German researchers decode new mechanism of natural killer cells: study

German researchers have decoded a new mechanism of how the immune system can specifically attack pigmented cells of the skin, a new study showed on Wednesday.

It was previously believed that natural killer cells did not have an immunological memory for the body's own tissues.

However, searchers at the University of Bonn and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich have now showed that these immune cells can indeed "remember" pigmented cells when they come into more frequent contact with a specific contact allergen.

These results may provide new insights into the development of the disease vitiligo and may also offer new options for the treatment of malignant melanoma.

Pigmented cells of the skin are crucial as a protective shield against UV-radiation. The more exposure to sunshine, the more pigments are formed by the enzyme tyrosinase inside the pigmented cells.

The compound monobenzone can specifically block tyrosinase and thereby trigger a stress reaction. As a result, the immune system attacks the affected pigmented cells, which often leads to vitiligo, milky-white unpigmented areas on the skin.

Scientific studies have shown that people with vitiligo are at lower risk of developing malignant melanoma.

A possible method for treating this type of cancer could involve actively triggering vitiligo with the tyrosinase blocker monobenzone, according to the researchers.

"The idea is to use a less severe disease as a weapon against malignant melanoma," said Jasper van den Boorn from the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology of the University of Bonn.

The study results have now been published in the journal Immunity. Endit