干细胞样CD4 T细胞的发现为癌症免疫治疗带来了新的希望

埃默里大学温希普癌症研究所的研究人员发现了一种新型的免疫细胞，称为干细胞样CD4 T细胞，它在抗肿瘤免疫中起着关键作用。

Researchers at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have identified a novel type of immune cell, called the stem-like CD4 T cell, that plays a pivotal role in anti-tumor immunity.

这些干细胞样CD4 T细胞存在于肿瘤附近的淋巴结中。虽然这些细胞能够产生强大的抗肿瘤反应，但它们通常保持不活跃状态，限制了免疫系统对肿瘤的反应。

The study reveals that these stem-like CD4 T cells reside in the lymph nodes near tumors. While capable of driving a powerful anti-tumor response, these cells often remain inactive, limiting the immune system's response to the tumor.

干细胞样CD4 T细胞具有自我更新和转化为不同免疫细胞类型的能力。

The stem-like CD4 T cells have the ability to renew themselves and transform into different immune cell types.

虽然发现癌症患者的免疫系统处于这种空闲状态很常见，但发现干细胞样CD4 T细胞能够切换到活跃状态。在动物模型中，它可以重新启动强大的抗肿瘤免疫反应，增强对PD1阻断的反应。

Most importantly, while finding the immune system of patients with cancer in this idle state is common, they discovered that the stem-like CD4 T cell is capable of switching to an active state. It can restart a powerful anti-tumor immune response and enhance responsiveness to PD1 blockade in animal models.

未来需要对这一发现进行探索，以确定如何启动细胞的免疫反应并使其保持下去。研究人员的目标是使用mRNA和脂质纳米颗粒（LNP）技术重新编程这些干细胞样CD4 T细胞，有效地消除对癌症免疫反应的刹车。

Future exploration of this discovery is needed to determine how to turn the cells' immune response on and keep it on. Researchers aim to use mRNA and lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology to re-program these stem-like CD4 T cells, effectively removing the brakes on the immune response to cancer.

Journal reference:

Cardenas, M. A., et al. (2024). Differentiation fate of a stem-like CD4 T cell controls immunity to cancer. Nature. doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08076-7.