Scientists from the Montreal Clinical Research Institute created Z10, a specific antibody that stimulates macrophages to capture and destroy cancer cells. results published In the journal Nature.
Macrophages are cells of the human immune system. One of the functions of macrophages is to engulf and “eat” defective cells, including cancer cells. This process is called phagocytosis. However, in some types of cancer, macrophages become dormant and cannot effectively protect the body from threats.
Scientists explained that a special molecule, CD47, is often found in cancer cells. CD47 slows phagocytosis by activating the macrophage checkpoint receptor SIRPα. They also found that CD47 not only inhibits the activity of macrophages but also reduces the activity of the SLAMF7 molecule in cancer cells in blood cancers such as leukemia. This accelerates the proliferation of tumor cells. The research team tried to find a way to block this mechanism.
The newly developed antibody Z10 increases the destruction of cancer cells by reducing the effect of CD47 on SLAMF7. The authors of the study hope that their discovery will enable the development of new approaches to treating diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma. The research team is currently partnering with pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs to test Z10 in clinical trials.
It was before named A new way to detect stomach cancer with 90% accuracy.
Source: Gazeta
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