All articles tagged with #skull bone marrow
Scientists have identified a skull bone marrow niche that acts as a brain-focused immune hub, with channels linking brain tissue to skull lymphoid structures. In mouse glioma models, boosting these skull hubs improved anti-tumor responses and survival, hinting at a potential, less invasive therapy for brain cancer—pending confirmation that humans have similar structures and translating the approach to clinics.
A study reveals the skull bone marrow harbors organized, germinal center–like lymphoid structures with follicular helper T cells that promote B cell activation and humoral responses to CNS-derived antigens. Brain-derived antigens reach these skull niches via glymphatic routes, enabling local antigen presentation, T/B cell interactions, clonal B cell expansion and somatic hypermutation. In mouse brain tumor models, skull BM responses contribute to anti-tumor immunity and can function independently of traditional secondary lymphoid organs; local CD40 agonism combined with IL-21 and IFN-γ enhances skull B cell activity and IgG responses, boosting intratumoral immunity and survival. The findings position skull bone marrow as a CNS border immunosurveillance site with potential relevance to human brain immunity and therapy.
New research reveals a skull bone marrow–tumor immune axis in childhood brain cancers: CSF-borne signals educate skull hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells to present tumor antigens via MHC-II, polarizing CD4+ T cells toward regulatory T cells and promoting immunotolerance. Disrupting this axis—by normalizing CSF cytokines, mobilizing skull hematopoiesis, or blocking GM-CSF signaling with mavrilimumab (and even more so when combined with immune checkpoint blockade)—induces tumor regression in mouse models of ZFTA–RELA ependymoma, choroid plexus carcinoma, and group 3 medulloblastoma. The findings identify a skull-tumor immunological interface and suggest targeting local skull hematopoiesis as a potentially less-toxic therapy for aggressive pediatric brain tumors.