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Immunometabolism

Fat matters for natural killer cell activity

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MEF2C is a transcription factor that has known functions in a variety of cell types, but it has not yet been ascribed a role in natural killer cells. Data now show that MEF2C promotes the functional responses of human and murine natural killer cells by controlling their metabolic programs.

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Fig. 1: MEF2C regulation of IL-2/IL-15 activated NK cell responses.

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Acknowledgements

T.A.F. is supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants P50CA171963 and P30CA91842), Siteman Cancer Center Investment Program, Children’s Discovery Institute, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Lymphoma Research Foundation, Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation, Rising Tide Foundation for Cancer Research, and Melanoma Research Alliance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA

    Pamela Wong & Todd A. Fehniger

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  1. Pamela Wong
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  2. Todd A. Fehniger
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Correspondence to Todd A. Fehniger.

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Competing interests

T.A.F. discloses equity, consulting, licensed patents, and research funding from Wugen; equity in Orca Bio and Indapta; and membership of the scientific advisory board and/or research agreements with Affimed, Smart Immune, HCW Biologics, and AI Proteins. P.W. declares no competing interests.

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Wong, P., Fehniger, T.A. Fat matters for natural killer cell activity. Nat Immunol 25, 728–730 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-024-01825-w

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