Common molecule notifies immune system of prost...(ystery deepened when mice were engineere...),Health

Returning to their experiments in the lab dish, the team decided to focus on specific parts of the tumor cells. They soon discovered that only molecules from the nucleus activated their T cells.

This was really a surprise, because normally, nuclear proteins don't get fed onto the cell surface, said Allison. And in living animals, T cells only recognize molecules on the surface of other cells they can't peer deep into the nucleus.

The team then searched for particular nuclear proteins that activated the T cells. They eventually struck on histone H4. As the wrapper that sheaths the DNA inside all cells, histones are abundant in the nucleus. The finding explained why the normal cells, when chopped up, had activated the T cells their histones were being exposed.

The team had identified the molecular signpost that activated the T cells, but they had also landed on another big question how do the histones rise to the surface of the tumor cells. Every cell has a ton of histone, and we just don't know why the tumor cells put it on their surface, said Allison.

The team is now examining the blood of patients with prostate and other cancers to see if people, like mice, carry T cells sensitive to histone. If so, then we can take those cells out and try to activate them, said Allison. Those cells already recognize the tumor. If we can mobilize them, maybe it will have a therapeutic effect.

Allison and his colleagues are also conducting studies to determine whether the presence of histone H4-reactive T cells in the blood could be used as a diagnostic marker for the early detection of prostate cancer.

'/>"/>