Clinical Applications of Natural Killer Cells

Natural killer (NK) cells are an essential component of the innate immune system, and they play a crucial role in immunity against malignancies. Recent advances in our understanding of NK cell biology have paved the way for new therapeutic strategies based on NK cells for the treatment of various cancers. In this section, we will focus on NK cell immunotherapy, including the enhancement of antibody‐dependent cellular cytotoxicity, the manipulation of receptor‐mediated activation, inclusion criteria based on killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptor (KIR) ligand mismatches, and adoptive immunotherapy with ex vivo expanded chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)‐engineered or engager‐modified NK cells. In contrast to T lymphocytes, donor NK cells do not attack any recipient tissues based on allogeneic human leukocyte antigens (HLAs), suggesting that NK‐mediated antitumor effects may be achieved without the risk of graft‐versus‐host disease (GvHD). Despite reports of clinical efficacy, the application of NK cell immunotherapy is limited. Developing strategies for manipulating NK cell products, host factors, and tumor targets are thus current subjects of diligent study. Research into the biology of NK cells has indicated that NK cell immunotherapy has the potential to become the forefront of cancer immunotherapy in the coming years

Fabrication of Novel Biodegradable α-Tricalcium Phosphate Cement Set by Chelating Capability of Inositol Phosphate and Its Biocompatibility

Biodegradable α-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) cement based on the chelate-setting mechanism of inositol phosphate (IP6) was developed. This paper examined the effect of the milling time of α-TCP powder on the material properties of the cement. In addition, biocompatibility of the result cement in vitro using osteoblasts and in vivo using rabbit models will be studied as well. The α-TCP powders were ballmilled using ZrO2 beads in pure water for various durations up to 270 minutes, with a single-phase α-TCP obtained at ballmilling for 120 minutes. The resulting cement was mostly composed of α-TCP phase, and the compressive strength of the cement was 8.5±1.1 MPa, which suggested that the cements set with keeping the crystallite phase of starting cement powder. The cell-culture test indicated that the resulting cements were biocompatible materials. In vivo studies showed that the newly formed bones increased with milling time at a slight distance from the cement specimens and grew mature at 24 weeks, and the surface of the cement was resorbed by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-(TRAP-)positive osteoclast-like cells until 24 weeks of implantation. The present α-TCP cement is promising for application as a novel paste-like artificial bone with biodegradability and osteoconductivity

Loss of FHIT protein expression is a marker of adverse evolution in good prognosis localized breast cancer

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