Dr Elena Lo Presti, IRIB CNR Palermo.
Seminario : “Exploring gd T cells and their distinctive features
for a promising cancer therapy”
17/12/2020 alle 14:30 su TEAMS
Abstract:
Amongst tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in humans there is a subpopulation of T cells unconventional called gd T cells that participate in tumor immune surveillance. gd T lymphocytes are typically CD4-CD8- double negative (DN) and based on the Vd chain used to make their T cell receptor (TCR) are classified in Vd1, Vd2 and Vd3 T cells with predominant localization in different districts of the body.
To date, their clinical relevance is unclear because the relative frequencies of tumor – infiltrating gd T cells correlate with tumor remission or progression, or do not correlate at all with prognosis. Indeed, many studies suggest that gd T cells may play different effector or regulatory functions in dependence on tumor microenvironment.
Considering the features of this population and the increasing interest to exploit them in tumor immunotherapy, there is urgent need to fully understand the biological functions of gd T cells and of how they can be manipulated in vivo and ex vivo to safely provide benefit to the patients.
This talk will focus on previous and ongoing studies of tumor-infiltrating gd T lymphocytes in different types of human cancer and their application in the current immunotherapeutic strategies.