How tumor stiffness and metabolism affect immune killing in breast cancer
CTL-killing capacity and cancer stiffness in cancer immunity and therapy
This research looks at whether the stiffness and amino-acid use of breast cancer cells change how well patients' own CD8+ T cells can kill the tumor cells in people with breast cancer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ann Arbor, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11245732 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From a patient's point of view, researchers are measuring how firm or soft breast tumor cells are and how the tumors take up certain amino acids to see if those features make the cancer easier or harder for a patient’s CD8+ immune cells to kill. They use lab tools that can poke and measure single cells (optical tweezers and atomic force microscopy) and chemical imaging to map tumor metabolism. The team works with both mouse models and human tumor samples to connect lab findings to real patient tumors. The goal is to find tumor traits that could be changed to make immune therapies work better for people with breast cancer.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants would be people with breast cancer who can provide tumor tissue samples or who are treated at centers collaborating with the University of Michigan.
Not a fit: People without breast cancer or patients who cannot provide tissue samples or travel to the study site are unlikely to directly participate or benefit from this grant's activities.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to new ways to make breast tumors more vulnerable to patients' own immune cells and improve immunotherapy outcomes.
How similar studies have performed: Previous research has shown that tumor metabolism and physical stiffness can influence immune cells, but directly linking amino-acid uptake, cell stiffness, and CD8+ T cell killing in human breast tumors is a relatively new and still experimental area.
Where this research is happening
Ann Arbor, United States
- University of Michigan at Ann Arbor — Ann Arbor, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Zou, Weiping — University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
- Study coordinator: Zou, Weiping
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.