Making immune cells more tolerant

Abstract

Sometimes our immune cells mistake parts of our own bodies for invading pathogens and launch an attack. For example, in multiple sclerosis, immune cells destroy the insulating myelin protein sheath on nerve cells, causing people to slowly lose motor function. At the ACS national meeting in San Francisco last week, researchers reported biomaterials designed to tell rogue immune cells to stand down. These particles could possibly lead to novel treatments with fewer side effects, said Christopher M. Jewell of the University of Maryland, College Park, who led the work. Current treatments for autoimmune diseases act on cells throughout the immune system, making people vulnerable to pathogens. The particles made by Jewell and his colleagues deliver multiple molecules at once to reprogram immune responses specific to autoimmune diseases. To build the particles, Jewell and his team started with a negatively charged calcium carbonate microparticle and then used a layer-by-layer assembly method