A Method to Expand a Population of Regulatory T Cells Optimal for the Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases

The transfusion of regulatory T cells (Tregs) has been used in the clinic to successfully prevent graft vs. host disease and is currently being evaluated in the treatment of other autoimmune diseases, such as organ graft rejection, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Prior to transfusion, adoptive regulatory T cell transfer requires the expansion of regulatory T cells in culture; this results in a mixed population of regulatory T cells that limits the effectiveness of the transferred cells.

Scientists at the NIH have developed a method that promotes the expansion of regulatory T cells that are longer lived, more stable, and more suppressive of the autoimmune response. By supplementing T cell cultures with DNA oligonucleotides, the inventors were able to enrich the regulatory T cell population that enhanced the suppression of the autoimmune response. This method has the potential to more effectively generate regulatory T cells for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.