Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Department of Microbiology-Immunology and Interdepartmental Immunobiology Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
Nat Commun. 2020 Aug 3;11(1):3871. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17629-z.
Relapses in multiple sclerosis can result in irreversible nervous system tissue injury. If these events could be detected early, targeted immunotherapy could potentially slow disease progression. We describe the use of engineered biomaterial-based immunological niches amenable to biopsy to provide insights into the phenotype of innate immune cells that control disease activity in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Differential gene expression in cells from these niches allow monitoring of disease dynamics and gauging the effectiveness of treatment. A proactive treatment regimen, given in response to signal within the niche but before symptoms appeared, substantially reduced disease. This technology offers a new approach to monitor organ-specific autoimmunity, and represents a platform to analyze immune dysfunction within otherwise inaccessible target tissues.
多发性硬化症的复发可导致不可逆转的神经系统组织损伤。如果这些事件能够被早期发现，靶向免疫疗法可能会减缓疾病的进展。我们描述了使用基于工程生物材料的免疫微环境进行活检，以深入了解控制多发性硬化症小鼠模型中疾病活动的固有免疫细胞表型。这些微环境中细胞的差异基因表达可用于监测疾病动态，并评估治疗效果。在出现症状之前，针对微环境中的信号主动进行治疗，可显著减少疾病的发生。这项技术为监测器官特异性自身免疫提供了一种新方法，也为分析其他难以触及的靶组织中的免疫功能障碍提供了一个平台。
