Newly discovered immune cell has a remarkable ability to target and eliminate cancer cells and defend against viruses like SARS-CoV-2, according to the preclinical research published in the journal Cell (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Therapeutic application of human type 2 innate lymphoid cells via induction of granzyme B-mediated tumor cell death

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Human type-2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s), when expanded outside the body, can be deployed in larger quantities to overcome a tumor’s defenses and eradicate malignant cells in mouse models of cancer.

“We have identified human ILC2 cells as a new member of the cell family capable of directly killing all types of cancers, including blood cancers and solid tumors,” said Jianhua Yu, Professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope, California, US.

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“In the future, these cells could be manufactured, preserved by freezing, and then administered to patients. Unlike T cell-based therapies like CAR T-cells, which necessitate using the patient’s cells due to their specific characteristics, ILC2s might be sourced from healthy donors, presenting a distinct potential therapeutic approach as an allogeneic and ‘off-the-shelf’ product,” Yu added.

In previous research focussed on mouse cells, ILC2s had not consistently shown promise when tested for their cancer-killing abilities.

However, in the new study, researchers found “that human ILC2s function as direct cancer killers while their mouse counterparts do not,” said Michael Caligiuri, Professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope.

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To test human ILC2s, Yu and the team first isolated the cells from a blood sample. Then, they developed a novel platform that in four weeks can expand ILC2s harvested from the body 2,000-fold.

They next injected these externally expanded ILC2s into mice engrafted with human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or solid tumors, including pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, and glioblastoma.

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The results showed that this ILC2 population could kill these tumors via a previously unknown cancer-killing mechanism.

“One convincing and direct piece of evidence appeared when we placed one ILC2 and one tumor cell directly together and found that the tumor cell died, but the ILC2 cell survived,” Yu said.”This proves that the ILC2s directly killed the cancer cell in the absence of any other cell.”

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ILC2s are rare in the body, Caligiuri said, found in the highest numbers in the lungs, gut, and skin.

Yu noted that the ILC2s do not need to come from the cancer patient’s cells, meaning that there may be the possibility of harvesting and freezing ILC2s from healthy donors for ILC2 treatment options in the future.

“We aim to really expand the applications of these findings, potentially beyond cancer treatments,” Yu said, noting that “ILC2s may even work against viruses, such as COVID-19”.

Reference:

1. Therapeutic application of human type 2 innate lymphoid cells via induction of granzyme B-mediated tumor cell death
   – (https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(23)01347-8.pdf)

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