韩国研究人员3月21日说，他们发现了一种利用结核杆菌抗癌的新方法。
这项研究由韩国釜山大学医学教授朴永明（音译）引领，成果发表在最新一期《癌症研究》（Cancer Research）杂志上。
结核杆菌是导致肺结核病的“罪魁祸首”。但研究人员从结核杆菌中成功提取肝素结合血凝素蛋白，再借助激活树突细胞的方法，研制出一种有效的治疗性癌症疫苗。
朴永明说，实验鼠接种疫苗后，体内肿瘤明显减小。
“研究人员知道结核杆菌突变可用于抗癌或治疗糖尿病已有一段时间，”朴永明说，“但严重的副作用让人们无法利用（结核杆菌治疗疾病）。”
不过他说，研究人员发现的这种抗癌新法能够“克服这些缺点”。而且，研究人员利用患癌动物体内的树突细胞“培育”肝素结合血凝素蛋白，可避免患病动物机体产生排异反应，有助治疗。
朴永明说，除可减小肿瘤外，新疫苗还可在患癌动物体内“触发”积极免疫反应，防止癌症恶化.（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原文出处：
Cancer Research doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-3487
Enhanced efficacy of therapeutic cancer vaccines produced by co-treatment with Mycobacterium tuberculosis heparin-binding hemagglutinin, a novel TLR4 agonist
In Duk Jung1, Soo Kyung Jeong1, Chang-Min Lee2, Kyung Tae Noh2, Deok Rim Heo2, Yong Kyoo Shin3, Cheol-Heui Yun4, Won-Jung Koh5, Shizuo Akira6, Jake Whang7, Hwa-Jung Kim7, Won Sun Park8, Sung Jae Shin7, and Yeong-Min Park9,*
Effective activation of dendritic cells (DCs) towards T helper (Th)-1 cell polarization would improve DC-based antitumor immunotherapy, helping promote the development of immunotherapeutic vaccines based on T cell immunity. To achieve this goal, it is essential to develop effective immune adjuvants that can induce powerful Th1 cell immune responses. The pathogenic organism M. tuberculosis includes certain constitutes, such as heparin-binding hemagglutinin (HBHA), that possess a strong immunostimulatory potential. In this study we report the first clarification of the functions and precise mechanism of HBHA in immune stimulation settings relevant to cancer. HBHA induced DC maturation in a TLR4-dependent manner, elevating expression of the surface molecules CD40, CD80 and CD86, MHC classes I and II and the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-12, IL-1β, TNF-α and CCR7, as well as stimulating the migratory capacity of DCs in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistic investigations established that MyD88 and TRIF signaling pathways downstream of TLR4 mediated secretion of HBHA -induced pro-inflammatory cytokines. HBHA-treated DCs activated na?ve T cells, polarized CD4+ and CD8+ T cells to secrete IFN-γ and induced T cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Notably, systemic administration of DCs that were HBHA-treated and OVA254-267-pulsed ex vivo greatly strengthened immune priming in vivo, inducing a dramatic regression of tumor growth associated with long-term survival in a murine E.G7 thymoma model. Together, our findings highlight HBHA as an immune adjuvant that favors Th1 polarization and DC function for potential applications in DC-based antitumor immunotherapy.
