Search and Swarm

Microscopic detectives patrol the streets of our body, watching for trouble in every tissue and organ. If they spot a crook, they radio for backup. These immune system officers are cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). CTLs sniff out invading bugs or cells turned bad, like cancer, and are even given as treatment for some cancers. How they coordinate independently from other immune system components is unclear, and better understanding could lead to improved treatment efficacy. A new study examined the process in a 3D recreation of a tumour and its environment, and showed that once a CTL finds a tumour, it calls in others with chemical signals. More arrive, in turn building the alarm call and creating a swarm (green) which attacks the tumour cells (purple), leaving just broken down remnants (red). Many therapies aim to boost the immune system’s anti-cancer arsenal, and this tumour-targeting strategy could be a useful addition.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Video from work by Jorge Luis Galeano Niño, Sophie V Pageon and Szun S Tay, and colleagues
• EMBL Australia, Single Molecule Science node, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, October 2020