“If T cells and NK cells are the soldiers of the immune system, perforin is the weapon, and granzymes are the ammunition,” said co-senior study author Weiping Zou, Charles B. de Nancrede professor of pathology, immunology, biology and surgery at U-M. “At least, that’s what the classic understanding was.”
Their new study, published in Cell, reveals that perforin is a cancer killer on its own, no major granzymes needed. They also found that a loss of perforin causes a catastrophic failure of antitumor immunity. The discoveries will likely have implications for understanding how cancers are killed by immune cells and could have ripple effects throughout the field of immunology.