Researchers uncover immune cell marker and regulator of anti-tumor immunity

They found a cell surface receptor called TIM-1 expressed on these B cells during melanoma growth. They also characterized multiple accompanying cell surface proteins that were involved in the B cell's immune function. Interestingly, they found that deleting a molecule TIM-1, but not any of the other accompanying proteins, dramatically decreased tumor growth. The researchers concluded that TIM-1 controls B cell activation and immune response that combats cancer, including activating another type of the killer tumor-specific T cells for inhibiting tumor growth.

"The collaboration across institutions was extremely fruitful as we combined our immunology expertise at the Brigham with work at David Fisher's MGH laboratory where seminal discoveries in skin malignancies have been made," said lead author Lloyd Bod, PhD, of the Department of Neurology at the Brigham, who conducted this work while completing his postdoctoral fellowship at the Brigham. Bod is now an Assistant Professor and an independent investigator at the Mass General Cancer Center. "The collaboration allowed us to test and demonstrate the therapeutic potential of targeting TIM-1 in melanoma models."