Kiel immunologist receives 2.5 million euros for T cell research!

Kiel immunologist receives 2.5 million euros for T cell research!

A big step in immune research was announced today: The Kiel immunologist Alexander Scheffold receives funding of 2.5 million euros from the European Research Council (ERC) for his future -oriented project "Respectreg". Funding will be available for the next five years and has the potential to initiate a new era in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. The declared goal of research is the targeted activation of regulatory T cells to prevent autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes. These innovative approaches could bring real breakthroughs in therapy, such as tixio reported.

But what exactly are these regulatory T cells and why are they so important? These special immune cells make up about 5-7% of the CD4+T cells in the human body and are crucial for maintaining immune tolerance. A deficiency or functional disorders of these cells can result in serious immune diseases, as is emphasized in PMC. The key to successful immune regulation is the protein FOXP3, and mutations in this area can have serious consequences.

A look at research

Scheffold's study is based on the method called Arte developed in Kiel, which enables rare cell types to analyze precisely. Initial results indicate that organs, in particular the pancreas, are heavily protected by regulatory T cells, which opens up new perspectives for the therapy of diseases in which the immune system attacks the body's tissue. These findings could also be applicable to other autoimmune diseases.

Research on T cells is a hot topic in the medical world. Adoptive T-cell therapy has established itself as a promising method in recent years, especially in the treatment of tumors. For example, Car-T cells are now approved as the last liner therapy for advanced B cell lymphomas and B cellleukemia. Other genetically modified T cells also show promising results in clinical studies, as described in [Https://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/ag-zellulaere-immunapy-GMP-Labor-Pof-schmitt.13203.0.html).

challenges and future prospects

The manufacture and quality control of genetically modified tregs is a significant challenge, especially in the early clinical development phase. Patients benefit from the progress, but there are no specific drugs that can affect the activity of Tregs directly. The researchers therefore work on innovative strategies to further improve the therapeutic use of Tregs.