EVALUATION OF T LYMPHOCYTE (CD3) MIGRATION IN METASTATIC MELANOMA: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

• Grant number: 25/01399-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Immunology - Cellular Immunology
• Principal Investigator: Luciana Cavalheiro Marti
• Grantee: Fellipe Wander Godoy
• Host Institution: Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa Albert Einstein (IIEPAE). Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein (SBIBAE). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive and metastatic types of cancer, commonly unnoticed by patients, which allows it to spread quickly to vital organs, such as the lungs, brain and lymph nodes. The success of melanoma in colonizing other tissues is associated with several factors, such as a high rate of angiogenesis, mesenchymal properties of tumor cells and effective mechanisms of immune evasion. The interaction between melanoma and the immune system is particularly complex, as the tumor develops an immunosuppressive microenvironment that impairs T cell function. T cells are essential components of the antitumor response due to their ability to target and destroy tumor cells. However, in addition to immune evasion mechanisms, melanoma presents additional challenges to the effectiveness of T cells, especially related to their migration into the tumor microenvironment. These limitations directly affect the efficiency of the immune response and the success of basic T cell therapies.In this context, the present research aims to evaluate the migration of T cells in the presence of metastatic melanoma cells, seeking to better understand the dynamics between the tumor and the immune system. For this, T cells will be isolated from the peripheral blood of donors through cell separation using flow cytometry. T cell migration will be assessed using a transwell assay lasting 1 to 48 hours, in which T cells will be placed in the upper chamber and melanoma cells, of the SK-MEL-24 lineage or primary lineage, in the upper chamber. lower. After the assay, migrated T cells will be quantified and characterized by flow cytometry.The expected result of this study is the identification of a subpopulation of T cells with greater migratory capacity towards melanoma tumor cells. These findings may offer new perspectives on the behavior of T cells in tumor microenvironments, contributing to a deeper understanding of lymphocyte subpopulations with high migratory capacity. Furthermore, the results have the potential to drive the development of new therapeutic strategies targeting these T cell subpopulations, with the aim of improving the efficacy of metastatic melanoma treatment. (AU)