Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Role Of Hla-Drb1 Fucosylation In Anti-Melanoma Immunity, Daniel K. Lester

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Melanoma is the one of the most lethal skin malignancies due to its ability to rapidly metastasize and evade the immune system. One factor that influences melanoma’s ability to metastasize and evade the immune system is the tumor microenvironment. The tumor microenvironment is a complex ecosystem that consists of melanoma cells interacting with different proteins and cell types such as cytokines, extra cellular matrix proteins, and various immune cells. While different immune cells can have various implications in the tumor microenvironment, some tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) have the potential to suppress these tumors. Recent therapeutic strategies aim to enhance TILs …