The dark side of the dot: How melanosomes dim T cell activity

Sci Immunol. 2026 Feb 6;11(116):eaef9200. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.aef9200. Epub 2026 Feb 6.

Authors

Ruimin Wang¹, Etienne Caron^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
² Yale Center for Immuno-Oncology, Yale Center for Systems and Engineering Immunology, Yale Center for Infection and Immunity, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.

PMID: 41650250
DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.aef9200

Abstract

Melanoma cells evade immune detection by secreting MHC-peptide-loaded melanosomes that interact with and impair CD8+ TCRs.

MeSH terms

Animals
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes* / immunology
Humans
Lymphocyte Activation / immunology
Melanoma* / immunology
Melanosomes* / immunology
Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / immunology

Substances

Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell