Vaccines against Autoimmune Diseases
Recently, several new avenues have been explored in development of therapeutics against autoimmune diseases and in particular, Multiple Sclerosis.
MS is a debilitating disease that affects individuals, primarily women, in their peak and most productive years. There is no known cure for MS, which seems to encompass a spectrum of neurodegenerative processes that affect the brain and spinal cord.
Several disease-modifying therapies are being used that target some aspect of the inflammatory process of MS and could reduce the severity of relapses. Some examples are Copaxone, Betaseron, Lemtrafa, Tysabri, Tecfidera, Rebif, Gilenya, Extavia, Avonex and Aubagio.
The cost of these therapies range from $20,000-$40,000 per year.
In view of increasing costs associated with drugs that varying effects on patients, new therapies against MS are warranted.
An interesting approach that seems to use cellular therapy is now gaining ground and consists of using dendritic cells that are derived from patient's blood-derived stem cells which are then senstitxed with immunogenic proteins. These cells are then injected into the patients, which then prime lymphocytes to attack the immunogenic proteins within the body.
The mechanism consists of a receptor called DC-ASPGR (DC-asialoglycoprotein receptor) that is expressed on human DCs, which is known to promote antigen-specific regulatory T cells that can efficiently suppress inflammatory responses. The research conducted by Dr SangKon Oh at Baylor Research Institute showed that DC-ASPGR, a lectin-like receptor, when linked to immunogenic proteins on human DCs encourages the generation of CD4 T cells that produce the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10. This was shown in cynomolgus macaques as well.
It would be wonderful to see this approach tested in Phase I clinical trials soon.
Reference: J Exp Med. 2012 (Targeting self- and foreign antigens to dendritic cells via DC-ASGPR generates IL-10-producing suppressive CD4+ T cells).
Recently, several new avenues have been explored in development of therapeutics against autoimmune diseases and in particular, Multiple Sclerosis.
MS is a debilitating disease that affects individuals, primarily women, in their peak and most productive years. There is no known cure for MS, which seems to encompass a spectrum of neurodegenerative processes that affect the brain and spinal cord.
Several disease-modifying therapies are being used that target some aspect of the inflammatory process of MS and could reduce the severity of relapses. Some examples are Copaxone, Betaseron, Lemtrafa, Tysabri, Tecfidera, Rebif, Gilenya, Extavia, Avonex and Aubagio.
The cost of these therapies range from $20,000-$40,000 per year.
In view of increasing costs associated with drugs that varying effects on patients, new therapies against MS are warranted.
An interesting approach that seems to use cellular therapy is now gaining ground and consists of using dendritic cells that are derived from patient's blood-derived stem cells which are then senstitxed with immunogenic proteins. These cells are then injected into the patients, which then prime lymphocytes to attack the immunogenic proteins within the body.
The mechanism consists of a receptor called DC-ASPGR (DC-asialoglycoprotein receptor) that is expressed on human DCs, which is known to promote antigen-specific regulatory T cells that can efficiently suppress inflammatory responses. The research conducted by Dr SangKon Oh at Baylor Research Institute showed that DC-ASPGR, a lectin-like receptor, when linked to immunogenic proteins on human DCs encourages the generation of CD4 T cells that produce the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10. This was shown in cynomolgus macaques as well.
It would be wonderful to see this approach tested in Phase I clinical trials soon.
Reference: J Exp Med. 2012 (Targeting self- and foreign antigens to dendritic cells via DC-ASGPR generates IL-10-producing suppressive CD4+ T cells).
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