Induction of tumor-reactive resident memory T cells and their antitumor effects

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K16531
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 55020:Digestive surgery-related
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Watanabe Akihiro 神戸大学, 医学研究科, 医学研究員 (40866034)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: NKT細胞 / 樹状細胞ワクチン / 電気穿孔法 / 組織滞在型メモリー細胞 / 腫瘍細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we aimed to elucidate the role of tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells in esophageal cancer by analyzing both mouse models and human esophageal cancer samples. Although difficulties were encountered in establishing the mouse models, significant progress was made in the analysis of human samples, including the characterization of TRM cell dynamics and the successful annotation of an automatic TRM cell detection system. Furthermore, we evaluated the performance of Cu-Cyto, a deep learning-based image cytometry (DL-IC) tool, in cell identification. Cu-Cyto demonstrated excellent performance in identifying cells in tumor tissue slide images with immunohistochemical staining. The findings obtained thus far suggest the potential role of TRM cells in esophageal cancer and their clinical application. Further research based on human sample analysis and the enhancement of the performance will pave the way for advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of esophageal cancer.

Free Research Field

消化器外科

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、食道癌におけるTRM細胞の役割解明と、DL-ICツールであるCu-Cytoの性能評価により、癌免疫の基礎研究とAIを用いた病理学的診断の発展に寄与する知見を提供した。これらの知見は、食道癌の診断・治療の進歩とプレシジョンオンコロジーの実現に貢献することが期待され、学術的にも社会的にも大きな意義を持つ。今後のさらなる研究により、食道癌患者のQOL向上と医療の質の向上が期待される。マウス研究はさらなる解析と結果が待たれるところである。