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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Development Of Methods To Modulate Natural Killer Cells, Kari A. Shaver
Development Of Methods To Modulate Natural Killer Cells, Kari A. Shaver
Honors Undergraduate Theses
Natural Killer (NK) cell based immunotherapies have demonstrated success against malignancies and hematological cancers. However, tumors have developed mechanisms to evade detection by and suppress the immune system, commonly through altering the expression of cell-surface proteins. Overexpression of human leukocyte antigen-E (HLA-E), which binds to the inhibitory NKG2A on NK cells, protects malignant cells from lysis. Downregulating the NKG2A receptor on NK cells should release NK cell inhibition, but proves challenging as NK cells are difficult to transfect and no good methods currently exist. This project is designed to investigate the use of exosomes – small vesicles and natural carriers …
Activation And Expansion Of Natural Killer Cells For Cancer Immunotherapy With Ex21 Exosomes, Sara Khederzadeh
Activation And Expansion Of Natural Killer Cells For Cancer Immunotherapy With Ex21 Exosomes, Sara Khederzadeh
Honors Undergraduate Theses
In the field of cancer immunotherapy, NK cells are recognized for their ability to provide a form of innate immunity against tumor cells. However, the average abundance of NK cells in the blood can be as low as 5% of the total lymphocyte population. As a result, it has been a focus to find novel therapies to expand NK cells in vitro while subsequently enhancing the cytotoxicity of these cells. Previously-defined methods include the minimal expansion of NK cells with high levels of cytokines such as IL-2 and IL-15, as well as co-culturing NK cells with feeder cell populations that …