New immunotherapy from Vienna prevents tumor growth.

In the new therapy, cancer cells are labeled as bacteria. A special signal activates immune cells.

Vienna - Immuno-oncological therapies are a new approach to positioning the human defense system against cancer. A team led by Christian Becker from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna has now developed a new method in which the cancer cells are labeled as bacteria. This was announced by the University of Vienna on Thursday in a broadcast.

The labeling of cancer cells is therefore successful with a fully synthetic molecule that leads to the activation of the innate immune system. This in turn effectively prevents the formation of a tumor. These results are currently published in the renowned journal Scientific Reports .

Detection signal activates certain immune cells
The researchers have synthesized a new molecule for this work together with Syntab Therapeutics GmbH and colleagues at the Aachen University Hospital, which specifically binds an integrin that is particularly common in certain cancer cells. At the same time, the molecule has a bacterial recognition signal that activates certain immune cells. These fight the marked cancer cells and prevent the emergence of a tumor, as could be shown in first attempts.

"By combining chemical synthetic methods with the basic processes of innate immunity, we have developed a new molecular class that is located between the widely used cancer therapeutics," said Becker. The high flexibility in the synthesis of such molecules, which consist of a mixture of peptides and polymers, allows the rapid modification of these immune Engager on other surface markers and thus on other diseases.

The chemical synthesis of the immune engager and the combination with non-biological components increases the biological stability and allows - also due to the small size compared to antibodies - a better tissue penetration. "It is a great advantage to combine the positive properties of antibodies with those of small, chemically accessible molecules," said Becker. In particular, the rapid synthetic approach to such molecules and the ease of adaptation to different cell types makes such immune Engager also interesting for other applications, for example in the field of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.