CD36 tagged posts

In order for cancer to grow and spread, it has to evade detection by our immune cells, particularly specialized “killer” T cells. Salk researchers led by Professor Susan Kaech have found that the environment inside tumors (the tumor microenvironment) contains an abundance of oxidized fat molecules, which, when ingested by the killer T cells, suppresses their ability to kill cancer cells. In a vicious cycle, those T cells, in need of energy, increase the level of a cellular fat transporter, CD36, that unfortunately saturates them with even more oxidized fat and further curtails their anti-tumor functions.

The discovery, published online in Immunity on June 7, 2021, suggests new pathways for safeguarding the immune system’s ability to fight cancer by reducing the oxidative lipid dama...

Targeting metastasis-initiating cells through the fatty acid receptor CD36

A specific protein, CD36 found in the cell membranes of tumour cells, is responsible for taking up fatty acids. This unique CD36 activity and dependence on fatty acids distinguishes metastasis-initiating cells from other tumour cells. The work was published today in the journal Nature. Professor Benitah’s team found CD36 was present on metastatic cancer cells from patients with a range of different tumours including oral tumours, melanoma skin cancer, ovarian, bladder, lung and breast cancer. To confirm its essential role in cancer spread, they added CD36 to non-metastatic cancer cells which then caused the cells to become metastatic.

“Although we have not yet tested this in all tumour types, we can state that CD36 ...