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Updated: May 9, 2026

Real Time Detection of In Vitro Tumor Cell Apoptosis Induced by CD8+ T Cells to Study Immune Suppressive Functions of Tumor-infiltrating Myeloid Cells
09:57

Real Time Detection of In Vitro Tumor Cell Apoptosis Induced by CD8+ T Cells to Study Immune Suppressive Functions of Tumor-infiltrating Myeloid Cells

Published on: January 29, 2019

Synchronous apoptosis in established tumors leads to the induction of adaptive immunity

Jamie Honeychurch1, Caroline Dive, Timothy M Illidge

  • 1Targeted Therapy Group; Institute of Cancer Science; Paterson Institute for Cancer Research; Manchester University; Manchester Cancer Research Centre; Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centres; Manchester UK.

Oncoimmunology
|July 30, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Synchronous tumor cell death via apoptosis can stimulate an anticancer immune response. This finding is crucial for developing new cancer immunotherapies that harness the immune system to fight tumors.

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Understanding how the immune system responds to cancer cell death is vital for advancing cancer therapies.
  • Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, plays a complex role in tumor progression and immune surveillance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the immunogenicity of synchronously dying tumor cells.
  • To explore the potential of apoptosis as a trigger for anti-cancer immune responses.

Main Methods:

  • Development of an inducible caspase-3-mediated death switch model in tumors.
  • Analysis of the host immune system's response to synchronized tumor apoptosis.

Main Results:

  • Synchronous apoptotic demise of established tumors was demonstrated to be immunogenic.
  • The induced apoptosis elicited significant anti-cancer T-cell responses.

Conclusions:

  • Targeting tumor cell death pathways, specifically apoptosis, can be a viable strategy to stimulate anti-cancer immunity.
  • This model provides a platform for developing novel cancer immunotherapies focused on immunogenic cell death.
Keywords:
HMGB1apoptosiscancercaspase 3death switchimmunogenic cell death

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