cells in the spleen with similar features, such as other dendritic cells, according to Frank Housseau, Ph.D., research associate at Hopkins' Kimmel Cancer Center and member of Pardoll's immunology laboratory.

Most of the immune system typically works through a web of cross-talk and signaling among a variety of cells. One of the first immune cells that invading bacteria or cancer cells - both of which carry antigens that alert the immune system - may encounter is a natural killer (NK) cell. As its name implies, NK cells deliver a deadly blow by poking holes in the invader's outer membrane. Then, NK cells secrete molecules that reach other immune cells, including dendritic cells, known as the main messenger for the immune system. Dendritic cells spread "look here" information about foreign invaders to other immune cells, but do not actually kill the invaders.

It was while investigating a particular type of dendritic cell that Housseau noticed the outer membranes of these cells were studded with what were supposed to be hallmarks of NK cells, akin to finding feathers on a dog.

"We thought we were looking at dendritic cells, but we were wrong - they were some type of NK-dendritic cell blend," says Housseau. The blended cell turned out to be a newly identified actor on the immune system stage that retains all the molecular characteristics of both NK and dendritic cells.

Probing further, Housseau scoured the surface of IKDCs to create a sketch of its molecular profile. He found that it produces both types of interferon proteins, normally secreted independently by NK and dendritic cells. He also found both NK and dendriticlike molecules on the surface of IKDCs. Housseau calculated that they account for about 10 percent of conventional dendritic cells in the spleen.

IKDCs begin their lives behaving like an NK cell. After the cell encounters a pathogen, the cell switches roles from killer to dendriticlike messenger, and, according to the researchers, the swap occurs only once. Then, the cell dies and is replenished by the bone marrow.

"When an IKDC cell switches to its messenger function, the transformation is quite astonishing," says Pardoll. The cell sprouts long, hairy tentacles called dendrites. It uses its "arms" to increase the amount of surface area it reaches to communicate and interact with other immune cells.

In the next step of their investigation, the scientists tracked the location of fluorescent-tagged IKDCs and their corresponding stage of transformation after infecting mice with bacteria called listeria. In assassin-mode, the IKDCs were found in the blood, lining of the gut, liver and other organs - all areas where there is close contact with environmental pathogens. "Here, IKDCs are ready to sense invaders and spring into action," says Housseau.

Then, the group tracked the cells to the main messenger center of the immune system - the lymph nodes. Here, they found approximately 35 percent of the original group of IKDCs now secreting communication molecules signaling a switch to messenger-mode.

Simultaneously, Housseau's colleagues in France, led by Laurence Zitvogel at the Institut Gustave Roussy, tested whether IKDCs are culprits in killing cancer by injecting mice with a cancer drug called Gleevec, which blocks an abnormal protein produced by cancer cells, and a growth factor for NK cells. The drug-growth factor combo served as a lure, leading the IKDCs to tumors implanted in the mice. The results were that tumors shrunk in mice, which received injections of IKDCs, but not in those receiving conventional NK cells only. Evidence from the shrunken tumors revealed certain "cell-killing" proteins that could be traced to IKDCs. These results are published separately in Nature Medicine.

Housseau's group is conducting further studies to verify the role of IKDC cells in infection and cancer. Meanwhile, the group is profiling IKDC genes to find a specific marker that could help them identify a human counterpart.
 

- February issue of Nature Medicine
 

www.hopkinsmedicine.org

 
Subscribe to Immunology Newsletter
E-mail Address:

 



Related Immunology News

Pregnant women with lupus are at higher risk for complications
Molecular 'signature' protects cells from viruses
Discovery in the evolution of the immune system absorbing cells
Leeds University study shows eculizumab may be an effective therapy for PNH
Research Reveals Inner Workings of Immune System �Thermostat�
CD23 Protein in Stool Samples may Indicate Food Allergy
Molecular signals triggering maturation of natural killer cells uncovered
New method to analyse the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) of the human genome
Front Line Immune Cells Mature in Four Stages - Study
Caspase-12 gene that shuts down immune system is found in 20% of people of African descent


For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 

© Copyright 2004 onwards by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited
Contact Us