immunosuppressive tagged posts

Anti-inflammatory nanoparticles mimic glycocalyx. Chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is on the rise worldwide. The benefits of current medications are limited by problematic side effects. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a South Korean research team has now introduced a new method of treatment. It is based on nanoparticles that mimic a special carbohydrate layer (glycocalyx) located on inflamed bowel cells, and which trigger anti-inflammatory effects in the diseased sites in the intestine.

Stomach cramps and severe diarrhea, often accompanied by significant weight loss, are some o...

Killer T cells (green and red) surrounding a cancer cell. Credit: Alex Ritter, Jennifer Lippincott Schwartz, Gillian Griffiths/National Institutes of Health

In experiments with mice immune cells, called synNotch T cells, efficiently homed in on tumors and released a specialized antibody therapy, eradicating the cancer without attacking normal cells. In addition to delivering therapeutic agents, synNotch cells can be programmed to kill cancer cells in a variety of other ways. But synNotch cells can also carry out instructions that suppress the immune response, offering the possibility that these cells could be used to treat autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes or to locally suppress immune system rejection of transplanted organs.

“SynNotch is a universal molecular sensor that allows ...