A research group led by Specially Appointed Associate Professor Norihisa Mikami and Distinguished Honorary Professor Shimon Sakaguchi of the Immunology Frontier Research Center at the University of Osaka has developed a method to artificially induce functional and stable regulatory T cells (Treg) from T cells that cause inflammation using a specialized culture method. Their findings were published in Science Translational Medicine.
Stable and functional inducible Tregs (S/F-iTregs) derived from inflammatory T cells can be utilized for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.
Provided by the University of Osaka
As researchers work toward the realization of treatment for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases using Treg cells, attention has been focused on utilizing artificially induced Treg (iTreg) cells to compensate for the limitations of naturally occurring Treg (nTreg) cells that exist in the body. While there are expectations for achieving antigen-specific immunosuppression, challenges remain regarding cell stability and functionality.
The research group developed a new manufacturing method that artificially induces Treg cells, using disease-causing T cells as source material, by improving culture techniques. This novel approach has succeeded in creating Treg cells that possess properties and capabilities closer to naturally occurring Treg compared with conventional artificial Treg, making them available for use in cell therapy as functional and stable Treg (S/F-iTreg) cells.
These S/F-iTreg cells maintain stability as Treg even when administered into the body and suppress immune responses by reacting only to specific antigens. When S/F-iTreg cells were administered to mouse models that develop inflammation such as colitis and GVHD, it was found that the inflammatory response was suppressed for extended periods. Additionally, experiments using human cells revealed that disease-causing T cells collected from patients with autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease and SLE could be induced into S/F-iTreg.
This raises expectations for the realization of new antigen-specific treatment and long-term tolerance induction that specifically suppresses reactions causing autoimmune and inflammatory diseases by using S/F-iTreg as a cell therapeutic.
Mikami commented: "In this research, we have succeeded in inducing functional and stable Treg with quality suitable for therapeutic use from disease-causing T cells. I hope that the results of this research will contribute to the treatment of autoimmune diseases including Crohn's disease, as well as rejection reactions during transplantation and GVHD."
Journal Information
Publication: Science Translational Medicine
Title: Generating functionally stable and antigen-specific Treg cells from effector T cells for cell therapy of inflammatory diseases
DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adr6049
This article has been translated by JST with permission from The Science News Ltd. (https://sci-news.co.jp/). Unauthorized reproduction of the article and photographs is prohibited.