The Jacks and Santagata Labs use mouse models and patient samples (seen here) to characterize the cells involved in the immune system’s response to lung cancer. Different colors represent different cell types. 

Progenitor T cells, marked by CD8 (magenta) and TCF1 (yellow), are key to driving patient response to immune checkpoint blockade therapy. Surprisingly, the team found that these stem-like immune cells do not all have equivalent function, with those also marked by CCR6 (green) having poor response potential. They hope that CCR6 may serve as an additional biomarker to predict patient response to therapy.