{"id":11242,"date":"2024-08-26T10:06:23","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T15:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=11242"},"modified":"2024-08-26T10:06:23","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T15:06:23","slug":"serendipity-reveals-new-method-to-fight-cancer-with-t-cells","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/serendipity-reveals-new-method-to-fight-cancer-with-t-cells\/","title":{"rendered":"Serendipity reveals new method to fight cancer with T cells"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Krishanu Saha, right, works in a lab at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A promising therapy that treats blood cancers by harnessing the power of the immune system to target and destroy cancer cells could now treat solid tumors more efficiently.<\/p>\n

Thanks to\u00a0a recent study<\/a>\u00a0from Dan Cappabianca and\u00a0Krishanu Saha<\/a>\u00a0at the Department of Biomedical Engineering and\u00a0the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery<\/a>\u00a0published in\u00a0Molecular Therapy \u2013 Methods & Clinical Development,\u00a0<\/i>Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy can be improved by altering the conditions the T cells are grown in. And it was all discovered by chance.<\/p>\n

T cells are white blood cells crucial for the immune system\u2019s response to infections and cancer. They can be modified\u00a0with CRISPR\/Cas9 genome editing technology<\/a>\u00a0to express a specific receptor that redirects their natural \u201ckilling instincts\u201d toward targeting cancer cells, specifically those in tumors. T cells can \u201cremember\u201d a pathogen after first exposure, allowing a quicker and stronger response if encountered again, like how vaccines train the immune system to recognize and fight off specific pathogens.<\/p>\n

But for the cells to be used as a robust cancer treatment, they must be made in specific conditions in the lab.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Dan Cappabianca<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe were comparing two distinct T-cell media formulations with varying nutrient levels,\u201d explains Cappabianca. \u201cInterestingly, our breakthrough came entirely by chance. I inadvertently placed the cells in the wrong medium, which unexpectedly became the focal point of my entire thesis!\u201d<\/p>\n

In the body, T cells develop from stem cells in the bone marrow. In the lab, researchers activate the T cells in a nutrient-deficient medium with low concentrations of glucose and glutamine which the cells need for energy. Then they move them to a high-nutrient medium. The first step stresses the cells and triggers specific processes that can enhance their ability to target tumors, promote the formation of T memory cells, and select the more resilient cells that can survive with such low levels of energy. The second step supports rapid growth and T cell multiplication.<\/p>\n

The result of this \u201cmetabolic priming\u201d was that treated cells retained their stem cell-like qualities, thus enhancing their ability to kill cancer cells, transform into durable memory cells, and survive longer in the body.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe discovered that by briefly restricting sugar exposure, akin to a three-day \u2018keto diet,\u2019 our T cells showed reduced maturity at the end of the manufacturing process. The less mature they are when reinfused into a patient, the longer they live fighting cancer,\u201d says Cappabianca.<\/p>\n

The two-step process also appeared to help with cell memory. In CAR T-cell therapy, boosting these memory properties helps T cells better recognize and combat cancer over time.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0recent studies<\/a>\u00a0using T cells grown with the lab\u2019s new approach, 63% of patients experienced a partial or complete reduction in tumors for a time. That\u2019s an improvement from clinical trials using CAR T cells that were not grown with the lab\u2019s two-step process where just 15% of patients experienced a partial or complete reduction in tumors after treatment.<\/p>\n

More research is needed to understand the key factors that help these CAR T cells live longer and become effective against solid tumors. Looking ahead, researchers hope that this process of \u201cmetabolically priming\u201d these specific kinds of CAR T cells can be adapted for large-scale manufacturing with the ultimate goal of treating patients within the next few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cA famous aphorism by French chemist Louis Pasteur is that \u2018chance favors only the prepared mind,\u2019\u201d says Saha. \u201cOur unplanned media switch \u2014 really by chance \u2014 led us on a new path of discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Written by Laura Red Eagle<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/news.wisc.edu\/serendipity-reveals-new-method-to-fight-cancer-with-t-cells\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A promising therapy that treats blood cancers by harnessing the power of the immune system to target and destroy cancer cells could now treat solid tumors more efficiently. Thanks to\u00a0a recent study\u00a0from Dan Cappabianca and\u00a0Krishanu Saha\u00a0at the Department of Biomedical Engineering and\u00a0the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery\u00a0published in\u00a0Molecular Therapy \u2013 Methods & Clinical Development,\u00a0Chimeric Antigen Receptor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":11244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[103],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-11242","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-madison"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/11242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=11242"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=11242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}