# MD Anderson team finds CD64 pathway lets T cells kill AML without MHC

_Saturday, August 8, 2026 at 12:31 PM EDT · Science · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report that T cells can destroy acute myeloid leukemia cells through a CD64-dependent route that still needs an intact T cell receptor but does not require conventional MHC recognition, SciTechDaily reported.

The PNAS study, led by Cassian Yee and Kapil Saxena, found activated T cells still killed AML cells after MHC was removed across cell lines and primary patient samples, including relapsed and high-risk mutation cases. Removing TCRs from the T cells stopped the killing, and NK-related pathways did not explain the effect.

A genome-wide CRISPR screen pointed to CD64 and interferon-gamma signaling genes. Removing CD64 made AML cells resistant; adding CD64 to resistant cells increased vulnerability. The authors link the route to possible reasons AML can respond to stem cell transplantation and plan further work on CD64-TCR interaction for T cell therapies.

Reference line cited by SciTechDaily: Kapil Saxena et al., 13 July 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2601232123.

## Sources

- [SciTechDaily](https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-discover-a-hidden-way-t-cells-attack-leukemia/)

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