Reprogramming Exhausted Melanoma “Killer” Cells in Mice


Grantee: Weiguo Cui, PhD
Institution: Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee
Area of Study: Leukemia, Immunology, and Blood Cell Development
Grant Term: 1/1/18 to 12/31/21

The Challenge: Immunotherapy uses a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. Certain types of immunotherapy known as cell therapy or cell transfer therapy, use immune cells called T cells, which are a type of white blood cell. The patient’s T cells are genetically changed in a lab to make them better able to kill cancer cells and returned to the patient’s body. But these superpowered T cells don’t work at full speed forever. They gradually become exhausted, and their cancer-killing abilities weaken.

The Research: Weiguo Cui, PhD, and his team on working on immunotherapy for melanoma. They believe they’ve found a genetic pathway that controls the T cells’ “killing” strength and duration. Using mice that have melanoma, Cui and his team are studying the pathway and hope to use it to design new ways to reprogram the exhausted T cells, thereby allowing them to regain and keep their “super-killing” abilities. 

The Goal and Potential Long-Term Benefits: Cui’s team is hopeful that their work in mice will eventually lead to human studies to help develop new immunotherapy treatments that target different types of cancer cells.

Skin Cancer ACS Research Highlights