The fight against cancer never ends. Experts are constantly searching for new knowledge. How can we fight the disease that takes many thousands of lives in Norway every year? In Oslo, researchers have begun to take a closer look at a very special cell in our body. This is an immune cell we are born with, and is referred to as nothing less than a killer cell (NK cell). In English it is called the natural killer cell. And as the name suggests, these cells specialize in killing cancer cells. Now the Norwegian researchers believe and hope that the contents of this cell could be the next big thing in cancer treatment. The study is published in Frontiers in Immunology. A secret weapon? Because it is not the cells themselves that should be the solution. They contain a kind of secret weapon. A weapon known in technical terms as vesicles. And these are separated from the cells. These are small blisters consisting of fat, which have a cavity filled with toxic proteins. And now the researchers in Oslo have found out more about these “killer torpedoes”. – We have discovered that we can distinguish these from other types of vesicles. In this way they form a kind of arsenal of weapons. Our research also shows that this type of vesicle is probably stored in a separate “attack department” inside the NK cell. That’s what Miriam Aarsund Larsen says. She is a research fellow at the University of Oslo. Now the researchers hope that these vesicles can contribute to developing a completely new type of immunotherapy against cancer. Fellow Miriam Aarsund Larsen (left), professor Marit Inngjerdingen and postdoctoral fellow Yunjie Wu (right) at the Department of Pharmacology at the Department of Clinical Medicine at UiO. They are researching vesicles in NK cells. Photo: Ine Eriksen / UiO Killing cancer cells The vesicles inside the NK cells have an ability to attach to cancer cells, penetrate them and then kill them. According to the researchers, this should be an advantage compared to other forms of treatment against the disease. – The killer torpedoes are good at getting into cancer tumours. They can then use their abilities and kill the cancer cells from the inside, says Aarsund Larsen. The fellow adds that they also envision being able to fill the vesicles with chemotherapy, and in this way provide a more targeted treatment with fewer side effects. But the researchers stress that the work is still very much in its infancy. – Natural torpedoes Immunotherapy is something that has been heard about for quite some time. This treatment consists of a number of different products. Professor Marit Inggjerdingen explains this to news. – The use of immune cells is still mostly at an experimental stage, but has shown promising results. Here, modified cells from either the patient or from a donor are used to kill the cancer cells. We base ourselves on another form of therapy, where we use the “shield” or “weapons” found inside the immune cells. The hope is to be able to utilize these in a new way. – We think the “weapons” must be able to be used therapeutically. They contain natural toxins that kill cancer cells, and they are already designed to attach to cancer cells. So, we can see them as the body’s natural torpedoes against cancer. Great competition There are many people in Norway who do research on vesicles. But the researchers at UiO are the only ones researching vesicles from the immune system’s killer cells. Nevertheless, the competition is great. – We are in a strong international competitive situation to be the first to come up with a product for cancer patients. International interest is great. The potential is enormous, says Marit Inggjerdingen. The next step for the Norwegian researchers is to test these killer torpedoes on sick mice. – We will make mice sick with either intestinal cancer or brain cancer, and then see if we can make them healthy with our vesicles. Here you can see electron microscopy of the killer vesicles. The size varies between 50–200 nanometers, and they have the characteristic doughnut shape. Photo: UiO
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Researchers believe the body’s own killer cells may be the next big thing in cancer treatment – news Trøndelag
