Company: IPHYF
Filing Date: 2025-04-30
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001598599-25-000042
Chunk: 92

Company: Innate Pharma SA
Filing Date: 2025-04-30
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 4
Chunk 92
---
 is highly specific to particular antigens expressed by pathogens or cancer cells, but it requires time to

develop in a process known as priming. Key components of the adaptive immune system include antibodies, which are produced by B cells, bind to antigens and mark them for destruction by other immune cells, and T cells, which recognize antigens on diseased cells and then attack and eliminate them. The adaptive immune response is targeted and potent and has the potential to provide a long-lasting immune memory.

Harnessing Innate Immunity in Cancer: NK Cells as a Key Player in the Anti-Tumor Immune Response

NK cells are part of the innate immune system and represent a significant fraction of the total number of cytotoxic cells in the body. They are active in many hematological malignancies (cancers that originate in blood-forming tissues, such as leukemia and lymphoma) and solid tumors (cancers that develop in solid tissues like the skin and organs) and play a key role in the initiation of the T cell response.

Checkpoints expressed on NK cells include inhibitory cell surface receptors, such as NKG2A (Natural Killer Group 2A, an inhibitory receptor that suppresses immune cell function upon binding to HLA-E), and activating NK cell receptors, such as NKp46. NKp46 is the most specific NK cell marker identified to date across organs and species. Other receptors, such as NKG2A, are more prevalent in certain subsets of NK cells, including NK cells infiltrating the tumor, and are also present on tumor infiltrating CD8+ T cells.

NK cells are involved in the anti-cancer immunosurveillance through a variety of direct and indirect effects. The figure below provides an illustration of anti-cancer functions of NK cells.

   1      NK cells are able to directly and selectively kill cells undergoing stress caused by a cancerous transformation or pathogen infection, a process called natural cytotoxicity.                         
   2      NK cells can also kill target cells when they are coated by antibodies in a process called antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC).                                                           
   3      NK cells are also potent producers of cytokines, which are soluble molecules that recruit and activate an adaptive immune response by T cells through dendritic or other antigen-presenting cells...  

By providing the initial catalyst for the multilayered immune response, the activation of the innate immune system through the targeting of NK cells could potentially result in an optimal anti-tumoral T cell response.

Inn