Harnessing NK cell mechanics for fine-tuning cancer immunotherapy

Cells of the immune system help maintain health and defence against cancer by detecting and killing cancer cells in the human body. Immunotherapy is a cancer treatment strategy that boosts the immune system to fight cancer using native immune cells made in the body. Natural killer (NK) cells are a subpopulation of immune cells. NK cell-based immunotherapy has gained attention for cancer treatment due to the relatively simple procedure, although their low efficacy remains a challenge, despite many breakthroughs. An NK cell has a sophisticated molecular architecture that dynamically changes when interacting with neighbouring and target cells. When NK cells encounter cancer cells, their molecular architecture is changed to enhance their ability to combat cancer. However, details of how this happens are not entirely understood, limiting our ability to engineer them for fighting cancer. I will study the properties of cellular structures under the stimuli of weak or strong immune responses to find the best cellular architecture for cancer immunotherapy. An understanding of structural change during immune response will provide valuable information to devise a novel strategy for cancer treatment.