Periodic Reporting for period 4 - CD4DNASP (Cell intrinsic control of CD4 T cell differentiation by cytosolic DNA sensing pathways)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-02-01 bis 2021-07-31
Our team is dedicated to finding novel strategies to fight cancer. We are especially focused on strategies that aim to harness the anticancer potential of our immune system. Indeed, in the last ten years, researchers and clinicians have provided the demonstration that in some cancers, therapeutic agents restoring immune responses could successfully treat patients. However, these successes are noted only for a small fraction of cancer patients, underscoring the need to better understand how anticancer immune responses are elicited to develop novel anticancer immunotherapy strategies. We are in that regard interested in a very specific subset of white blood cells, named CD4 T cells. These cells can indeed exert potent anticancer functions when appropriately stimulated. They can for example become IL-9-secreting CD4 T cells (TH9 cells), which have been shown to exert anticancer activities through several ways. Our goal is first to understand the signals that can further enhance CD4 T cell anticancer potential and then use those cells as therapeutic tools. CD4 T cells with a high anticancer potential could be adoptively transferred to patients to favor anticancer immunity and cancer regression.
We have tested the ability of a molecule that is perceived as a danger signal to CD4 T cells to enhance their activity. We found that their activity was indeed enhanced upon activation of molecules recognizing danger signals. These results were also obtained using human CD4 cells. We have obtained results explaining how this process occurs inside the CD4 T cells upon activation. Because some danger signals can trigger anticancer immune responses in vivo, we have tested the ability of our candidate molecule to favor anticancer immunity. We found that our candidate molecule triggered anticancer immunity through activation of T cells.
We believe that our candidate molecule could be utilized to enhance the anticancer properties of T cells. This therapeutic strategy could be used in combination with immunomodulation and chemotherapy for optimal anticancer effects.