{"id":5368,"date":"2013-09-23T15:20:58","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T19:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/?p=5368"},"modified":"2013-09-23T15:46:37","modified_gmt":"2013-09-23T19:46:37","slug":"surprising-epigenetic-switch-for-natural-killer-cells-eyed-for-cancer-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/2013\/09\/surprising-epigenetic-switch-for-natural-killer-cells-eyed-for-cancer-therapy.html","title":{"rendered":"Surprising epigenetic switch for \u2018natural killer\u2019 cells eyed for cancer therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NKcells\"<\/a>Natural killer cells are the instant assassins of the immune system with the ability to destroy foreign invaders and cancer cells at first sight. Although scientists have been studying how to harness<\/a> the lethal abilities of these cells for more than three decades, little has been known about how these \u2018NK\u2019 cells develop from unspecialized immune cells. Now, researchers have discovered an enzyme that uses an epigenetic pathway\u2014a process that modifies the way a cell\u2019s DNA is read without actually changing the genetic blueprint itself\u2014to boost the growth and function of NK cells.<\/b><\/p>\n

NK cells could be a boon to cancer immunotherapy. These immune system soldiers are on constant surveillance duty, so it\u2019s thought that they could eliminate the stray tumor cells that often elude chemotherapy. More than two dozen clinical trials<\/a> to enhance NK activity against cancer are currently underway.<\/p>\n

However, none of these drugs in development takes an epigenetic approach. That might be a mistake, in light of a study published today<\/a> in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/em>. A team of scientists led by Si-Yi Chen<\/a>, an immunologist from the University of Southern California\u2019s Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles, shows that the enzyme MYSM1 (which stands for Myb-like, SWIRM and MPN domain-containing protein 1) controls the final steps of NK cell maturation through epigenetic changes. They suggest that increasing levels of this enzyme could help fight cancer by boosting the numbers of mature NK cells on patrol.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very important contribution to our understanding of NK cell development,\u201d says Porunelloor Mathew<\/a>, a cancer immunologist at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, who was not involved in the study.<\/p>\n

All wound up<\/b><\/p>\n

MYSM1 binds to histones, the proteins that create a spool around which our DNA is coiled, and induces a structural shift that exposes select genes to get read out and used. In previous work<\/a>, Chen and his colleagues found that MYSM1 was essential in the early development of the immune systems\u2019 B cells.<\/p>\n

To pinpoint how MYSM1 might influence the growth of NK cells, the scientists made use of the surface markers specific to each stage of these cells\u2019 development to count the amounts of NK cells at various points in the maturation process in the bone marrow, spleen and blood of six normal mice. When they compared those cell counts with those found in six mice specifically bred to lack MYSM1, they found the MYSM1-deficient mice had no mature NK cells. Yet, when scientists exposed immature NK cells taken from these MYSM1-deficient mice to a viral vector carrying the enzyme, the cells went on to develop into mature NKs cells.<\/p>\n

To learn more about how MYSM1 exerted its effects, the researchers used labeling techniques to determine where the enzyme was typically found on strands of DNA. Interestingly, MYSM1 associated most with Id2, a gene known for making transcription factors that allow cell growth to continue. <\/b>Furthermore, the enzyme was frequently located in the company of NFIL3, a protein that activates transcription at Id2<\/i>. This work suggests that MYSM1 controls the final stages of NK maturation by recruiting proteins needed to activate factors that enable more development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is still basic science research,\u201d says Chen. \u201cBut we\u2019ve seen that overexpressing MYSM1 can make the NK cells stronger. Still, we don\u2019t know if human NK cells will behave the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further research should also help shed light on the utility of enhancing NK cell maturation to treat tumors. \u201cFrom a cancer therapy point of view, this new research would enhance the NK immune response system overall,\u201d says Mathew. \u201cWhether that can be used to target specific cancers is the question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Image by Sebastian Kaulitzki via Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Natural killer cells are the instant assassins of the immune system with the ability to destroy foreign invaders and cancer cells at first sight. Although scientists have been studying how to harness the lethal abilities of these cells for more than three decades, little has been known about how these \u2018NK\u2019 cells develop from unspecialized immune cells. Now, researchers have discovered an enzyme that uses an epigenetic pathway\u2014a process that modifies the way a cell\u2019s DNA is read without actually changing the genetic blueprint itself\u2014to boost the growth and function of NK cells.  Read more<\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30766,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cancer","category-odds-and-ends"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30766"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5368\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}