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

我们的目标是开发一种新的治疗类风湿性关节炎（RA）的方法，使用一种称为树突状细胞（DC）的免疫细胞。类风湿性关节炎是一种疼痛性疾病，可导致手、脚和四肢关节僵硬和畸形。在英国，近40万人患有RA。目前还没有治愈这种疾病的方法。风湿性关节炎是由患者自身的免疫系统引起的：白色血细胞错误地攻击关节，导致软骨和骨骼的破坏。我们已经制造了一种特殊类型的DC，具有防止白色血细胞攻击关节的能力（即使血细胞“耐受”），并希望这可以用于治疗RA。这种类型的DC被称为致耐受性DC（tolDC）。我们的工作解决了在我们可以在人类中测试tolDC治疗之前必须回答的重要问题。例如，我们需要知道需要多少tolDC来抑制关节炎;它们必须注射到哪里（例如血液中，关节中）;它们将在体内存活多久;以及它们如何使白色血细胞耐受。我们将使用发展类似于RA的疾病的小鼠来解决这些问题。如果成功的话，我们的工作将为RA带来一种新的、有希望有益的治疗方法，使其更接近临床应用。

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.