[HMGB1 as metabolic weapon in the arsenal of natural killer cells]. / HMGB1 als metabolische Waffe im Arsenal natürlicher Killerzellen.

ABSTRACT

The German Nobel Prize winner Otto Warburg discovered the importance of glycolysis in cancer cells in the 1920s. Nearly one century later the inhibition of tumor glycolysis in cancer cells could literally be the Achilles Heel in cancer therapy. Surprisingly, we could show that Natural Killer (NK) cells pursue this strategy. They employ specific metabolic weapons to eliminate cancer cells by targeting tumor glycolysis. In colon cancer cells a specifically modified form of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein released by NK cells induced a previously unknown form of cell death. This new link between the killing of cancer cells and the innate immune system opened up new perspectives for immunotherapy in oncology.