金属介导的免疫调控与干预:金属免疫学的兴起与展望

Metal-mediated immune regulations and interventions: prospects of the emerging field of metalloimmunology

金属元素是生命体的重要组成部分,金属离子及金属蛋白在包括物质存储运输、能量转化传递、信号转导调控、分子合成降解等在内的几乎所有生命过程中都发挥着重要作用.金属在免疫系统,尤其是免疫应答的调控过程中也扮演关键角色,其调控的异常往往导致疾病的发生.近年来,免疫相关的肿瘤治疗方案让人们看到了治愈癌症的希望.金属元素在免疫应答和肿瘤治疗中的重要作用正逐渐受到关注,是未来发展的重要方向;然而,目前大多数研究仅仅停留在现象描述阶段,难以在分子层面阐明机制.本文简要介绍了金属元素在免疫应答过程中的关键作用以及在癌症免疫治疗中的重要应用,阐述了"金属免疫学"(Metalloimmunology)这一正在兴起的前沿交叉领域的研究范畴、科学价值和发展趋势.

Metals are essential components in living systems. Metal ions as well as metalloproteins play an important role in almost all life processes, including materials storage and transportation, energy conversion and transfer, signal transduction and regulation, and molecules synthesis and degradation. Metals are also key players in immune system,especially the regulation of immune response, and misregulation of metals often cause a broad range of diseases. In recent years, cancer immunotherapy has shown significant promise and made people see the hope of curing cancer. The important role of metal elements in immune response and cancer therapy is gradually receiving attention and is the future direction in cancer immune;however, most of current research only have phonotypical descriptions but limited to clear molecular mechanism. This paper will briefly introduce the pivotal role of metal elements in the immune response process as well as their cutting-edge applications in cancer immunotherapy, and clarify the research category, scientific value and future development of this emerging frontier, which we terms as "Metalloimmunology".