Related Experiment Video

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Studying the Effects of Tumor-Secreted Paracrine Ligands on Macrophage Activation using Co-Culture with Permeable Membrane Supports
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Hiding the road signs that lead to tumor immunity

David A Schaer1, Alexander M Lesokhin, Jedd D Wolchok

  • 1Swim Across America Laboratory, Immunology Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, New York, NY, USA. schaerd@mskcc.org

The Journal of Experimental Medicine
|September 28, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Solid tumors employ diverse immunoevasion tactics. A new study reveals that posttranslational modification of the T cell-attracting chemokine CCL2 within the tumor microenvironment represents an additional strategy tumors use to evade immune destruction.

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Cancer Biology
  • Tumor Microenvironment

Background:

  • Tumors utilize numerous strategies to escape T cell-mediated killing.
  • Tumor vasculature modification hinders T cell infiltration.
  • The tumor microenvironment plays a critical role in immune evasion.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify novel mechanisms of tumor immune evasion.
  • To investigate the role of chemokine modification in T cell exclusion.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of posttranslational modifications of chemokines within the tumor microenvironment.
  • Investigating the impact of modified chemokines on T cell trafficking.

Main Results:

  • The T cell-attracting chemokine CCL2 undergoes posttranslational modification in the tumor microenvironment.
  • This modification represents a newly identified mechanism of tumor immunoevasion.

Conclusions:

  • Posttranslational modification of CCL2 is a significant contributor to tumor immune evasion.
  • Targeting chemokine modification could enhance anti-tumor T cell responses.

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