A recent study published by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst may have uncovered one way that tumors evade detection by the immune system.

According to senior study author Dr. Leonid Pobezinsky, his team’s recent discovery found that T cells and T regulatory cells, two important types of cancer-fighting cells in the body’s immune system, may absorb some of a tumor’s cytoplasm (liquid within the cell) and incorporate it into their cytoplasm. Although scientists have been aware for some time that cells have been exchanging cellular material, the T cell transfers from tumor cells have never before been observed.

The team says this illustrates how cytoplasm disbursed by tumor cells can alter the protein are coded in T cells and T regulatory cells, which may effect their ability to recognize tumor cells that would otherwise be eliminated by the immune system. This may represent a step towards understanding single-cell RNA sequencing and providing potentially better treatments. The study’s findings were first published in Frontiers in Immunology.

About the Discovery

Dr. Pobezinsky and members of his team introduced ZsGreen, a fluorescent protein they had engineered, into a mouse model to study tumor cells. Eight days later, the team analyzed the immune cells using specialized equipment at the UMass Flow Cytometry laboratory. Dr. Pobezinsky described their findings as ‘striking,’ noting that the T cells glowed “uniformly green” — a sign that the cytoplasm from tumor cells was widely distributed within the T cells. Dr. Pobezinsky said that it was another surprise to find T regulatory cells lit up. It appeared that the brightest glowing cells were tumor-fighting cells.

Based on this data, the team came to the conclusion that in order to transfer cellular materials, the immune system and the tumor cells must be in physical contact.

You can read more about the study over at the UMass Amherst newsroom, or find the full study data at Frontiers in Immunology.