Disrupting NKG2A:HLA-E Interactions for Enhanced Anti-Cancer Immunity

Oncotarget

BUFFALO, NY- August 21, 2024 – A new #editorial was #published in Oncotarget's Volume 15 on July 17, 2024, entitled, “Strategies to disrupt NKG2A:HLA-E interactions for improved anti-cancer immunity.” Two studies using CRISPR screens in cancer cells identified HLA-E as a critical negative regulator of NK cell interactions with cancer cells. Consistent with this, IFNγ signaling was associated with NK cell resistance due to increased STAT1 activation and enhanced HLA-E expression. This effect is also evident in the murine homolog of HLA-E, Qa-1b, which was upregulated by inflammatory signals across all cell types tested. In addition to inflammatory signals, researchers Jack G. Fisher, Lara V. Graham, and Matthew D. Blunt from Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton, UK, recently demonstrated that surface expression of HLA-E is increased by lymph node-associated signals IL-4 and CD40L on primary chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) cells. Additionally, two recent studies have shown that HLA-E can protect circulating tumor cells from NK cell lysis via NKG2A, suggesting that targeting the NKG2A axis could be a promising strategy for preventing metastasis in solid tumors. “In conclusion, there is strong preclinical evidence that disruption of NKG2A interactions with HLA-E can stimulate both NK cell and cytotoxic T cell effector functions against cancer.” DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28610 Correspondence to - Matthew D. Blunt - [e-mail] Video short - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQREIa-RToU Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://oncotarget.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Foncotarget.28610 Subscribe for free publication alerts from Oncotarget - https://www.oncotarget.com/subscribe/ Keywords - cancer, Natural killer (NK) cells, immunotherapy, NKG2A, immune checkpoint blockade, HLA-E About Oncotarget Oncotarget (a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal) aims to maximize research impact through insightful peer-review; eliminate borders between specialties by linking different fields of oncology, cancer research and biomedical sciences; and foster application of basic and clinical science. Oncotarget is indexed and archived by PubMed/Medline, PubMed Central, Scopus, EMBASE, META (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative) (2018-2022), and Dimensions (Digital Science). To learn more about Oncotarget, please visit https://www.oncotarget.com and connect with us: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Oncotarget/ X - https://twitter.com/oncotarget Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/oncotargetjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@OncotargetJournal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/oncotarget Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/oncotarget/ Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/user/Oncotarget/ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0gRwT6BqYWJzxzmjPJwtVh [e-mail]