{"entity": "researcher", "timestamp": "2026-08-25T09:46:24.936Z", "family": "Brauner", "given": "Hanna", "initials": "H", "orcid": "0000-0003-2810-4189", "affiliations": ["Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC), Karolinska Institutet, SE-17165 Stockholm, Sweden.", "Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, SE-17176 Stockholm, Sweden.", "Dermato-Venerology Clinic, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-17164 Stockholm, Sweden."], "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/a779cdac529447d384e7c211b6868b6d.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/a779cdac529447d384e7c211b6868b6d"}}, "publications": [{"entity": "publication", "iuid": "bdbbfa15db314dd0853788c353e5e539", "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/publication/bdbbfa15db314dd0853788c353e5e539.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/publication/bdbbfa15db314dd0853788c353e5e539"}}, "title": "Soluble and Exosome-Bound \u03b1-Galactosylceramide Mediate Preferential Proliferation of Educated NK Cells with Increased Anti-Tumor Capacity.", "authors": [{"family": "Wagner", "given": "Arnika K", "initials": "AK", "orcid": "0000-0002-0339-8259", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/c11bf281adcd401c8a11244b59f34506.json"}}, {"family": "Gehrmann", "given": "Ulf", "initials": "U"}, {"family": "Hiltbrunner", "given": "Stefanie", "initials": "S"}, {"family": "Carannante", "given": "Valentina", "initials": "V", "orcid": "0000-0003-4464-7087", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/e39f4c75a0c1476d846ff7b15a5b17c5.json"}}, {"family": "Luu", "given": "Thuy T", "initials": "TT", "orcid": "0000-0002-2619-1357", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/b2ae3123a26842ef9d6c0dabfef16b7d.json"}}, {"family": "N\u00e4slund", "given": "Tanja I", "initials": "TI"}, {"family": "Brauner", "given": "Hanna", "initials": "H", "orcid": "0000-0003-2810-4189", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/a779cdac529447d384e7c211b6868b6d.json"}}, {"family": "Kadri", "given": "Nadir", "initials": "N"}, {"family": "K\u00e4rre", "given": "Klas", "initials": "K"}, {"family": "Gabrielsson", "given": "Susanne", "initials": "S", "orcid": "0000-0003-1771-1346", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/4813fa3ad1ba45e28376583c64093a47.json"}}], "type": "journal article", "published": "2021-01-15", "journal": {"title": "Cancers (Basel)", "issn": "2072-6694", "volume": "13", "issue": "2", "issn-l": "2072-6694"}, "abstract": "Natural killer (NK) cells can kill target cells via the recognition of stress molecules and down-regulation of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I). Some NK cells are educated to recognize and kill cells that have lost their MHC-I expression, e.g., tumor or virus-infected cells. A desired property of cancer immunotherapy is, therefore, to activate educated NK cells during anti-tumor responses in vivo. We here analyze NK cell responses to \u03b1-galactosylceramide (\u03b1GC), a potent activator of invariant NKT (iNKT) cells, or to exosomes loaded with \u03b1GC. In mouse strains which express different MHC-I alleles using an extended NK cell flow cytometry panel, we show that \u03b1GC induces a biased NK cell proliferation of educated NK cells. Importantly, iNKT cell-induced activation of NK cells selectively increased in vivo missing self-responses, leading to more effective rejection of tumor cells. Exosomes from antigen-presenting cells are attractive anti-cancer therapy tools as they may induce both innate and adaptive immune responses, thereby addressing the hurdle of tumor heterogeneity. Adding \u03b1GC to antigen-loaded dendritic-cell-derived exosomes also led to an increase in missing self-responses in addition to boosted T and B cell responses. This study manifests \u03b1GC as an attractive adjuvant in cancer immunotherapy, as it increases the functional capacity of educated NK cells and enhances the innate, missing self-based antitumor response.", "doi": "10.3390/cancers13020298", "pmid": "33467442", "labels": [], "xrefs": [{"db": "pmc", "key": "PMC7830699"}, {"db": "pii", "key": "cancers13020298"}], "notes": [], "created": "2026-08-21T13:01:36.214Z", "modified": "2026-08-21T13:01:36.431Z"}]}