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Immune Networks and Therapeutic Targeting of iNKT Cells in Cancer

Shin-Ichiro Fujii1, Kanako Shimizu1

  • 1Laboratory for Immunotherapy, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS), Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.

Trends in Immunology
|November 3, 2019
PubMed

One of the primary goals in tumor immunotherapy is to reset the immune system from tolerogenic to immunogenic - a process in which invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are implicated. iNKT cells develop in the thymus and perform immunosurveillance against tumor cells peripherally. When optimally stimulated, iNKT cells differentiate and display more efficient immune functions. Some cells survive and act as effector memory cells. We discuss the putative roles of iNKT cells in antitumor immunity, and posit that it may be possible to develop novel therapeutic strategies to treat cancers using iNKT cells. In particular, we highlight the challenge of uniquely energizing iNKT cell-licensed dendritic cells to serve as effective immunoadjuvants for both arms of the immune system, thus coupling immunological networks.

Keywords:
cancer immunotherapydendritic cellsdifferentiationiNKT1 cellsmemory

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