Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
For the first time, the human body’s so-called “serial killers” have been caught on video hunting down and terminating cancer cells in 3D before moving on to their next victim, a team of experts from the University of Cambridge announced earlier this week.
Professor Gillian Griffiths, Director of the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, along with colleagues from the US and UK explained in the journal Immunity how a specialized white blood cells called cytotoxic T cells destroy tumor cells and virally-infected cells. Using state-of-the-art imaging techniques, they were also able to record footage of these cells in the act.
“This is the first time that this process has been captured on film in 3D,” Professor Griffiths told redOrbit via email on Wednesday. “Until now, killer cells have only been filmed in 2D, so it has not been possible to discern events inside these cells clearly as all we had were flat images.”
Footage could lead to improved cancer treatment
She added that the new 3D movies are “are the first to capture images of the killing machinery organizing itself within these cells as they prepare for attack,” and explained in a statement that these cytotoxic T cells patrol all of our bodies, identifying and eliminating virtually all cancerous of infected cells and doing so “with remarkable precision and efficiency.”
The human body contains billions of T cells, which are constantly tasked with keeping us healthy and are depicted in the Cambridge-led team’s footage as fast-moving, orange or green blobs. The cytotoxic T cell bind to cancerous or infected cells once they find them, and inject toxic proteins known as cytotoxins into the cell before puncturing its surface and killing them.
The footage, which was captured using high-resolution imaging techniques that “allowed us to take high resolution images across the entire cell,” the professor told redOrbit. “They allowed us to visualize the changes inside these cells that enable them to kill,” and could provide new insight into “the molecular mechanisms that control killer cells,” she continued.
Professor Griffiths added that she hopes that their work “will allow us to improve cancer treatments. By elucidating the changes inside these cells that lead to killing, we will be able to find out why killer cells cannot control some cancers. We should also be able to identify ways in which killer cells can be made more effective.”
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