The Rise of NK Cell Checkpoints as Promising Therapeutic Targets in Cancer Immunotherapy.

ABSTRACT: Checkpoint immunotherapy that targets inhibitory receptors of T cells, thereby reversing the functional exhaustion of T cells, marks a breakthrough in anticancer therapy. The success of T cell-directed checkpoint inhibitors of CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 has opened a new approach for cancer immunotherapy and resulted in extensive research on immune checkpoints. However, it is only in recent years that research on NK cell exhaustion and potential checkpoints impacting NK cells has become popular. NK cells, as the major player in innate immunity, are critical for immune surveillance, particularly the control of metastasis and hematological cancers. The balance between activating and inhibitory signals fine tunes the activation and effector functions of NK cells, and transformed cells modulate NK c

SUBMITTER: Sun H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6812684 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature