Lorimer lab membersWhen communication isn’t clear between coworkers in an office, the results can be frustrating. When communication isn’t clear between cells in a body, the results can be deadly. That’s what researchers uncovered in a new study published in Cell Death and Disease on glioblastoma, an aggressive and currently incurable brain cancer. Using human tissues and cells and materials derived from mouse models, the team found that glioblastoma evades the immune system due to a cellular miscommunication.

At the heart of the issue is Transglutaminase 2 (TGM2), a molecule that helps the immune system rapidly clean up dead cancer cells through a process called efferocytosis. While this sounds beneficial, it actually tricks the immune system into thinking the tumor is under control, causing it to stop attacking the cancerous cells. Researchers found that suppressing TGM2 with a drug inhibitor significantly reduced efferocytosis, making the tumor more visible to the immune system.

“Studying TGM2 has helped us realize what is really going on in glioblastoma. Targeting it is one strategy, and we’re now exploring other potential options to inhibit the cancerous cells,” said Dr. Ian Lorimer, senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and associate professor at the University of Ottawa.

This is just the beginning. Now that the team has uncovered a process that glioblastoma uses to hide from the immune system, they’re working to understand it more deeply and identify additional ways to disrupt it.

Authors: Margarita Lui, Filiz Sevinc, Mara Elgafarawi, David G. Munoz, Jeffrey W. Keillor, John Sinclair, Dragosh Catana, Meshari Alhuthayl, John Woulfe & Ian AJ Lorimer

Cores: Global Tissue Consenting

Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research

The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa and supported by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.