Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells as a Treatment for Fibrosis

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies are used to treat cancer, engineering T cells to be more aggressive towards cancer cells. The approach has proven quite effective in comparison to past treatments for a number of cancer types. In principle this CAR-T immunotherapy can be used to target any cell population that has distinct surface markers, not just cancer cells. Here, researchers demonstrate the ability to destroy the fibroblasts responsible for generating fibrosis in the aging heart. Fibrosis is a form of dysregulated tissue maintenance, in which cells build up scar-like deposits of collagen that degrade tissue structure and function. It is interesting to compare this with work on clearing senescent cells in heart tissue, which also reverses fibrosis. Senescence is clearly one of the factors driving fibroblasts to become overactive, most likely via the inflammatory, pro-growth signaling produced by senescent cells, rather than via fibroblasts becoming senescent in large numbers. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and excessive cardiac fibrosis is an important factor in the progression of many forms of heart disease. It develops after chronic inflammation or cardiac injury, when cardiac fibroblasts - cells that play an important role in the structure of the myocardium, the muscular middle layer of the heart's wall - become activated and begin to remodel the myocardium via extracellular matrix deposition. Research has show...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs