Comparative Analysis of Immune Checkpoint Molecules and Their Potential Role in the Transmissible Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease.

ABSTRACT: Immune checkpoint molecules function as a system of checks and balances that enhance or inhibit immune responses to infectious agents, foreign tissues, and cancerous cells. Immunotherapies that target immune checkpoint molecules, particularly the inhibitory molecules programmed cell death 1 and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), have revolutionized human oncology in recent years, yet little is known about these key immune signaling molecules in species other than primates and rodents. The Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease is caused by transmissible cancers that have resulted in a massive decline in the wild Tasmanian devil population. We have recently demonstrated that the inhibitory checkpoint molecule PD-L1 is upregulated on Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii<

SUBMITTER: Flies AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5413580 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature