In a Step That Could Revolutionize Immunotherapy

The Immune System

                                                                     

Scientists Successfully Reprogram Ordinary Cells to Become Disease Fighters

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a kind of "scientific code" that allows them to reprogram readily available human cells into specialized immune cells capable of fighting cancer and other diseases, a step that could revolutionize immunotherapy.

The researchers explained that the immune system consists of multiple types of cells, each with a specific role in protecting the body from viruses, bacteria, and cancerous cells. While this system is usually efficient, some diseases, especially cancer, develop complex mechanisms to evade the immune system's attacks, reducing the effectiveness of traditional treatments.

Ilya Korotchkin, a researcher at Lund University and the study's first author, said that immunotherapy is one of the most rapidly evolving fields in medicine, noting that techniques such as CAR-T cell therapy are currently among the most promising approaches to cancer treatment. 

However, he emphasized that these treatments are not successful for all patients, and that some rare types of immune cells are difficult to extract from the patient's blood.

Korochkin explained that the ability to reprogram readily available cells, such as skin cells, into rare immune cells could open new avenues for treating patients who do not respond to current immunotherapies. However, this goal has remained elusive due to a lack of complete understanding of the factors that control cell identity and function.

To overcome this obstacle, the Lund University team developed an innovative research platform containing a library of more than 400 immune-related factors, each identified by a unique genetic marker. Using this technology, researchers were able to test thousands of potential combinations simultaneously and track the factors capable of converting cells into specific types of immune cells.

Professor Felipe Pereira, Professor of Molecular Medicine at Lund University and lead author of the study, said that developing this technology took four years of continuous work. He added, "This library represents the foundation for creating precise recipes for reprogramming immune cells. Depending on the type of cell targeted for treatment, this 'book' can be consulted for the appropriate instructions."

The researchers have already identified "recipes" for reprogramming six different types of immune cells, including cells that could not previously be produced in this way, such as natural killer (NK) cells, which play a pivotal role in eliminating cancer cells.

The immune system

Broader therapeutic horizons

The study's findings were published in the scientific journal Cell Systems. The team indicated that the ultimate goal is to develop recipes for reprogramming all types of immune cells, which could accelerate the creation of new treatments tailored to combat cancer and autoimmune diseases, as well as support tissue repair.

Pereira concluded by saying that the next step is to test this technology outside of cancer and study its potential in autoimmune disease models, paving the way for the development of personalized treatments that suit each patient's immunological characteristics.