LISBON, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Scientists have successfully created anti-tumor immune cells in a laboratory using cellular reprogramming for the first time, opening new possibilities in the fight against cancer, according to a press release issued Thursday by the University of Coimbra.
The breakthrough was achieved by a research team coordinated by the Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology of the University of Coimbra (CNC-UC), part of the Center for Innovation in Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CiBB), in partnership with Sweden's Lund University.
The researchers succeeded in recreating Natural Killer (NK) cells -- a type of immune cell that serves as a first line of defense against tumors -- through cellular reprogramming, a process that converts one type of cell into another.
To achieve this, the team developed a platform called REPROcode, designed to help scientists map and reprogram immune cells.
The platform contains a library of more than 400 transcription factors -- proteins capable of reprogramming most types of immune cells. Each factor is identified by a unique "barcode," allowing researchers to track which factors drive the reprogramming of different immune cell types.
"This tool allows us to test dozens of combinations of factors simultaneously to identify those that enable the production of various types of immune cells," said Carlos Filipe Pereira, a researcher at CNC-UC who coordinated the study.
Beyond enabling the production of NK cells, the research also identified factors that improve the reprogramming of other known immune cell types and provides a "guide map" of the factors that control the formation of different immune cell lineages.
The findings are particularly relevant for the field of immunotherapy, a treatment approach that harnesses a patient's own immune system to fight cancer and is currently one of the most promising areas in modern medicine.
However, many tumors and patients do not respond to existing immunotherapy treatments. In addition, several useful immune cell types are rare in the blood and difficult to obtain directly from patients, making laboratory production a major scientific goal.
"Our approach works like a 'toolbox' that allows us to generate immune cells in the laboratory from cells that are easier to collect and replicate, such as skin cells," Pereira explained.
Looking ahead, Pereira said the platform could eventually be used to produce cells capable of teaching the immune system not to attack the body itself, potentially paving the way for new therapies targeting autoimmune diseases such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
The study, which also involved researchers from institutions in Sweden and Germany, was published in the journal Cell Systems. ■