IL-15 Improves the Ability of Natural Killer Cells to Attack Cancerous Tissue
Cancerous tissue can manipulate the immune system, hindering its ability to eliminate cancer cells and even enlisting the help of immune cells to promote tumor growth. The complexity of these interactions and their impact on different types of immune cells and cancer forms is still not fully understood. However, ongoing cancer research aims to uncover ways to disrupt these harmful interactions. One potential strategy involves targeting specific subsets of immune cells such as natural killer (NK) cells.
Immune cell dysfunction within the tumor microenvironment (TME) undermines the control of cancer progression. Established tumors contain phenotypically distinct, tumor-specific NK cells, but the mechanisms and functional significance of the NK cell compartment are not fully understood. A recent study using photo-labeling, longitudinal transcriptomic, and cellular analyses examined the fate of intratumoral NK cells.
The study revealed that NK cells lose effector functions and undergo a distinct phenotypic transformation with traits associated with tissue residency. Depleting NK cells from established tumors did not affect tumor growth, suggesting that intratumoral NK cells no longer actively contribute to anti-tumor responses. However, the administration of IL-15 prevented the loss of function in NK cells and improved tumor control, leading to the generation of intratumoral NK cells with tissue-residency characteristics and enhanced effector function. These findings shed light on the fate of NK cells after recruitment into tumors and provide insights into reviving their function.
