“You don’t need a Ring Camera to see how cool this Research is.” – Susanna F. Greer
Susanna F. Greer shared on LinkedIn:
“Cancer researchers are always looking for new ways to target cancer cells without harming healthy cells. One area researchers are exploring is a protein called IL1RAP which is found in higher amounts on the surface of cancer cells, particularly in certain types of leukemia like Acute Myeloid Leukemia, (AML).
A problem they are trying to solve is that current treatments for AML are not always effective, especially because cancer cells can hide or return even after treatment. Researchers want to find a way to target these stubborn cancer cells more precisely.
This week’s Cool Cancer Find comes from the V Foundation Grantee Dr. Guido Marcucci at City of Hope who focused on developing a new kind of treatment called an ‘IL1RAP T-cell engager’. T-cell engagers are designed to help the body’s immune system recognize and attack cancer cells.
The Marcucci lab created a specific T cell engager that can bind to both the IL1RAP protein on leukemia cells and a protein on a type of immune cell called a T cell. When these two are connected by the T-cell engager, the immune cells are activated to attack and kill the leukemia cells.
How does this work? Well, think of the immune system as a security team that protects a building (your body) from intruders (cancer cells). Normally, the security team (your immune cells, including T cells) patrols the building and tries to catch any intruders it finds.
However, sometimes the intruders are sneaky – they might wear disguises or hide in places the security team doesn’t normally check, like under beds or in closets. This is similar to how cancer cells can evade the immune system.
A T-cell engager is like a special alarm system that can recognize these sneaky intruders. Imagine this alarm system has two parts: one that can detect the specific disguise the intruders are wearing (this is the part of the T-cell engager that binds to the IL1RAP protein on cancer cells) and another part that alerts the security team to come and catch the intruder (this is the part that binds to the T cells).
Once the alarm goes off (when the T-cell engager connects the cancer cell to the T cell), the security team (T cells) comes in and quickly captures and/or destroys the intruder (the cancer cell).
This way, even if the cancer cells are hiding or trying to trick the immune system, the T-cell engager makes sure they’re found and dealt with. Cool, right?
In the context of this research, the T-cell engager is the new and improved alarm system that not only finds the cancer cells that are out in the open but also tracks down the sneaky ones that might cause trouble later on.
The study showed that the engager was very effective in animal models. It not only killed the bulk of the leukemia cells but also targeted the cancer stem cells, which are often responsible for the disease coming back.
This research is important because it introduces a new potential treatment for AML that could be more effective and have fewer side effects than existing therapies. If successful in human trials, this treatment could improve outcomes for patients with AML and possibly other cancers that have high levels of IL1RAP.
Find Dr. Marcucci’s lab and read their paper.”
IL1RAP-specific T cell engager depletes acute myeloid leukemia stem cells
Authors: Yi Zhang, Miso Park, Lucy Y. Ghoda, Dandan Zhao, Melissa Valerio, Ebtesam Nafie, Asaul Gonzalez, Kevin Ly, Bea Parcutela, Hyeran Choi, Xubo Gong, Fang Chen, Kaito Harada, Zhenhua Chen, Le Xuan Truong Nguyen, Flavia Pichiorri, Jianjun Chen, Joo Song, Stephen J. Forman, Idoroenyi Amanam, Bin Zhang, Jie Jin, John C. Williams, Guido Marcucci
Source: Susanna F. Greer/LinkedIn
Susanna F. Greer is the Chief Scientific Officer at the V Foundation. Before this role, Dr. Greer was a Senior Scientific Director at the American Cancer Society, where she led the Biochemistry and Immunology of Cancer Research Program. Greer’s work focuses on identifying crucial signaling pathways in the immune response to cancer and has led to significant discoveries in molecular immunology and new epigenetic targets.