Immunotherapy with dendritic cells in a humanised mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis

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We aim to develop a new therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using a type of immune cell called a dendritic cell (DC). RA is a painful disease that leads to stiffness and deformity of joints in hands, feet and limbs. Almost 400,000 people in the UK suffer from RA. No cure for this disease is available yet.RA is caused by a patient’s own immune system: white blood cells mistakenly attack joints and cause destruction of cartilage and bone. We have made a special type of DC with the ability to prevent white blood cells attacking the joint (i.e. make the blood cells ‘tolerant’) and hope this can be used to treat RA. This type of DC is called tolerogenic DC (tolDC).Our work addresses important questions that must be answered before we can test tolDC treatment in humans. For instance, we need to know how many tolDC will be required to inhibit arthritis; where they will have to be injected (e.g. in the blood, in the joint); how long they will survive in the body; and how they make white blood cells tolerant. We will address these questions using mice which develop a disease similar to RA.If successful, our work will bring a new and hopefully beneficial treatment for RA closer to clinical use.