(Press-News.org) MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL, Minn. (May 18, 2011) – University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have discovered a method to quickly and exponentially grow regulatory T-cells – also known as "suppressor cells." The new process enables replication of the cells by tens of millions in several weeks, a dramatic increase over previous duplication methods. Historically, regulatory T-cells have been difficult to replicate.
The new technique will give patients a better chance of having a successful bone marrow or organ transplant, and will have profound implications for patients with autoimmune diseases such as lupus, type 1 diabetes, Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis.
The use of the new replication technique has already shown promising effects in the treatment of acute graft-versus-host disease; a post-transplant condition in which T-cells from the donor's bone marrow recognizes a recipient's body as foreign, and tries to attack.
"When regulatory T-cells don't respond to inflammation quickly enough to suppress an immune system response, the patient's own immune response can do considerable harm after a transplant, injuring organs, joints and other tissues of the body," said Dr. Bruce Blazar, senior author of the study and Director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the U of M.
Compounding the challenge is that humans have a limited supply of regulatory T-cells, Blazar said. So even if the immune system's cells respond appropriately, there may not be enough suppressor cells to stop errant reactions in time before the immune response causes widespread tissue damage.
Researchers felt that by developing a way to replicate the cells – which have been historically challenging to coax into high rates of duplication – they could increase transplantation success rates.
Between 30-40 percent of all related bone marrow transplant patients experience graft-versus-host disease, and between 10-30 percent of kidney transplants and 60-80 percent of liver transplant recipients experience acute rejection, according to the National Institutes of Health.
About the New Method
The immunology team, led by Blazar, developed a method to extract regulatory T-cells from blood and subsequently deliver the right combination of signals to make the cells replicate up to 50 million fold. Previous methods to duplicate these cells led to only 70-fold expansion at best.
The findings are published in the May 18 edition of Science Translational Medicine.
"The ability to deliver such large quantities of these cells to patients before they undergo transplantation significantly reduces the chances of graft versus host disease and rejection of a transplanted organ," Blazar said.
In animal models and in human clinical trials (where smaller doses of regulatory T cells were given to patients), Blazar's hypothesis came to fruition: Animals and patients became less likely to develop severe immune reactions that caused tissue damage.
The next step in Blazar's work is phase 1 human clinical testing headed by the U of M's Dr. John Wagner, a world renowned researcher who has been a leader in the field of blood and marrow transplantation. Wagner plans to lead a team of doctors who will administer increasing doses of regulatory T-cells before bone marrow transplants using Blazar's new expansion method.
"This is truly exciting and a major, major breakthrough with profound implications in the treatment of our patients," Wagner said. "If we can super charge patients' immune systems before we do a transplant, we hope to eliminate the chance of graft-versus-host disease or rejection of the transplanted organ. Furthermore, we hope to move these trials ahead quickly to treat autoimmune diseases which affect hundreds of thousands of people worldwide."
Alongside Drs. Blazar and Wagner, U of M assistant professor Dr. Keli Hippen, the lead investigator of the study, pushed this new technology forward.
Collaborators from the University of Pennsylvania provided the key cell lines that made the research possible. Penn scientists engineered artificial Antigen Presenting Cells (aAPCs) which massively expanded regulatory T-cells. The process by which they were replicated could be used to generate a master cell bank that could be used to treat a large number of patients, making therapy much more feasible and cost effective.
INFORMATION:
The study was funded by National Institutes of Health, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Childrens' Cancer Research Fund.
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CHESTNUT HILL, MA (5/18/2011) – Carbon found within ancient rocks has played a crucial role developing a time line for the emergence of biological life on the planet billions of years ago. But applying cutting-edge technology to samples of ancient rocks from northern Canada has revealed the carbon-based minerals may be much younger than the rock they inhabit, a team of researchers report in the latest edition of the journal Nature Geoscience.
The team – which includes researchers from Boston College, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, NASA's Johnson Space Center ...
Cruise Amour, the online travel agency, has announced the launch of its new Find Me a Cruise tool.
Although the Cruise Amour website is already the fastest UK cruise agency site and one of the easiest to navigate, managing director Tim Hurrell was keen to introduce the tool: "Giving our customers the best possible on-line experience has always been our goal. We're passionate about getting the customer experience right, so when it came to deciding on whether to introduce a tool which makes it even easier for customers to find their dream holiday - of course we said ...
Amusement Management Partners (AMP), a leading operator of theme parks, water parks and family entertainment centers chaired by former 'Ripley's Believe it or Not' CEO Bob Masterson, announced that it has selected as its exclusive financial advisor, EFA Partners (EFA), an entertainment financial advisory firm comprised of three former executives of GE Capital's entertainment group. EFA will assist with all financial aspects of AMP's current properties as well as leading the capital raising effort for AMP to achieve its growth goals.
AMP is led by well-respected industry ...
DALLAS – May 18, 2011 – How fast can you run a mile?
If you're middle-aged, the answer could provide a strong predictor of your risk of heart attack or stroke over the next decade or more.
In two separate studies, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found that how fast a middle-age person can run a mile can help predict the risk of dying of heart attack or stroke decades later for men and could be an early indicator of cardiovascular disease for women.
In one recent study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers analyzed the heart ...
CHICAGO --- A man's rising PSA (prostate-specific antigen) level over several years – which had been seen as a possible warning sign of prostate cancer – has recently come under fire as a screening test because it sometimes prompts biopsies that turn out to be normal.
A new study, however, shows nearly 70 percent of men who had rising PSA levels and subsequent normal biopsies were eventually diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to research from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The trend of a PSA level over several years is called PSA velocity. ...
COLUMBIA, Mo. – As the proliferation of social media in society continues, companies and organizations are taking advantage of online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to communicate interactively with their customers and the public. With this influx of new technology, many organizations are struggling to find the most effective ways to manage these user interactions to maximize the positive experience for their customers. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that utilizing a personal human voice when communicating online leads to much higher user satisfaction ...
One World Direct has been an exemplary partner to many businesses that deal directly with consumers. They provide fulfillment and call center services, effectively serving as the primary handler for transactions involving the end consumer. Their ability to execute on their mission is unquestionable, and since their opening day back in 1994, One World Direct has had the opportunity to provide fulfillment as well as call center services to B2C clients the world over. Today, One World Direct is an industry leader in the order fulfillment and call center outsourcing market, ...
The genetic 'wiring' that helps a seed to decide on the perfect time to germinate has been revealed by scientists for the first time.
Plant biologists at The University of Nottingham have also discovered that the same mechanism that controls germination is responsible for another important decision in the life cycle of plants — when to start flowering.
Their discovery throws light on the genetic mechanisms that plants use to detect and respond to vital environmental cues and could be a significant step towards the development of new crop species that are resistant to ...
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The more than 2.7 million new HIV infections recorded per year leave little doubt that the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to spread globally. That's why there's the need for safe, inexpensive and effective drugs to successfully block HIV transmission.
A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine further validates the use of humanized BLT mice in the fight to block HIV transmission. The "BLT" name is derived from the fact that these designer mice are created one at a time by introducing human bone marrow, liver ...
The last day to register for the "Invitation To Foodies" culinary event's "Seminar Package" and be eligible to enter the Apple iPad 2 drawing is Friday, May 20, 2011.
Are you a food adventurer? Are you comfortable with your knowledge about food?
The "Invitation to Foodies" culinary event explores food in Hawaii from the ground up. Local experts offer insights into food preparation, food safety, farming, farmers' markets and food and community sustainability. Join us and learn what you should know about food and enjoy a great taste experience.
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