Cancer :: CD8+ T cells LAG behind

New data generated using mice by Charles Drake and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, have identified a role for the protein LAG-3 in limiting the response of immune cells known as CD8+ T cells to both host and tumor proteins.

The authors therefore suggest that blocking LAG-3 might provide a new adjunct approach to treating individuals with cancer.

High levels of LAG-3 were shown to be expressed by CD8+ T cells after they had been activated. Analysis of the immune response to proteins engineered to be expressed by either normal tissue or tumor tissue revealed that blocking LAG-3 increased the reactivity of CD8+ T cells specific for these proteins.

Furthermore, when combined with a cancer vaccine, LAG-3 blockade enhanced the specific immune response to a tumor, resulting in decreased tumor progression. The authors therefore suggest that it might be possible to improve the effectiveness of cancer vaccines currently under development by combining them with a therapeutic that blocks LAG-3 function on CD8+ T cells.

TITLE: LAG-3 regulates CD8+ T cell accumulation and effector function in murine self- and tumor-tolerance systems

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Charles G. Drake
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Phone: (410) 502-7523; Fax: (410) 614-0549


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