Associate Professor Lucas Ferrari de Andrade | A New Antibody Helps Immune Cells Hold on to Tumours
About this episode
Some cancer drugs work by tagging tumour cells, a bit like sticking a bright label on an intruder, so that the body’s natural killer cells can spot and destroy them. Cetuximab is one example of a drug that can tag cancer cells in this way. But there’s a catch. Natural killer cells grab those tags using a receptor on their surfaces called CD16a. When natural killer cells are activated, like when they meet a tagged tumour cell, an enzyme can cut CD16a away from the cell surface. The severed receptor is released into the bloodstream, leaving the cell unable to hold on to its target.
Original research published by:
Original article:
Summary of the paper: ‘A monoclonal antibody that inhibits the shedding of CD16a and CD16b and promotes antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity against tumors’, in Nature Communications, doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64862-5
Funding:
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
US Department of Defense
American Lung Association
American Cancer Society
Elsa U. Pardee Foundation
TCI Developmental Funds Award
Contact:
For further information, you can connect with Associate Professor Lucas Ferrari de Andrade (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai) at Lucas.FerrarideAndrade@mssm.edu
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