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Cancer immunology

A microbial iron fist to fight tumors

Nature Immunology volume 25, pages 720–721 (2024)Cite this article

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The microbiome is known to affect antitumor immune responses, but how this occurs is unclear. Rhamnose-rich polysaccharides (RHP) from a commensal strain of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum have now been shown to induce iron sequestration by tumor macrophages, thereby limiting tumor growth and promoting antitumor immunity.

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Fig. 1: Microorganism-induced iron sequestration by macrophages promotes antitumor immunity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Systems Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    Samuel P. Nobs & Eran Elinav

  2. Microbiome & Cancer Division, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

    Eran Elinav

Authors
  1. Samuel P. Nobs
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  2. Eran Elinav
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Correspondence to Eran Elinav.

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Competing interests

E.E. declares that they are a scientific founder of Daytwo and BiomX and a paid consultant to PurposeBio, Aposense and Zoe on topics unrelated to this piece.

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Nobs, S.P., Elinav, E. A microbial iron fist to fight tumors. Nat Immunol 25, 720–721 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-024-01806-z

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