Tolerating Factor VIII: Recent Progress

We describe here recent exciting studies, most still pre-clinical, that address FVIII immunogenicity and suggest novel interventions to prevent or reverse inhibitor development. Studies of FVIII uptake, processing and presentation on antigen-presenting cells, epitope mapping, and the roles of complement, heme, von Willebrand factor, glycans, and the microbiome in FVIII immunogenicity are elucidating mechanisms of primary and secondary immune responses and suggesting additional novel targets. Promising tolerogenic therapies include development of FVIII-Fc fusion proteins, nanoparticle-based therapies, oral tolerance, and engineering of regulatory or cytotoxic T cells to render them FVIII-specific. Importantly, these studies are highly applicable to other scenarios where establishing immune tolerance to a defined antigen is a clinical priority.
Source: Frontiers in Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research