When the immune system overreacts and starts attacking the body, the only option may be to shut the entire system down and risk developing infections or cancer.
But now, scientists at UC San Francisco may have found a more precise way to dial it down.
The technology uses engineered T cells that act as immune “referees” to soothe overreacting immune responses. They also can mop up inflammatory molecules without lowering the entire body’s immune shields.
The technology could be used to stop the body from rejecting transplanted organs and tissues, such as pancreatic islet cells, which are sometimes used to treat type 1 diabetes. That way, recipients would not need to take harsh immunosuppressant drugs.
“This technology can put the immune system back into balance,” said Wendell Lim, PhD, UCSF professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology and co-senior author of the paper, which appears Dec. 5 in Science. “We see it as a potential platform for tackling all kinds of immune dysfunction.”
Lim and his colleagues were inspired by “suppressor” cells, which are the immune system’s natural brakes. They wanted to take advantage of these suppressor cells’ power to temper immune responses, such as runaway inflammation.
Unfortunately, suppressor cells can’t always stop a dangerous immune response. In type 1 diabetes, for example, the immune system destroys pancreatic islet cells, while these suppressor cells just stand by.
So, the team adapted the suppressor cells’ anti-inflammatory abilities to work in CD4 immune cells. These are the same cells that are used to make cancer-killing CAR T cells. They also gave these cells a molecular sensor to guide them to their target tissue in the body.