Magnesium is essential for the immune system, including in the fight
against cancer
Date:
January 19, 2022
Source:
University of Basel
Summary:
The level of magnesium in the blood is an important factor
in the immune system's ability to tackle pathogens and cancer
cells. Researchers have reported that T cells need a sufficient
quantity of magnesium in order to operate efficiently. Their
findings may have important implications for cancer patients.
FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The level of magnesium in the blood is an important factor in the immune system's ability to tackle pathogens and cancer cells. Writing in the
journal Cell, researchers from the University of Basel and University
Hospital Basel have reported that T cells need a sufficient quantity
of magnesium in order to operate efficiently. Their findings may have
important implications for cancer patients.
========================================================================== Magnesium deficiency is associated with a variety of diseases, such
as infections and cancer. Previous studies have shown that cancerous
growths spread faster in the bodies of mice when the animals received
a low-magnesium diet -- and that their defense against flu viruses was
also impaired. However, there has so far been little research into how
exactly this mineral affects the immune system.
Now, researchers led by Professor Christoph Hess, from the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel and
the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge, have discovered
that T cells can eliminate abnormal or infected cells efficiently only
in a magnesium- rich environment. Specifically, magnesium is important
for the function of a T cell surface protein called LFA-1.
LFA-1 acts as a docking site, which plays a key role in the activation of
T cells. "However, in the inactive state this docking site is in a bent conformation and thus cannot efficiently bind to infected or abnormal
cells," Christoph Hess explains. "This is where magnesium comes into
play. If magnesium is present in sufficient quantities in the vicinity
of the T cells, it binds to LFA-1 and ensures that it remains in an
extended -- and therefore active - - position." Potentially important
findings for cancer patients The fact that magnesium is essential for the functioning of T cells may be a highly significant finding for modern
cancer immunotherapies. These therapies aim to mobilize the immune
system -- in particular cytotoxic T cells -- to fight cancer cells. In experimental models, the researchers were able to show that the immune
response of T cells against cancer cells was strengthened by an increase
in the local magnesium concentration in tumors.
"In order to verify this observation clinically, we're now looking for
ways to increase the concentration of magnesium in tumors in a targeted manner," Christoph Hess says. The promising nature of these strategies is demonstrated by further analyses performed by the research team working
with Christoph Hess and his Postdoc, Dr. Jonas Lo"tscher, lead author
of the study. Using data from previously completed studies of cancer
patients, the researchers were able to show that immunotherapies were
less effective in patients with insufficient levels of magnesium in
their blood.
Whether a regular intake of magnesium impacts the risk for developing
cancer is a question that cannot be answered based on the existing data,
says Lo"tscher.
"As a next step, we're planning prospective studies to test the
clinical effect of magnesium as a catalyst for the immune system." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Basel. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jonas Lo"tscher, Adria`-Arnau Marti' i Li'ndez, Nicole Kirchhammer,
Elisabetta Cribioli, Greta Giordano, Marcel P. Trefny, Markus Lenz,
Sacha I. Rothschild, Paolo Strati, Marco Ku"nzli, Claudia Lotter,
Susanne H.
Schenk, Philippe Dehio, Jordan Lo"liger, Ludivine Litzler, David
Schreiner, Victoria Koch, Nicolas Page, Dahye Lee, Jasmin Gra"hlert,
Dmitry Kuzmin, Anne-Vale'rie Burgener, Doron Merkler, Miklos Pless,
Maria L. Balmer, Walter Reith, Jo"rg Huwyler, Melita Irving,
Carolyn G. King, Alfred Zippelius, Christoph Hess. Magnesium
sensing via LFA-1 regulates CD8 T cell effector function. Cell,
2022; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.12.039 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220119121455.htm
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