Improving the efficacy of cellular therapies

Date:
September 17, 2020
Source:
University of Montreal
Summary:
A new study deepens the understanding of the development of T cell,
an important component of the immune system.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Researchers have gained a better understanding of the complexity of the environment in which T cells thrive and, by extension, the tolerance
mechanisms of these cells which are an obstacle to cellular immunity.


========================================================================== Published in Nature Communications, the new study was directed
by Dr. Marie- E`ve Lebel, a post-doctoral intern at the
Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Centre, which is part of the
Centre inte'gre' universitaire de sante' et de services sociaux de l'Est-de-l'I^le-de-Montre'al (CIUSSS-EMTL).

Ms. Lebel works in the laboratory of Dr. Heather Melichar, a researcher
at CR- HMR and assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, Infectiology and Immunology at Universite' de Montreal.

Carried out in collaboration with researchers at the Lady Davis Institute
of McGill University and at Harvard University, Lebel's work promises
to improve the efficacy of cell therapy.

T cells are an important component of the immune system, which allows
the body to be protected against infections, as well as contributing
to eliminating cancer cells that are recognized as being foreign to
the organism.

The use of the immune system to destroy tumour cells, called
immunotherapy, has not only allowed for an increase in the survival
rate of cancer patients, but has also meant a cure for patients with
advanced stage cancer and/or those patients for whom traditional therapies
have failed.

Nevertheless, several obstacles can hinder the efficacy of immunotherapy
due to T cell tolerance mechanisms that produce a state of immune
non-response to a specific antigen. Lebel has focused on understanding
these tolerance mechanisms in order to counteract the inability of
certain T cells to attack diseased cells.

She and her colleagues have been able to identify certain factors
that influence the development of T cells by better understanding the environment in which they develop and the interaction between cells.

Ultimately, these elements have a major impact on the body's capacity
to control an infectious agent, or even the growth of tumour cells.

"This discovery is a powerful scientific breakthrough, as these results
will help us identify new targets and approaches to increase the
anti-cancer activity of T cells in order to improve the survival of our patients," said Dr.

Denis Claude Roy, director of the Institut universitaire en
he'mato-oncologie et en the'rapie cellulaire (IUHOTC) and the Centre d'excellence en the'rapie cellulaire (CETC) Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital,
in Montreal.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Montreal. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Marie-E`ve Lebel, Marie Coutelier, Maria Galipeau, Claudia
L. Kleinman,
James J. Moon, Heather J. Melichar. Differential expression of
tissue- restricted antigens among mTEC is associated with distinct
autoreactive T cell fates. Nature Communications, 2020; 11 (1)
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020- 17544-3 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200917084552.htm

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