"I hope our work will lead to drugs for our patients that help the immune system’s ability to recognize and eliminate cancer."
In cancer, dendritic cells (DCs) can tell T cells either to tolerate or attack tumor cells. To understand what determines this decision, Dr. Anandasabapathy is exploring which DC genes suppress anti-cancer immunity. She has already identified one that regulates tumor immunity. High expression of this gene promotes tolerance, and when the gene is turned off, anti-tumor T cells expand and smaller tumors are “seen” by the immune system. Now, her goal is to further characterize how this gene functions and how it leads to immune tolerance of tumors. Then, she plans to use this knowledge to identify and test promising drug candidates that can block these signals and promote anti-tumor activity.