Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) help tumors dodge the immune system, but they’re hard to target: inside a tumor, they look almost identical to mature, harmless myeloid cells. This dataset set out to find something that tells them apart.
Researchers found it. A thioaptamer probe called T1 binds selectively to the immunosuppressive subset in mouse colon and pancreatic tumors, and its target turned out to be syndecan-1 — specifically, a form carrying heparan sulfate chains that proved essential for binding.
To confirm what sets these cells apart, the team ran RNA sequencing on T1-binding and T1-non-binding myeloid populations sorted from mouse colon tumors. The data cleanly separate immunosuppressive cells from their mature, non-suppressive counterparts, and point to syndecan-1/heparan sulfate as a promising handle for targeting tumor-promoting myeloid cells.
