Stanford University and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia researchers have created a molecular framework for reprogramming immune responses. By either directly altering immune cells or producing proteins that aid immune cells in locating cancer cells, TRACeR-I can be utilized to produce cancer therapies. Immunotherapy is currently being used extensively to treat viral infections, autoimmune disorders, and cancer; nevertheless, its efficacy depends on its capacity to target disease cells precisely. Since human MHC-I proteins come in over 30,000 distinct forms, it is extremely difficult to create therapies that can identify these peptides in broad patient populations and cure a range of illnesses.
The first significant discovery was made by Stanford researchers who created TRACeRs, platforms that can identify several variations of these MHC proteins. In order to treat the relevant sick cells while preserving healthy cells, TRACeRs function as “master keys” that can unlock a number of “locks” presented by various MHC proteins. In order to better understand the potential of the TRACeR-I platform, CHOP researchers used x-ray crystallography to demonstrate how the platform binds to specific regions of the MHC-I complex that remain constant across versions while still recognizing the peptides that indicate the presence of cancer cells or other harmful material on the surface.
