Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: Cav3.1 , Kv1.3 , SK4

Title: Ion channels and anti-cancer immunity.

Authors: Gyorgy Panyi, Christine Beeton, Antonio Felipe

Journal, date & volume: Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci., 2014 Mar 19 , 369, 20130106

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24493754

Abstract
The outcome of a malignant disease depends on the efficacy of the immune system to destroy cancer cells. Key steps in this process, for example the generation of a proper Ca(2+) signal induced by recognition of a specific antigen, are regulated by various ion channel including voltage-gated Kv1.3 and Ca(2+)-activated KCa3.1 K(+) channels, and the interplay between Orai and STIM to produce the Ca(2+)-release-activated Ca(2+) (CRAC) current required for T-cell proliferation and function. Understanding the immune cell subset-specific expression of ion channels along with their particular function in a given cell type, and the role of cancer tissue-dependent factors in the regulation of operation of these ion channels are emerging questions to be addressed in the fight against cancer disease. Answering these questions might lead to a better understanding of the immunosuppression phenomenon in cancer tissue and the development of drugs aimed at skewing the distribution of immune cell types towards killing of the tumour cells.