Researchers turn body’s immune cells into tiny surveillance machines

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Scientists at the University of Southern California have discovered a way to turn the body’s B cells into tiny surveillance machines and antibody factories that can pump out antibodies specifically designed to destroy cancer cells or HIV, two of medicine’s worst enemies.

The research, published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering and written about by EurekAlert, describes a technique for editing the genes of immune cells called B cells, supercharging them to fight even the most intrusive invaders.

This work represents an important advance in harnessing the power of antibodies to treat conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s disease to arthritis.

“In some diseases or conditions, the natural antibodies made by B cells are not good enough,” said study lead author Paula Cannon, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

“HIV is a very good example of this,” she added. “It’s constantly mutating, and it stays one step ahead of any antibodies that are thrown at it. We thought that the checkmate move might be to convince B cells to produce an antibody that is so broad in its ability to ‘see’ HIV that HIV can’t easily mutate around it.”

B cells produce antibodies, which are proteins that recognize and attach to foreign bodies such as cells that have been invaded by viruses and bacteria.

A B cell is programmed to produce one specific antibody. When the B cell encounters a virus or bacteria that it has been programmed for (called an antigen), this leads to the production of antibodies.

The antibody matches the antigen like a key matches a lock, and when this happens the foreign body is marked for destruction, and then the T cells recognize it and attack and kill it.

wide range of antibodies

The beauty of this technique, the researchers said, is that it can be adapted to produce a wide range of different antibodies.

“It’s a B-cell reprogramming technology that can be applied to almost anything you can imagine that interacts with an antibody,” said researcher Jeffrey Rogers. “We think we’ll be able to completely customize everything about the antibody.”

B cells act as a security system and antibody factory, as they are present for a long time in the bone marrow, lymph nodes and spleen, and are activated when needed.

To build these little fighters, Cannon and Rogers used CRISPR gene-editing techniques to place instructions for custom antibodies at the precise location in the B cell’s DNA where antibodies are naturally made.

This trick means that B cells can be reprogrammed into biofactories that make customized antibodies. Just as normal antibodies respond to vaccination, the reprogrammed B cells can also be stimulated to increase their production.

Researchers are working to license the technology for commercial use.