Forming Human Immune Cells in a Dish

In a new study published Monday in Nature Cell Biology, researchers combined genetic engineering with a novel method of growing stem cells to produce human immune cells in a dish. The research could potentially lead to new therapeutics, in which a patient’s own skin cells could be used to test autoimmune disease interventions or to produce cells for cancer immunotherapy.

“Although a clinical application is likely still years away, we can use this new knowledge to test ideas about how diseases like childhood leukemia and type 1 diabetes develop,” says coauthor Andrew Elefanty of the University of Melbourne. “Understanding more about the steps these cells go through, and how we can more efficiently nudge them down a desired pathway, is going to be crucial to that process.”

In order to obtain their results, the team engineered pluripotent stem cells to glow green when a specific protein marker of early immune cells, RAG1, was switched on. RAG1 is responsible for creating the immune response to infections and vaccines. Next, the team isolated these green-glowing RAG1-positive cells and showed that they could also form multiple immune cell types, including cells required for shaping the development of the whole immune system.

“We think these early cells might be important for the correct maturation of the thymus, the organ that acts as a nursery for T-cells,” says coauthor Edouard Stanley, also of the University of Melbourne. “These RAG1 cells are like the painters and decorators who set up that nursery, making it a safe and cozy environment for later-born immune cells.”