Scientists have developed a potentially transformative new technique that could aid in the discovery and development of new therapeutics for a number of globally prevalent autoimmune diseases.
Conditions such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) - as well as failures within transplanted cells - are all caused by altered cytokine secretion of immune cells within the human body.
To find treatments for such diseases, experts need to identify the genetic regulators of the secretion so they can explore the most effective ways of inhibiting them.
An international team of researchers has developed a new method, referred to as Secretion-Enabled Cell Ranking and Enrichment (SECRE) and detailed in a study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.
They have demonstrated the method is accurate in sorting hundreds of millions of CRISPR-edited cells based on their secretion patterns, and identifying the genetic regulators of cytokine secretion in an autoimmune condition. In addition to this, the method takes into account the detailed profiles of approved treatments, and those under development, to establish whether therapies already in existence can be reapplied in new ways.
Writing in the study, the researchers detail how they have validated their approach on the cells known to play an essential role in the development and severity of IBD, and proved it has the potential of finding new ways of treating conditions that impact millions of people globally.
The research is the result of a project lasting around four years between scientists in the UK, United States and Canada, world-leading experts in engineering new tools for the diagnosis and treatment of disease, led by Professor Shana Kelley, President of the Chan-Zuckerberg Institute and Professor at Northwestern University.
Dr Mahmoud Labib, Lecturer in the University of Plymouth's Peninsula Medical School, is the main inventor of the approach.
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