Metabolic Regulation of T Cell Longevity and Function in Tumor Immunotherapy

Overview

Journal Cell Metab

Publisher Cell Press

Specialties Cell Biology
Endocrinology

Date 2017 Jul 7

PMID 28683298

Citations 275

Authors

Rigel J Kishton

Madhusudhanan Sukumar

Nicholas P Restifo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Cancer immunotherapy is an increasingly successful strategy for the treatment of patients who have advanced or conventional therapy-resistant cancers. T cells are key mediators of tumor destruction and their specificity for tumor-expressed antigens is of paramount importance, but other T cell-intrinsic qualities, such as durability, longevity, and functionality also play important roles in determining the efficacy of immunotherapy. The cellular energetic pathways that are utilized by T cells play a key role in regulating each of these qualities. Metabolic activity, which both regulates and is regulated by cellular signaling pathways and epigenetics, also profoundly influences the trajectories of T cell differentiation and fate. In this Review, we discuss how cell metabolism influences T cell anti-tumor activity, the metabolic qualities of highly-functional T cells, and strategies to modulate metabolism for improving the immune response to tumors.

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