The international journal Science featured an image of cells hard at work within the body on this week's cover. Above the cells, the words 'PROGRAMMED T CELLS' are written.
On the 6th (local time), Science featured an illustration on its cover from a research team led by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), showcasing T cells designed to deliver therapeutics to the brain.
T cells, which have immunomodulatory functions, play a beneficial role in maintaining our body's immune tolerance by suppressing excessive immune responses to self-antigens, food, and other substances. Immune tolerance refers to the state in which the immune system does not attack the body's own tissues.
The research team decided to modify human T cells to use them as a platform for carrying brain therapeutics. Immune cells have evolved to penetrate various tissues and integrate information about their surrounding environment. By using T cells, a type of immune cell, it is possible to reduce instances of being blocked by bodily tissues.
In fact, T cells are already used as a treatment for diseases like blood cancer. A prominent example is the ‘CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptor)-T cell.’ CAR-T cells are created by genetically modifying a patient's T cells with a synthetic gene that allows them to recognize and attack specific cancer cells.
Similarly, the research team engineered T cells by adding a protein that can recognize the brain cells responsible for causing central nervous system (CNS) diseases. They enabled the T cells to recognize specific brain cells by targeting Brevican (BCAN), a unique component of the brain's extracellular matrix.
The team administered the engineered T cells to laboratory mice with an induced CNS disease. The T cells worked by targeting overactive T cells in the brain that cause CNS disorders through mechanisms like 'autoimmunity' and 'transplant rejection.' Targeting other, non-specific cells could trigger a severe immune reaction.
Shin Eui-cheol, a Korean T-cell expert and Director of the Center for Viral Immunology at the Korea Virus Research Institute, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), commented on the findings, stating, "Conventional therapeutics typically have difficulty penetrating the brain due to the ‘Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB).’" He explained, "The T cells designed by this research team are a therapeutic that can cross the BBB and function similarly to CAR-T cells."
The BBB is a structural feature of the microvasculature of the central nervous system that allows only select substances to pass from the bloodstream into the brain. It forms a highly dense network of blood vessels and tissue, acting as a barrier to prevent harmful substances from reaching the brain.
<References>
-DOI: 10.1126/science.adl4237
