The nuclear factor ID3 endows macrophages with a potent anti-tumour activity. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38326607/)

These scientists did a study to understand how certain cells in our body called macrophages can help fight against cancer. Macrophages are like the soldiers of our immune system that protect us from infections and diseases. But sometimes, they can also help cancer cells grow and spread.

In this study, the scientists discovered a special factor called ID3 that controls the behavior of macrophages. They found that this factor helps macrophages to eat and destroy live tumor cells and also helps in bringing other immune cells called natural killer and CD8 T cells to fight against the tumor.

The scientists also found that ID3 changes the balance of certain receptors on macrophages, making them more active and better at fighting tumors. They did experiments in mice and in the lab-grown human cells to show that when they increased the levels of ID3, the macrophages became very good at fighting against tumors.

This study tells us that ID3 is a very important factor that can make macrophages become powerful fighters against cancer. In the future, scientists might use this knowledge to develop new treatments for cancer by using ID3 to make macrophages even better at fighting tumors.

Deng Z., Loyher PL., Lazarov T., Li L., Shen Z., Bhinder B., Yang H., Zhong Y., Alberdi A., Massague J., Sun JC., Benezra R., Glass CK., Elemento O., Iacobuzio-Donahue CA., Geissmann F. The nuclear factor ID3 endows macrophages with a potent anti-tumour activity. Nature. 2024 Feb 7. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06950-4.