Recently, the Institute of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (ips) of Kyoto University in Japan has used induced pluripotent stem cells to cultivate "killer T cells" that can target cancer cells.
T cell is a kind of immune cell, which is the main force of the immune system against viruses and cancer cells. It is also called "killer T cell". Researchers at Kyoto University have successfully used induced pluripotent stem cells to cultivate a large number of T cells several years ago, but these T cells can only attack cancer cells. But it can also attack normal cells. Therefore, the researchers used genetic technology to edit the genes of induced pluripotent stem cells and successfully cultivated T cells that only attack cancer cells. This effect has been confirmed in animal experiments. The researchers said that this is one of the key results to improve the safety and effectiveness of the tumor immunotherapy treatment process.
related papers were published in the US "Cell-Stem Cell" magazine. The principle of tumor immunotherapy is to use the body's own immune system to kill cancer cells. One method is to cultivate T cells that can be injected into the patient's body through targeted cancer cell culture in vitro, but the cost is relatively high. Induced pluripotent stem cells are stem cells cultured by "reprogramming" mature somatic cells and have the same differentiation potential as embryonic stem cells. Researchers at Kyoto University say that using induced pluripotent stem cells to grow T cells will be more effective and is expected to reduce the cost of immunotherapy. The potential of induced pluripotent stem cells goes far beyond this. The Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan has approved the clinical application of iPS cells and approved them for clinical trials in heart failure. The clinical trial will begin in March this year, initially treating 3 patients and then expanding to about 10 patients. If the trial is successful, Japan will directly commercialize clinical technology based on the "fast-track system" of regenerative medicine. The realization of ips cell technology enables patients to "regenerate" their own heart.
Kyoto University in Japan announced that it has conducted the world's first clinical trial in a 50-year-old male patient with Parkinson's disease after using human pluripotent iPS cells to generate nerve cells. After the Japanese Institute of Physics and Chemistry took the lead in the world's leading position in the retina regeneration of eye patients, the use of ips cells to treat patients was the second case. The discovery of ips cells caused a sensation in the entire academic community. People cheered for finding the "recipe" of "reprogramming" life. The realization of induced pluripotent stem cells is regarded as a signal of the modern medical revolution. At the same time, some researchers questioned its safety and approval standards. Stem cell therapy has a long way to go in benefiting mankind in the future, but its huge application prospects are what we expect!