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B cells linked to immunotherapy for melanoma

Researchers find evidence that B cells may be more important in immunotherapy than previously thought

Date:
September 13, 2019
Source:
欧洲分子生物学实验室——欧洲B爱博网投领导者ioinformatics Institute
Summary:
Immunotherapy uses our body's own immune system to fight cancer. Many current immunotherapies focus on T cells, but new research shows that another type of cell, B cells, might also play an important part in immunotherapies for cancer.
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Researchers at EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute and the Medical University of Vienna have found evidence that B cells might play an important role in immunotherapy for melanoma. Currently, immunotherapy is primarily focused on T cells, but the results suggest that B cells could also provide an interesting research avenue.

Immunotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that uses the body's own immune system to recognise and fight the disease. It comes in a variety of forms, including cancer vaccines, targeted antibodies or tumour-infecting viruses. Only some cancer patients currently benefit from this kind of therapy.

In the case of melanoma, which is a particularly aggressive form of skin cancer, established immunotherapies focus on T cells. T cells play an important role in controlling and shaping the immune system and they are able to directly kill cancer cells, while also recruiting other cells into the process.

A recent study published inNature Communicationshas shown that, alongside T cells, B cells play a critical role in triggering melanoma-associated inflammation. B cells are a type of white blood cell, which can produce antibodies along with several important messenger molecules. The researchers found that, in the case of melanoma, B cells act almost like a satnav, directing T cells to the tumour via the secretion of such distinct messenger molecules.

"Immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment," explains Johannes Griss, Researcher at the Medical University of Vienna and EMBL-EBI. "It unleashes T cells so they can fight cancer in a more effective way. For the first time, we found that B cells also play an important part in the process and help T cells find the tumour. The role of B cells in immunotherapy is still largely unknown, but it seems they may have more impact than previously thought."

During the study, the researchers observed that when B cells were depleted from melanoma patients, the number of T cells and other immune cells dramatically decreased within the tumours as well. In subsequent experiments, the researchers showed that a special subtype of B cells seems to be responsible for guiding T cells and other immune cells to the tumour.

Interestingly, melanoma cells seem to force B cells to develop into this distinct B cell subtype. Most excitingly, this specific B cell subtype also increased the activating effect of current immune therapies on T cells, and higher numbers of this B cell subtype in tumours before therapy predicted that a patient would respond better to subsequent immunotherapy.

"Further research is required to answer questions such as how melanoma cells modify B cells, what mechanism B cells use to support the activation of T cells, and how we can help these B cells to support current immunotherapies in cancer patients," concludes Griss.

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Materialsprovided by欧洲分子生物学实验室——欧洲B爱博网投领导者ioinformatics Institute.注:内容may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Johannes Griss, Wolfgang Bauer, Christine Wagner, Martin Simon, Minyi Chen, Katharina Grabmeier-Pfistershammer, Margarita Maurer-Granofszky, Florian Roka, Thomas Penz, Christoph Bock, Gao Zhang, Meenhard Herlyn, Katharina Glatz, Heinz Läubli, Kirsten D. Mertz, Peter Petzelbauer, Thomas Wiesner, Markus Hartl, Winfried F. Pickl, Rajasekharan Somasundaram, Peter Steinberger, Stephan N. Wagner.B cells sustain inflammation and predict response to immune checkpoint blockade in human melanoma.Nature Communications, 2019; 10 (1) DOI:10.1038 / s41467 - 019 - 12160 - 2

Cite This Page:

欧洲分子生物学实验室——欧洲B爱博网投领导者ioinformatics Institute. "B cells linked to immunotherapy for melanoma: Researchers find evidence that B cells may be more important in immunotherapy than previously thought." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 13 September 2019. /releases/2019/09/190913080733.htm>.
欧洲分子生物学实验室——欧洲B爱博网投领导者ioinformatics Institute. (2019, September 13). B cells linked to immunotherapy for melanoma: Researchers find evidence that B cells may be more important in immunotherapy than previously thought.ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 6, 2023 from www.koonmotors.com/releases/2019/09/190913080733.htm
欧洲分子生物学实验室——欧洲B爱博网投领导者ioinformatics Institute. "B cells linked to immunotherapy for melanoma: Researchers find evidence that B cells may be more important in immunotherapy than previously thought." ScienceDaily. www.koonmotors.com/releases/2019/09/190913080733.htm (accessed September 6, 2023).

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