Absence of NKG2D ligands defines leukaemia stem cells and mediates their immune evasion.

ABSTRACT: Patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) often achieve remission after therapy, but subsequently die of relapse¹ that is driven by chemotherapy-resistant leukaemic stem cells (LSCs)^2,3. LSCs are defined by their capacity to initiate leukaemia in immunocompromised mice⁴. However, this precludes analyses of their interaction with lymphocytes as components of anti-tumour immunity⁵, which LSCs must escape to induce cancer. Here we demonstrate that stemness and immune evasion are closely intertwined in AML. Using xenografts of human AML as well as syngeneic mouse models of leukaemia, we show that ligands of the danger detector NKG2D-a critical mediator of anti-tumour immunity by cytotoxic lymphocytes, such as NK cells^6-9-are generally ex

SUBMITTER: Paczulla AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6934414 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature