Transgenic immune cells will enable effective treatment of autoimmune diseases
Autoimmune diseases are among the most mysterious diseases. One day, for no apparent reason, the immune system launches an attack against the body's own innocent tissues and organs, causing destruction and damage. To a certain extent, the phenomenon resembles a dormant cell of a terrorist underground that has received a signal to act, and sets out on its destructive path. These diseases are difficult to treat, among other things, because their origin is unknown, and they cause enormous suffering to millions of people in the world. Weizmann Institute of Science scientists have recently developed a method that may in the future enable the treatment of autoimmune diseases in a targeted and effective way even without identifying the cause of the disease. The innovative treatment suppresses the disease in the same way that the security forces sometimes suppress riots without identifying with certainty any of those responsible for disturbances of order.
The scientists focused on inflammatory bowel disease, one of the most common autoimmune diseases, especially common among Ashkenazi Jews. This disease causes inflammation, bleeding, ulcers and blockages of the large and small intestine. Today, patients and doctors have several treatments available for these diseases - such as steroids that suppress the entire immune system, or surgeries. These treatments are not selective. In addition, the degree of treatment effectiveness varies from person to person, and in many cases they cause serious side effects. In inflammatory bowel disease, the control mechanisms of the immune system go wrong for an unknown reason. In healthy people there is a small but vital group of immune cells called regulatory T cells, (Tregs), which prevent autoimmune reactions. In people suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases, these cells do not function properly, and do not reach the patient's intestine in time and in sufficient quantity to prevent the disease. In the new method developed by the scientists of the Weizmann Institute, the scientists created Treg cells using genetic engineering methods, so that they are able to act on and attack the sites of the disease, thereby preventing or reducing its severity, which significantly reduces the suffering of the patients.
This method was developed in the laboratory of Prof. Zelig Ashchar in the Department of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, by the research student, physician Dr. Eran Alinev from the Institute for Intestinal and Liver Diseases at the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv. Dr. Alinev participates in a special program of the institute Weizmann for Science designed to allow doctors to study and obtain an additional doctorate in basic science. She also participated in the Tova Vex study. The scientists were based on a previous study by Prof. Ashhar, in which T cells were "equipped" with receptors that allow them to target and damage cancer cells. In the current study, the scientists engineered the Treg cells in a way that enabled the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. Modular receptors consisting of three units were attached to the cells: one of them directs the cells to the colon cells and two others activate the cells and make them effective.
As reported these days in the medical journal "Gastroenterology", the method worked very effectively in mice. Usually this disease causes an acute inflammation of the colon which causes the death of the animals, but following the new treatment with transgenic Treg cells, most of the mice survived and developed only mild inflammation, and some did not develop inflammation at all. A great advantage of the method lies in the fact that the upgraded Tregs treated the intestinal inflammation without targeting the causes of the inflammation, which are unknown. The cells acted according to what is known as the "bystander effect": they homed in on the diseased tissue relying on neighboring markers that mark the infected tissue area as an inflamed area. Arriving at the site of the disease, the engineered cells suppressed the inflammatory cells by secreting suppressive substances. In some cases "complete peace" (healing) was achieved and in others a sort of "truce" was achieved (significant relief in the severity of the disease and the patient's suffering).
Weizmann Institute of Science scientists are currently conducting experiments on Treg cells from humans so that they will be used to cure ulcerative colitis. They believe that the "bystander effect" method may also be effective in other autoimmune diseases. In addition, they estimate that this method will be effective in treating other inflammations that are not related to autoimmune diseases, and in preventing immune rejection of transplanted organs and tissues.
