UT researchers see promise for cancer treatment in new discovery

A recent discovery by University of Texas (UT) researchers promises to help create more effective cancer treatment by adding to the understanding of how cancer-fighting T cells work.

The pre-clinical research by staff at the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center may have identified a protein – NF-kappa B-inducing kinase (NIK) – that plays an important role in the metabolic activity of T cells, according to a UT press release. The implication is that administering the protein could help to activate the cells as part of immunotherapy treatment.

“NIK is a novel regulator of T cell metabolism that works in a very unique manner. Biologically, NIK activity stabilizes the HK2 glycolytic enzyme through regulating the cellular redox pathway,” corresponding author Shao-Cong Sun, Ph.D., professor of Immunology, said in the release. “From the therapeutic point of view, we were able to improve the efficacy of adoptive T cell therapies in preclinical models by overexpressing NIK in those cells.”

The metabolic rates of T cells are normally suppressed by other proteins, preventing them from acting until they are needed by the body for defense, according to the release. However, the HK2 glycolytic enzyme inhibits those proteins from slowing the T cell metabolic activity.

“Our findings suggest that without NIK, the HK2 protein is not stable, and is constantly being degraded. You need NIK to maintain HK2 levels in T cells,” Sun said in the release. “Interestingly, we found that adding more NIK to the cells, you can further increase the levels of HK2 and make glycolysis more active.”

The work on the new treatment currently remains at the laboratory level, with researchers continuing to work on cells separate from any patient in order to better understand how the treatment affects individual cells, according to the release. The expectation is that any therapy developed would be part of a large immunological treatment regimen.