Overview
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory reports in Nature that antibodies shaped inside tumors can attack cancer cells yet also bind brain NMDA receptors tied to anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.
- In breast cancer mouse models, B cells inside tumors evolved germline antibodies into potent forms, and the strongest responses coincided with spontaneous tumor shrinkage.
- Cryo-EM maps revealed that matured antibodies latch onto distinct sites on the NMDA receptor and either boost its activity or block it, which helps explain different neurological outcomes.
- After researchers transferred a receptor-boosting antibody into healthy female mice, the animals developed fever and seizures that mirror diagnostic signs of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.
- Patient data with Northwell Health found NMDA receptor proteins in triple-negative breast tumors and anti-receptor antibodies in about 15% of patients, who tended to do better, suggesting paths to design cancer antibodies that spare the brain.