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Comment
. 2017 Sep 11;32(3):280-281.
doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2017.08.013.

No Oxygen? No Glucose? No Problem: Fatty Acid Catabolism Enhances Effector CD8+ TILs

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Comment

No Oxygen? No Glucose? No Problem: Fatty Acid Catabolism Enhances Effector CD8+ TILs

Will Bailis et al. Cancer Cell. .

Abstract

The tumor microenvironment presents metabolic constraints to immunosurveiling cells. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Zhang et al. demonstrate that CD8+ TILs reprogram under hypoxic and hypoglycemic conditions, regaining effector function by engaging fatty acid catabolism, which is promoted by fenofibrate and synergistic with immune checkpoint blockade therapy.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Fatty acid oxidation enhances CD8+ T cell activation within the tumor microenvironment.
Effector CD8+ T cells exposed to hypoxic environments utilize glucose to generate energy and biosynthetic intermediates to maintain activation. Within the nutrient restricted solid tumor microenvironment, where both oxygen and glucose availability is low, tumor infiltrating CD8+ T cells reprogram to catabolize lipids to sustain effector function.

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References

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