Reprogrammed quiescent B cells provide an effective cellular therapy against chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

ABSTRACT: Activated B cells can regulate immunity and have been envisaged as a potential cell-based therapy for treating autoimmune diseases. However, activated human B cells can also propagate immune responses, and the effects resulting from their infusion into patients cannot be predicted. This led us to consider resting B cells, which in contrast are poorly immunogenic, as an alternative cellular platform for the suppression of unwanted immunity. Here, we report that resting B cells can be directly engineered with lentiviral vectors to express antigens in a remarkably simple, rapid, and effective way. Notably, this neither required nor induced activation of the B cells. With this approach we were able to produce reprogrammed resting B cells that inhibited antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells, CD8(+) T

SUBMITTER: Calderon-Gomez E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3431508 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature