ArticleThe EMBO journal2024
Dysfunctional natural killer cells can be reprogrammed to regain anti-tumor activity.
Article in The EMBO journal, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transcription factors remodel tumor immune microenvironment by impacting multiple immune cells.Discover oncology · 2026Review
- Lactate metabolism and lactylation in cancer: from pathogenesis to therapeutic advances.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Analysis and validation of mast cells and enriched genes in colorectal cancer with liver metastasis by multi-omics data.Discover oncology · 2026Article
- Transcriptional networks weaving natural killer anti-tumor immune response.Molecular cancer · 2026Review
- Rewiring tumor immunity via zinc finger proteins: a new frontier in cancer immunotherapy.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Reprogramming natural killer cells in the tumor microenvironment: Challenges and therapeutic opportunities.Cytokine & growth factor reviews · 2025Review
- The Leupaxin/HDAC6/EGR2 axis facilitates breast cancer progression by enhancing macrophage M2 polarization.Cell biology and toxicology · 2025Article
- LAG3 Marks Activated but Hyporesponsive NK Cells.European journal of immunology · 2025Article
- Multifaceted regulatory mechanisms of the EGR family in tumours and prospects for therapeutic applications (Review).International journal of molecular medicine · 2025Review
- The diversity of natural killer cell functional and phenotypic states in cancer.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2025Review
- Egr2 to the rescue: nanoparticles revitalize natural killer cells in the fight against cancer.The EMBO journal · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cells are critical to the innate immune system, as they recognize antigens without prior sensitization, and contribute to the control and clearance of viral infections and cancer. However, a significant proportion of NK cells in mice and humans do not express classical inhibitory receptors during their education process and are rendered naturally "anergic", i.e., exhibiting reduced effector functions. The molecular events leading to NK cell anergy as well as their relation to those underlying NK cell exhaustion that arises from overstimulation in chronic conditions, remain unknown. Here, we characterize the "anergic" phenotype and demonstrate functional, transcriptional, and phenotypic similarities to the "exhausted" state in tumor-infiltrating NK cells. Furthermore, we identify zinc finger transcription factor Egr2 and diacylglycerol kinase DGKα as common negative regulators controlling NK cell dysfunction. Finally, experiments in a 3D organotypic spheroid culture model and an in vivo tumor model suggest that a nanoparticle-based delivery platform can reprogram these dysfunctional natural killer cell populations in their native microenvironment. This approach may become clinically relevant for the development of novel anti-tumor immunotherapeutic strategies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.