March 2022: Madi: On exhaustion of T cells in cancer
Dr. Asaf Madi, Edmond J. Safra affiliate, publishes a study on exhaustion of T cells in cancer.
Dr. Asaf Madi, Edmond J. Safra affiliate (Medicine), in collaboration with colleagues from Yale and Harvard, mapped the entire signaling cascade of Type 1 interferon (IFN-I) in human T cells and found regulatory mechanisms that drive the expression of co-inhibitory receptors in humans.
T cells play a key role in protecting our body from cancer. However, once those T cells are exposed to the tumor, they lose their function and become exhausted. Immune checkpoint blockade targeting T cell co-inhibitory receptors, thereby preventing exhaustion, has revolutionized cancer treatment. However, many patients still do not respond to these drugs, highlighting the importance of studying the mechanism of T cell exhaustion. The study reveals regulatory mechanisms of co-inhibitory receptor induction in human T cells by IFN-I.
The research published in Nature Immunology was featured in online newspaper DOCTORS ONLY.