The first bioengineered lymph node
A synthetic immune organ producing antibodies has been created
Daria Zagorskaya, VestiModern science is actively studying synthetic (that is, artificially created) organs that work ex vivo, that is, outside of a living organism. They act as models that show scientists how mammalian tissues work in real time.
Researchers are showing great interest in peripheral organs of the immune system, such as the spleen and lymph nodes, since their architectural, cellular and molecular complexity make it difficult to work on artificial protopipes.
Until now, none of the bioengineers have been able to create such an organ ex vivo and at the same time retain the ability to regulate the immune response.
The breakthrough was made by a team of researchers from Cornell University, working under the leadership of Ankur Singh (Ankur Singh). Scientists have created the first of its kind immune synthetic organ.
According to an article published in Biomaterials (Purwada et al., Ex vivo engineered immune organoids for controlled germinal center reactions), it is a framework of gelatin-based biomaterials reinforced with silicate nanoparticles. The "scaffolding" of the synthetic organ is populated by B-lymphocytes, which play an important role in providing humoral immunity. As a result, scientists have obtained a synthetic organ that mimics the anatomical microenvironment of lymphoid tissue.
Like its natural counterpart, the prototype created by the researchers converts B-lymphocytes, which produce antibodies to fight infections, into germ centers, which are clusters of B-lymphocytes. Under the onslaught of an external attack in the germ centers, their active division, transformation and selection takes place.
In their work, the researchers demonstrated that they can control this immune response and adjust the rate of division of B-lymphocytes, activate them and change the type of their antibodies.
The created three-dimensional synthetic immune organ surpasses existing two-dimensional analogues and produces active B-lymphocytes 100 times faster.
According to a press release from Cornell University (Engineers' synthetic immune organ produces antibodies), thanks to their development, scientists hope to come to a deeper understanding of how B-lymphocytes function. Dr. Singh concretizes and reports that their artificial organ can be used to study the mechanism of a living organism's fight against specific infections, such as HIV and Ebola.
"You can use our system to produce immunotherapeutic agents much faster,– says Dr. Singh. "It can also be effective in testing toxic chemicals or environmental factors that contribute to infection or malfunction of organs."
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16.06.2015