Department of Surgery

The Role of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in Promoting a Pro-tumorigenic Environment

Date

December 15, 2020 - 9:00am

Event Description

Presenter: Dr. Christof Kaltenmeier (advisor: Drs. Samer Tohme & David Geller)

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) have recently been implicated in the growth of tumors; however their impact on immune cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME) remain incompletely understood. Dr. Kaltenmeier's group's current data shows that NETs can directly interact with T cells to promote an immunosuppressive TME through the immunosuppressive ligand PD-L1, which is present within NET chromatin. Targeting of NETs with DNAse or anti-PD-L1 at time of surgery prevented tumor growth and T cell exhaustion in the TME.

Location and Address

Microsoft Teams virtual meeting

Teams meeting logon info has been emailed to Department of Surgery staff. For Pitt and UPMC staff outside the department who wish to access the lecture, please email surgerywebmaster@upmc.edu.