2026
April
No cDC1, no worries: cDC2 and cross-dressing prime T cells in response to mRNA-LNP vaccination
April 29, 2026
cDC1s play essential roles in CD8+ T cell priming in response to protein- and DNA-based vaccination. However, whether mRNA vaccines function via a similar mechanism remains unknown. In a recent Nature publication, Jo et al. uncovered the mechanisms of CD8+ T cell priming induced by mRNA-LNP vaccines. The researchers began by assessing OT-I...
Agonist anti-CD40 converts Tregs from foes to friends
April 22, 2026
Recent investigations into the use of agonist anti-CD40 for cancer immunotherapy have shown that this treatment not only enhances APC functions, but also reduces regulatory T cells (Tregs) within the tumor microenvironment (TME), despite a lack of CD40 on these cells. Exploring the mechanism by which this occurs, and whether it might contribute...
Stopping the shredder to unlock a novel source of valuable neoantigens
April 15, 2026
Inadequate neoantigen presentation in cancer hampers the endogenous antitumor immune response and the efficacy of immunotherapy. One mechanism that limits the production of immune-targetable antigens is nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). NMD degrades transcripts with premature termination codons (PTCs), eliminating a potential source of frameshift antigens, which may serve as an immune-evasion mechanism in...
KEYSTONE SYMPOSIA: Cancer Immunotherapy: Basic Mechanisms Informing Clinical Application
April 8, 2026
The ACIR team attended the Keystone Symposia on Cancer Immunotherapy: Basic Mechanisms Informing Clinical Application held on March 15-18, 2026 in Quebec, QC, Canada. This week’s extensive special feature covers select talks from the conference. We have organized the content by topics below. (This Keystone Symposia conference is available for On Demand viewing...
LNP mRNA delivery gets a metabolic boost from amino acid supplement
April 1, 2026
Notice: The article we intended to feature this week was briefly delayed in publication. We will share it with you as soon as the embargo is lifted. In the meantime, we encourage you to revisit last week's feature — it's well worth a read. If you've already read it, skip to the bottom of the...
