Recognition of BRCA1 deficient mammary tumour cells by γδ T cells (360G-Wellcome-206968_Z_17_Z)
gammadelta T cells are immune cells, which express a T cell receptor whilst behaving like innate immune cells. There are two main subsets of gammadelta T cells in mice. CD27+ (IFNg-producing) gammadelta T cells are anti-tumourigenic, whilst CD27— (IL-17-producing) gammadelta T cells are pro-tumourigenic. However, the function of the anti-tumourigenic properties of CD27+ gammadelta T cells are not entirely known. Previous studies have shown that CD27+ gammadelta T cells kill cancer cells using the NKG2D receptor that binds stress signals that are not normally present in healthy tissue. The key goal of this project is to determine whether CD27+ gammadelta T cells kill BRCA1-deficient cancer cells through the NKG2D receptor due to the expression of stress ligands on the cancer cells. BRCA1 is a protein involved in DNA damage repair. My host lab has found that BRCA1-deficient breast cancer cells upregulate NKG2D ligands, suggesting that increased DNA damage leads to expression of stress signals. To address this goal, we will use techniques including western blot and flow cytometry following co-culture of CD27+ gammadelta T cells with cancer cells. It is hoped that robust T cell therapy will become a reality once we better understand the mechanisms of gammadelta T cells.
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