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Published in Volume 120, Issue 1
(January 4, 2010)
J. Clin. Invest.
120(1): 76-80 (2010).
doi:10.1172/JCI41811.
Copyright © 2010, The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Commentary
Putting the brakes on BTLA in T cell–mediated cancer immunotherapy
Chrystal M. Paulos, Carl H. June
Published
January 4, 2010
Attenuating coinhibitory molecules for the treatment of cancer is gaining a great deal of attention as a strategy for immunotherapy. The B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA, CD272) is a novel coinhibitory molecule structurally and functionally related to CTLA-4 and PD-1. A study in this issue of the JCI by Derré et al. reveals that BTLA is expressed on virus-specific human CD8+ T cells but is progressively downregulated after their differentiation from a naive to effector phenotype (see the related article beginning on page 157). Surprisingly, tumor-specific human CD8+ T cells continue to express BTLA even after their differentiation to an effector phenotype. Remarkably, vaccination of melanoma patients with CpG led to BTLA downregulation on tumor-specific human CD8+ T cells, concomitant with restoration of their functionality. We discuss these findings in the context of the expanding field of cosignaling molecules and their implications for T cell–based therapies for cancer.
