Natural killer (NK) cells use receptors such as NKG2D to recognize and eliminate cancer cells that overexpress ligands for these receptors. Deng et al. have studied a mouse NKG2D ligand — MULT1, which is commonly upregulated in primary tumours — and shown that shedding of MULT1 causes NK cell activation and tumour rejection. Secreted MULT1 reverses the desensitization of NK cells caused by membrane-bound NKG2D ligands on tumour-associated cells, such as myeloid cells. Recombinant soluble MULT1 also stimulated tumour rejection in mice, so this could be an approach for cancer immunotherapy.
References
Deng W. et al. A shed NKG2D ligand that promotes natural killer cell activation and tumor rejection. Science http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1258867 (2015)
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Villanueva, M. If the mountain will not come to Muhammad.... Nat Rev Cancer 15, 199 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3942
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3942