Potentially limitless T-cells made in labs for HIV and cancer patients

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 22 Mar 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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Cancer and HIV patients could have an unlimited supply of T-cells. This could boost therapy.

T-cells absorb infected or cancerous cells. The problem with chemotherapy and radiotherapy is that they destroy these T-cells.

Scientists in Canada have grown potentially limitless supplies of T-cells in the laboratory. Juan Carlos Zuniga-Pflucker, University of Toronto, says that he and his team are very excited.

Scientists have never been able to convert embryonic stem cells into T cells. They have managed to convert mice and human embryonic stem cells into blood, nerves and muscle.

Zuniga-Pflucker and colleagues managed to identify a molecule called DL1. DL1 is vital for the production of T-cells. The team genetically engineered cells to produce DL1. They then grew embryonic stem cells from this.

Immature immune cells were made from the stem cells which had been stimulated by the DL1.

You can read all about this in this week's Nature Immunology 1.

They then implanted mice which lacked an immune system. The mice started to produce T-cells. This in turn helped the mice fight off a mild viral infection.

Zuniga-Pflucker says that he hopes T-cells grown from human embryonic stem cells could eventually be used in cancer and HIV patients who have no more T-cells left in their bodies.

There are still some hurdles that have to be jumped. The scientists do not know how to deliver the immature cells in the thymus. This is a small organ in the chest. The thymus makes T-cells.

The lab-made immune cells lack surface molecules. This is good news, because there would be no risk of rejection from the patient (their bodies would not reject it.

However, as the embryonic stem cells keep dividing (multiplying) the patient would have an unlimited supply of T-cells.