Feeding Glucose To T Cells

The high metabolic rate and energy demands of cancer cells render the tumor microenvironment severely glucose-deprived. As a result, T cells near malignant growths often become metabolically suppressed, limiting their anti-tumor activity. In a study published in Frontiers in Immunology, Prof. Cyrille Cohen and colleagues engineered T cells to overexpress hexokinase 2 (HK2), a key enzyme in glycolysis, to boost their metabolic fitness and anti-cancer function. These HK2-modified T cells exhibited increased glycolytic flux, ATP production, and mitochondrial activity. Functionally, they secreted more cytokines, expressed higher levels of activation markers, and demonstrated improved cytotoxicity against tumor cells, both in vitro and in a mouse xenograft model. Notably, treatment with HK2-engineered T cells led to delayed tumor growth and extended survival in mice. These findings highlight a promising metabolic strategy to enhance T cell-based immunotherapies, particularly in nutrient-poor tumor environments, and support further development of engineered immune cells for improved cancer treatment.