Beating Cancer
This video shows cytotoxic T-lymphocytes killing virally infected tumour cells (red) by secreting cytolytic proteins. The centrosome (red dots) determines where secretion occurs by contacting the plasma membrane at the point where the T cell recognizes the tumor cell.
The video was made by using cytotoxic T-lymphocytes that expressed Cherry and GFP fusion proteins to mark the centrosome and actin, respectively. It shows the complex process of a T cell identifying and destroying a cancerous cell within the human body. The target cells express a blue plasma membrane fusion protein; nuclei are labeled in blue.
I received a lot of questions last night about cancer research, so this video is both meant to be amazing and informative. A major advance in cancer research today is harnessing the capacity of the immune system itself to track down and destroy tumour cells, instead of relying on external treatments and drugs.
Video Credit: The movie, including editing and narration, is courtesy of Cambridge University.
