Blog | HemaCare

In addition to fetal tissue tolerance, T cells and NK cells also play a role in fetal-maternal metabolic homeostasis.

Immune system adaptations in the maternal-fetal environment are essential for a successful pregnancy. When this adaptation is hindered or inadequate, infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy complications, and adverse fetal outcomes can occur. Specific immune cells have been studied to better understand their role in pregnancy and to know what this information can provide overall regarding the development of new immunotherapeutic approaches for disease states.

"File:Lab mouse mg 3216.jpg" by Rama is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

A recent publication out of UCLA cites using HemaCare mobilized leukopaks in the development of a new natural killer (NK) T cell-based therapy. ^[1]

The multi-departmental group of scientists, the majority of whom are based at UCLA, collaborated on the groundbreaking cancer research project. Their potential treatment relies on the unique properties of a powerful class of natural killer T cells.

CAR T cell therapy has been one of the most exciting medical advances of this decade. As a type of immunotherapy, CAR T treatment consists of collecting patient-derived immune T cells, and genetically engineering them to recognize and fight invasive cancer cells. The first of these therapies to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, Novartis’ Kymriah^®, and Gilead’s Yescarta^® garnered international attention for their astonishing success rates in clinical trial.

A collaborative research effort on the part of 3 top-tier pharmaceutical companies cite using HemaCare sourced healthy donor PBMCs for their work on developing an allogeneic CAR T cell therapy. ^[1] CAR T therapies are among the most promising new cancer treatments approved by the FDA. These therapies have had remarkable success rates in people suffering from aggressive leukemia and lymphoma, who would otherwise be left without treatment options. The number of people who can be treated with this type of therapy is limited, however. CAR T treatment is an autologous therapy, relying on collecting and modifying a patient’s own T cells to fight their disease. Since cancer patients often suffer from a compromised immune system, it’s quite difficult to collect enough healthy T cells for treatment. Several research groups have been looking for a way to make an allogeneic CAR T cell treatment, in which T cells can be sourced from healthy donors.

The human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) research landscape is rapidly evolving. We recently discussed the current trend in stem cell research to streamline the production of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).  Recent exciting studies have indicated that harnessing iPSCs self-renewal ability to manufacture cell therapies is now becoming a reality. Just 4 years ago, the pharmaceutical company Takeda and The Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Kyoto University entered a 10-year joint research collaboration. A few weeks ago, it was announced that Takeda has advanced the first product from its collaboration with CiRA - a highly scalable off-the-shelf CAR-T cell therapy to treat cancer - into pre-clinical development.[1] Here, we briefly discuss the iCART science behind the Takeda study and its potential implications for an “off-the-shelf” CAR-T cell therapy.