Employees of the Scripps Research Institute (USA) have discovered rare human antibodies that, in acute myelogenous leukemia, cause malignant cells to kill a friend.

This is reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

California scientists say that these amazing antibodies actually transform malignant cells into hunter cells that find their own kind and destroy.

An incredible discovery can be used to develop a fundamentally new therapy for blood cancer, and possibly other cancers.

The laboratory of Professor Lerner (Richard A Lerner) was one of the first in the world to develop a technology for the analysis of large libraries of antibodies. Thanks to it, scientists can quickly calculate a probable candidate for research among tens of thousands of diverse biological molecules. That's how they found antibodies that make cancer kill themselves.

According to the professor, antibodies activate the growth factor receptors in immature bone marrow cells, which should induce the maturation of certain blood cells. An unexpected result of exposure to such antibodies is the transformation of immature bone marrow cells into something radically different from their "relatives".

How it works?.

In acute myeloblastic leukemia, the myeloid germ of the hematopoietic bone marrow tissue is characterized by malignant growth and produces, instead of normal mature leukocytes, pathological cells - myeloblasts, which are unable to further develop and function properly. Using new antibodies, scientists were able to get completely new cells, which began to kill their sick "relatives".

The researchers explain that with myeloblastic leukemia a large percentage of malignant cells carry a mutation of the gene for the receptor for thrombopoietin (TPO). The antibodies used proved to be a potent selective activator of this receptor. When they are inserted into the bone marrow, one of two situations can occur.

If the antibodies come in contact with normal immature bone marrow cells, the result is simply the megakaryocytes - giant cells that are responsible for platelet production.

If the antibodies were in contact with a malignant hematopoietic germ, then the so-called myeloid dendritic cells that are regulating the immune response.

These dendritic cells under certain conditions turned into something very reminiscent of natural killers (NK cells), which are responsible for a rapid immune response. Normally they are able to fight against viruses, bacteria and cancer cells, even if they have not previously been contacted with them.

Then the fun begins. Observing the behavior of these hunter cells under a microscope, the researchers found that they destroy the membranes and cause the lysis of cancer cells that used to be their "brothers".

Incredibly, in vitro, a modest number of NK cells in just 24 hours killed about 15% of nearby myeloblasts. At the same time, they did not touch other cancer cells (for example, breast cancer), hunting only for genetically close cells.

Great future.

Richard Lerner calls this a big breakthrough and a completely new approach to cancer. He says that today his staff are working on the preparation of unique antibodies to early clinical trials on humans.

Professor Lerner dubbed hutch cells fratricidins (fratricidins), and developed a method of treating cancer - fratricidal therapy (fratricidal therapy). These unusual terms go back to the Latin words frater (brother) and caedo (kill), that is, hint that the resulting NK cells are "fratricide".

The scientist is sure that these cells can be used in clinical practice with minimal modification or even without it. The likelihood of side effects with such treatment is low, therefore fratricidial therapy should be better tolerated than current chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia.

medbe. en.

Keywords:.