Ex-vivo Production of Regulatory B-Cells for Use in Auto-immune Diseases

Regulatory B-cells (Breg) play an important role in reducing autoimmunity and reduced levels of these cells are implicated in etiology of several auto-inflammatory diseases. Despite their impact in many diseases, their physiological inducers are unknown.   Given that Bregs are a very rare B-cell, identifying factors that promote their development would allow in vivo modulation of Breg levels and ex-vivo production of large amounts of antigen-specific Bregs to use in immunotherapy for auto-inflammatory diseases.  Researchers at NEI ' sMolecular Immunology Section developed a method for theex-vivo production of Breg. The method of production involves treating isolated primary B-cells or B-cell lines with IL-35 to induce their conversion into IL-10, producing Breg. Using this method, B-regulatory cells can be produced in large quantity and used in a Breg-based therapy against autoimmune diseases including, but not limited to, uveitis and sarcoidosis.In vivo animal data are available.IC: NEINIH Ref. No.: E-036-2012Advantages: There is no known biological or chemical agent that can induce Bregsex-vivoThis method produces large quantities of Bregs and can therefore aid in Breg-based therapyPre-clinical mouse model data available that uses the Bregs to treat experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU)Applications: In vivo modulation of Breg levelsSupplement the low population of Breg in a patient suffering from an autoimmune disease where it is known that B-regulato...
Source: NIH OTT Licensing Opportunities - Category: Research Authors: Source Type: research