Improving natural killer cancer therapy
Whitney Rabacal, Eric Sebzda , Ph.D., and colleagues show in a study that a transcription factor called KLF2 is critical for NK cell expansion and survival.
They discovered that KLF2 both limits immature NK cell proliferation and instructs mature NK cells to home to niches rich in interleukin 15 (IL-15), which is necessary for their continued survival.
Importantly, this report suggests that tumors avoid immune clearance by promoting KLF2 destruction within the NK cell population, thereby starving these cells of IL-15.
Therefore, recruiting IL-15 transpresenting cells to tumor microenvironments may improve NK cell-mediated cancer therapy by preventing NK cell exhaustion and restoring antitumor immunity.
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